Jump to content

California Dreaming (Wes Montgomery album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
California Dreaming
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 1967[1]
RecordedSeptember 14 – 16, 1966
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
GenreJazz
Length38:40
LabelVerve
ProducerCreed Taylor
Wes Montgomery chronology
Goin' Out of My Head
(1965)
California Dreaming
(1967)
Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo
(1966)

California Dreaming is an album by the jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1967. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard magazine jazz album chart and No. 4 on the R&B chart. It was reissued on CD in 2007 with an alternate take of "Sunny".

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[4]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[3]

In his review for AllMusic, jazz critic Scott Yanow wrote: "The material is strictly pop fluff of the era and the great guitarist has little opportunity to do much other than state the melody in his trademark octaves. This record was perfect for AM radio of the period."[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote that, despite starting with a recent pop hit, the album allowed some glimpses of Montgomery’s jazz playing.[4]

Track listing

[edit]
  1. "California Dreaming" (John Phillips, Michelle Phillips) – 3:08
  2. "Sun Down" (Wes Montgomery) – 6:03
  3. "Oh, You Crazy Moon" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) – 3:44
  4. "More, More, Amor" (Sol Lake) – 2:54
  5. "Without You" (Rinaldo Marino, Walter Myers) – 3:05
  6. "Winds of Barcelona" (Lake) – 3:07
  7. "Sunny [alternate take]" (Bobby Hebb) – 3:07
  8. "Sunny" (Hebb) – 4:04
  9. "Green Peppers" (Lake) – 2:56
  10. "Mr. Walker" (Montgomery) – 3:39
  11. "South of the Border" (Jimmy Kennedy, Michael Carr) – 3:13

Personnel

[edit]

Production:

  • Creed Taylor – producer
  • Don Sebesky – arranger, conductor
  • Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
  • Gert Van Hoeyen – remastering
  • Dennis Drake – remastering
  • Ken Whitmore – cover photo, photography

Chart positions

[edit]
Year Chart Position
1967 Billboard Jazz Albums 1
Billboard R&B Albums 4
The Billboard 200 65

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Billboard". March 11, 1967.
  2. ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "California Dreaming > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  3. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 147. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  4. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1028. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.