Led Zeppelin – Going To California

This song was included on possibly their best album…Led Zeppelin 4 or Zoso… whichever name you know it by. It was released in 1971, which I think was the best year for rock albums. A few weeks before this album, The Who released their huge album Who’s Next.

Led_Zeppelin 4

I liked that they switched gears in this song and kept it a ballad. Plant has often mentioned that part of the song was a tribute to Joni Mitchell, whom he and Page admired. Her song California also inspired this song.

Zeppelin recorded this album at Headley Grange. It is an old, remote mansion in Hampshire, England, and they recorded there frequently. The informal, relaxed atmosphere helped the band focus and be creative.

They used a mobile recording studio, the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, which allowed them to record in various parts of the mansion, capturing different acoustics. Page has talked about recording Bonham underneath a staircase for the sound quality. For this song, however…it was recorded in Headley Grange’s lawn outside in the grass.

Bonham didn’t play on this one and Page played a 6-string and 12-string acoustic guitar. John Paul Jones plays the mandolin on it. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page wrote this song…it’s a great album track.

The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard 200, Canada, and the UK in 1971.

Going To California

Spent my days with a woman unkind
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine
Made up my mind to make a new start
Going to California with an aching in my heart
Someone told me there’s a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair

Took my chances on a big jet plane
Never let ’em tell you that they’re all the same
Oh, the sea was red and the sky was grey
Wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today
The mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake
As the children of the sun began to awake
Watch out

Seems that the wrath of the gods
Got a punch on the nose and it started to flow
I think I might be sinking
Throw me a line, if I reach it in time
I’ll meet you up there where the path runs straight and high

To find a queen without a king
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings
La la la la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin’ to find a woman who’s never, never, never been born
Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams
Telling myself it’s not as hard, hard, hard as it seems, mmm, ah

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

35 thoughts on “Led Zeppelin – Going To California”

  2. I have heard this album and song a million times but never knew that it was tribute to a Canuck! I love how this albums slams at times in heavy rock yet they can dial it back with a tune like ‘Going to California’. They were brilliant at doing that …

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  5. One I’ve always quite liked. I had no idea Joni was part of the inspiration for it. To me they were at their best when they stretched their boundaries a little (as on this) and didn’t just thrash out the early-style metal.

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  6. It never crossed my mind this may be a Joni tribute / inspired song.

    This is what’s so cool about Led Zeppelin – they do ‘folk’ and ballad type songs in way even wee punks like me appreciate. I have seven LPs by the band and I can’t think of any one track I’ll skip over.They kicked ass with the best, but could also take the listener on a soft ride into another world (they always conjured up a Lord of the Rings type imagery & vibe for me. )

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  7. Pretty much the perfect album, and you are right to highlight this track as a great ballad. I also like The Battle of Evermore on there, another acoustic track where RP duets with Sandy Denny.

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  10. This is the other side of the loud heavy hitters. It’s surprisingly open, even vulnerable. The last line in particular feels pretty raw and frayed.

    I think the best of hard rocking bands show themselves to be more than one dimensional over their careers, revealing a caring quieter side. Stones, Kiss, these guys, Motorhead… OK, maybe not Lemmy. No, positively NOT Lemmy!

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    1. I agree…it helps to slip in a….well not always ballad…but something on the softer side. No one did soft/heavy as well as Zeppelin.
      Oh NOT NOT NOT Lemmy! I think Lemmy and AC/DC get a free pass!

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    1. That is me as well. I love the soft/heavy aspect of their work…sometimes in the same song like Over The Hills and Far Away and of course Stairway to Heaven.

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  12. Max, Zep is up there with the rest of the greats. Love the first video, their brilliance shines in it. The way the instruments and Plant’s voice mesh gives me the chills. The lyrics feel holy.

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  13. Page actually looked like he was enjoying himself playing this one. You will never find sexier musicians than Plant and Page at this time. I can only imagine the # of groupies following them.

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  14. I guess if I could only pick one Led Zeppelin album, it would be this one. Part of the reason may surprise you. As you may recall, I’ve frequently criticized Zep for taking from other artists with giving credit. “Stairway to Heaven”, which clearly borrowed from Spirit’s “Taurus,” is a prime example. Yet, there’s more to Stairway than the opening acoustic guitar arpeggio; in fact, Stairway has become and still is my favorite rock song of all time. “Black”, “Rock & Roll”, “Battle of Evermore” and “When the Levee Breaks” are other gems on that truly extraordinary album.

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    1. I would probably take Physical Graffiti because it’s so broad or Houses of The Holy….but as far as quality….this is probably their best album. Misty Mountain Hop is the one I really like the best off of here…something about it.

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