Stopped in to a church I passed along the way And that's where we got the lyric for the second verse." A few days earlier, Michelle says, she had wanted to visit St. In this case, her homesickness had provided the initial inspiration, and after they put their heads together, life in the city informed more of the lyrics. Michelle remembers waking up to John asking for her help. And I went through more chord progressions and things that fit the melancholy of the song."
"I stared working on some chords for the song.
"The words 'California dreamin' kept going through my mind," John Phillips recalled in an interview before his death. "California Dreamin'" was about longing for another place, and it left a legacy strong enough to cement a place for its performers, the Mamas and the Papas, in the pantheon of popular music history. One morning - early, before the sun is up - he wakes Michelle and asks for her help finishing a song.Īll the leaves are brown and the sky is grayĬalifornia dreamin', on such a winter's day.įor Morning Edition, as part of the Present at the Creation series, NPR's Susan Stamberg explores the history of one of pop music's most memorable songs. It's John's habit to walk around the apartment at night with his guitar, working out tunes. She and John Phillips are living together, in their first year of marriage.
J- It's 1963, and New York City is having a particularly dismal winter, at least as far as Californian Michelle Phillips can tell.
0 kommentar(er)
