California Dreamin

So there was a possibility we might do a song called California Dreamin' for our next concert. So I decided to do some research on it since I love the song.

History:
California Dreamin' is a song written by songwriter John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and was first recorded by Barry McGuire. The lyrics of the song express the narrator's longing for the warmth of Los Angeles during a cold winter in New York City. However The Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version decided to release their own version  in 1965. So the best known version is by The Mamas & the Papas and released as a single. The song is #89 in the Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. 

The Story of California Dreamin':

In 1963, Fifty years ago, a man named John Phillips was a struggling songwriter and musician. He was living in New York at the time when he wrote the song California Dreamin'. He was also one-forth of the Mamas and the Papas, along with his wife Michelle,  and two musicians named Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot. Then two years later, the band was living in Los Angeles, and barely getting by. They'd cut one single, but it went nowhere, so John Phillips was pitching songs to other artists, and he managed to get California Dreamin' to a guy named Barry McGuire. Barry suggested the Mamas and Papas do the back up vocals to this song when he would sing the main part. According to Dayton Howe, the engineer on the recording, Lou Adler was so impressed with the Mamas and Papas group, that he gave them a $100 bill as down payment on a contract. Then, he took the backing track and replaced Barry's vocals with Denny Doherty, one of the Mamas and Papas and he went up an octave, and it was a hit.

This song has much more meaning to it now and every time anyone sings it they should think of the feeling of longing for a better future as the Mamas and Papas had.