California Dreamin´ The Mamas & the Papas Acoustic Cover w/ The Loar LH-300 & Bluesharp

(c)1965 Words & Music Michelle Phillips & John Phillips
Album "If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears" (1966)
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All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey
I´ve been for a walk on a winter´s day
I´d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.
California dreamin´ on such a winter´s day..

Stopped into a church I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees and I pretend to pray.
You know the preacher likes the cold he knows I´m gonna stay
California dreamin´ on such a winter´s day.. [harmonica interlude

All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey
I´ve been for a walk on a winter´s day
If I didn´t tell her I could leave today
California dreamin´ on such a winter´s day
On such a winter´s day
On such a winter´s day.
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Bluesharp key of C
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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.
The Mamas & The Papas recorded this song in Los Angeles at United Western Recorders, in the same studio where The Beach Boys recorded their Pet Sounds album. Musicians on the session, which took place November 4, 1965, were some of the great session players of the era: Hal Blaine (drums), Larry Knechtel (keyboards), Joe Osborn (bass) and P.F. Sloan (guitar). John Phillips also played guitar on the track - that's him on 12-string during the intro. The engineer on the track was Bones Howe.
The Carpenters recorded a version of this that Richard Carpenter released on his 2001 album As Time Goes By. In the liner notes, he explains:
"Another demo from Joe's [Joe Osborn] studio, circa 1967. This one however, is on the one 4-track that Joe gave to me. Even though the most important ingredient on tape, the lead, is on its own track, the bass, piano, drums and string machine were all bounced to another track, leaving two open... Karen, at 17, is a marvel. I especially like the way she jumps an octave, from chest voice, to head voice on the letter (and note) "A" in the opening."
The Beach Boys released a cover of this song in 1986, which made its way into the lyrics of the Dead Milkmen song "Punk Rock Girl": "someone played a Beach Boys song on the jukebox, it was California Dreamin.'" The Beach Boys cover was popular at the time, which is why they got the credit, although many listeners though the Milkmen had their vocal groups mixed up.
Other popular covers are from America, George Benson and Guster.
Michelle Phillips told Spinner in a 2012 interview that John didn't like the second verse - "Stopped into a church, I passed along the way ... " She explained: "Poor John had been sent of to Catholic military school when he was just 7 years old, so he didn't like the religiosity of it." He told her that he didn't want, "religion and churches," so she said they will rewrite it. However, when the others heard the second verse they wanted to keep it. "Glad we did!", she said.