In my younger days, we all wanted to move to California. There were beautiful beaches, surfing, perfect weather, Malibu, surfing, sunshine… and did I mention surfing?  There was also a hot music scene.  Every musician I knew wanted to head west.  That’s where The Beach Boys were… and The Byrds… and John Sebastian.  There was also a little group called The Mamas & the Papas.  They recorded “California Dreamin’ ” in 1965 and started all this “hankering for California” nonsense.

It was written by John and Michele Phillips (before they formed The Mamas and the Papas) in 1963 when they were suffering through a particularly cold winter in New York.  Michele was from California and longing to go back…. hence this song.  Michele loved to visit churches in the city and dragged a reluctant John along with her.  A visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral one day inspired  the second verse “Stopped into a church – I passed along the way”.  John hated the verse, as he had some past experiences in parochial school that were somewhat less than inspiring.  But he couldn’t think of anything that worked better, so he left it in.  The line “and I pretend to pray” might be an indication of his displeasure.  Always hated that line…

This piece was first recorded by Barry McGuire of “Eve of Destruction” fame.  It went nowhere, not even in the “Golden State”.  So John and Michele Philips, Mama Cass, and Denny Doherty gave it a shot and it went to number one on Billboard – though it took awhile.  The only real redeeming factor of this song is the flute solo in the middle.  I loved that – somebody actually playing an instrument rather than just standing there singing their lungs out…

As you may have guessed, I don’t like this song, or the group, for that matter.  But I’ve had several requests for backup tracks for this one so here it is, folks.  My arrangement is a bit “rockier” that the original, but I had to do SOMETHING!  We used to lust after those California beaches.  Now… not so much.