| "California" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Joni Mitchell | ||||
| from the album Blue | ||||
| B-side | "A Case of You" | |||
| Released | 1971 | |||
| Recorded | 1971 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 3:48 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Joni Mitchell | |||
| Producer(s) | Joni Mitchell | |||
| Joni Mitchell singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Official audio | ||||
| "California" on YouTube | ||||
"California" is a song written by Joni Mitchell that first appeared on her 1971 album Blue . It was also released as the second single from the album, as a follow-up to "Carey".
Mitchell wrote "California" while living in France, but longing for the creative climate she had experienced in California. [1]
In the song, she expresses the depth of her longing for California despite considering herself a member of the counterculture. [1] Like "Carey", "California" takes the form of a travelogue, and uses a stream of consciousness narrative technique. [2] [3] Pitchfork critic Jessica Hopper describes both songs as "how-Joni-got-her-groove-back ditties". [4] The lyrics tell of her time in France, a trip she took to Spain, and an excursion to a Greek island. [2] At the end of each story in each location, she expresses her desire to be back in California. [2] The person that "Carey" was based on also appears in the second verse of "California". [5] [6] According to author Larry David Smith, Mitchell uses the descriptions in "California" as a strategy to demonstrate "principles associated with the Earth Mother manifesto." [2]
"California" uses a verse-bridge structure. [5] James Taylor plays guitar, [1] [3] Sneaky Pete Kleinow pedal steel guitar, Russ Kunkel drums and percussion. [3] According to singer Estrella Berosini, the recitative phrasing Mitchell uses on "California" was influenced by California singer Laura Allan. [3] According to Rolling Stone critic Timothy Crouse, the song "jumps along in quick bursts", but the refrain is "flowing" with tango elements. [7] Crouse praised the "subtlety" of the production, particularly "James Taylor's twitchy guitar and Russ Kunkel's superb, barely detectable high-hat and bass-pedal work." [7]
Critic Kim Ruehl called "California" one of the highlights of Blue, describing it as "personal and largely sentimental." [8] Cash Box said it was "within the basic framework of most of Joni's previous material except for a most unusual melody." [9] Record World said it was a "beauty" and had Mitchell's "distinctive, personal stamp on it." [10]
"California" was included on Mitchell's 1998 compilation album Hits [11] and on her self-chosen 2004 compilation album Dreamland . [12]
American group Wilson Phillips covered the song as the title track to their 2004 studio album California .
Bob Dylan played Mitchell's recording on the "California" episode of Season 2 of his Theme Time Radio Hour show in 2007. [13]
"California" is quoted in the 2014 film Wild , in which Cheryl Strayed (as played by Reese Witherspoon) writes the line "Will you take me as I am?" in the Pacific Crest Trail register on day 9 of her journey. [14]
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her starkly personal lyrics and unconventional compositions which grew to incorporate pop and jazz elements. She has received many accolades, including ten Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever", and AllMusic has stated, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century".
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"A Case of You" is a song by Joni Mitchell, from her 1971 album Blue.
"Carey" is a song from the 1971 Joni Mitchell album Blue. It was inspired by her time spent with Cary Raditz, living with a cave-dwelling hippie community at Matala, on the Greek island of Crete.
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Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow was an American country-rock musician and animator. He is best known as a member of the band The Flying Burrito Brothers and as a session musician playing pedal steel guitar for such artists as Joan Baez, Jackson Browne, The Byrds, Leonard Cohen, Joe Cocker, Rita Coolidge, Eagles, The Everly Brothers, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, The Steve Miller Band, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Spencer Davis, Little Richard, Linda Ronstadt, Jimmie Spheeris and many others. He is a member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.
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"Long Ago and Far Away" is a song written by James Taylor and first released on his 1971 album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. It was the follow-up single to "You've Got a Friend" and became a Top 40 hit in the U.S. and a Top 20 hit in Canada, and made the Top 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S. It has also been covered by New York Voices and Johnny Mathis.
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Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) is a five-disc box set by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on November 12, 2021, by Rhino Records. The box set is the seventh overall release and second offering of unreleased material from the Joni Mitchell Archives, a planned series of releases containing remastered material from the singer's personal archives. Formatted in chronological order, the second volume of the series consists of the archived material that was recorded during Mitchell's tenure at Reprise Records, which includes the years between the release of her debut studio album, Song to a Seagull (1968) and her fourth studio album, Blue (1971).
