The Mamas & the Papas were a vocal group from Los Angeles, California, that was active from 1966 to 1969. Their discography consists of a total of five albums and 17 singles, six of which made the Billboard top ten, and sold close to 40 million records worldwide."The Mamas and the Papas", Last.fm. Retrieved May 3, 2013. "Monday, Monday" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1966 and "California Dreamin' was the top song on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1966.
The Mamas & the Papas' recordings were released on Dunhill Records until 1967, when the company was sold and the label became ABC-Dunhill."Bobby [Roberts] and Lou [Adler], some time earlier, had come to us and begged us to give them a two-year extension on our contract...based on that we agreed to the extension, and we woke up two days later to read in the trades that Dunhill had been sold. Maybe for business reasons, whatever, we could not be told. At any rate we were sold, and it was a real nasty piece of business. Bobby, Lou, and Jay [Lasker] picked up a million apiece – we got nothing. We would one day look back and see that it was the beginning of the end for our recording, really. ABC did not understand us at all". Michelle Phillips, California Dreamin' , pp. 128–129. Around 1973, ABC-Dunhill discarded all multi-track session recordings and mono masters because they were deemed obsolete and too expensive to store. The original recordings of the Mamas & the Papas, and of labelmates such as Three Dog Night, are therefore lost, and it has been necessary to create digital versions from the stereo album masters, often second- or third-generation tapes. This is why the sound quality of Mamas and Papas' reissues does not match the best from the 1960s. In 2012, Sundazed Records located a mono master of If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears in the UK and released it on 180-gram vinyl and a limited edition of 500 compact discs.. Sundazed.com. Retrieved on April 15, 2012. Three years later an extensive search of label archives worldwide turned up all the mono singles and mono LP masters from which the 50th Anniversary 2-CD set was made a year later and reissued for Record Store Day in 2018.(liner notes of the aforementioned CD)
The RIAA has certified the single "California Dreamin' as 4× platinum, and the singles "Dream a Little Dream of Me", and "Monday, Monday" as platinum.
Albums Studio albums +List of studio albums, with selected details, peak chart positions and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications US CANRPM chart positions: The Mamas & the Papas: Deliver: People Like Us: GER UK If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears Released: February 1966 Label: Dunhill 1——3 RIAA: Platinum The Mamas & the Papas Released: August 1966 Label: Dunhill 4101424 RIAA: Gold Deliver Released: February 1967 Label: Dunhill 23304 RIAA: Gold The Papas & the Mamas Released: May 1968 Label: Dunhill 15——— People Like Us Released: November 1971 Label: Dunhill 8455—— "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Live albums +List of live albums, with selected details Title Album details Historic Performances at the Monterey International Pop Festival Released: 1970 Label: Dunhill Greatest Hits: Live in 1982 Released: 1989 Label: Success Live in Concert Released: 1991 Label: PolyTel Elite California Dreamin''' | Released: 1997 Label: Prism Leisure |- ! scope="row" | Live!'' Released: 1999 Label: Pegasus
Select compilation albums +List of select compilation albums, with selected details, peak chart positions and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications US AUS BEL (FL) NL UK Farewell to the First Golden EraReleased: 1967 Label: Dunhill 5———— RIAA: Gold Golden Era Vol. 2Released: 1968 Label: Dunhill 53———— Hits of GoldReleased: 1969 Label: Stateside ————7 16 of Their Greatest HitsReleased: 1969 Label: Dunhill 6113——— A Gathering of FlowersReleased: 1970 Label: Dunhill ————— 20 Golden HitsReleased: 1973 Label: Dunhill 186———— The Best of the Mamas and the PapasReleased: 1977 Label: Arcade ————6 BPI: 2× Platinum The ABC CollectionReleased: 1979 Label: ABC Records ————— The Hit Singles CollectionReleased: 1986 Label: MCA ————— The ★ CollectionReleased: 1991 Label: MCA ————— Creeque Alley: The History of the Mamas and the PapasReleased: 1991 Label: MCA ————— BPI: Gold California Dreamin': The Very Best of the Mamas and the PapasReleased: 1995 Label: Polygram ——453314 California Dreamin': The Greatest Hits of the Mamas and the PapasReleased: 1997 Label: Telstar ————30 Greatest HitsReleased: 1998 Label: MCA ————— Before They Were the Mamas & the Papas... The Magic CircleReleased: 1999 Label: Varèse Sarabande ————— 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Mamas & the PapasReleased: 1999 Label: Geffen, MCA————— RIAA: Gold All the Leaves Are Brown: The Golden Era CollectionReleased: 2001 Label: MCA ————— Complete Anthology (4-disc box set)Released: 2004 Label: MCA ————— GoldReleased: 2005 Label: Geffen ————— California Dreamin': The Best of the Mamas and the PapasReleased: 2006 Label: UMTV ————21 BPI: Gold IconReleased: 2011 Label: Geffen ————— The Complete Singles (50th Anniversary Collection)Released: 2016 Label: Real Gone Music ————— Ultimate AnthologyReleased: 2016 Label: UMe/Universal Music Special Markets ————— "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Video albums +List of video albums, with selected details Title Album details Straight Shooter Released: 1989 Label: Rhino Home Video The Very Best of the Mamas and the Papas Released: 2001 Label: MVD California Dreamin': The Songs of the Mamas and the Papas Released: 2005 Label: Hip-O The Mamas & the Papas & Other '60s Greats Released: 2005 Label: Eagle Vision/SOFA Home Entertainment Legends of the Canyon Released: 2009 Label: Image Entertainment The Ed Sullivan Show Presents: The Mamas & the Papas Released: 2016 Label: SOFA The Ed Sullivan Show Presents: California Dreaming' - The Songs of the Mamas & the Papas Released: 2016 Label: SOFA/TJL/Treasury Collection
Singles +List of singles, with selected peak chart positions and certifications Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album US AUS BEL(FL) BEL(WA) CAN GER NL NZ SA UK "Go Where You Wanna Go" 1965——————————If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears "California Dreamin'" 487——331—14—9 RIAA: 4× Platinum BPI: 3× Platinum BVMI: Platinum RMNZ: 3× Platinum "Monday, Monday" 19661427122413 RIAA: Platinum BPI: Silver "I Saw Her Again"59—4712166311 The Mamas & the Papas "Look Through My Window" 2467——5——18—53 Deliver "Words of Love"56——3————47The Mamas & the Papas "Dancing in the Street"736———————— "Dedicated to the One I Love" 196723138326151022 RIAA: GoldDeliver "Creeque Alley" 54—261——16199 "Twelve Thirty"2020——14——111651 The Papas & the Mamas "Glad to Be Unhappy" 2655——6—————Golden Era Vol. 2 "Dancing Bear" 51———13—————The Mamas & the Papas "Safe in My Garden" 19685386——30—————The Papas & the Mamas "Dream a Little Dream of Me" 121——75——811 RIAA: Platinum BPI: Gold RMNZ: Platinum "For the Love of Ivy" 81———55————— "Do You Wanna Dance" 76———37—————If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears "Step Out" 197281—————————People Like Us "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
See also The Mugwumps discography Denny Doherty discography Cass Elliot discography John Phillips discography Michelle Phillips discography
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