"I Love You, California" (1913) is the official state song of California. The lyrics were written by Francis Beatty Silverwood (1863-1924), a Los Angeles clothier, and the words were subsequently put to music by Abraham Franklin Frankenstein (1873-1934), then conductor of the Orpheum Theatre Orchestra. Frankenstein was a cousin of the San Francisco Chronicle's long-time music and art critic Alfred V. Frankenstein. The song was published by Hatch & Loveland, Music Printers, Los Angeles, California, and copyrighted by F.B. Silverwood in 1913. It was the official song of expositions held in San Francisco and San Diego in 1915.
Premiere
Later in 1913, the song was introduced by opera star Mary Garden, associated with the Chicago Grand Opera at that time. "Mary Garden stopped Grand Opera to make this California song famous," read the notices virtually ensuring the popularity and success of the new song. The renowned soprano wrote on stationery from the Hotel Alexandria in Los Angeles,
Dear Mr. Silverwood:
I am proud to be the first to sing your most beautiful song in public â€" and I hope for it a wonderful success here in California and everywhere!
Sincerely,
Mary Garden
Played aboard the SS Ancon
"I Love You, California", was played aboard the steamship Ancon, which on August 14, 1914, became the first merchant ship to pass through the Panama Canal.
State legislative designation
In 1951, the State Legislature passed a resolution designating it as California's state song. California Government Code section 421.7 states, "I Love You, California, a song published in 1913 with lyrics by F.B. Silverwood and music by A.F. Frankenstein, is an official state song."
In 1987, "I Love You, California" became the official state song by law.
Lyrics
Official use
It is most heard when played at funerals of former Governors of California, most recently at the funeral of Ronald Reagan.
At the inauguration of Ronald Reagan as Governor of California, on January 2, 1967, it was sung by the University of California, Davis, All-Male Marching Band. Governor Reagan, apparently familiar with the then little known song, quipped, "Thanks for singing a song old enough to make me feel young!"
Commercial use
In late 2012, Jeep began running a TV commercial in California, with "I Love You, California" as the sound track and visuals showing the California state flower, California flag, and other California icons.[1]
Other non-official state songs
During the years following, several attempts were made to make other songs the official state song, such as:
- "California, Here I Come" is known by many, while, nowadays, "I Love You, California" is known by few.
- "Dani California" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is known by very many.
- "California, Sweet Homeland of Mine" â€" In 1921, Lynden Ellsworth Behymer (1862-1947), impresario, and Bessie Bartlett Frankel (Mrs. Cecil Frankel) (1884-1959), donated a sum of money to the California Federation of Music Clubs to hold a contest for lyrics to a state song "of real value." The judges were Benjamin Franklin Field (1868-1960), chairman of the federation and chairman of the committee of judges, Grace Atherton Dennen (1874-1927), editor and publisher of The Lyric West, and Blanche Robinson (Mrs. Martin Hennion Robinson) (née Williams; 1883-1969), composer. The original deadline, October 1, 1921, was extended to December 31, 1921 and the prize money was increased to $100. The judges selected Mary Lennox of San Francisco on January 17, 1922, as the winner:
- "California Dreamin'"
See also
- List of songs about California
- List of U.S. state songs
References
External links
- 1913 recording by Elsie Baker
- Sheet music