[nickcarraway]

California Dreamin'

The flute solo is completely improvised by Bud Shank.

P.F. Sloan (Who wrote Eve of Destruction, among others.) was on guitar, and Hal Blaine on drums.

[Jim W N]

Nice trivia. Thanks for sharing.

[Publius]

I first heard it on WIBG on a Saturday afternoon living in New Jersey. It was during a major snowstorm. I looked outside, and it was really coming down. I was moved by the song almost to tears.

It's still my favorite song from that era.

[plain talk]

I had the vinyl 45. Sound was pretty good. Ending harmonies was incredible.

[frank ballenger]

One of my all-time favorite songs and groups. Saw them in person.

[Vermont Lt]

I just re-watched “The Wrecking Crew” the other night on Prime. Those guys played on a lot of these records; and they did the music for the Mommas and the Poppas.

Those musicians were so good, once you know they are there…you can hear their influence everywhere.

[Scarlett156]

Yeah, that song gets stuck in my head sometimes but then I remember what a sick, twisted bunch of weirdos they were. You could argue they did more harm than good in the world.

Sorry for the unpopular opinion. Wait....I’m not sorry......

[Mark]

Vonda Shepherd did a lot of old songs in 60s-70s.

[Macho MAGA Man]

Don’t forget Papa John was a pedo!

[sit-rep]

I wish there was a good live version of them and that solo... they don’t have much in the line of top-quality video. I’ve searched extensively.

[Jane Long]

Listen to the 60s playlist, featuring the Mamas and the Papas alongside Glen Campbell, Cream, Dusty Springfield and many more.

---

Nice line up.

[VTenigma]

That song personified the hopes and dream of the mid ‘60s. Southern California was the center of the universe and American culture. Yes there were bad aspects of it but generally that was an America with a positive outlook and an unstoppable mindset. Not like the dark outlook of today. Having lived through it I mourn the loss of those ideals.

Cass Elliot was a massive talent, she nailed every note in that song flawlessly.

[Clutch Martin]

The momma’s the papa’s were weirdos

[Fiji Hill]

On July 27 1966, we were stuck at a red light in downtown Naples, Italy behind a flatbed truck with a cargo of tomatoes. Suddenly, right in front of our car, a couple-three kids darted out and helped themselves to a couple of crates of tomatoes from the truck. We were watching the scugnizzi, the youthful criminals that have bedeviled Naples since the days when its people spoke Greek, in action. All the while, our Blaupunkt radio in our car was playing Sognando la California by the Dik Diks. Incidentally, the Italian lyrics are pretty much a straightforward translation of the English lyrics.

[dfwgator]

John Phillips was a real sicko.

[Liberty Valance]

"...and Hal Blaine on drums.

Bruce Gary, drummer for the Knack, once said he was disappointed to find that his 10 favorite drummers turned out to all be Hal Blaine.

[BlueLancer]

At the Naval Academy, the tradition is that John Phillips, USNA Class of 1958, later of the Mamas and Papas, wrote California Dreamin’ while standing a Sunday afternoon plebe main office duty watch, and the church referred to in the song was the Naval Academy Chapel.