The Mamas & the Papas were an American
folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, and were a defining force in the music scene of the
Counterculture of the 1960s. The band reunited briefly in 1971. The group was composed of
John Phillips,
Denny Doherty,
Cass Elliot, and
Michelle Phillips née Gilliam. Their sound was based on vocal harmonies arranged by John Phillips,
[2] the songwriter, musician, and leader of the group who adapted folk to the new
beat style of the early sixties.
They released a total of five studio albums and seventeen singles over a four-year period, six of which made the
Billboard top ten, and have sold close to 40 million records worldwide.
[3] The band was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 for their contributions to the music industry.
[1]
Background and formation
The
group was formed by husband and wife John and Michelle Phillips,
formerly of the New Journeymen, and Denny Doherty, formerly of
the Mugwumps. Both of these earlier acts were
folk
groups active from 1964 to 1965. The last member to join was Cass
Elliot, Doherty's bandmate in the Mugwumps, who had to overcome John
Phillips' concern that her voice was too low for his arrangements, that
her physical appearance would be an obstacle to the band's success, and
that her temperament was incompatible with his. The group considered calling itself the Magic Cyrcle before switching to the Mamas and the Papas as apparently inspired by the
Hells Angels, whose female associates were called "mamas".
The quartet spent the period from early spring to midsummer 1965 in
the Virgin Islands "to rehearse and just put everything together", as
John Phillips later recalled. Phillips acknowledged that he was reluctant to abandon folk music. Others, including Doherty and guitarist Eric Hord, have said he hung on to it "like death".
Roger McGuinn's
more measured view is that "It was hard for John to break out of folk
music, because I think he was real good at it, conservative, and
successful, too."
Phillips also acknowledged that it was Doherty and Elliot who awakened
him to the potential of contemporary pop, as epitomized by
the Beatles. While previously, the New Journeymen had played acoustic folk, with banjo; and the Mugwumps played something closer to
folk rock, with bass and drums. Their rehearsals in the Virgin Islands were "the first time that we tried playing electric".
The band then traveled from New York to Los Angeles for an audition with
Lou Adler, co-owner of
Dunhill Records. The audition was arranged by
Barry McGuire,
who had befriended Cass Elliot and John Phillips independently over the
previous two years, and who had recently signed with Dunhill himself.
It led to "a deal in which they would record two albums a year for the
next five years", with a royalty of 5 percent on 90 percent of retail
sales. Dunhill also tied the band to management and publishing deals, commonly known as a "triple hat" relationship.
Cass Elliot's membership was not formalized until the paperwork was
signed, with Adler, Michelle Phillips, and Doherty overruling John
Phillips.
Career
1965: Beginnings and debut
The Mamas and the Papas made their inaugural recording singing backing vocals on McGuire's album
This Precious Time, although they had already released a single of their own by the time the album appeared in December 1965.
[22] This single was "Go Where You Wanna Go", which was given a limited release in November but failed to chart.
[23] There are few copies of this single extant and the follow-up, "
California Dreamin'", has the same B-side, suggesting that "Go Where You Wanna Go" had been withdrawn. "
California Dreamin'" was released in December, supported by a full-page ad in
Billboard on the 18th of that month.
[26]
It peaked at number four in the United States and number twenty-three
in the United Kingdom. "Go Where You Wanna Go" was subsequently covered
by
the 5th Dimension, who included it on their album
Up, Up and Away and it became a Top 20 pop hit for them.
The quartet's debut album,
If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, followed in February 1966 and became its only number-one on the
Billboard 200. The third and final single from the album, "
Monday, Monday",
[2]
was released in March 1966. It became the band's only number-one hit in
the US, reached number three in the UK, and was the first number-one on
Spain's new
Los 40 Principales. "Monday, Monday" won the
Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1967. It was also nominated for
Best Performance by a Vocal Group,
Best Contemporary Song, and
Record of the Year.
