Here is a funny Youtube video of "California Dreamin'" where the person who posted the song thinks it is the Beatles. He has about one thousand emails telling him he's wrong (don't people have anything better to do?). One guy derisively writes "I Can Hear John Lennon Singin." And someone replies, also apparently in jest although I'm not so sure "...The female voice is Yoko Ono." Yoko Ono can sing?
But, the guy is right, it does have that Beatles sound despite the obvious female vocal. It has the trademark Beatles' attention to good melody, although I think all the sixties and their influences have strong (often ingenious) melodies. Many artists apparently recorded "California Dreamin'" including the Beach Boys, but not the Beatles - at least that is what Wikipedia tells me. The original song was by The Mamas and the Papas. Comparing the the above video from another which is by The Mamas and The Papas (at least no red flags there for this Youtube video!), I think the version above is also by the originals - TMTPs.
If a sixties song were to materialize now, it would be Pete Seeger's beautiful ballad "Where have all the flowers gone" modified to "Where have all the songs gone."
