All the leaves are brown... and the sky is grey...

Those words, written by John Phillips and sung beautifully by Denny Doherty defined for so many people what was good about California... that it was a haven away from the dread of winter (and all that meant - literally and figuratively). "California Dreamin' " catapulted the Mamas and Papas into superstardom as Denny sang that he could be "safe and warm - if I was in LA."

As a California girl, born & bred, I take great pride in the songs that direct people's attention to The Golden State... anything from the Beach Boys, The Mamas and Papas, The Byrds. These bands all defined the earliest "California Sound," but really only the Beach Boys were natural born & bred Californians. (Michelle Phillips was born in California, but as the child of a military family, grew up elsewhere - Mexico City for instance.)

Other musicians labeled as having the "California Sound" in the 70s weren't Californians either - The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt... the only one of their ilk who grew up in LA was Jackson Browne, who was also born to a serviceman (in Germany).

California has a grand mythology and is so diverse and eclectic for one state... although it is the third largest of the United States in land mass, (clocking in behind Alaska and Texas) it is the nation's most populous. There is no shortage of stories to be told.

Los Angeles, California is home to my favorite literary genre, noir. The Central Coast, where I lived during my childhood and teens produces this country's best wines. The industries in California range from the most ephemeral (Silicon Valley) to the most atavistic, manual labor trade of all - farming. Yet for all the wide variety of people, creeds, colors, etcetera... when people talk about the California sound, they always talk about the pop music.

I am one of many urban types who is fond of the Bakersfield Sound - something that country superstars Buck Owens and Merle Haggard are associated with... a honky tonk response to the slick Nashville sound of country music (Bakersfield = fiddles; Nashville = string sections, as in orchestras). I never fail to bring it up when people talk about California music.

Regardless of whether someone who's written a love song to my native state is a native or not, I applaud them for having done so. Perhaps the East Coast born and raised John Phillips knew a good thing when he found the land of the Endless Summer...



I hope you enjoyed the clip from the Monterey Pop movie, directed by my friend and mentor, DA Pennebaker. In 1997, we co-produced a restored version of the performances from the original movie and some that didn't make it in the first time. I believe the complete performances (including Laura Nyro's) are available now on DVD from the Criterion Collection.