"California Nights" is a song written by

Marvin Hamlisch Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. He is one of a handful of people to win Emmy Awards, Emmy, Grammy Awards, Grammy, Academy Awards, Oscar, and Tony Awards, Tony awards, a feat ...

and Howard Liebling and recorded by

Lesley Gore Lesley Gore (born Lesley Sue Goldstein, May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. At the age of 16, she recorded her first hit song " It's My Party", a US number one in 1963. She follow ...

. The song appeared on her 1967 album, '' California Nights''.

Composition

The song was produced by

Bob Crewe Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons. As a songw ...

and arranged by Hutch Davie. The track features guitars and drum set in a 1960s pop fashion. The chorus includes multiples long tones over abnormal chords and the verses are noticeably accompanied by a soft electric piano. The lyrics speak of reminiscing about romantic evenings on the beach with a lover. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described the song as a "production rhythm ballad with groovy dance beat and strong vocal work has the hit ingredients to put Miss Gore back up the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

Commercial performance

The single peaked at number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in March 1967 but stayed on the chart for a then-lengthy 14 weeks, ranking 61 in the year-end Top 100. It was Gore's final Top Forty hit.

Use in media

An edit of the song (removing the second verse and refrain) was lip-synced by Gore on the January 19, 1967 episode of the TV series ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'', "That Darn

Catwoman Catwoman is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, she debuted as "the Cat" in ''Batman (comic book), Batman'' #1 (spring 1940). She has become one of the superhero Batman' ...

". She played Pussycat, the Catwoman's protégé, who also wanted to be a singer.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

released an instrumental version of the song on his 1967 album, '' A Day in the Life''. * Four King Cousins released a version of the song on their 1968 album, ''Introducing the Four King Cousins''.Four King Cousins, ''Introducing the Four King Cousins''
Retrieved January 30, 2014

References

1960s ballads 1967 songs 1967 singles 1973 singles Lesley Gore songs Songs written by Marvin Hamlisch Song recordings produced by Bob Crewe Mercury Records singles Songs about California {{1960s-pop-song-stub