[8][9] It was certified three-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in June 2023[10] and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.

[13] At the time, John and Michelle Phillips were members of the folk group the New Journeymen, which evolved into the Mamas and the Papas.

In thanks to Adler, they sang the backing vocals to "California Dreamin'", with members of the session band The Wrecking Crew,[14] on McGuire's album This Precious Time.

[16] McGuire's original vocal can be briefly heard on the left channel at the beginning of the record, having not been completely erased.

"[24] The song is used repeatedly in the 1994 Hong Kong film Chungking Express as a central plot point[25] and a cover by the Beach Boys was used on season 4 of Stranger Things.

56 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their remake of "California Dreamin'" which was the first studio recording by America as the duo of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell without third founding member Dan Peek, who had departed the group in 1977.

Bunnell – who sang lead – and Beckley – who sang background – self-produced the track which featured America's touring musicians: David Dickey, drummer Willie Leacox, guitarist Michael Woods, percussionist Tom Walsh, and Jim Calire who played keyboards and also saxophone.

[44][45][46][47] The recording of "California Dreamin'" by America was specifically made to play under the closing credits of the American International Pictures (AIP) movie release California Dreaming[48] which had been shot in the final months of 1977 for release in the summer of 1978 although the movie was held back from wide release until March 16, 1979[49] with America recording the song "California Dreamin'" in the autumn of 1978:[50] Beckley and Bunnell agreed to record the song after being (at least partially) shown the movie – (Gerry Beckley quote:) "We liked what we saw"[42] – and the track was recorded at Studio 55 (Hollywood): (Gerry Beckley quote:) "We did it more as a rock thing [compared to the original], [with] a full sound but reliant on the harmonies.

However the publicity inherent in the film's release was evidently enough to afford minor hit status to America's soundtrack item (heard in the film's trailer, America's "California Dreamin'" was also cited in the movie's poster), and despite its lowly chart peak, America's "California Dreamin'" remake was more successful than any of their first five Capitol single releases, none of which ranked in the Hot 100 (the band's sixth Capitol single release, "You Can Do Magic" in 1982 afforded the band a sole latter-day top ten hit).

[62] The Beach Boys unknown – bass, drums, acoustic lead guitar, synthesizer Credits sourced from Disco GS and Allmusic guide.

The song was the A-side of a single which became a big hit when radio stations started to play the B-side with his cover of "Light My Fire", which reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was popular in many other countries around the world.

(gold status in 1968), and was heard in a key sequence in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and is included on its soundtrack.