California Sun

"California Sun", is a song credited to Henry Glover and Morris Levy. Originally recorded by the 35-year-old New Orleans-born singer-songwriter Joe Jones, and released by Roulette Records in the winter of 1961,^[1] it peaked at #89 on the charts.

Cover versions

• Annette Funicello covered it in 1963.

• The most successful version, the Rivieras' in 1964, reached #5 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Crickets recorded their version for their LP of the same name in 1964 (Liberty LRP 3351 / LST 7351).

• The New York City rock band the Dictators included their own cover of the song on their 1975 Go Girl Crazy! debut album.

• The song was later performed by the Ramones on their 1977 Leave Home album and used in their 1979 Rock 'n' Roll High School motion picture.

• This song is on various compilations, including All the Stuff (And More!) Volume 1 and Hey Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology.

• The Ramones' cover was also used in Jackass: The Movie, while the Rivieras' version was used in Oliver Stone's The Doors film, when Jim Morrison (played by Val Kilmer) arrives in Venice Beach.

• The song was used in the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam.

• Bobby Fuller recorded a cover of the song that can be found on El Paso Rock: Early Recordings Volume 3.

• Tommy James & the Shondells recorded a cover of the song for their 1967 album, I Think We're Alone Now.

• There is footage of the Byrds performing the song on television, with vocals by Jim McGuinn.

• The song has often been played live by Chris Isaak and his band Silvertone, with the drummer Kenney Dale Johnson assuming lead vocals and Isaak playing the drums.

• With lyrics in Swedish by Per Gessle, the Swedish pop group Gyllene Tider covered the song as "Tylö Sun" and released it as a one-track promotional single on August 14, 1981. A 2006 lyrics version, "Vitt & blått", was written by Svante Karlsson for the Swedish soccer club Halmstads BK.

• With lyrics in German by Benny Quick.

• Los Straitjackets recorded a cover for their album Sing Along with Los Straitjackets which was used in the film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005).

• In 1994, surf music pioneer Dick Dale covered the song on his album Unknown Territory.

• The song was covered by Frankie Avalon in the 1987 movie, Back to the Beach.

• A cover of the song by the Replacements appears on their well-known 1987 bootleg, Puttin' on the Ritz, recorded during a New York City concert on the "Pleased to Meet Me" tour.

• A cover in Portuguese called "Sol da Caparica" (Caparica Sun) was launched in Portugal in 1989 by the Portuguese band Peste & Sida.

• The song was used as a theme for advertising the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It has also recently been covered and used by K-Swiss in televised advertisements in both the USA and the United Kingdom.

• In 1991, it was used by Pepsi in their Summer Chill Out television commercials.

• Brian Wilson’s version is included in the Curious George 2 soundtrack released in 2010. This version follows The Rivieras'.

• The song was covered on the 1994 album Grunt! by the Australian ska band The Porkers

• The Saw Doctors recorded a version which is on their compilation album That Takes The Biscuit.

• Virginia punk band Digging Up Virgins covered the song on their 2010 album "Be Coming Up It".

• London band Palma Violets covered the song on the b-side of their 2013 single "We Found Love".

• The Offspring covered this song on their Days Go By Tour in 2013.^[2][3]

References

External links

• Bob Greene "Take a guess where "California Sun" is from", Jewish World Review, June 7, 1999