1966Released
2:42

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Interesting facts and trivia about California Dreamin' - Single Version. By Songfacts®.

In a 2002 interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Michelle Phillips explained how this song came about. It was 1963, and she was newly married to John Phillips. They were living in New York City, which was having a particularly cold winter, at least by Michelle's standards as she was from sunny California. John would walk around the apartment at night working out tunes, and one morning brought the first verse of the song to Michelle. It was a song about longing to be in another place, and it was inspired by Michelle's homesickness. Michelle enjoyed visiting churches, and a few days before, she and John visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, which inspired the second verse ("Stopped into a church..."). John hated the verse, as he was turned off to churches by unpleasant memories of parochial school, but he couldn't think of anything better so he left it in.

This is a rare pop song that contains a flute solo. Even more surprising, it's an alto flute, which is larger than a regular flute and plays in a lower register. A jazz player named Bud Shank was brought to the session to play it. Shank, who also played saxophone, had a minor hit with his version of The Beatles "Michelle" in 1966. He died in 2009 at age 82. Doug Thompson tells this story: Denny Doherty once told me that when they were recording that song, they wanted a solo, but didn't want the usual guitar solo. John Phillips walked out into the hall of the Hollywood recording studio they were at and Bud Shank was in that hallway as well. John grabbed him and brought him into the studio. Shank listened to the hole he was supposed to fill and nailed it on the first take.

When the group was just starting out in 1965, their friend Barry McGuire helped them get a contract with his record label, Dunhill Records. McGuire recorded the first version of the song with The Mamas & the Papas as his backing band and a harmonica solo instead of a flute. It was going to be used as the follow-up single to his hit, "Eve Of Destruction." The Mamas & The Papas then decided to record it on their own, with Denny Doherty (the other Papa) singing lead and some chord changes he came up with after consulting the session guitarist, P.F. Sloan, who had him listen to "Walk - Don't Run" by The Ventures. The results were impressive, and Dunhill Records agreed to use it as their first single, holding off on McGuire's version so there wouldn't be competition from an established artist. The group's first single was "Go Where You Wanna Go," which didn't "go" anywhere and was pulled to focus on "California Dreamin'," allowing The 5th Dimension to score their first chart it with that song a few months later. When "California Dreamin'" caught on, listeners wanted to hear more from The Mamas & the Papas, so radio stations started playing "Monday, Monday" off the album. When that song was released as a single, it quickly shot to #1 in America. The group had a string of hits until 1968, when they split up. They reunited occasionally until 1974, when Mama Cass Elliot died of a massive heart attack due to her poor health and eating habits.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of California Dreamin' - Single Version.
C♯Key
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
112BPM

Album

The album California Dreamin' - Single Version is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released California Dreamin' - Single Version.
Geffen*
© 1998 MCA Records Inc.
℗ 1966 Dunhill Records Inc.

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