Australian singer-songwriters Rick Price and Jack Jones have well-established solo careers of their own, both here and in the US. But when the opportunity arose to record an album together of classic California songs of the 1960s and '70s, they couldn't say no. California Dreaming is the result, with the duo bringing their own sound to a selection of classic songs by such artists as Neil Young, The Byrds, The Mamas and the Papas, James Taylor and the Eagles.

Price says, "We were invited to record the album by our label, Sony Music, and we jumped at the chance.

"Jack and I have been good buddies for many years, since the '90s."

They looked through the songs written and recorded in the West Coast area in the 1960s and '70s - a rich and fruitful period - and wound up with a longlist of 40 or 50 songs. The duo chose what they thought was the best-known song from each of the artists they picked for the 12 songs on the album.

"We decided, we've got to do James Taylor so we're definitely going to do Fire and Rain or Sweet Baby James."

They chose Fire and Rain - "his most famous song" - for their duet but, as with the other songs on the album, aimed to be respectful in their treatment of it.

"We tried to stay pretty close to the original recording," Price says, saying Fire and Rain was "beautiful" and "so powerful" in Taylor's version.

With The Mamas & the Papas' California Dreamin', they allowed themselves a bit more leeway: they added a string part that wasn't in the original recording and a solo piano in the introduction, taking advantage of the skilled roster of musicians they were able to assemble including Dan Dougmore who had played pedal bass on Ronstadt's recording of Blue Bayou.

With that song, Price says, "Our version was a hybrid between Roy Orbison and Linda Ronstadt."

Not only have they recorded the album as their first project together - at Price's home studio, in Nashville, Tennessee - but they are going to go on an Australia tour next year, singing songs from the album as well as others from the period that didn't make the cut and some numbers of their own - Price might sing his Only Heaven Knows or Not A Day Goes By and Jones could perform his Hearts in Danger or Hold Me In Your Arms, for example.

Price says he loves Canberra and has performed in the national capital many times including earlier this year.

"I've always enjoyed my shows there - people come to my shows and have a great time ...I get really good audiences."

Given the amount of material that had to be left off California Dreaming, will there be a follow-up album?

"I think so - we had such a great time," Price says.

"There'll be a Volume 2 for sure."

California Dreaming is out now on Sony Music.