California Dreamin': Difference between revisions

| recorded = November 4, 1965

| studio = [[United Western Recorders|United Western]], Hollywood

| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=42}}

| writer = [[John Phillips (musician)|John Phillips]], [[Michelle Phillips]]

| producer = [[Lou Adler]]

| next_title = [[Monday, Monday]]

| next_year = 1966

}}

{{listen

|filetype=[[Ogg]]}}

 

 

"California Dreamin{{'"}} became a signpost of the [[California sound]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bisbort|first1=Alan|last2=Puterbaugh|first2=Parke|title=California Beaches: The Best Places to Swim, Play, Eat, and Stay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5D-egP4JWsEC&pg=PA172|year=2009|publisher=Avalon Travel|isbn=978-1-56691-614-1|page=172}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> heralding the arrival of the nascent [[counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] era.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/eagles-fleetwood-mac-selected-for-hall-of-fame-19971028 |title=Eagles, Fleetwood Mac Selected for Hall of Fame {{!}} Music News |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=1997-10-28 |access-date=2014-02-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1146306 |title='California Dreamin,' Present at the Creation (Archived Radio Program) |last=Stamberg|first=Susan|date=2002-07-08 |website=NPR.org |publisher=NPR |access-date=2014-04-29}}</ref> It was [[Certified Gold|certified three-times platinum]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] in June 2023<ref>{{cite web|title=California Dreamin'|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database|website=RIAA.com|publisher=The Recording Industry Association of America|access-date=2014-07-11|quote=The RIAA Database may require user input}}</ref> and was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 2001.<ref>{{cite web|title=California Dreamin'|url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame#c|website=grammy.org|publisher=The Recording Academy|access-date=2014-07-11|quote=CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' The Mamas & the Papas Dunhill (1966) (Single) Inducted 2001|archive-date=February 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219001619/http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame#c|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2021, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' placed the song at number 420 in its "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|500 Greatest Songs of All Time]]" list.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Rolling Stone |date=September 15, 2021 |title=The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/the-mamas-and-papas-california-dreaming-1224918/ |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref>

The single was released in late 1965 but was not an immediate breakthrough. After gaining little attention in Los Angeles, a radio station in [[Boston]] was the catalyst to break the song nationwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/californiadreamin/index.html |title=California Dreamin' |work=npr.org |date=July 8, 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218014724/http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/californiadreamin/index.html |archive-date=February 18, 2011 |access-date=April 6, 2012}}</ref> After making its chart debut in January 1966,<ref name="Sullivan2013">{{cite book |last=Sullivan |first=Steve |title=Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWBPAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA483 |date=4 October 2013 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-8296-6 |pages=483–}}</ref> the song peaked at No. 4 in March on both the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], lasting 17 weeks, and ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]'', lasting 20 weeks.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bronson |first1=Fred |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits |date=1988 |publisher=Billboard Publications, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=0-8230-7545-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/billboardbookofnbro00bron/page/195 195] |edition=Paperback |url=https://archive.org/details/billboardbookofnbro00bron/page/195}}</ref> "California Dreamin{{'"}} was the top single on the [[Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1966|''Billboard'' end-of-the-year survey for 1966]]. As well, it tied for #1 on the Cashbox end-of-the-year survey with [[Staff sergeant|SSgt.]] [[Barry Sadler]]'s "[[Ballad of the Green Berets]]".<ref name=CashBox>{{cite web |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1966/CB-1966-12-24.pdf |title=Top 100 Chart Hits of 1966 |publisher=Cash Box |pages=29–30 |date=1966-12-24 |access-date=2021-03-18}}</ref>

 

 

The song is used repeatedly in the 1994 [[Hong Kong]] film ''[[Chungking Express]]'' as a central plot point<ref>[https://film.avclub.com/song-and-vision-no-5-california-dreamin-and-chungki-1798217949 Song And Vision No. 5: "California Dreamin{{'"}} and Chungking Express], Steven Hyden</ref> and a cover by [[the Beach Boys]] was used on [[Stranger Things (season 4)|season 4]] of ''[[Stranger Things]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a40081405/stranger-things-season-4-soundtrack/ |title=The 'Stranger Things' Season 4 Soundtrack Is the Ultimate Love Letter to the 1980s |access-date=27 May 2022}}</ref>

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|artist=Mamas & The Papas|title=California Dreamin'|award=Gold|relyear=1965|certyear=2023|access-date=June 4, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|artist=The Mamas & The Papas|title=California Dreamin'|award=Gold|certyear=2021|id=9536|access-date=December 27, 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=The Mamas & The Papas|title=California Dreamin'|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=1965|certyear=2023|access-date=June 22, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=true|noshipments=true}}

{{Infobox song

| name = California Dreamin'

| alt =

| type = single

{{Infobox song

| name = California Dreamin'

| alt =

| type = single

A tropical house version by German DJ/remixer ''Freischwimmer'' was released in 2015. This version reached number one on the ''Billboard'' [[Dance Club Songs]] chart in its February 13, 2016 issue.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/dance-club-play-songs/2016-02-13|title=Dance Club Songs Chart|website=Billboard.com|date=January 2, 2013|access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref><ref>[http://www.billboard.com/artist/6807308/freischwimmer/chart Chart history for Freischwimmer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427131750/http://www.billboard.com/artist/6807308/freischwimmer/chart |date=April 27, 2016 }} from ''Billboard''</ref> "Dreamin" had never before hit No. 1 on any ranking, making this version the first in its nearly 50-year history to reach the top spot on a ''Billboard'' chart.<ref>[http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6866868/california-dreamin-hits-no-1-dance-dj-freischwimmer "'California Dreamin' Hits No. 1 After 50 Years, Thanks to Dance Remix"] from ''Billboard'' (February 4, 2016)</ref>

 

 

==See also==