1966: The Mamas & the Papas
Their second album,
The Mamas & the Papas, is sometimes referred to as
Cass, John, Michelle, Dennie,
whose names appear thus above the band's name on the cover, including
the unexplained misspelling of Doherty's first name. Recording was
reportedly interrupted when Michelle Phillips became indiscreet about
her affair with
Gene Clark of
the Byrds.
A liaison the previous year between Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty
had been forgiven by her husband John Phillips; Doherty and John
Phillips had reconciled and written "
I Saw Her Again" about the episode. They later disagreed about how much Doherty contributed to the song.
[31] But after Michelle's affair with Clark, John Phillips was determined to fire her.
After consulting their attorney and record label, he, Elliot, and
Doherty served Michelle Phillips with a letter expelling her from the
group on June 28, 1966.
Jill Gibson was hired to replace Michelle. Gibson was a visual artist and singer-songwriter who had recorded with
Jan and Dean. After being introduced to the band by its producer,
Lou Adler, she was soon taking part in concerts (at
Forest Hills, New York,
Denver, Colorado, and
Phoenix, Arizona) television appearances (
Hollywood Palace on ABC), and recording sessions
While Gibson was a quick study and well regarded, the three original
members concluded that she lacked her predecessor's "stage charisma and
grittier edge", and Michelle Phillips was reinstated on August 23, 1966.
[38] "Jill Gibson, so nearly a full-time Mama, left and was paid a lump sum from the group's funds."
The Mamas & the Papas peaked at number four in the US,
continuing the band's success, but only made number twenty-four in the
UK. "I Saw Her Again" was released as a single in June 1966 and reached
number five in the US and number eleven in the UK. There is a false
start to the final chorus of the song at 2'42". While mixing the record,
Bones Howe inadvertently punched in the
coda
vocals too early. He then rewound the tape and inserted the vocals in
their proper position. On playback, the mistaken early entry could still
be heard, making it sound as though Doherty repeated the first three
words, singing "I saw her ... I saw her again last night".
Lou Adler liked the effect, and told Howe to leave it in the final mix.
[40] "That has to be a mistake: nobody's that clever,"
Paul McCartney told the group.
[41] The device was imitated by
John Sebastian in
the Lovin' Spoonful song, "
Darlin' Be Home Soon" (1966), and by
Kenny Loggins in the song "I'm Alright" (1980). "
Words of Love" was the second single from the album, appearing in November 1966. In the US it was released as a double A-side with "
Dancing in the Street" and reached number five ("Dancing in the Street," which had been a hit two years earlier for
Martha and the Vandellas, struggled to number seventy-three). In the UK it was backed with "I Can't Wait" and peaked at number forty-seven.
With Michelle Phillips reinstated, the group embarked on a small tour
on the East coast to promote the record in the fall of 1966, playing a
series of precarious and reportedly bizarre shows. At a September 1966
concert at
Fordham University
in New York City, the band was noted by Gus Duffy and Jim Mason of
their co-headlining band, Webster's New Word, as being clearly "high,
drunk, or
tripping.
When they got on stage, it was clear that these people shouldn't be on
stage... They tumbled onto the stage, shambled around, and just got
nowhere.
1967: The Mamas & the Papas Deliver
The Mamas & the Papas on
ABC's The Songmakers, 1967
After completing their brief 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 and the Papas). It reached number twenty-four in the US, but did not chart in the UK. The second single, "
Dedicated to the One I Love"
(February 1967), did much better, peaking at number two in both the US
and the UK. That success helped the album, also released in February
1967, reach number two in the US and number four in the UK. The third
single, "
Creeque Alley" (April 1967), chronicled the band's early history. It peaked at number five in the US and number nine in the UK.
