The Mamas & The Papas Biography

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The Mamas & The Papas
Pop Music | 3 CD Set
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It would be a bit of a chore to duplicate the short-term success of the Mamas and the Papas, who more than virtually anyone else capitalized on and pushed forward the Hippie movement of the '60s. These four singers had it all: great songs, lifestyle, and a following that couldn't get enough of what it was the quartet was doing. Unfortunately, it only lasted three years, at least two of those somewhat contentious. The foursome joined forces in 1965. At the outset, it was John Phillips (b. 1941), his wife Michelle Phillips (b. 1944 as Holly Michelle Gilliam), Denny Doherty (b. 1941 in Canada) and Cass Elliott (b. 1943 as Ellen Cohen, d. 1974). John had been part of a popular folk group called the Journeymen and Doherty and Elliott in the Mugwumps. In the beginning, Greenwich Village was an apt training ground for folk-oriented groups. But the Mamas and the Papas decided to move west, hooking up with producer Lou Adler with the help of then-popular singer Barry McGuire ("Eve of Destruction" - No. 1 in 1965). Still unnamed at this point, the quartet added backing vocals to his second album, which lent much fuel to their coming out, when they became the Mamas and the Papas. Their first major salvo on the pop charts was "California Dreamin'." It reached No. 4 in February 1966, the first of seven major hits in the space of fifteen months, including the followup "Monday Monday" (No. 1 for three weeks), "I Saw Her Again" (No. 5), "Words of Love" (No. 5), "Dedicated to the One I Love" (No. 2) and "Creeque Alley" (No. 5), "California Dreamin'" was to be a vehicle for McGuire but his version died in the studio when they simply erased his vocal and added Doherty's - thus a star is born. Four stars, actually, and they were different: John, the tall, thin intellectual; Michelle, the future movie star; Denny, the good-looking Canadian, and Cass, the overweight charmer. John, whose writing talents blossomed, and Michelle ended their marriage in 1966, breaking up the group momentarily by adding lookalike Jill Gibson. Michelle returned quickly, however, and the foursome continued its growing success with big-selling albums, including the autobiographical CREEQUE ALLEY, documenting their rocketing rise to pop fame. Two more Top 30 hits ensued before the end of 1967, the year of the Monterey Pop Festival that John had a hand in organizing. He also wrote for one-time Journeymen partner Scott McKenzie the big mid-1967 hit (No. 4) "San Francisco (Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair," certainly THE hippie anthem of the era. The Mamas and the Papas broke up in 1968 but not before some late '67 problems in England. Docking there for a concert tour, Cass was arrested for stealing blankets on an earlier visit. Charges were dropped but the tour was cancelled while rumors of their breakup began. Solo careers developed and in 1971, they reformed for an album but they "mailed in" their individual efforts and not much happened. Cass became a pop singer but her career ended with her death in 1974. Ten years later, John and Denny did reform the group with Michelle's daughter Laura McKenzie (who became actress McKenzie Phillips) and Elaine Spanky McFarland of Spanky and Our Gang. When Doherty left this quartet, it added Scott McKenzie.

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