Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast
Two baby boomers, Bill Price and Jumpin' John McDermott, bringing you podcasts highlighting the early history & evolution of Rock & Roll.
Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast
The Mamas & The Papas
Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback! I'm Jumpin' John, and in this episode I will review the career highlights of one of the most important pop groups of the 1960’s: the Mamas & the Papas!
The Mamas & the Papas folk-rock vocal-group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960's. Their sound was built around vocal harmonies arranged by group leader John Phillips with a solid, electric folk foundation. A major part of their appeal lay in the easygoing southern California lifestyle the foursome seemingly embodied and endorsed. Their first two hit singles, "California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday", became cultural pop statements while also managing to appeal to more straight-laced music lovers. With only four albums issued during their three-year prime, the group's moment in the spotlight was brief. Nevertheless, their sound was influential and lasting enough that it became emblematic of the era. So how did The Mamas & The Papas come together?
All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Bill and John welcome your feedback and comments, and they can be emailed to rockandrollflashback@outlook.com.
Thank you for listening to Rock and Roll Flashback Podcasts!
Until next time...
Rock On!
Thank you for that introduction and welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback! I'm Jumpin' John, and in this episode I will review the career highlights of one of the most important pop groups of the 1960’s: the Mamas & the Papas!
The Mamas & the Papas folk-rock vocal-group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960's. Their sound was built around vocal harmonies arranged by group leader John Phillips with a solid, electric folk foundation. A major part of their appeal lay in the easygoing southern California lifestyle the foursome seemingly embodied and endorsed. Their first two hit singles, "California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday", became cultural pop statements while also managing to appeal to more straight-laced music lovers. With only four albums issued during their three-year prime, the group's moment in the spotlight was brief. Nevertheless, their sound was influential and lasting enough that it became emblematic of the era. So how did The Mamas & The Papas come together?
Twenty-five year old musician John Phillips traveled to New York City in 1961, where he soon formed a folk band called The Journeymen. That trio, consisting of Phillips, his longtime friend Scott McKenzie, and Dick Weissman, were fairly successful. They produced three albums and appeared several times on the TV show Hootenanny. While the band was touring in California, John met Michelle Gilliam. Phillips divorced his then-wife and married 18 year old Michelle on December 31st, 1962. The Journeymen folded, and Phillips formed the New Journeymen with future screenwriter Marshall Brickman and wife Michelle. The new band was not successful, however, John and Michelle started to write songs together. One song that they composed jointly during this period was a catchy tune that expressed an idealized vision of California.
In 1959 Baltimore native Ellen Cohen adopted the stage name of Cass Elliot, left home, and moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. In 1962 she was enjoying a successful off-Broadway theater and singing career in New York City when she joined a musical trio called the Triumverate. The Triumverate would soon become the Big 3, which consisted of Elliot, Jim Hendricks, and Tim Rose. They recorded two LPs, a handful of singles, and a few television commercials.
In 1960 Canadian singer Denny Doherty started a folk group in Halifax, Nova Scotia called the Colonials. The band changed their name to the Hallifax III, and they signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. They recorded two albums before breaking up a couple years later. Significantly, in 1963 Doherty became friends with Cass Elliot and, while on tour with the Halifax III, Denny met John and Michelle Phillips.
In 1964 Tim Rose left the Big 3, and that band evolved into the Mugwumps. The Mugwumps consisted of Cass Elliot, Jim Hendricks, Zal Yanovsky, John Sebastian, and Denny Doherty. The Mugwumps mixed electric instruments and folk-based material. The Mugwumps failed to achieve success and, after 8 months, the band folded with Yanovsky and Sebastian leaving to form the Lovin’ Spoonful and Doherty joining John and Michelle Phillips on a revised version of the New Journeymen.
Meanwhile, Cass Elliot was singing solo jazz gigs in Washington, D.C. The New Journeymen were planning to expand from three to four singers. Denny Doherty took John and Michelle Phillips to see his friend, Cass Elliot, perform. Afterwards, John Phillips expressed his concerns about Cass Elliots' voice being too low for his arrangements, about her obesity being be an obstacle to the band's image, and about her temperament being incompatible with his. However, John eventually became convinced that Cass would be a good fit to the new band. The group initially considered calling itself the Magic Cyrcle (spelled C-Y-R-C-L-E). Instead they settled on ‘the Mamas & the Papas’. The band name was inspired by the Hells Angels, whose female associates were called 'mamas'.
After getting to know each other musically and personally, in the Spring of 1965 they took a trip to the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. There they rehearsed and developed their sound. John Phillips was reluctant to abandon folk music, but Doherty and Elliot convinced him about the potential of contemporary pop. The group headed to California in late 1965 to audition with Lou Adler, co-owner of Dunhill Records. The audition was arranged by another Dunhill signee, Barry McGuire, who had just had a major hit with “Eve of Destruction”. Barry had befriended Cass Elliot and John Phillips independently during the previous two years. Adler signed the band on the spot, offering a deal in which they would record two albums a year for the next five years. Cass Elliot's membership in the band was not formalized until the paperwork was signed with Adler.
