Product Description:
Wilson Phillips: Chynna Phillips, Wendy Wilson, Carnie Wilson (vocals).
Additional personnel: Dean Parks (electric guitar, mandolin); Rob Bonfiglio (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore (pedal steel guitar); Jon Gilutin (Hammond b-3 organ); Roger Manning (Mellotron); David Rolfe, Larry Klein (bass guitar); Russ Kunkel (drums, tambourine).
Liner Note Author: Mitchell Cohen.
Recording information: Conway Studios, Los Angeles, California.
As the offspring of 1960s California pop royalty (Beach Boy Brian Wilson, Mamas & Papas' John and Michelle Phillips), female vocal trio Wilson Phillips seems uniquely qualified to turn out a comeback album (after 12 years of silence) featuring covers of L.A.-centric hits from the '60s and '70s. Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good" is ripe for revival, and here it gets a bit of a pumped-up Britney Spears-style treatment. Neil Young's "Old Man" is also the recipient of techno-friendly modernization. The trio's take on the Eagles' "Already Gone" sounds like a natural fit for contemporary-country radio.
Unsurprisingly, the most faithful renditions are the strongest--Joni Mitchell's title cut and the Youngbloods' pacific anthem "Get Together." The girls dig into the catalogs of their parents too, for a "Monday, Monday" that owes more to Sheryl Crow than to the Mamas & the Papas, and a zesty romp through the Beach Boys' "Dance, Dance, Dance." The most affecting moment on CALIFORNIA, though, is the closing track, where Brian Wilson joins his daughters and their pal for a piano-and-vocal version of his classic "In My Room."
Entertainment Reviews:
Q - p.127
3 stars out of 5 - "[T]he song choice is steady...the arrangements innovative and the threesome harmonise as if born to the task. Which, of course, they were."
Mojo (Publisher) - p.114
3 stars out of 5 - "This is the album that Wilson Phillips was always destined to make....They plucked some of Southern California's more defining tunes and gave the songs their own winsome spin."
