California

by Joni Mitchell

Footnotes

Photographer Karl Ferris writes "This photo was taken in Ibiza, Spain in summer 1970. Joni contacted me on the recommendation of my friend Graham Nash. I took her to 'a party down a red dirt road, where there were people, reading Rolling Stone reading Vogue'. The party was at Jann Wenner's house. Joni played dulcimer and sang. It was a very blissful afternoon and also Nico dropped by!" Joni is holding top fashion model Willy Van Rooy's son Alejandro. The person painting is Willy's husband Salvador.

Transcriptions of California

• Guitar chords by Harlan Thompson
• Guitar chords by Howard Wright
• Dulcimer tablature by Howard Wright
• Guitar tablature by Tom Morris

California has been recorded by 60 other artists

• Aish (from "Digital Single" - 2017)
• Antonioli, Laurie (from "Songs of Shadow, Songs of Light " - 2014)
• Arc Iris (from "Foggy Lullaby" - 2018)
• Baker, Cheryl  (from "Cheryl Sings Joni" - 2017)
• Beier, Tara (from "Her Story" - 2022)
• Big Yellow Taxi (from "Unknown And Famous Songs Of Joni Mitchell" - 2006)
• Blue Tapestry (from "Blue Tapestry" - 2002)
• Clark, Merideth Kaye (from "Blue" - 2016)
• Colin Steele Quartet (from "Joni: Jazz Interpretations of the Joni Mitchell Songbook" - 2020)
• Dee, Charlie (from "A Tribute To Joni Mitchell Live At Kriterion" - 2009)
• Duell, Olivia (- 2012)
• Eden, Joanna (from "Joni & Me" - 2016)
• Elsmore, Theresa (- 2008)
• ENiid (from "A Celebration of Joni Mitchell; songs by & for her + stories" - 2015)
• Fleishman, Eve (from "Atmospheric Epic" - 2017)
• Flowers, Misty (- 2014)
• Green, Alexa (from "So Good" - 2016)
• Guillou, Jaclyn  (from "To The City" - 2011)
• Hall, Kira (from "Not So Blue: Kira Sings Joni " - 2016)
• Hench (from "December 2021: Joni Mitchell" - 2022)
• James, Morgan (from "Blue" - 2016)
• Jones, Caroline (- 2020)
• Jordan, Gaby (from "Two For the Road" - 2002)
• June Milo et Antoine Laudière  (- 2020)
• Konkova, Olga (from "Improvisational Four" - 2009)
• Lavington, Victoria  (from "Joni Mitchell's Blue: a 40th Anniversary Celebration" - 2012)
• Lewis, Jessica (- 2013)
• Linka, Rudy (from "Simple Pleasures" - 2002)
• Maggie Hollinbeck & Graham Sobelman (from "Another Shade Of Blue" - 2014)
• maggy (from "clown for hire" - 2019)
• Marianne Trudel / Karen Young (from "Portraits:Songs of Joni Mitchell" - 2018)
• Mikkeline, Tomine  (from "Joni" - 2023)
• Napkin Trio (from "Napkin Trio Plays Joni" - 2017)
• Neuburg, Amy X  (from "UnderCover, Faultline Studios and Kalx Present: Joni Mitchell's Blue" - 2012)
• Noonan, Katie (from "Joni Mitchell's Blue" - 2023)
• Otero, Florencia (from "Nocturno Mundo (Músicas de Joni Mitchell)" - 2012)
• Parrish, Chantry  (- 2006)
• Pérez, Marta  (from "We Started A Joke (2016-2021) - A Miraculous Celebration" - 2021)
• Robin Adler & Mutts of the Planet (from "Joni Mitchell's Blue & Court And Spark - Live At Dizzy's" - 2011)
• Rodriguez, Raquel (- 2013)
• Rose, Trelawny (from "Shed A Little Light" - 2013)
• Sandbloom, Kevin (from "Sandbloom Still Blue" - 2011)
• Santing, Mathilde (from "Both Sides Now" - 2016)
• Skinner, Belle (from "Belle-Skinner Sings Joni Mitchell Live" - 2022)
• Skout  (- 2017)
• Smith, Sara (from "A Tribute To Joni Mitchell" - 1974)
• Stubbert, Sandy (from "Kick The Moon" - 1998)
• Sunaga t experience and J.Lamotta Suzume (from "Re Blue" - 2022)
• Takada, Ren (from "Lullaby" - 2002)
• Takada, Ren (from "Ballads - anthology of early years" - 2007)
• The Clancye Milne Octet (from " Rodgers & Hart - Gershwin - Joni Mitchell" - 2017)
• The Harmony Keepers (from "A Tribute To Our Lady Of The Canyon" - 2023)
• The Joni Mitchell Project (from "Shades of Blue" - 2023)
• The Masters School Jazz Band (from "Joni Mitchell Blue" - 2020)
• The Steve Klink Trio (from "Places To Come From, Places To Go" - 2002)
• Thomas, Joshua (from "A Tribute to Joni Mitchell's 'Blue' & 'Hejira'" - 2015)
• Troper, Mo (from "Digital Single" - 2018)
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star (from "Lullaby Versions of Joni Mitchell" - 2021)
• Wee Gee (from "California" - 1980)
• Wilson Phillips (from "California" - 2004)
• [more information on recordings by other artists]

Comments:

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woodstock on 2015-Sep-24 at 15:42:07 GMT-5: 

I think you're right, that when she said "I'll even kiss a Sunset pig", she was talking about a cop on Sunset Blvd which is right down the street from Laural Canyon where she and her hippie friends like Cosby,Stills and Nash,Cass Elliot and all lived. Young people called cops pigs in those days because the cops always broke up their parties and protests on Sunset Blvd.

sixtiessurvivor on 2013-Apr-03 at 13:44:05 GMT-5: 

When I first heard this at college in California in the 70's, I was pretty sure that Sunset Pig meant a policeman who worked on Sunset Blvd. Policemen weren't generally popular, since they were seen as repressive "tools of the establishment". She would have been real homesick to be glad enough to kiss a Sunset pig.

60'sSkip on 2011-Jul-21 at 19:48:05 GMT-5: 

ginjeanie - It's one of my favorites too but I never really thought about the pig. I always thought it was like someone sayin' "I'd crawl over broken glass on my hands and knees to (insert whatever)". In other words she'd be so happy to get back to California she'd be willing to kiss a pig. And, of course, I always assumed a "Sunset Pig" referred to Sunset Blvd, nothing to do with the orange orb in the sky; just another way to say a California pig.

ginjeanie on 2011-May-30 at 19:07:37 GMT-5: 

I absolutely adore this song and I'm wondering if anyone can enlighten me to the meaning of what a sunset pig might refer to ?