The strain on the group was apparent when they performed indifferently at the first
Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967, as can be heard on
Historic Performances Recorded at the Monterey International Pop Festival
(1970). The band was badly under-rehearsed – partly because John and
Michelle Phillips and Lou Adler were preoccupied with organizing the
festival, partly because Doherty arrived at the last minute from another
sojourn in the Virgin Islands,
[43] and partly, it is said, because he was drinking heavily in the aftermath of his affair with Michelle Phillips.
[46] They rallied for their performance before 18,000 people at the
Hollywood Bowl in August (with
Jimi Hendrix
as the opener), which both John and Michelle Phillips would remember as
the apex of the band's career: "There would never be anything quite
like it again."
Deliver was followed in October 1967 by the non-album single "
Glad to Be Unhappy",
which reached number twenty-six in the US. "Dancing Bear" from the
group's second album was released as a single in November. It peaked at
number fifty-one in the US. Neither of these singles charted in the UK.
1968: The Papas & the Mamas
The Mamas and the Papas cut their first three albums at
United Western Recorders in Hollywood,
while the group's subsequent releases were recorded at the eight-track
studio John and Michelle Phillips built at their home in Bel Air – this
at a time when four-track recording was still the norm.
John Phillips said, "I got the idea to transform the attic into my own
recording studio, so I could stay high all the time and never have to
worry about studio time. I began assembling the state-of-the-art
equipment and ran the cost up to about a hundred grand."
While this gave him the autonomy he craved, it also removed the
external discipline that may have been beneficial to a man who described
himself as an "obsessive perfectionist". Doherty, Elliot, and Adler all found the arrangement uncongenial, with Elliot later complaining to
Rolling Stone
(October 26, 1968): "We spent one whole month on one song, just the
vocals for 'The Love of Ivy' took one whole month. I did my [debut solo]
album in three weeks, a total of ten days in the studio. Live with the
band, not prerecorded tracks sitting there with earphones."
[53]
The recording sessions for the fourth album eventually stalled
completely, and in September 1967 John Phillips called a press
conference to announce that The Mamas and the Papas were taking a break,
which they confirmed on the
Ed Sullivan Show on the 24th of that month.
[56]
The plan was to give concerts at the
Royal Albert Hall in London and the
Olympia in Paris, before taking time out on
Majorca to "get the muse going again", as John Phillips put it.
When they docked at Southampton on October 5, Elliot was arrested on a
charge of having stolen two blankets and a hotel key worth ten guineas
(US$28) when in England the previous February. Elliot was transferred to
London, strip-searched, and spent a night in custody, before the case
was dismissed in the West London Magistrates' Court the next day.
[59]
The hotel was actually less interested in the blankets than in an
unpaid bill; it transpired that Elliot had entrusted the money to her
companion, Pic Dawson (1943–1986),
[60] who neglected to settle the account.
The police, in turn, were less interested in the blankets or the bill
than in Dawson, who was suspected of international drug trafficking and
was "the sole subject" of their questioning.
Later, at a party hosted by the band to celebrate Elliot's acquittal, John Phillips interrupted Elliot as she was telling
Mick Jagger
about her arrest and trial: "Mick, she's got it all wrong, that's not
how it was at all." Elliot "screamed" at Phillips "before storming out
of the room".
Elliot was ready to quit, the Royal Albert Hall and Olympia dates were
cancelled, and the four went their separate ways; John and Michelle
Phillips to Morocco, Doherty back to the United States, and Elliot
either back to the United States (according to John Phillips) or to a
rendezvous in Paris with Pic Dawson (according to Michelle Phillips). In an interview with
Melody Maker,
Elliot unilaterally announced that The Mamas and the Papas had
disbanded: "We thought this trip would give the group some stimulation,
but this has not been so."
In fact, Phillips and Elliot did patch things up sufficiently to complete
The Papas & The Mamas,
which was released in May 1968. It was relatively successful in both
the UK and US, although it was their first not to go gold or reach the
top ten in America. "
12:30 (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)" had been released as a single in August 1967;
[2] it peaked at number twenty in the US, but failed to chart in the UK. After the second single, "
Safe in My Garden" (May 1968), made it only to number fifty-three, Dunhill released Elliot's solo feature from the album, a cover of "
Dream a Little Dream of Me", as a single credited to "Mama Cass with the Mamas and the Papas" in June 1968 – against John Phillips' wishes.
