California, Here I Come

"California, Here I Come" is a song written for the 1921 Broadway musical Bombo, starring Al Jolson. The song was written by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Meyer, with Jolson often listed as a co-author. Jolson recorded the song in 1924. It is often called the unofficial state song of California.

State song

Several attempts were made to designate "California, Here I Come" as the official state song of California, especially after a resolution passed by the California State Legislature in 1951 designated "I Love You, California" as the state song. However, these attempts proved unsuccessful, as "I Love You, California" was officially declared the state song in 1988.^[2]

Appearances in popular culture

The song, often as an instrumental version, was frequently used by Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn, musical directors at Warner Bros. Cartoons. The song often accompanies a character's hasty or spontaneous departure, such as in the 1946 cartoon Hair-Raising Hare, 1950's Bushy Hare, and 1955's Rabbitson Crusoe, as examples.

A well-known rendition of the song appears in episode 110 of the television series I Love Lucy. The episode, titled "California, Here We Come!", features the four principal cast members beginning a cross-country road trip from New York City to California, where Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz) plans to make a movie. Ricky, who is shown behind the wheel driving across the George Washington Bridge from New York into New Jersey (and westward), begins singing the song's chorus and he is soon joined by Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance), and then, finally, by a badly off-key but highly spirited Lucy (Lucille Ball). At one point, Fred sings part of the chorus as a short solo in a manner that is highly suggestive of the syncopated style often associated with Al Jolson, and Ricky joins in briefly with a similar apparent nod to the song's originator.^[3] Still images of the famous scene, which have been popularized in posters and greeting cards, are often used to typify the I Love Lucy series (all four principal cast members are shown together and facing the camera) and the scene offers a nostalgic view of America's love affair with the automobile in the 1950s.

In the 1934 W. C. Fields film It's a Gift, a record of the song is shown on-screen and the Victrola needle is put down to play it. The recording then plays over the next scene, showing the Bisonette family packing for their trip to the West Coast.

The song is played in the classic Sierra game Gold Rush as the ship carrying fortune seekers comes to port in Sacramento.

"Casa Loma Stomp," recorded by Fletcher Henderson, is a set of jazz variations on the song, whose tune is clearly audible in the first few verses and gradually disappears under the increasing complexity of the variations.

Ray Charles recorded a cover of this song, which appears in his 1960 album The Genius Hits the Road.

Dutch rock band The Shocking Blue refers to Jolson's original lyric in their own song, "California Here I Come" on their 1969 album At Home.

The song is played during the closing credits of The Monkees' 1969 TV Special, 33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee, with band member Peter Tork on lead vocals.

The four future members of ABBA performed a Wild West-themed version of this song for their first joint television appearance in 1970, on the SVT program "Five Minute Saloon."

In 1977 Tom Waits released "Foreign Affairs", featuring a tribute to the song in a medley titled "Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come".

In the 1980 movie The Shining, Jack Nicholson sings part of this song as "San Francisco Here I Come" while lost in the snow covered maze.

In the 1981 Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise comedy "The Cannonball Run," the Doctor (portrayed by Jack Elam) musses the chorus in the background during a discussion.

Phantom Planet credits Al Jolson and the writers of "California, Here I Come" for Phantom Planet's song "California", which was used as the theme song to the television series The O.C.. The 2002 song, although not a complete cover, alludes to Jolson's song in its lines "California, here we come / Right back where we started from".

The song is used as the theme song for the California historical travelogue series on PBS, California's Gold, hosted by Huell Howser. On November 9, 2010, Howser released a music video of his performance of "California, Here I Come" on Los Angeles public-television station KCET.

In what is arguably the most ironic appearance of the song in popular culture, in the 2003 Canadian film The Saddest Music in the World, the song is played by the American team in the final round of the competition (against Serbia), by a multicultural orchestra consisting of violins, sitar, and Romanian panpipes.

The song appears in the final episode of Martin, entitled "California, Here We Come," on May 1, 1997, in which Martin and Gina say good-bye to the Motor City for jobs in Los Angeles.

Other appearances

The song was played by the ship's band of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) as the ship steamed from Pearl Harbor to participate in the Battle of Midway. The song may have been intended as a deception, as the severely outnumbered American forces depended on surprise to gain an advantage in the battle. Japanese agents seeing the Yorktown departing would hopefully conclude that it was steaming for the mainland rather than to Midway.^[4]

Richard Nixon, in a set of instructions he left in case he were to die in office, directed that "California, Here I Come" should be played "softly and slowly" at his funeral. When President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan left Washington, D.C. in 1989 to return to Los Angeles, "California, Here I Come" was played as they boarded Air Force One.

It is also featured as the main title theme of the motion picture "Back to Bataan," starring John Wayne and Anthony Quinn. It was the Victory March of the US Sixth Army, which played a major role in the liberation of the Philippine Islands, which is the subject of that film. The Sixth Army, formerly the Army of the Pacific, was based in California with its headquarters at the Presidio near San Francisco.

The fight song of San Francisco State University, the "State Victory Song," is sung to the tune of "California, Here I Come."

The 2010 Pageant of the Masters

The song was sung during the Pageant of the Masters' recreation of Maxine Albro's "California." The Pageant of the Masters makes "living recreations" of art in Laguna Beach every year.

References