The Mamas & the Papas first recording session was singing background vocals on Barry McGuire's album called This Precious Time. Before that album was released, The Mamas & the Papas had already released a single of their own. "Go Where You Wanna Go" was given a limited release as a single in November 1965, but it failed to chart. Then came The Mamas & the Papas’ breakthrough follow-up single, "California Dreamin'". As I hinted earlier in this podcast, the song was written in 1963 while John Phillips and Michelle Phillips were living in New York City during a particularly cold winter, and Michelle was missing sunny California. "California Dreamin'" was released in December 1965, hyped by a full-page advertisement in Billboard on December 18th. After gaining little attention in Los Angeles, a radio station in Boston broke the song nationwide. Making its US chart debut in January 1966, the song peaked at #4 in March on the Billboard Hot 100, lasting 17 weeks. It also peaked at #4 in Cashbox, lasting 20 weeks and reached #23 on the UK charts. "California Dreamin'" heralded the arrival of the new counterculture era and would finish as the top single on the Billboard end-of year 1966 survey. In 2001 "California Dreamin'" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2021, Rolling Stone placed the song at #420 in its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In June 2023 it was certified three-times platinum by the RIAA.
The quartet's debut album, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, was produced by Lou Adler, with instrumental backing played by the cream of the Los Angeles session crews, who are now known as The Wrecking Crew. The LP was released on February 28th, 1966 and would become The Mamas & the Papas only #1 LP on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In 2003 If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears was ranked #127 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In Rolling Stone magazine’s 2012 revision, the LP’s rank rose to #112.
The third and final single from the album, "Monday, Monday", was released in March 1966. It became the band's only #1 hit in the US, and reached #3 in the UK. On March 2nd, 1967 "Monday, Monday" won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. It was also nominated for Best Performance by a Vocal Group, Best Contemporary Song, and Record of the Year. In 2008 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The band's second album was called simply The Mamas & the Papas. That LP is also sometimes referred to as ‘Cass, John, Michelle, Dennie’, whose names appear above the band's name on the album cover. It is ironic that Doherty's first name is misspelled as ‘D-E-N-N-I-E’! The album recording sessions were interrupted when Michelle Phillips became indiscreet about her affair with Gene Clark of the Byrds. A previous liaison between Michelle and Denny Doherty had already been forgiven by John Phillips, but because of her affair with Clark, John Phillips was determined to fire Michelle from the band. After consulting with their attorney and record label, John Phillips, Elliot, and Doherty served Michelle with a letter expelling her from the group on June 28th, 1966. Jill Gibson, a visual artist and singer-songwriter who had recorded with Jan and Dean, was hired to replace Michelle. While Gibson was a quick study and well-regarded, the three original members concluded she lacked her predecessor's stage charisma and grittier edge. So Michelle Phillips was reinstated on August 23rd, 1966. Jill Gibson left the band and was paid a lump sum from the group's funds.
The Mamas & the Papas LP peaked at #4 in the US and #24 in the UK, continuing the band's success. "I Saw Her Again" was released as a single in June 1966 and reached #5 in the US and #11 in the UK. There was a mixing false start to the final chorus of the song. Lou Adler liked the effect, and told engineer Bones Howe to leave it in the final mix. That repeating vocal effect was imitated by John Sebastian in the Lovin' Spoonful's 1966 song, "Darling Be Home Soon", and by Kenny Loggins in the 1980 song "I'm Alright". "Words of Love" was the second single from the album, released in November 1966 as a double A-side with "Dancing in the Street". "Words of Love" reached #5 in the US chart. "Dancing in the Street" only reached #73.
With Michelle Phillips reinstated, the group embarked on a small tour on the East Coast to promote the album in the fall of 1966. After completing that East Coast tour, the group started work immediately on its third album, The Mamas & The Papas Deliver, which was recorded in the Autumn of 1966. The first single from the album, "Look Through My Window", was released in September 1966 before the last single from The Mamas & the Papas. It reached #24 in the US. The second single, "Dedicated to the One I Love", released in February 1967, did better, peaking at #2 in both the US and the UK. The success of "Dedicated to the One I Love" helped the LP, which was also released in February 1967, reach #2 in the album chart. The third single, "Creeque Alley" (spelled C-R-E-E-Q-U-E), was released in April 1967 and reached #5 in the US singles chart.
By June 1967, the strain on the group was becoming apparent. John and Michelle Phillips and Lou Adler were preoccupied with organizing the Monterey International Pop Festival. The Mamas & the Papas performance at the Festival was underwhelming, partly due to lack of rehearsals and Denny Doherty's heavy drinking. The band did better in August 1967 when they performed in front of 18,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. In October 1967 their next album, The Mamas & the Papas Deliver, was released. Also coming out that month was a non-album single "Glad to Be Unhappy", which reached #26 in the US. "Dancing Bear" from the group's second album was released as a single in November. It peaked at #51 in the US. Neither "Glad to Be Unhappy" nor "Dancing Bear" charted in the UK.
