Jubilee Train / Do Re Mi / Promised Land
California has the largest population of any of the United States, but this was not always the case. Today, there are roughly 40,000,000 residents of California. In the Spring of 1848, the number of Californians was unknown, but estimates range from roughly 120,000 to 160,000 (for comparison, New York City had nearly 3,000,000 residents at this time). Of the 1848 Californians, over 100,000 were Native Americans, approximately 7,000 were of Spanish or Mexican descent, and less than 1,000 were white.
In 1850, California was admitted to the Union. The U.S. census in 1850 determined that there were 92,597 residents of California. However, Native Americans were not counted in the census. Of the 92,597 folks participating in the census, we know 103 of them were born in Wales and 89 of them were born in Belgium, but we have no idea how many were born in California because Native Americans were not counted. We do know that tens of thousands of Native Americans died in the next few decades, including thousands who were murdered, but the numbers are vague. Because Native Americans were not counted.
We do know that the tens of thousands of people who flooded into California in search of a better life during the initial gold rush started a trend that would continue for over a century. Soon, the number of migrants moving to California would outnumber the native-born Californians, a situation which would last all the way to 2010. From the depression and dust bowl eras, through World War Two, through the Summer of Love, through the Silicon Valley explosion, people would keep moving to California, hoping for something better. Over the years, California became a land of migrants, many running from something as much as towards something. For over a century, California, at least the idea of California, has become a promised land for the ambitious, the hopeful, and the dispossessed.
Musicians like to write songs about mythical places, and there are few places more mythical in the American landscape than California. Hence, there is no shortage of songs about California, and more specifically about moving to California. Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, a Brit, sang about “Going to California” with an achin’ in his heart. The Mamas and the Papas (only one quarter native Californian) did some “California Dreamin’,” wishing to escape from brutal winter weather and head for the safe warmth of Los Angeles. Joni Mitchell’s “California” features Joni in a park in Paris, France, wanting to come home to California. Joni Mitchell grew up in Saskatchewan by the way (for U.S. readers- Saskatchewan is not in California).
There are presumably lots of reasons to move to California. In songs about the state, the weather comes up often, as does the pursuit of Hollywood fame and fortune. Listen to West Coast rap, and you’ll be informed about easy access to copious amounts of high-quality marijuana, even pre-legalization. California likes to party, as Tupac pointed out. But if there’s one thing that songwriters across time and genres can agree on, one giant magnet pulling potential migrants towards the Pacific Coast, it’s the girls. What do the Beach Boys, David Lee Roth and Katy Perry all have in common? California girls of course. (It should be made clear in 2022 that when music artists sing about California girls, they mean women. When Jim Morrison asked where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalow, he was referring to women. It’s right there in the name of the song officer: “L.A. Woman.”)
Though most California songs focus on the promise and bounty of the Golden State, occasionally musicians do point out drawbacks. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have devoted a good portion of their catalog to songs involving California, frequently touch on the seedy side of their Los Angeles home. L.A.’s darker underbelly is referenced in the massive hits “Under the Bridge” and “Californication.” Perhaps no one was more aware of the pitfalls of California than savvy rappers from New York City. In two different songs that share the same name, “Going Back to Cali,” The Notorious B.I.G. presents California as a nice spot (but he wouldn’t want to live there), while LL Cool J seems on the fence about whether Cali is even worth a return visit.
It should be noted that once you’ve moved to California, escape may be difficult. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. Just listen to John Craigie’s bittersweet, romantic ode to his former home, “I Am California.” You can take Craigie out of California, but not vice versa.
One of the greatest musical odes to California comes from Dave Alvin, a man well versed in his subject. Alvin, a SoCal native, is a California-music historian of sorts with a diverse musical background. He helped form the rockabilly-tinged outfit The Blasters with his brother Phil, and briefly held the lead guitar chair in legendary Los Angeles-based rock band X. Since the late 1980’s, Alvin has gone his own direction as a solo artist. He has mellowed out a bit over the years, often playing “Americana” music. In 2006, Alvin released an album, “West of the West,” a tribute to Californian songwriters.
This week’s SOTW is a medley of Alvin’s own “Jubilee Train,” Woody Guthrie’s “Do Re Mi,” and Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land,” recorded on May 30th or June 1st of 1996 in Austin, Texas, at the Continental Club. The medley is featured on a live album, Interstate City. That is not the Continental Club pictured on the live album cover. The Continental Club is still standing; I had plans to visit just last year in fact. However, given the quality of the performance on this recording, it would not surprise me if the Continental Club and other venues like it were metaphorically destroyed from a visit by Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men on their 1996 tour.
Fellow Californian and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter once remarked on the Grateful Dead’s cowboy songs like “Brown Eyed Women” and “Jack Straw,” stating the goal was to one day have the Dead songs mix in with much older songs from the same canon, hoping the listener might think the Dead’s songs came from an earlier time. I believe Alvin may had a similar goal in “Jubilee Train,” the first song of this medley, which touches on the Great Depression and FDR’s New Deal. Alvin originally recorded and released “Jubilee Train” in 1987. Part two of the medley is the Woody Guthrie classic “Do Re Mi,” a sing along that serves as a warning for dust bowl migrants. The song first appeared on album in 1940. For the record, not much has changed regarding the “Do;” California remains one of the most expensive places to live in the world. The final song of the medley is Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land,” an upbeat tale about someone trying their best to get to California from the East Coast, with some help from friends and family, using various forms of transportation. The melody of “Promised Land” was ripped off from “Wabash Cannonball,” an old American folk song. Chuck wasn’t the only one to rip off the melody. Woody Guthrie also stole the melody and used it in “Grand Coulee Dam.” Dave Alvin was aware of this theft I’m guessing.
The Interstate City recording of this medley never ceases to amaze me. The band is stellar, and extremely tight. The medley moves forward with the power of a freight train, twice slowing to climb a hill before descending back down again full speed. The rendition is a masterclass in dynamics. In a single live performance, the band switches from an electric sound to an acoustic, then back to electric again. This feat is accomplished in no small part thanks to Greg Leisz (an absolute monster of a musician, look him up and check out who he’s played with). Leisz switches from pedal steel to mandolin and then back to pedal steel again.
I’m not sure where the power of this performance comes from. It almost sounds as if the musicians are speeding across the land, trying to make it to the coast. Maybe it’s all that guilt. Whatever they’re guilty of (other than destroying small music clubs) I’m grateful that I can experience their musical journey. Thank you, Dave Alvin and company, for the visceral experience. Thank you, California, for the mythic inspiration.
8.11.22