I'm old enough to remember when this was a new song, a big hit on the radio. The Mamas and the Papas were an excellent group, which emphasized harmony singing (and did it exceptionally well). Also, Mama Cass (Cass Elliot) turned out to be one of the most amazing singers in history. You might check out the video of her performing "Dream a Little Dream of Me."
Grant Foster-Well, you literally took the words out of my mind and mouth. Nice to know there’s a fellow aficionado of great music here. Cass Elliot had a phenomenal voice. Wish she would’ve made it on her own. Tremendous loss. Have you checked out Jamal_AKA _Jamel or Andy and Alex channels?
The Mamas and Papas were great and had some of the most beautiful harmonies ever recorded. Mama Cass Elliot had an absolutely amazing voice and was largely responsible for the group’s success IMHO. This was a great choice Van. 🌺✌️
"Monday Monday", "Go Where You Wanna Go", "I Saw Her Again Last Night", & "Creeque Alley" are other fantastic songs by the Mamas and Papas. They sound like the 60s felt.
Footnote: this bathtub photo made the photographer famous. Later he was hired and took the famous campfire photo at Joshua Tree with the Eagle flying above, and The Eagles were born.
If ED liked you he would call you over after you sang. He always called them over. He always called the Beatles over but never called the Rolling Stones over lol.
While it may have been written during the brutal NY winter, it was the trip to the Virgin Islands and a whole lotta LSD that perfected those harmonies.
Turns out that the name, "The Mamas And The Papas" was appropriate. Their offspring formed the band, "Wilson Phillips" whom you should also check out. They had great harmonies like their parents.
Michelle Phillips was so jealous of her and put her down at every chance and of course mama cass was very insecure, it was horrible. Still in interviews today, she thinks she is all that and bag if chips. Michelle also dismissed Makenzie and the sexual abuse of her father
This era is one of my favorites because it reminds me of riding the old logging roads with my parents on Friday nights listening to the “oldies”. Some of my best childhood memories
Michelle Phillips played on Knots Landing years ago and her daughter Mackenzie Phillips played on One Day At A Time with Valerie Bertinelli who was married to the late Eddie Van Halen
The musicians you hear were called The Wrecking Crew. They Hits they were involved in would blow your mind. There is a very good documentary about them.
Bud Shank TUCSON, Ariz. - Bud Shank, a flutist and alto saxophonist who worked with the Mamas and the Papas and other famous acts, has died. He was 82.Apr 7, 2009 The man playing that solo, on an alto flute, is Bud Shank. Jazz fans will know him as an important part of the Cool Jazz movement. He reportedly improvised the solo on the spot, one take, but in the original recording, Barry McGuire played a harmonica.Mar 5, 2013
i was born in LA, and lived there and Palm Springs until I was in my 20's. When this song was popular, I found myself in Leavenworth Kansas. It was worse winter since the 1880's. Snow was 4 feet high and ice cycles were hanging down into the snow. I had never lived in snow. I used to sing this song and tell God, if I could just get back home, I would never complain about the sand in Palm Springs or the smog in LA. Many memories around this song..
Crazy that you chose The Mamas and the Papa’s. I just a few days ago sort of rediscovered them. I hadn’t listened to them in years, and I missed that music. I’m not old enough to have been around when they were big ( I was born in 74 ) but I grew up hearing them from my parents and an uncle.
You would have loved growing up back then. No auto tune, just talent. I had a little portable AM radio. Friends and I would collect bottles for some candy money, then sit at the park and listen to music like this. Great memories.
It was their back up band playing the flute. From left to right John Phillips, Cass Eliott (who had a solo career), Denny Doherty, and Michelle Phillips (Johns wife). Michelle and Denny had an affair which eventually caused the demise of the group.
My sister's use to sing this song all the time!! Cass Elliott has a beautiful voice as a stand out. Not sure about the flute but only John Phillips played guitar, they were singers backed by a band.
