California, Here I Come

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Name = California, Here I Come


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Artist = Al Jolson
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Released = 1924
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Recorded = 1924
Genre = Pop standard
Length = 2:26
Writer = Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Meyer
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Label = Brunswick [http://www.jolson.org/works/studio/disco/bwick1.html Al Jolson Society]
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"California, Here I Come" is a studio recording by Al Jolson. It was recorded in 1924 and was soon added to the Broadway musical Bombo during the show's run. The song was written by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Meyer, with Jolson often listed as a co-author. It is often called the unofficial state song of California.

tate song

Several attempts had been 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. [http://www.library.ca.gov/history/symbols.html#Heading8 California State Library]

Appearances in popular culture

The song, often as an instrumental version, frequently appeared in Warner Bros. Cartoons. The song often accompanies a character's hasty or spontaneous departure, such as in the 1946 cartoon "Hair-Raising Hare".

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. (It should be noted that Frawley began his career as a vaudeville performer and the style may have been his own, rather than Jolson's.Fact|date=May 2008) Still images of the famous scene, which have been popularized in posters and greeting card, 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.

"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.

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, California's Gold.

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.

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. [Walter Lord, 1967, "Incredible Victory", P.39, Burford, ISBN 1-58080-059-9]

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.Fact|date=May 2008 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 the Presidential Jet.

References