It reached number twelve in the US and became the band's first single
to chart in the UK after five failures, peaking at number eleven. It was
the only Mamas and Papas single to chart higher in the UK than in the
US. The fourth and final single from
The Papas and the Mamas
was "For the Love of Ivy" (July 1968), which peaked at number
eighty-one in the US and did not chart in the UK. For the second time,
Dunhill returned to their earlier work for a single. In this case it was
"Do You Wanna Dance" from the debut album, released as a single in
October 1968. It failed to chart in the UK and reached number
seventy-six in the US.
[69]
1968–69: Break-up and People Like Us
The
success of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" confirmed Elliot's desire to
embark on a solo career, and by the end of 1968 it appeared that the
group had split. Its chart performance had become increasingly erratic,
with three of its last four singles failing on both sides of the
Atlantic. As John Phillips recalled, "Times had changed. The Beatles
showed the way. Music itself was heading toward a technological and
compositional complexity that would leave many of us behind. It was
tough to keep up."
The group "made it official" at the beginning of 1969: "Dunhill
released us from our contracts and we were history, though we still owed
the label another album." Elliot (billed as Mama Cass) had released her solo debut
Dream a Little Dream in 1968, Phillips released
John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.) in 1970, and Denny Doherty followed with
Watcha Gonna Do? in 1971.
Dunhill maintained momentum by releasing
The Best of the Mamas and the Papas: Farewell to the First Golden Era in 1967,
Golden Era Vol. 2 in 1968,
16 of Their Greatest Hits
in 1969, and the Monterey live album in 1970. It was also determined to
get the promised last LP, for which it had given the band an extension
until September 1971.
It warned that each member of the group would be sued for $250,000 if
they did not deliver (about $1.4 million apiece in 2010 values).
[74]
There was suit and counter suit but these were settled out of court and
it was reported that the band would record under John Phillips's own
label, Warlock Records, distributed by Dunhill.
[75]
Phillips wrote another collection of songs, which was arranged,
rehearsed, and recorded in fits and starts over about a year, depending
on the availability of the other group members: "It was rare we were all
together. Most tracks were dubbed, one vocal at a time."
The Mamas and the Papas' last album of new material,
People Like Us,
was released in November 1971. The only single, "Step Out" (January
1972), reached number eighty-one in the US. The album peaked at number
eighty-four on the
Billboard 200,
making it the only Mamas and Papas LP not to reach the top twenty in
the US. Neither single nor album charted in the UK. Contractual
obligations fulfilled, the band's split was now final.
Aftermath
Cass Elliot
Cass Elliot had a successful solo career, touring the U.S. and
Europe; appearing frequently on television, including in two specials (
The Mama Cass Television Program on ABC in January 1969 and
Don't Call Me Mama Anymore
on CBS in September 1973); and producing hits such as "Make Your Own
Kind of Music" and "It's Getting Better". That said, she never surpassed
her two Dunhill albums,
Dream a Little Dream (1968) and
Bubblegum, Lemonade, and ... Something for Mama (1969). None of the three albums she recorded for RCA –
Cass Elliot (1972),
The Road Is No Place for a Lady (1972), and
Don't Call Me Mama Anymore (1973) – produced a charting single.
Elliot died of heart failure in London on July 29, 1974, after completing a two-week engagement at the
Palladium.
The shows were mostly sold out and prompted standing ovations. Her
former bandmates and Lou Adler attended her funeral in Los Angeles.
Elliot was survived by her only child, Owen Vanessa Elliot (b. 1967).
