California Son

California Son is the twelfth solo studio album by English singer Morrissey. Released on 24 May 2019 on the singer's label étienne and licensed on BMG, the album is a collection of cover versions. The single "Wedding Bell Blues", initially written and sung by Laura Nyro in 1966, featured Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day on backing vocals.

For the Californication episode, see List of Californication episodes.

California Son
Studio album by
Morrissey
Released24 May 2019
RecordedJuly–August 2018[1]
StudioSunset Sound, Hollywood, California[1]
Length40:08
Labelétienne, BMG
ProducerJoe Chiccarelli
Morrissey chronology
Low in High School
(2017)		 California Son
(2019)		 I Am Not a Dog on a Chain
(2020)
Singles from California Son
  1. "Wedding Bell Blues"
    Released: 8 April 2019

Recorded in 2018, the album was produced by Joe Chiccarelli, a frequent collaborator of Morrissey.

Background

In September 2018, photographs of Morrissey and American singer-songwriter LP were uploaded to the former's website Morrissey Central with a caption mentioning a "new album" and crediting LP as a collaborator on two tracks.[2] On 5 December 2018, the album title, California Son, its track list, and its producer, Joe Chiccarelli, were officially announced.[3] Chiccarelli had produced Morrissey's two previous studio albums World Peace Is None of Your Business and Low in High School. The release date of 24 May 2019 and the artwork were revealed in February 2019.[4]

Promotion

Singles

"It's Over" featuring LP was released as a promotional single on 26 February 2019.[5] A promotional CD was released exclusively in France.[6]

"Wedding Bell Blues" featuring Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day was released as a single on 8 April 2019.[7] It was later made available as a yellow 7" vinyl on 10 May 2019, with an artwork designed by Morrissey using a still from the film Ride the Wild Surf (1964) showing Fabian.[8]

Live performances

From 2 May to 11 May 2019, Morrissey performed a seven-day Broadway residency at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. The setlist included material from California Son.[9]

On 13 May 2019, Morrissey performed "Morning Starship" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[10] His appearance sparked controversy due to a pin he was wearing that depicted the logo of British far-right party For Britain.[11]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic57/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
The A.V. ClubB[14]
Exclaim!1/10[15]
The Independent[16]
Mojo[17]
NME[18]
Pitchfork5.9/10[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
VarietyB+[21]
Uncut7/10[22]

On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, California Son received an average score of 57 based on 15 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]

In a positive review for The Telegraph, Neil McCormack rated California Son four out of five stars and described it as "sumptuous", writing that "if a great cover version should reveal new dimensions in both song and singer, then this album is filled with them".[23] Josh Modell of The A.V. Club gave the album a B rating and wrote that "without the baggage of his political views—which is where the letter grade on this review comes from—California Son would be a worthy addition to a mostly stellar catalog, offering insight into a great singer and lyricist's taste and breathing new life into mostly forgotten songs", adding that "his music taste is impeccable". He particularly praised Morrissey's "fantastically bombastic" version of "It's Over".[14] Writing for Variety, A. D. Amorosi opined that "Morrissey hasn't sounded this passionately committed to song — any song — since 2004's You Are the Quarry" and praised his "impactful, clarion-clear renditions". However, he described California Son as "epically overproduced" and considered some of the song choices "odd" in regard to the political views expressed by the singer in the years preceding the album's release.[21]

In a negative review for The Guardian, Laura Snapes felt that Morrissey's political views made it "impossible to hear a number of the covers on California Son in anything but a chilling light". Although she noted "vaguely intriguing gender wrinkles", she questioned his motivation to record "protest-adjacent covers" and criticised both his vocal performance and the production of the album.[24] Rating the album 1/10, Oliver Thompson of Exclaim! echoed Snapes's comments, viewing the song choices as "completely opposed" to Morrissey's political opinions and writing that "California Son displays an ambiguity that reeks of grotesque hypocrisy". He also panned the "lack of finesse in his vocals" and the production of the album, which he described as "the definition of clinical".[15]

Rolling Stone said "Morrissey’s Covers LP ‘California Son’ Shows Off His Golden Voice..".[25] “You’re reminded what a unique instrument his voice is” - MOJO

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."Morning Starship"JobriathJobriath3:29
2."Don't Interrupt the Sorrow"Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell4:06
3."Only a Pawn in Their Game"Bob DylanBob Dylan3:46
4."Suffer the Little Children"Buffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-Marie3:30
5."Days of Decision"Phil OchsPhil Ochs2:56
6."It's Over"
Roy Orbison2:52
7."Wedding Bell Blues"Laura NyroLaura Nyro2:56
8."Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets"
Dionne Warwick2:10
9."Lady Willpower"Jerry FullerGary Puckett & The Union Gap3:06
10."When You Close Your Eyes"
Carly Simon3:30
11."Lenny's Tune"Tim HardinTim Hardin3:30
12."Some Say I Got Devil"Melanie SafkaMelanie4:09
Total length:39:57

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes.[1]

