Released: 1969
What makes a version of an often recorded song the version? The obvious answer is many things, ignoring the frightening degrees of subjectivity with which every human mind treats music. In commercial or popular terms these reasons can vary between the fame of the artist set aside from the song itself; fate, fashion and fandom are also contributing ingredients.
Born in New York, Marlena Shaw was performing at Harlem’s world famous Apollo Theater at the age of ten, before arriving via a circuitous route at the Chess label in 1966, then releasing her first two albums on their Cadet imprint. California Soul had originally been written by Nick Simpson of the writing duo Ashford & Simpson and was released by him before being covered – in the process scoring a hit – by The 5th Dimension in 1968.
The track was already in effect second hand goods by the time Shaw got around to it the following year, but her rendering has since undoubtedly become the most recognised. Riding in on sunstruck brass and strings, her jazz trained voice gave it a Wall-of-Sound effect, a honky-tonking piano and gospel handclaps layering through the beach and good time vibes in equal measure. Having turned a good number into a classic, there was no denying the sprinkling of magic that had made this California Soul the one everybody needed.
The Voice Of Unreason 
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