John Phillips
John Phillips' country-influenced solo album,
John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.),
was not a commercial success, despite featuring the single
"Mississippi", which reached number thirty-two in the US. Nevertheless,
it continues to enjoy critical favor.
Rolling Stone gave it four stars when it was reissued in 2006, calling it “a genuine lost treasure”.
[77] Denny Doherty said that if the Mamas and the Papas had recorded the album, it might have been their best.
[78] Phillips wrote songs for the soundtrack to
Brewster McCloud (
Robert Altman, 1970)
[79] and original music for the soundtracks to
Myra Breckinridge (
Michael Sarne,1970)
[80] and
The Man Who Fell to Earth (
Nicolas Roeg, 1976).
[81] He also wrote the ill-fated stage musical
Man on the Moon (1975) and songs with and for other artists, including most of the tracks on the album
Romance Is on the Rise (1974) by his then wife
Geneviève Waïte, which he also produced;
[82] and "
Kokomo" (1988), which was a number-one hit for the
Beach Boys.
Phillips was lost to heroin addiction through much of the 1970s, a
period that culminated in his arrest and conviction in 1980 on a charge
of conspiring to distribute narcotics, for which he spent a month in
jail in 1981.
[84][85] In later years he performed with the
New Mamas and the Papas
(see below) and appeared in revival shows and television specials. He
told his side of the Mamas and Papas' story in the memoir
Papa John (1986),
[86] and in the
PBS television documentary,
Straight Shooter: The True Story of John Phillips and the Mamas and the Papas (1988).
[87] John Phillips died of heart failure in
Los Angeles on March 18, 2001.
[88]
Two albums were released immediately after his death:
Pay Pack and Follow (April 2001), which included material recorded in London and New York with members of the
Rolling Stones in 1976 and 1977;
[89] and
Phillips 66
(August 2001), an album of new material and reworkings that "takes its
title from the age Phillips would have been when the album was
originally slated for its release".
[91] A later archival series on
Varèse Sarabande included a reissue of
John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.) with bonus tracks (2006); the sessions he recorded for Columbia with
the Crusaders in 1972 and 1973, released as
Jack of Diamonds (2007);
[92] his preferred mix of the Rolling Stones sessions, released with other material as
Pussycat (2008);
[93] and his demos for
Man on the Moon, released as
Andy Warhol Presents Man on the Moon: The John Phillips Space Musical (2009).
[94]
Phillips had five children:
In 2009, Mackenzie Phillips wrote in her memoir,
High on Arrival, that she had been in a long-term sexual relationship with her late father.
[96]
Denny Doherty
Denny Doherty's solo career faltered after the appearance of
Whatcha Gonna Do? in 1971. The follow-up,
Waiting for a Song
(1974), was not released in the US, although a 2001 reissue by Varèse
Sarabande gained wider distribution and the album is now available as a
digital download. It features Michelle Phillips and Cass Elliot as
backing vocalists, the latter in what proved to be her last recorded
performances. A single from the album, "
You'll Never Know", made the
adult contemporary charts. Doherty then turned to the stage, making a disastrous start in John Phillips’
Man on the Moon (1975). In 1977, he returned to his birthplace,
Halifax,
Nova Scotia, and started playing legitimate roles, including Shakespeare, at the
Neptune Theatre under the tutelage of
John Neville.
[97][98] This led to television work, beginning with a variety program,
Denny's Sho*, which ran for one season in 1978. He went on to host and voice parts in the children's program,
Theodore Tugboat, and to act in various series, including twenty-two episodes of the drama
Pit Pony.
[99] Doherty also performed with the
New Mamas and the Papas
(see below). An alcoholic through the 1960s and 1970s, Doherty
recovered in the early 1980s and stayed sober for the remainder of his
life.In 1996, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
[97]
Doherty answered John Phillips' PBS documentary with the autobiographical stage musical
Dream a Little Dream (the Nearly True Story of the Mamas and the Papas), which he wrote with Paul Ledoux and performed sporadically, starting in Halifax in 1997,
[102] and eventually reaching the off-Broadway Village Theater in New York in 2003.
