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Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for sharing the music video of the Beach Boys performing 'California Girls' in honor of the fact that on August 28, 1965 this classic song was at No.3 on the US singles chart.
California Girls written by Mike Love and Brian Wilson
Lyrics
"Well East coast girls are hip
I really dig those styles they wear
And the Southern girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when I'm down there
The Mid-West farmer's daughters really make you feel alright
And the Northern girls with the way they kiss
They keep their boyfriends warm at night
I wish they all could be California girls
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California girls
The West coast has the sunshine
And the girls all get so tanned
I dig a French bikini on Hawaiin island dolls
By a palm tree in the sand
I been all around this great big world
And I seen all kinds of girls
Yeah, but I couldn't wait to get back in the States
Back to the cutest girls in the world
I wish they all could be California girls
I wish…"
Background on the song
"Beach Boys Mike Love and Brian Wilson wrote this song celebrating the women of California. Along with surfing and cars, girls were a common topic in many of The Beach Boys songs, and part of the California mythos that was so enticing to young people in other parts of America.
Wilson wrote the music, and Love came up with the lyrics. Regarding his way with words, Love told us: "Ever since I can remember I've always been intrigued by poetry and literature. So that's always been something that I've immersed myself in since childhood. I'd always get really good grades in English literature and American literature and all that kind of thing. Whereas my math skills weren't exactly upgraded." (Here's our full interview with Mike Love.)
Brian Wilson said of this song when he spoke to Goldmine in 2011: "I came up the introduction first. I'm still really proud of that introduction. It has a classical feel. I wrote the song 'California Girls' in the same key as the introduction. It took me some time. I wanted to write a song that had a traditional country and western left hand piano riff, like an old country song from the early '50s. I wanted to get something that had kind of a jumpy feeling to it in the verses."
Structurally, this uses a contrasting verse-chorus form. >>
Lead vocals on this song were by Mike Love, but you can also hear Bruce Johnston on the track along with Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine. Johnston was brought in to tour with the group when Brian Wilson decided to stay off the road, and this was his first vocal appearance on a Beach Boys song.
Drummer Hal Blaine and bass player Carol Kaye played on this. They were two of the first-call Los Angeles studio musicians known for working with Phil Spector and playing on many hits of the era. According to Kaye, Brian Wilson, who was himself a bass player, always had the bass parts written out for her, and "California Girls" was the only song where she was able to get a lick in that Brian didn't write. She says the bass part is reminiscent of a country song called "Tumbling Tumbleweeds."
Other musicians to play on this track include:
Jerry Cole - guitar
Billy Strange - guitar
Howard Roberts - guitar
Lyle Ritz - acoustic bass
Leon Russell - piano
Al DeLory - organ
Steven Kreisman - saxophone
Jay Migliori - saxophone
Jack Nimitz - saxophone
Roy Caton - trumpet
Frank Capp - vibraphone
David Lee Roth released his own version in 1985 as his first solo single (he would leave Van Halen a short time later). The video featured a lineup of beautiful women and got loads of airplay on MTV. It set the tone for Roth's solo career as he perpetuated his image as a hedonistic party boy (not much of a change from his days in Van Halen). Carl Wilson from The Beach Boys sang backup on Roth's version, which hit #3 in the US. >>
Paul McCartney conceived The Beatles song "Back In The U.S.S.R." as a Soviet version of "California Girls." He got the idea on a trip to India, where along with Mike Love of The Beach Boys, he was studying Transcendental Meditation. Love told us: "Paul came down to the breakfast table one morning saying, 'Hey, Mike, listen to this.' And he starts strumming and singing, 'Back in the U.S.S.R.,' the verses. And I said, 'Well, Paul, what you ought to do is talk about the girls around Russia, Ukraine girls and then Georgia on my mind, and that kind of thing.' Which he did."
A problem with writing a song like this is that it's hard to top. Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2015, Brian Wilson talked about trying to write songs: "I sit at the piano and try, but all I want to do is rewrite 'California Girls.' How am I gonna do something better than that?"
Brian Wilson discussed the song in his 2016 memoir, I Am Brian Wilson. "The idea of 'California Girls' is that there's this guy who thinks about girls all the time, so much that he starts to imagine all kinds," he explained. "But there's only one kind he really wants, and that's right there at home. The music started off like those old cowboy movies, when the hero's riding slowly into town, bum-ba-dee-dah. I was playing that at the piano after an acid trip. I played it until I almost couldn't hear what I was playing, and then I saw the melody hovering over the piano part."
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4970
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Wayne Brandon LTC Bill Koski Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes SSG David Andrews
California Girls written by Mike Love and Brian Wilson
Lyrics
"Well East coast girls are hip
I really dig those styles they wear
And the Southern girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when I'm down there
The Mid-West farmer's daughters really make you feel alright
And the Northern girls with the way they kiss
They keep their boyfriends warm at night
I wish they all could be California girls
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California girls
The West coast has the sunshine
And the girls all get so tanned
I dig a French bikini on Hawaiin island dolls
By a palm tree in the sand
I been all around this great big world
And I seen all kinds of girls
Yeah, but I couldn't wait to get back in the States
Back to the cutest girls in the world
I wish they all could be California girls
I wish…"
Background on the song
"Beach Boys Mike Love and Brian Wilson wrote this song celebrating the women of California. Along with surfing and cars, girls were a common topic in many of The Beach Boys songs, and part of the California mythos that was so enticing to young people in other parts of America.
