Music of California
In the United States, California is commonly associated with the film, music, and arts industries; there are numerous world-famous Californian musicians. New genres of music, such as surf rock and third wave ska, have their origins in California.
Official state symbols
The official state song of California is "I Love You, California", written by F. B. Silverwood and composed by Alfred F. Frankenstein of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. It was designated the state song in 1951. Other songs, including "California, Here I Come", have also been candidates for additional state songs since 1951, but in 1988 the official standing of "I Love You, California" was confirmed.California also has an official fife and drum band, the California Consolidated Drum Band, which was so designated in 1997.
The state's official folk dance is the square dance, which has been found in California since at least the Gold Rush.
Indigenous music
Many groups of Indigenous peoples of California lived and continue to live within the current geographic boundaries of California, before and since colonization by Europe.In the late 19th century, American Indian music began to be incorporated by classical composers throughout the country, known as the Indianist movement. In San Francisco, Carlos Troyer published compositions like Apache Chief Geronimo's Own Medicine song, with a piano accompaniment by Troyer.
Early foreign influences
The earliest Spanish and English explorers in California encountered Native Americans and established missions to convert them to Christianity. Chanted prayers and hymns were often used, and choirs were eventually formed; many missions formed Native American choirs among recent converts.As California's European, Asian, and African population increased in the 19th century, the state became the earliest West Coast territory admitted to the United States. As on the East Coast, music at the time was dominated by popular minstrel shows and the sale of sheet music. Performers included the Sacramento-born Hyers Sisters and Black Patti.
Chinese immigrants came to California to work on the transcontinental railroad and soon became a large minority in the state; the San Francisco Chinese Opera House was built in 1880. However, two years later the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in order to prevent more immigration. The visit of King Kalakaua of Hawaii in 1874 saw the Hawaiian national anthem, "Hawaii Ponoi" set to music by Henri Berger. In the 1880s, Carlos Troyer became a prominent composer, incorporating Spanish and Zuni influences. Polish composer Anton de Kontski's "Polish Patrol" and "Awakening the Lion" were also quite popular.
Spanish and Mexican influence
The state's large Mexican population brought traditional folk guitar to California, including virtuoso Luis T. Romero. The Spanish missions in California brought European music to the area. From the late 18th century to the late 19th century, many visitors to California remarked on the uniqueness of the Spanish language music in California. This music was distinctively Californian, different from both Mexican and Spanish music of the time.With the arrival of many Americans from the East Coast, as well as immigrants from as far away as China, however, Spanish folk music began to dwindle in popularity in California. Charles Fletcher Lummis, himself an immigrant to California, recorded many kinds of Spanish and Native American folk music for the Southwest Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. Later in the 20th century, other revivalists like Gabriel Eulogius Ruiz and Al Pill helped keep Spanish-California traditions alive.
Mexican and Latin American music in California today
Because of its historical and cultural connections to Mexico and strong Hispanic influences, California hosts numerous Spanish language radio stations, variety music shows and local based Mariachi and Mexican folk music bands. Popular music such as Ranchera, Norteño, son music can be heard on many radio stations across the state from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento to the southern end of the Central Valley and down to San Diego.Southern California has been home to Spanish language singers and musicians for over 100 years. La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley has worked promote Salsa and traditional Latin American music to encourage a strong cultural connection between Californians and Latin Americans.
Mexican American musical artists from California vary widely in musical genre, from traditional Mexican music to Alternative Metal; among the most celebrated are Zack de la Rocha, Chris Montez, Chino Moreno, Ozomatli, Jenni Rivera, Los Tigres del Norte, Robert Trujillo, La Santa Cecilia, Carlos Santana, and Ritchie Valens.
1930s and 1940s
, an ethnographer from San Francisco, collected a trove of American folk songs for the WPA Northern California Folk Music Project, which she initiated.West Coast blues
Western swing
1950s and 1960s
Bakersfield sound
In the 1950s and early 1960s, country music was dominated by the slick Nashville sound that stripped the genre of its gritty roots. The town of Bakersfield saw the rise of the Bakersfield sound as a reaction against Nashville, led by people such as Buck Owens and future star Merle Haggard.Folk
California was an important part of the American folk music revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s, led by the San Francisco Bay Area group the Kingston Trio. Their first hit, the 1958 single "Tom Dooley", sold more than 3 million copies and inspired the addition of a "folk" category to the Grammy awards the following year. The Trio's success inspired many pop-folk groups, including California-based The Limeliters. California venues like the Hungry i promoted the genre and several major albums were recorded there. Folk music faded in popularity after the mid-1960s British Invasion, but merged with the British sound to create folk rock, pioneered by the Los Angeles band the Byrds.R&B
group the Robins formed in San Francisco and helped establish the doo-wop sound. Members of the Robins went on to form the Coasters in Los Angeles, alongside the Platters, the Penguins, the Flairs, the Cadets, the Hollywood Flames, and the Blossoms. Johnny Otis was born in Vallejo. Etta James was born in Los Angeles.Chicano rock
artists Ritchie Valens, the Champs, Cannibal & the Headhunters, thee Midniters, the Premiers, the Blendells, and El Chicano emerged from southern California in this period.Pop
Vocal group the Lennon Sisters formed in Venice.The Walker Brothers, formed in Los Angeles in 1964, achieved success in the United Kingdom during the British Invasion.
Surf rock, sunshine pop, and the California Sound
In the early 1960s, youth in southern California became enamored with surf rock groups, many instrumental, like the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, the Chantays, Royale Monarchs, the Honeys, the Bel-Airs, the Challengers, and the Surfaris. Surf rock is said to have been invented by Dick Dale with his 1961 album Let's Go Trippin'. Surf rock's popularity ended in the mid-1960s with the coming of psychedelic music, however bands like Papa Doo Run Run have continued to perform and tour for the last 40 years.Garage rock
, the Seeds, the Leaves, and the Music Machine formed in the Los Angeles area. Count Five, Syndicate of Sound, and the Chocolate Watchband formed in San Jose.Psychedelic rock
The late 1960s saw San Francisco rise as the center for psychedelic rock and a mecca for hippies. Haight-Ashbury became a countercultural capital, and bands like Jefferson Airplane, Loading Zone, Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Ace of Cups, Country Joe and the Fish, Santana, the Charlatans, Big Brother & the Holding Company, and the Grateful Dead helped to launch the blues- and folk-rock scene; other bands, like Moby Grape and the Flamin' Groovies used a more country-influenced sound, while Cold Blood and Sons of Champlin incorporated R&B and Orkustra played a sort of free-form psychedelia. Of all these bands, the Grateful Dead were undoubtedly the longest-lasting of all. They continued recording and performing for several decades under the leadership of Jerry Garcia, experimenting with a wide variety of folk, country, and bluegrass, and becoming a part of the jam band phenomenon.Hollywood's Sunset Strip area produced bands like the Byrds, the Doors, Love, Buffalo Springfield, Strawberry Alarm Clock, and the Seeds. The Byrds went on to become a major folk-rock act, helping to popularize some of Bob Dylan's compositions and eventually launching the careers of folk-rockers like David Crosby and country-rock fusionist Gram Parsons.
Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, both from Antelope Valley, started their aggressively experimental music careers during the late 1960s.
The band Iron Butterfly is another noted California psychedelic band, coming out of San Diego.