California Dreamin' was first released in 1965 by Barry McGuire with backing-vocals by The Mamas & The Papas. The backing-track was cut by the group of musicians known as "The Wrecking Crew", the cream of the american musicians of the sixties: Hal Blaine (drums), Joe Osborn (bass), Larry Knechtel (keyboards), and P. F. Sloan (acoustic guitar and harmonica). These guys used to play in records of Johnny Rivers, The Mamas & The Papas, Association, Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, Al Wilson, Fifth Dimension, Barry McGuire, Scott McKenzie, and lots of others...
Soon after the release of McGuire's version, the producer Lou Adler suggested Denny Doherty of The Mamas & The Papas to put his own lead vocals and release the track as a single, and he was right, as the song became a classic million seller.
In his 1966 gorgeous album "Changes", Johnny Rivers, also produced by Lou Adler, recorded a version of California Dreamin' with a string quartet, similar to Eleanor Rigby.
But, at live shows, Johnny used to play a guitar-bass-drums version that was very good, and I always thought of one day find a studio version of this.
So, as it does not exist, unfortunally, I decided to create this mash-up, using the original "Wrecking Crew" backing with Johnny's vocal syncronized. As I had only the stereo mix in hands and not the original 4-track tape, I couldn't isolate the vocal completely from the string quartet, but the result is very interesting and nice to listen to. Johnny's voice fits perfectly in the guitar-bass-drums backing, and it is not a coincidence, as these musicians are the same that worked with Johnny in his most important sixties albums, Changes, Rewind and Realization, and both recordings has the same producer, Lou Adler. Hope you like it!
LCA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53tBDpr4GCM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53tBDpr4GCM
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