  • Morrissey – lead vocals
  • Steve Aho – orchestration, music copying, musician contractor (all for tracks 8 and 9)
  • Chris Allgood – mastering
  • Billie Joe Armstrong – backing vocals (track 7)
  • Boz Boorer – acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 8), electric rhythm guitar (track 3), electric guitar (track 10), mandolin (track 11)
  • Brigette Bryant – group vocals (track 7)
  • Joe Chiccarelli – production, recording, mixing, stylophone (track 1), drum programming (track 5)
  • Ed Droste[a] – backing vocals (track 3)
  • Chris Dugan – additional engineering
  • Ariel Engle – backing vocals (track 2)
  • Lars Fox – digital editing
  • Ryan Freeland – mixing
  • Sameer Gadhia – backing vocals (track 5)
  • Petra Haden – backing vocals (track 10)
  • Sean Hurley – bass (tracks 6, 8)
  • Little Willie Iniesta – dog barking/vocals (track 10)
  • Tim Kvasnosky – additional engineering
  • Emily Lazar – mastering
  • Dave Levita – acoustic guitar
  • Liam Lynch – art and design
  • LP – additional vocals (track 6)
  • Roger Manning – synthesisers, keyboards, string arrangement (track 8), horn arrangement (tracks 8, 9), backing vocals (track 9), electric piano
  • Gustavo Manzur – synthesisers (tracks 1, 9), accordion (track 3)
  • Arnold McCuller – group vocals (track 7)
  • Bill Mims – recording
  • Michael Muller – photography (front cover)
  • Lydia Night – backing vocals (track 7)
  • Marcus Paquin – additional engineering
  • Valerie Pinkston – group vocals (track 7)
  • Zac Rae – organ, upright piano, keyboards (track 5, 12)
  • Ken Sluiter – mixing
  • Jesse Tobias – electric guitar, 12-string electric guitar, slide guitar, electric rhythm guitar, fuzz guitar, electric baritone guitar, backbeat guitar, acoustic guitar (track 6), ebow guitar
  • Matthew Ira Walker – drums, drum programming (track 3, 10)

Notes

  • ^a On the limited edition vinyl release, Ed Droste is incorrectly credited as Ed Drooste.

Charts
Chart performance for California Sun
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[26] 32
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[27] 18
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[28] 47
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[29] 99
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[30] 97
French Albums (SNEP)[31] 66
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 13
Irish Albums (IRMA)[33] 27
Italian Albums (FIMI)[34] 58
Scottish Albums (OCC)[35] 2
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[36] 29
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[37] 32
UK Albums (OCC)[38] 4
US Billboard 200[39] 95

References
  1. California Son (liner notes). Morrissey. Etienne and BMG. 2019.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. "Messages from Morrissey: LP and Morrissey". Morrissey Central. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  3. Moore, Sam (6 December 2018). "Morrissey announces new covers album 'California Son'". NME. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  4. Schatz, Lake (26 February 2019). "Morrissey details new covers album featuring members of Green Day, Broken Social Scene, and Grizzly Bear". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  5. Cook-Wilson, Winston (26 February 2019). "Morrissey Releases Cover of Roy Orbison's "It's Over"". Spin. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  6. "It's Over" at Discogs
  7. Reed, Ryan (14 May 2019). "Hear Morrissey's New Song With Billie Joe Armstrong, 'Wedding Bell Blues'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  8. "Wedding Bell Blues" at Discogs
  9. Pareles, Jon (3 May 2019). "Morrissey Brings His Misery, and Melisma, to Broadway". New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  10. Zemler, Emily (14 May 2019). "Watch Morrissey Perform 'Morning Starship' on 'Fallon'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  11. Moran, Lee (15 May 2019). "Jimmy Fallon Faces Backlash Over Morrissey's Far-Right Pin". Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  12. "Critic Reviews for California Son - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  13. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (24 May 2019). "California Son - Morrissey". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  14. Modell, Josh (23 May 2019). "Relationship status with Morrissey's new covers album: It's complicated". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  15. Thompson, Oliver (21 May 2019). "Morrissey California Son". Exclaim. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  16. Brown, Helen (27 May 2019). "California Son Review". The Independent. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  17. Harisson, Ian (June 2019). "California Son Review". Mojo.
  18. Bassett, Jordan (21 May 2019). "Morrissey – California Son Review". NME. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  19. Hewitt, Ben (25 May 2019). "Morrissey 'California Son'". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  20. Grow, Korey (24 May 2019). "Morrissey's Covers LP 'California Son' Shows Off His Golden Voice, Perplexing Politics". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  21. Amorosi, A. D. (24 May 2019). "Morrissey – California Son Review". Variety. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  22. "Morrissey – California Son Review". Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  23. McCormack, Neil (30 May 2019). "Morrissey, California Son, review: has the once proud Mancunian swapped allegiances?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  24. Snapes, Laura (24 May 2019). "Morrissey: California Son review – clumsy covers with a troll-like spirit". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  25. Grow, Kory (24 May 2019). "Morrissey's Covers LP 'California Son' Shows Off His Golden Voice, Perplexing Politics". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  26. "Austriancharts.at – Morrissey – California Son" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  27. "Ultratop.be – Morrissey – California Son" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  28. "Ultratop.be – Morrissey – California Son" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  29. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201922 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  30. "Dutchcharts.nl – Morrissey – California Son" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  31. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 22, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  32. "Offiziellecharts.de – Morrissey – California Son" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  33. "Irish Albums Chart: 31 May 2019". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  34. "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 22 (dal 24.05.2019 al 30.05.2019)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  35. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  36. "Top 100 Albums: Semana 22". Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  37. "Swisscharts.com – Morrissey – California Son". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  38. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  39. "Morrissey Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
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