The Concept of California
My mix of songs about California, as it currently looks. Please suggest any songs that you think I should add.
posted by Charles P. Everitt at 7:19 AM
Saturday, December 09, 2006
My mix of songs about California, as it currently looks. Please suggest any songs that you think I should add.
12 Comments:
Going to California, Led Zeppelin
And I would think there would be a song by Dick Dale with "California" in the title, but I'm drawing a blank. And, of course, it's Dick Dale.
that ll cool j song -- is it just called "going back to cali"
california stars (billy bragg)
California Love, Tupac feat. Dr. Dre
Like PJ and Chauncey, I find the list oddly weak on hip-hop. What about Ronnie Hudson, "West Coast Pop Lock"?
I appreciate the suggestions. The lack of rap songs is best explained not by some sort of latent racism on my part, but, rather, by my goal of making a mix of songs about California that sets a certain sort of mood, in which the songs flow into another with a certain sort of organic fluidity. I think I'm going to make a separate mix of jazz, R&B, and rap songs about California. I know that smacks of segregation, but I think it would simply sound better. I can't imagine where I would put LL's "Goin' Back to Cali" on the mix above, for instance. (And I love "Goin' Back to Cali", I even watched "Less Than Zero" partly because of it.)
Any (other) suggestions for a jazz, R&B, and rap mix about California/LA? Here's one off the top of my head:
WC and the Maad Circle: West Up!
And here's one I'm not going to include: that Biggie song that samples "More Bounce to the Ounce" . Not because it's horrible. Just because it's mediocre, and Biggie's better than that.
For the longing for the east cost hip-hop mix, I nominate Nas's New York State Mind.
I have a question:
Would it be possible to generate a mix of even half a dozen songs about Washington, D.C.? Off the top of my head I can only think of the rather poor "washington, d.c." by the Magnetic Fields.
Good question. DC's contribution to the world of music has always been rather slim (aside from former DC-ites like Duke Ellington, who made their musical impact after they left DC). As for songs about DC, all I can think of offhand is Parliament's "Chocolate City".
the move's "california man"
"DC's contribution to the world of music has always been rather slim"?!?!?! are you nuts? bad brains, minor threat, scream, gray matter, rites of spring, dag nasty, fugazi, shudder to think, jawbox, girls against boys, dismemberment plan, damnation AD, pg.99, good clean fun, frodus, trans am, darkest hour, the evens, thievery corporation!!
Your comment about DC's contribution to the world of music is self-refuting.
I wasn't saying it was non-existent. I was saying it's rather slim. And then you offered up Thievery Corporation as a response. Why don't you add Fort Knox Five to your list? Do you think that would support or undermine your response?
My point wasn't just about the lack of a great artists who made music while still in DC (with a few notable exceptions, like Ian MacKaye). It was about the fact that unlike places like New York, Los Angeles, and California, DC as as a place in our imagination hasn't been explored musically in song. That might be because of a lack of great musicians making music in DC, or it might be because the idea of DC isn't very inspirational musically. Notice that many of these songs about California aren't by Californians. They're by non-Californians dreaming about California.
Anyway, I now have an improved version of my mixtape about the concept of California. Here it is.
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