Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the lyrics were partly inspired by the band's experiences touring Europe for the first time, detailing an appreciation for women across the world.

Wilson later referred to it as "a hymn to youth", the Beach Boys' "anthem", and his favorite record by the group, although he remained dissatisfied with their vocal performance.

In 2010, the Beach Boys' recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2011, Rolling Stone ranked it number 72 on its list of the greatest songs of all time.

Brian Wilson, according to some accounts, was inspired to write "California Girls" during his first time taking the psychedelic drug LSD,[5] an occasion supervised by his friend Loren Schwartz.

"[13] Session musician Carol Kaye, who played on the recording, credited all the music to Wilson, with the only exception being a bass fill she invented at the end of the bridge section.

[18] After the first chorus, the West Coast is invoked for its "sunshine" and tanned girls, with an additional reference to a "French bikini on Hawaii Island".

"[16] Biographer Mark Dillon wrote that Love's lyrics "show [that he keeps] concert-goers top of mind" and that the "Midwest farmer's daughter" line elicited the greatest applause when the group performed the song live.

[11] "California Girls" begins with an orchestral prelude[21] and contains a similar chord sequence and call-and-response vocal lines as Wilson's previous song "Don't Hurt My Little Sister" from The Beach Boys Today!.

"[23] Musicologist Walter Everett identifies the use of ♭VII — IV in the chorus to suggest a chromaticized major key with minor pentatonic inflections.

"[26] On April 6, 1965, Wilson produced the backing track of "California Girls" (then given the working title "We Don't Know") with a host of session musicians at Western Studio in Hollywood.

Problems had arisen from the tempo and guitar part in the introduction, which fatigued Wilson, engineer Chuck Britz, and the dozen-plus session players.

[11] In his 2016 memoir, Wilson remembered: "When we got into the studio with Chuck, he said that he wanted Carl's twelve-string guitar in the intro to sound more direct.

"[28] According to biographer Peter Ames Carlin, Wilson's father Murry urged Brian to eliminate the orchestral prelude, as he felt that it made the song excessively complex.

[29] "California Girls" was the first Beach Boys recording to feature vocals from Bruce Johnston, who had recently joined the group to substitute for Wilson on concert tours.

[11][31] According to historian Keith Badman, the song had still lacked "a proper title", as Wilson can be heard referring to it as "Yeah, I Dig the Girls" on the session tape.

[33] Cash Box described the single as an "easy-going shuffle which touts the many positive aspects of the Golden Gate state distaffers.

"[36] Record World described it as a "ballad with a beat extolling the Coast female" and called it an "extremely strong item.

In the latter, the group were featured in a humorous sketch with host Jack Benny and comedian Bob Hope, who act as old surfers that are struggling to understand the sport's slang terms.

[40] ["California Girls" was] something I'm very proud of in a sense because it represents the Beach Boys really greatest record production we’ve ever made.

"[43] In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 72 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", where it was described as "tougher than earlier Beach Boys hits, with tightly wound harmonies and an aggressive lead vocal.

[45] Wilson said that the Beatles' song "blew my mind" when he first heard it,[46] although he did not realize that it was a send-up of "California Girls" until the fact was pointed out to him.

[47] Strawberry Alarm Clock, who toured with the Beach Boys in 1966–67, segues into the intro and first line of "California Girls" at the end of their song "Small Package", on their album Good Morning Starshine (1969).

[43] The latter song describes a protagonist who wishes to murder upper-class girls from California with a battle axe, a theme that carried on from Sonic Youth's "Expressway to Yr. Skull" from Evol (1986).

"[54] "California Girls" was covered by David Lee Roth on his 1985 EP Crazy from the Heat (with background vocals by Beach Boy Carl Wilson along with Christopher Cross).

[43] The Federico Fellini-esque music video, directed by Pete Angelus and Roth and inspired by Fellini's Amarcord, was released in January 1985.