The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York City, the group consisted of Americans John Phillips, Cass Elliot, and Michelle Phillips, and Canadian Denny Doherty. Its sound was based on vocal harmonies arranged by John Phillips – the songwriter and leader of the group – who adapted folk to the new beat style of the early 1960s.
The Mamas & the Papas released five studio albums and 17 singles, six of which made the Billboard top 10, and have sold close to 40 million records worldwide. After their breakup in 1968, the band reunited briefly to record the album People Like Us in 1971 but split again shortly after the album was released. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 for its contributions to the music industry, and it reunited for the second and final time to perform at the induction ceremony that year, during which Elliot's daughter Owen filled in for her late mother, who had died in 1974.
History
1965: Formation and beginnings The Mamas & the Papas was formed by the husband and wife John Phillips (formerly of the Journeymen) and Michelle Phillips, along with Denny Doherty (formerly of the Mugwumps). Both of these earlier acts were folk groups active in 1964 and 1965. The last member to join was Cass Elliot, Doherty's bandmate in the Mugwumps, who had to overcome John Phillips's concerns that her voice was too low for his arrangements, that her obesity would be an obstacle to the band's success, and that her temperament was incompatible with his (Elliot struggled with obesity all her life and felt deeply insecure about her physical appearance).Eddi Fiegel,Dream a Little Dream of Me: The Life of 'Mama' Cass Elliott (Sidgwick & Jackson, 2005; Pan Macmillan, 2006), pp. 19, 26–27. The group considered calling itself the Magic Cyrcle before switching to the Mamas & the Papas, 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 view is that "[i]t was hard for John to break out of folk music because I think he was really 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. Previously the Journeymen had played acoustic folk with banjo, and the Mugwumps played something closer to folk rock, with bass and drums. The rehearsals in the Virgin Islands were "the first time that we tried playing electric".
The band then traveled in 1965 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 during the previous two years and who had recently signed with Dunhill. The audition led to "a deal in which they would record two albums a year for the next five years", with a royalty of 5% on 90% of retail sales. Dunhill Records 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.
The Mamas & the Papas made their first recording singing background 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."Biography: California Dreamin, Barry McGuire Website. Retrieved April 24, 2013. The single "Go Where You Wanna Go", which was given a limited release in November, failed to chart."I Wanna Be a Star: The 45s", David Redd's Mamas and Papas Pages. Retrieved December 29, 2013. 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, touted by a full-page advertisement in Billboard on December 18."Does anyone here own the "Go Where You Wanna Go" 45 (Dunhill 4018)?" Steve Hoffman Music Forums, July 26–27, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2013. It peaked at No. 4 in the United States and No. 23 in the United Kingdom. "Go Where You Wanna Go" was covered by the 5th Dimension on its album Up, Up and Away and became a Top 10 hit.
1966–1967: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears and The Mamas & the Papas The quartet's debut album, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, followed in February 1966 and became its only No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The third and final single from the album, "Monday, Monday", was released in March 1966. It became the band's only No. 1 hit in the US, reached No. 3 in the UK, and was the first No. 1 on Spain's Los 40 Principales. "Monday, Monday" won a 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. The band's second album, The Mamas & the Papas, is sometimes referred to as Cass, John, Michelle, Dennie, whose names appear above the band's name on the cover, including the unexplained misspelling of Doherty's first name. The recording was interrupted when Michelle Phillips became indiscreet about her affair with Gene Clark of the Byrds. A liaison between Michelle and Denny Doherty had already been forgiven by her husband, John Phillips; Doherty and John Phillips co-wrote "I Saw Her Again" about the affair. They later disagreed about how much Doherty contributed to the song.Doherty said, "I wrote the tune. John Phillips wrote the lyric." See Dream a Little Dream (the Nearly True Story of the Mamas and the Papas), Denny Doherty Website. Retrieved May 2, 2013. Phillips said he wrote everything, but gave Doherty a co-composer credit because he had inspired the song. Following Michelle's affair with Clark, John Phillips was determined to fire her. He told her she was fired on her birthday, June4, 1966, though she disputed whether he had the authority to do so. After consulting their attorney and record label, John, Elliot, and Doherty served Michelle with a letter expelling her from the group three weeks later.
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, Gibson soon took part in concerts in Forest Hills (New York City), Denver, Colorado, and Phoenix, Arizona; television appearances including The Hollywood Palace on ABC; and recording sessions. While Gibson was a quick study and well-regarded, the three original members concluded she lacked her predecessor's "stage charisma and grittier edge", and Michelle Phillips was reinstated on August 23, 1966."Jill Gibson's Vocals on the 2nd Mamas and Papas LP", Steve Hoffman Music Forums. Retrieved May 3, 2013. Jill Gibson left the band and was paid a lump sum from the group's funds.
The Mamas & the Papas peaked at No. 4 in the US and No. 24 in the UK, continuing the band's success. "I Saw Her Again" was released as a single in June 1966 and reached No. 5 in the US and No. 11 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.Bones Howe Interview , Wrecking Crew Website. Retrieved May 1, 2013. "That has to be a mistake: nobody's that clever", Paul McCartney told the group. The device was imitated by John Sebastian in the Lovin' Spoonful song "Darling 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, released in November 1966 as a double A-side with "Dancing in the Street". The record reached No. 5 in the US. "Dancing in the Street", which had been a hit two years earlier for Martha and the Vandellas, struggled to No. 73. In the UK it was backed with "I Can't Wait" and peaked at No. 47.
With Michelle Phillips reinstated, the group embarked on a small tour on the East Coast to promote the record. Their co-headlining band was Webster's New Word, two members being Gus Duffy and Jim Mason. At a September 1966 concert at Fordham University in New York City, Duffy and Mason both noted that the group was 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".
1967–1968: The Mamas & the Papas Deliver and The Papas & the Mamas
After completing their East Coast tour, the group started work immediately on its third album, The Mamas & The Papas Deliver. The first single from the album, "Look Through My Window", was released in September 1966 before the last single from the previous album. It reached No. 24 in the US. The second single, "Dedicated to the One I Love", released in February 1967, did better, peaking at No. 2 in both the US and the UK. The success of "Dedicated to the One I Love" helped the album, which was also released in February 1967, reach No. 2. The third single, "Creeque Alley", released April 1967, chronicled the band's early history and reached No. 5 in the US.
By June 1967, the strain on the group was apparent when it performed indifferently at the Monterey International Pop Festival. The band was 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,"Dream a Little Dream", Denny Doherty Website. Retrieved May 6, 2013. and partly because he was drinking heavily in the aftermath of his affair with Michelle Phillips.Rock Family Trees, Season Two, Episode One: , first broadcast on BBC 2, September–October 1998. Retrieved May 1, 2013. The Mamas & the Papas rallied for its performance before 18,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl in August with Jimi Hendrix as the opener, which John and Michelle Phillips remembered as the apex of the band's career, saying, "There would never be anything quite like it again".
The Mamas & the Papas Deliver was followed in October 1967 by the non-album single "Glad to Be Unhappy", which reached No. 26 in the US. "Dancing Bear" from the group's second album was released as a single in November, peaking at No. 51 in the US. Neither "Glad to Be Unhappy" nor "Dancing Bear" charted in the UK.
The Mamas & 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 that John and Michelle Phillips had built at their home in Bel Air, 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".