[103] The original cast recording – featuring Doherty and supporting band – was released by Lewlacow in 1999.
[104]
Doherty died of an
abdominal aortic aneurysm at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, on January 19, 2007.
[105] He was survived by his three children, Jessica Woods, Emberly Doherty, and John Doherty. A documentary by Paul Ledoux,
Here I Am: Denny Doherty and the Mamas and the Papas, premiered at Halifax's
Atlantic Film Festival in September 2009 and screened on the
Bravo cable network as part of the Great Canadian Biographies series in February 2010.
[106][107]
Michelle Phillips
While Michelle Phillips' only solo album,
Victim of Romance (1977), made little impact, she went on to build a successful career as an actress. Her film credits include
The Last Movie (1971),
Dillinger (1973),
Valentino (1977),
Bloodline (1979),
The Man with Bogart's Face (1980),
American Anthem (1986),
Let It Ride (1989), and
Joshua Tree (1993). Her television credits include
Hotel, Knots Landing, Beverly Hills, 90210, and many others.
[108]
Phillips published a memoir,
California Dreamin', in 1986,
[109]
the same year John Phillips published his. Reading the two books
together was, according to one reviewer, "like reading the transcripts
in a divorce trial."
[110] As the co-writer and owner of the copyright to
California Dreamin', Phillips was an important contributor to the 2005 PBS television documentary
California Dreamin': The Songs of the Mamas and the Papas.[111]
The New Mamas and the Papas
The
New Mamas and the Papas were a by-product of John Phillips' desire to
"round out the picture of reform" as he awaited sentencing on narcotics
charges in 1980. He invited his children Jeffrey and
Mackenzie,
both living in Los Angeles, and Denny Doherty, who was living in
Canada, to join him at the Fair Oaks Hospital in Summit, New Jersey,
where he was undergoing rehabilitation. The children arrived around
Thanksgiving and Doherty around Christmas. The idea of reviving the
group was born at this time, with Phillips and Doherty in their original
roles, Mackenzie Phillips taking Michelle Phillips' part and Elaine
"Spanky" McFarlane of
Spanky and Our Gang taking the part of Cass Elliot.
Little progress was made until after Phillips had been sentenced and
served his time in jail. The quartet began rehearsing in earnest and
recording demos in the summer of 1981. Their first performances were in
March 1982, when they were praised for their "verve and expertise", the
"impressive precision" of the harmonies, and the "feeling ... of genuine
celebration" on stage.
[114]
The group toured the United States, including residencies in Las
Vegas and Atlantic City, but lost $150,000 in their first eighteen
months. Phillips called a halt in August 1983 and the New Mamas and the
Papas did not perform again until February 1985.
They then resumed touring, with concerts in Europe, East Asia, and
South America, as well as in Canada and the United States; at their
height, they were playing up to 280 nights a year.
John Phillips stayed off heroin, but remained addicted to alcohol,
cocaine, and pills, as did his daughter. This affected the group's
performance, as they were occasionally booed off stage.
Doherty quit in 1987 and was replaced by
Scott McKenzie (1939–2012). In 1991, Mackenzie Phillips was replaced by
Laurie Beebe Lewis,
[118] a former vocalist with
the Buckinghams
who had earlier (1986–1987) temped with the band when Mackenzie
Phillips was pregnant. John Phillips dropped out after a liver
transplant in 1992 and Doherty returned. Lewis and McFarlane left in
1993, to be replaced by
Lisa Brescia and
Deb Lyons. The band continued to perform with varying line-ups, including
Barry McGuire
(1997–1998) and the recovering Phillips, until 1998, by which time,
according to one critic, "the jingle singers who sang those fabulous
Cass, Michelle, John, and Denny parts were an aural cartoon".
