by Robert Wilkinson
Been missing Southern California lately, so today we dance to tunes celebrating Los Angeles and sunny SoCal!
We’ll begin by going back to the 60s, where they were “out there a-havin’ fun, in that warm California sun!” Yes, it’s LA all the way, since no one thinks of Northern California having “warm sun.”
For your twisting, shimmying, or fly-ing pleasure (since they were all named in the song), here are the rockin’ Riverias in the original 1964 studio version of “California Sun”
From Shindig in 1965, an extremely brief clip of the McCoys and Byrds live, performing our feature tune “California Sun”
Here’s the original from 1961! It’s the studio version by Joe Jones of “California Sun”
Moving away from our feature tune, here’s another song "celebrating" Los Angeles! This is a truly great music video for one of my favorite tunes. It’s the original, complete with images that say it all! Here’s Randy Newman giving us a satiric look at why “I Love LA”
Here’s an utterly fantastic live performance of that tune at the Rock & Roll HOF induction ceremony! We have Randy Newman, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, and John Fogerty sending up an awesome romp through “I Love LA” ("It's another perfect day, I love LA!")
From San Diego in 1978, here’s Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band very live cranking it up! Time to get the feet moving! “Hollywood Nights”
And I do believe the Lady is a contender to take the song away from Bob! For your dancing pleasure, the incredible Tina Turner in a great live performance of “Hollywood Nights”
For now, we’ll keep our dancin’ feet happy with a clip from 1979, with JJ live on the Dinah Shore television show in 1978! Get ready for a great live performance by Jerry Jeff Walker and the Lost Gonzo Band of Guy Clark’s legendary tune “LA Freeway”
We’ll take a short break from dancing with an acoustic live performance of the original masterpiece written by the great Guy Clark, live in Austin, Texas! “LA Freeway”
Speaking of LA freeways, here’s a great live performance clip from 1975 on Musikladen by the original acoustic trio called “America” of their huge and very mellow hit, “Ventura Highway”
Of course no dance featuring the songs of Southern California would be complete without this one! The performance at the Houston Opry House in 1976 has disappeared, so instead, from 1977 at the Capital Centre in Maryland, here are the Eagles live on video performing their signature tune, “Hotel California”
Fast forward 21 years to their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! For your enjoyment, the Eagles very live in a great performance of “Hotel California”
We’ll end this slow period of the dance with two versions of an early SoCal hit! From a very, very loooong time ago in 1958, the Four Preps in the original studio version of their #2 hit 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)
From 2004 on PBS, here are the reunited 4 Preps live offering up “26 Miles (Santa Catalina)” that moves into “Big Man”
Time to hit the dance floor! While the lyrics mention surf spots all up and down the California coast, as well as Hawaii, this song pretty much embodied the Southern California lifestyle 60 years ago! Here are the Beach Boys live in 1964 performing Brian’s lyrics to Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little 16,” the song we know as “Surfin’ USA”
Here’s another very early live performance, from 1962, by the Beach Boys singing about every surf spot they know in Southern California! “Surfin’ Safari”
Jan and Dean embodied the Southern California lifestyle, as much as any other band at the time! So since we’re celebrating Southern California, even though “Surf City” is actually Huntington Beach and in Orange County rather than LA or Ventura County, it’s still sunny Southern California!! Here’s the original studio version of “Surf City”
Here’s a rare clip from early on, without Jan Berry’s elaborate production behind them. From 1963 on The Steve Allen Show, here are Jan and Dean live in a very spare (and not very danceable!) version of “Surf City”
Here are two comedy numbers they did involving hot rods in SoCal! First, an elaborately produced number which almost no one remembers since I’m sure it only worked in the studio! Here are Jan and Dean sending up “The Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga Sewing Circle Book Review and Timing Association” (where Jan Berry ripped himself off with the ending line “go grannies, go grannies, go grannies, go”! And if you’re wondering about the high falsetto, that’s P.F. Sloan.)
Then we’ll close the Jan and Dean segment with a live performance in the Dec 1964 TAMI Show of another rocking Southern California comedy number, the more famous “Little Old Lady from Pasadena”
Here's one Ms. Lesley Gore took to #16 Billboard, #11 Cashbox in 1967! For your memories, playing the role of Pussycat on the vampy campy television series Batman!, Lesley in a very strange and surrealistic “performance” of “California Nights”
Moving from the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, and Lesley Gore, we’ll close the 60s with the iconic tune about Los Angeleeeeeze performed at Woodstock in 1969 by Arlo! Here's "Comin' Into Los Angeles
From a more recent time and a much newer sound, we find ourselves in Tokyo in 2002, with Cheryl Crow live in concert laying down the dance groove on the Santa Monica Boulevard! “All I Wanna Do”
From 1994, the original and infinitely danceable music video for “All I Wanna Do”
We’ll close today with two amazing versions of our feature tune! The first is performed as only the Ramones could! From 1979, live in San Francisco with LOTS of distortion, The Ramones Live doing “California Sun”
And for the finish, it’s the Boss and the E Street Band very live in 2012! We’re told this is the only time the E Street Band has ever played the whole song at a show, so enjoy a very rocking version of our feature tune, “California Sun”
© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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