That year John Phillips decided to transform his home attic into an eight-track recording studio, reportedly so he could stay high all the time and never have to worry about studio time. The recording sessions for the fourth album stalled, and after a September appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mamas & the Papas planned to give October concerts in London and Paris. However, when the group docked at England on October 5th, Cass Elliot was arrested for stealing two blankets and a hotel key when in England the previous February. She spent a night in custody in London. Later, at a party hosted by the band to celebrate Elliot's acquittal, John Phillips and Cass Elliot got into an argument with Cass storming out of the room. Elliot was ready to quit, the Royal Albert Hall and Olympia dates were canceled, and the four went their separate ways.
John Phillips and Cass Elliot would reconcile, and their fourth LP, The Papas & The Mamas, was released in May 1968. The album was the band's first album not to go gold or reach the top 10 in America. "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)" was released as a single in August 1967 and peaked at #20 in the US. After the second single "Safe in My Garden" only made it only to #53, Dunhill Records released Elliot's solo from the album in June 1968. That song, a remake of "Dream a Little Dream of Me", was released as a single against John Philllips' wishes. It was credited to 'Mama Cass with the Mamas & the Papas'. The song reached #12 in the US and #11 in the UK, making "Dream a Little Dream of Me" the only single by The Mamas & The Papas to chart higher in the UK than in the US. The fourth and final single from The Papas & The Mamas, "For the Love of Ivy", peaked at #81 in the US.
The success of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" confirmed Elliot's desire to embark on a solo career, and by the early 1969 Dunhill released the band members from their contracts. However, the record company was still determined to get the band's contractually obligated last album. So, The Mamas & the Papas' final album of new material, People Like Us, was released in November 1971. The only single, "Step Out", reached #81 in the US. The album peaked at #84 on the Billboard 200, making it the only album by The Mamas & The Papas not to reach the top 20 in the US. Neither single nor album charted in the UK. With their contractual obligations fulfilled, the band's split was final.
Cass Elliot, as Mama Cass, would go on to a successful solo career, touring the US and Europe and appearing frequently on television. Elliot appeared in two television variety specials: 1969's The Mama Cass Television Program and 1973's Don't Call Me Mama Anymore. By the early 1970's she was performing on numerous music-oriented television shows. Some of the TV talk and variety shows Cass was a guest on included The Mike Douglas Show, The Andy Williams Show, Hollywood Squares, The Johnny Cash Show, The Ray Stevens Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and The Carol Burnett Show. She was a guest panelist for a week on the game show Match Game '73. She guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show 13 other times. She appeared on and co-hosted The Music Scene on ABC and was featured on the first The Midnight Special on NBC. Cass also appeared in the movie H.R. Pufnstuf. Cass Elliot tragically died of heart failure in London on July 29th, 1974.
John Phillips’ 1970 solo album, The Wolf King of L.A., was well-received critically. He also would write songs for TV, movie soundtracks, and a stage musical called Man on the Moon. John Phillips co-wrote the song "Kokomo", which was a #1 hit in 1988 for the Beach Boys. Phillips became addicted to heroin in the 1970's. In 1980 he was arrested and convicted on a charge of conspiring to distribute narcotics, and he spent a month in jail in 1981. In later years, he performed with the New Mamas and the Papas and appeared in revival shows and television specials. John Phillips died of heart failure on March 18th, 2001.
In 1971 Denny Doherty released a solo LP called Whatcha Gonna Do?. The album didn’t sell well, so Doherty turned to the acting. In 1975 he first acted in John Phillips's musical called Man on the Moon. Then in 1977 Denny returned to his birthplace, Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he performed Shakespeare. This led to several years of television work. Doherty also performed with John Phillips in the New Mamas and the Papas. By the early 1980's he was a recovering alcoholic and stayed sober for the remainder of his life. In 1996, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Denny Doherty died on January 19th, 2007 from kidney failure.
After the band breakup Michelle Phillips concentrated on raising her and John's daughter, Chynna Phillips. She saw some brief activity as a recording artist, such as with her 1977 solo album Victim of Romance. However, it was acting that has kept her busy. Michelle began acting in the 1970's and continues to act in movies and in television. In 1973 she distinguished herself dramatically in the film Dillinger. She appeared on TV programs such as Spin City and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Michelle also had continuing TV roles on Knots Landing and Beverly Hills, 90210. In late 1987, Michelle sang backup vocals on Belinda Carlisle's #1 hit, "Heaven Is a Place on Earth", as well as on the Carlisle LP, Heaven on Earth.
The Mamas & the Papas released five studio albums and 17 singles over four years, six of which made the Billboard top 10. They have sold close to 40 million records worldwide. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2009. Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips, as "the Mamas", were ranked #21 on the VH1 network's list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock.
Thank you for listening to another episode of Rock and Roll Flashback, where I reviewed the brief but influential career of one of the most important pop groups of the 1960’s, the Mamas & the Papas! I’m Jumpin’ John McDermott, and until next time…Rock On!