Wilson wrote the music, and Love came up with the lyrics. Regarding his way with words, Love told us: "Ever since I can remember I've always been intrigued by poetry and literature. So that's always been something that I've immersed myself in since childhood. I'd always get really good grades in English literature and American literature and all that kind of thing. Whereas my math skills weren't exactly upgraded." (Here's our full interview with Mike Love.)
Brian Wilson said of this song when he spoke to Goldmine in 2011: "I came up the introduction first. I'm still really proud of that introduction. It has a classical feel. I wrote the song 'California Girls' in the same key as the introduction. It took me some time. I wanted to write a song that had a traditional country and western left hand piano riff, like an old country song from the early '50s. I wanted to get something that had kind of a jumpy feeling to it in the verses."
Structurally, this uses a contrasting verse-chorus form. >>
Lead vocals on this song were by Mike Love, but you can also hear Bruce Johnston on the track along with Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine. Johnston was brought in to tour with the group when Brian Wilson decided to stay off the road, and this was his first vocal appearance on a Beach Boys song.
Drummer Hal Blaine and bass player Carol Kaye played on this. They were two of the first-call Los Angeles studio musicians known for working with Phil Spector and playing on many hits of the era. According to Kaye, Brian Wilson, who was himself a bass player, always had the bass parts written out for her, and "California Girls" was the only song where she was able to get a lick in that Brian didn't write. She says the bass part is reminiscent of a country song called "Tumbling Tumbleweeds."
Other musicians to play on this track include:
Jerry Cole - guitar
Billy Strange - guitar
Howard Roberts - guitar
Lyle Ritz - acoustic bass
Leon Russell - piano
Al DeLory - organ
Steven Kreisman - saxophone
Jay Migliori - saxophone
Jack Nimitz - saxophone
Roy Caton - trumpet
Frank Capp - vibraphone
David Lee Roth released his own version in 1985 as his first solo single (he would leave Van Halen a short time later). The video featured a lineup of beautiful women and got loads of airplay on MTV. It set the tone for Roth's solo career as he perpetuated his image as a hedonistic party boy (not much of a change from his days in Van Halen). Carl Wilson from The Beach Boys sang backup on Roth's version, which hit #3 in the US. >>
Paul McCartney conceived The Beatles song "Back In The U.S.S.R." as a Soviet version of "California Girls." He got the idea on a trip to India, where along with Mike Love of The Beach Boys, he was studying Transcendental Meditation. Love told us: "Paul came down to the breakfast table one morning saying, 'Hey, Mike, listen to this.' And he starts strumming and singing, 'Back in the U.S.S.R.,' the verses. And I said, 'Well, Paul, what you ought to do is talk about the girls around Russia, Ukraine girls and then Georgia on my mind, and that kind of thing.' Which he did."
A problem with writing a song like this is that it's hard to top. Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2015, Brian Wilson talked about trying to write songs: "I sit at the piano and try, but all I want to do is rewrite 'California Girls.' How am I gonna do something better than that?"
Brian Wilson discussed the song in his 2016 memoir, I Am Brian Wilson. "The idea of 'California Girls' is that there's this guy who thinks about girls all the time, so much that he starts to imagine all kinds," he explained. "But there's only one kind he really wants, and that's right there at home. The music started off like those old cowboy movies, when the hero's riding slowly into town, bum-ba-dee-dah. I was playing that at the piano after an acid trip. I played it until I almost couldn't hear what I was playing, and then I saw the melody hovering over the piano part."
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4970
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Wayne Brandon LTC Bill Koski Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes SSG David Andrews
California Girls by The Beach Boys Songfacts
California Girls by The Beach Boys song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart position
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SPC Woody Bullard
PO3 Phyllis Maynard - The drug use in the 1960's was the down side which cut short the lives of many young people while ruining others both physically and mentally. Brian Wilson had a mental break down and stopped touring for concerts with the Beach Boys. LSD became the drug of choice for people in the mid to late 60's which went along with the change in music from rock&roll and blues to the psychedelic sound.
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PO3 Phyllis Maynard
SPC Woody Bullard you are absolutely point on. The list goes on and on Jimmy Hendrix, Steppenwolf, Beatles, Rolling Stones. Great talents with fans screaming from around the globe in a decade of free love, flowers, and death. Total Shakespeare.
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SPC Woody Bullard
PO3 Phyllis Maynard - Just a interesting side note on The Doors band vocalist Jim Morrison who like Hendrix died young while he was in France. Morrison lived in Melbourne, Florida and was a student at Florida State University before he left for the west coast. Morrison's father was a U.S. Navy rear admiral and naval aviator who was the commander of U.S. naval forces in the Gulf of Tonkin during the 1964 incident with North Vietnam which was the starting point for the Vietnam war. I have heard the father like son saying but this father and son could not have been more different.
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PO3 Phyllis Maynard
SPC Woody Bullard you know I forgot about Jim Morrison. And the movie did give background on him. So he had a traditional upbringing and then Independence and life happened.
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