Tidy Tunes 2019 #13/28 California Dreamin' - The Mamas and The Papas

California Dreamin' - The Mamas and The Papas
RCA Victor (UK) Dunhill (US)

Released 8th December 1965
US Chart #4*
UK Chart #23

*Didn't make the charts until January and spent 17 weeks on the charts in the US.

California Dreamin' was the second single release by The Mamas and Papas. Their first, 'Go Where You Wanna Go' flopped and was discontinued pretty sharply. The B-side, 'Somebody Groovy', was also the flipside to the second single.

The song was first recorded by Barry McGuire for his 'This Precious Time' album in 1965. His version has The Mamas and The Papas on backing vocals. Funnily enough when The Mamas and The Papas came to record it they used the same backing track that McGuire's version had but they wiped his vocal from the track (though if you listen very carefully at the start of the song you can faintly hear McGuire's voice on the opening vocal of "All the leaves").

The single had a new lease of life in the UK in 1997 when it was used in a commercial and peaked at #9 on the charts.

This month sees the 53rd anniversary of the release of their debut album, 'If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears', and I've added a link below so you can have a listen.

I included a picture of the original cover of the album because it's actually funny to think that this was actually deemed indecent because of the presence of the toilet! So the cover was changed and there's about four other different covers altogether, one of which shows the same picture but cropped so much that you would never know they were actually in  a bathroom at all! 

Now, although I would have been only two years old (a few months from my third birthday) when the debut album was released and I can't say that I have memories from that age hearing it, the songs that are on the album are totally familiar to me because they were ones that I heard as I got older and could actually process what I was hearing better.

When you look at and listen to this debut album now it almost has the feel of a Best of Compilation because pretty much every song on it is considered to be a Classic Song by The Mamas and The Papas. The album also contains their one and only US #1 single 'Monday, Monday'.

If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears - The Mamas and The Papas

Dunhill

Produced by Lou Adler

Released February 1966

US Chart #1

UK Chart #3

Listen to the album here.

The Mamas and The Papas
Live at Monterey Pop Festival 1967

Set:
 Straight Shooter / Somebody Groovy / I Call Your Name / Monday Monday / San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair / Dancing In The Streets