"California Dreamin' "– In memory of the 60s

I was born in Peru and studied in the United States. I served in the United States military and was stationed in Germany. Coincidentally, I was in the same battalion that Elvis Presley had served in years before.

I was stationed for three years in southern Germany on a military base in Crailsheim. I had just turned 19 and at the time I was really into American folk music. Two of the most meaningful songs for me were: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Paul Simon and "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and the Papas. I was also a big fan of the American folk singers Joan Baez and Judy Collins. Every time I hear this music it makes me think back to the 60s and dream of Germany.

Sent by: Jorge from the USA
Edited by: Jeanette Müller

The Mamas and the Papas were a group with four members whose hit song "California Dreamin'" still embodies the spirit of the Summer of Love in 1968. "Bridge over Troubled Water" on the other hand is a folk ballad that was written in 1970 by Paul Simon and was released as the title track on the final album by Simon and Garfunkel, a folk-rock collaboration with fellow folk musician Art Garfunkel. Folk music in the 1960s was a reinterpretation of traditional American musical genres arranged in a new way.