Song of the Day 1/28: The Rivieras, “California Sun”

Guest post by Nathan Arizona

In these times of snow and ice, thoughts naturally turn to the warm California sun. We’re not there, but there’s a song for that, “California Sun” by the Rivieras. The relentless, hooky, surf-rock influenced song has been sparking a California mood since 1964.

But the Rivieras weren’t in California either. When they recorded “California Sun” they had never even been there. The closest beach to their home in South Bend, Ind., was next to Lake Michigan. When they went a few miles up the road to record it in Chicago, still no palm trees and the same Great Lake.

The record cover gave it away. The trees behind them had bare limbs and the ground looked more like dirt with a few weeds than sand. They were assembled around a car, but not some kind of cool California sports model. It’s a Buick Riviera, the model the band named itself after. Chicago columnist Bob Green pointed out that if you look hard you can see it has an Illinois license plate.

The singer looked to California for lessons on being cool. “They twist and I’ll twist/They shimmy and I’ll shimmy . . . .They’re out there havin’ fun/In that warm California sun.”

“California Sun” had been written a few years earlier and recorded at a slower pace by an R&B singer; it went nowhere. The Rivieras were playing it at sock hops and decided to make their own record. They knew what to do with it.

It was big hit then and has never lost its luster. It’s no surprise the Ramones practically made it their own. Bruce Springsteen turned it into one of his rousing concert performances.

But the Rivieras were not the kind of guys to use it as stepping stone. One of them went on to manage a furniture store. Another became a pipe fitter. They did finally visit California, but they never did a show there.

Here are the Rivieras with a song to stir your blood and warm you up.

The Ramones put the song on several albums including anthologies and used it in their movie “Rock ’n’ Roll High School.” This is great concert performance from a band starting to make a splash.

Like so many others, Bruce Springsteen had a lot of fun with it.