In 1998 the lineup was Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Chrissy Faith, David
Baker and Janelle Sadler. After Phillips and McKenzie retired
permanently from touring, another singer, Mark Williamson, was brought
in.
Phillips wanted the New Mamas and the Papas to make an album, "but I just couldn't bring myself to commit to it".
Varèse Sarabande released the 1981 demos with other material as
Many Mamas, Many Papas in 2010. Beyond that, the band is represented on record only by live albums of uncertain provenance, including
The Mamas and the Papas Reunion Live (1987) featuring the Phillips-Doherty-Phillips-McFarlane line-up and released by Teichiku in Japan;
[104] and
Dreamin' Live
(2005) on a label called Legacy (not the Columbia-Sony imprint), which
features John and Mackenzie Phillips, Spanky McFarlane, and (probably)
Scott McKenzie.
[122]
Members
Later recognition
In 1986, John and Michelle Phillips were featured in the music video for
the Beach Boys' second recording of "
California Dreamin'", which appeared on the album
Made in U.S.A.
Denny Doherty was unavailable. The Mamas and the Papas' own version of
"California Dreamin'" was reissued in the UK and peaked at number nine
in 1997. The song received a
Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2001.
The Mamas and the Papas were 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 number twenty-one on the
VH1 network's list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock.
In a review by Matthew Greenwald, he stated, "One of the best
anthologies of the Mamas & the Papas, A Gathering of Flowers was put
together immediately after the group's demise, and gives the listener
an excellent overview of one of the most revolutionary and appealing
groups to emerge from the folk-rock era. Although it may seem slim at
first, with only 20 tracks spread out over two LPs, there is much more
to be found. In between most cuts there are not only rehearsals and
outtakes, but also interview snippets from John Phillips and Cass
Elliot. These interviews create an aural documentary of the group in
between great cuts like "California Dreamin'," "Monday, Monday," "I Saw
Her Again," and others. Excellent liner notes by Andy Wickham and a
generous collection of rare photos top this collection off in grand
style." This anthology was never produced on CD but was available on
vinyl and cassette tape for many years. Some companies are offering a
CDR ripped version of this engaging look into the history of the Mamas
& the Papas, normally including the source material to preserve
copyrights.
The band finally received a box set when the four-CD
Complete Anthology
was released in the UK in September 2004 and in the US in January 2005.
It contains the five studio albums, the live album from Monterey,
selections from their solo work, and rarities including their first
sessions with Barry McGuire, all in "uniformly excellent" sound.
[123] A blogger on BBC Music called it "a treasure chest of pop gold".
[124]
In addition to the three documentaries (
Straight Shooter,
California Dreamin' and
Here I Am), Doherty's musical, and the memoirs by John, Michelle, and Mackenzie Phillips, the group is the subject of Doug Hall's
The Mamas and the Papas: California Dreamin' (2000)
[125] and Matthew Greenwald's
Go Where You Wanna Go: The Oral History of the Mamas and the Papas (2002).
[126] Cass Elliot is the subject of Jon Johnson's
Make Your Own Kind of Music: A Career Retrospective of Cass Elliot (1987)
[127] and Eddi Fiegel's
Dream a Little Dream of Me: The Life of Mama Cass Elliot (2005).
[128] John Phillips' estate has authorized Chris Campion to write a biography of the group's leader, provisionally called
Wolfking.
[129][130][131]
Fox acquired the rights to make a film about the Mamas and the Papas in 2000.
[132] It was reported in 2007 that "The right script is in the process of being written."
[133] Peter Fitzpatrick's stage musical,
Flowerchildren: The Mamas and Papas Story, was produced by
Magnormos in
Melbourne, Australia, in 2011 and revived in 2013.
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Discography
- Studio albums
Pros: Numerous live talk, sports, and music channels. Ability to pause and rewind tracks. Useful TuneStart alert system. Song recommendations. Deep channel customization options. High-profile exclusive content.Cons: No lyrics. No longer has the excellent Start Now feature.Bottom Line: SiriusXM Internet Radio's crisp audio, numerous live stations, and talk radio is a must-have for radio-streaming fans, despite a few niggles.Read Review
Pros: Deep library. Excellently curated stations and fun playlists. Intuitive design. Useful fine-tuning controls. Good sound quality. Live ESPN Radio. Lifestyle stations. News and The Weather Channel updates.Cons: No family plan. Lacks lyrics in browser-based version.Bottom Line: Slacker Radio's deep music library, informative DJs and DNA stations, along with quality non-music content make the streaming audio service the big dog in a very crowded and competitive pack.Read Review
Pros: Deep music catalog. Collaborative playlists. Good sound quality. Optional desktop app that lets you play locally stored audio files. Premium accounts let you hear select albums before they're released. Cool Archie motion comics. Video.Cons: No live radio or optional informative DJs.Bottom Line: The feature-packed Spotify, available in both free and premium versions, is a top-notch streaming music service that boasts collaborative playlists, early album listening sessions, and digital comics.Read Review
Pros: Large music library. Cool scrolling lyrics. Useful Alexa-specific features. Tight integration with Amazon Echo device family.Cons: No free version. Lacks non-music content. No longer lets you upload audio files.Bottom Line: Amazon's fully realized streaming music service provides an intriguing alternative to the many competing products on the market-especially for Echo device owners.Read Review
Pros: Streams 45 million songs. Exclusive albums and Apple's Beats 1 radio station. Offline playback. Siri and Apple Watch integration. Family Plan. Cool video playlists. News and sports content. 90-day free trial.Cons: Curation could be more specialized. Can't access your library from a web browser. Lackluster social media features. No unlimited free version.Bottom Line: Apple Music boasts exclusive albums and Siri and Apple Watch compatibility, but this well-rounded streaming music service falls just short of toppling Slacker Radio and Spotify.Read Review
Pros: Library of 53 million songs. Family and Student plans. Live radio. Lyrics. Podcasts. Lets you upload MP3 files on the desktop. Free version.Cons: No offline mode in desktop app. Mobile apps lack MP3 compatibility. Can't rewind live radio streams. No free mobile version.Bottom Line: Bursting at the seams with content, Deezer is a well-rounded streaming music service, though it lacks some of the fun extras found in the competition.Read Review
Pros: Excellent sound quality. Long-form editorial pieces. Themed playlists. On-demand playback. Exclusive backstage content, live streams, and concerts. Early access to select concert and sports tickets.Cons: Lacks lyrics. Some competing services offer a wider variety of audio content. No free version.Bottom Line: The continually evolving Tidal is an excellent streaming music service, especially for listeners who want high-quality audio and first dibs on tickets to hot concerts and sporting events.Read Review
Pros: Good audio quality. Lots of music. Links to YouTube videos. Option to buy tunes from the Google Play Store. Handy music locker. Affordable family plan.Cons: Annoying setup. No lyrics. Needs more non-musical content.Bottom Line: Google Play Music, with its music locker and YouTube and YouTube Red integration, offers more unique features than your typical streaming music service.Read Review
Pros: Many live and curated artist streams. Lyrics. Informative artist bios and news articles. Events section.Cons: Catalog holes. Unable to rewind live radio. No family plan. Unattractive design.Bottom Line: iHeartRadio attempts to merge live radio and a curated catalog, but the streaming music service lacks many of the features found in its rivals and its interface is clunky in places.Read Review
Pros: Unlimited skips, unlimited replays, and ad-free listening with Pandora Premium. Good song recommendation engine. Lyrics. Breezy lean-back experience. Family plan. Showcases tour dates.Cons: No live content. Some tracks aren't available for on-demand streaming. Can't browse by category. Some lag in testing when switching sections.Bottom Line: The once-pioneering streaming music platform finally has the feature set to compete with rival services, though it doesn't dethrone the top players.Read Review