Cass Elliott was great (they called her Mama Cass but I don't think she liked it). If you look up the Janis Joplin video for Ball & Chain at Monterey Pop you can see Cass in the audiance (I think that was the video)
Funny you say that about them getting freaky in the tub, because this is one of those bands that ended up all sleeping with each other. Michelle Phillips (the blond cutie there) cheated on John Phillips (songwriter, on the left), with Denny Doherty (lead vocalist on this track), who Mama Cass (the heavy girl, a beautiful soul with an incredible voice) was in love with. It was a real soap opera.
1967..we took this song as our Wave anthem in boot camp. Worked in we will miss you Bainbridge (Maryland))... and the friends that we know. Sang it at Graduation . What a trip!
Adore the harmonies and arrangements in this song. It was a decade old when I got to sing it in my junior high jazz choir. Ahhh, the old days when there were artistic elective classes! Thanks for sharing! 😽💋🎶
The Mamas & The Papas were a great goup who had a lot of big hits, but I think this one has become their defining song. It was recorded in 1966. Related to the Mamas & Papas was a group called Wilson Phillips with Carnie & Wendy Wilson, daughters of Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys, and Chyna Phillips, the daugter of John & Michelle Phillips from the Mamas & Papas. They had 5 hit singles including 3 number ones off their debut album.
Music was played by the Wrecking Crew. They were the most requested musicians in L.A. in the 60’s. They performed the music for so many artist like The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, The Monkeys, The Righteous Brothers and so many more. There is a great documentary about them called The Wrecking Crew. It’s a great movie if you love the music of the 60,s.
I first heard the Mama and Papas when I was in the hospital for three weeks with a serious concussion while in 8th grade, FB injury, 1967. They have GREAT songs!
Thanks for posting...yeah, it does sound like a lot more than 4 people singing here. Bud Shank played the alto flute on this song and later on, he was on a lot of smooth jazz recordings.
The singing group that featured the couple (John & Michelle Phillips) who gave the world Chynna Phillips, who would become one-third of the 80s/90s female signing trio Wilson Phillips.
This song was written when they were living in NYC and they were "California Dreamin'". When the LP first came out there was a sticker placed to cover the toilet so that it didn't show. I got tosee them in concert and they were every bit as good live as they were on the record.
I think this song here came out in the year I was born (1966) they were and still are a great band with many hit songs - I saw her again last night, Dream a little dream of me,...and many more. I don't know how many of them are still living but, I know the heavyset woman with the wonderful voice died suddenly at a young age. Mama Cass - ( Cass Elliott ) - I also think the tall man (John Philipps ) may have passed years later.
Written by the late John Phillips. He was the Papa. Michelle Phillips is the only surviving member. She is 1 of the Mamas. The members were in 2 bands in my hometown San Francisco before forming. After the break up of the marriage and the band, Michelle became an actress. Family tree . In short, The Mamas and The Papas are related to The Beach Boys, Wilson Phillips, the jailed Danny Masterson, Billy Baldwin and his son-in-law Justin Bieber. The Mamas and Papas also lead to Van Halen. Suggested videos : 1 Wilson Phillips sing You're in Love live in Manila. 2 The Beach Boys perform Don't Worry Baby. 3 Van Halen performs I'll Wait live in Montreal, in 1984.
This song has a very interesting history. A singer named Barry McGuire had a huge hit with a protest song called "The Eve of Destruction" back in mid 1965. The writer of the song was PF Sloan. In late 1965 he was recording an album called "This Precious Time" which was mostly covers of popular songs. The album was for Dunhill records and the producer was Lou Adler. During the sessions the Mamas and the Papas were in town, who were friends of Barry's. Barry invited them to come and audition for Lou Adler, who had them sing all the backup vocals on the album. Barry McGuire even recorded John and Michelle Phillips' song "California Dreaming". Lou Adler was so impressed he not only offered them a contract, but he took the recording of "California Dreaming" and erased Barry McGuire's vocal track and replaced it with Denny Doherty singing and released it as the Mamas and the Papas first single. As other have mentioned the wrecking crew did most of the instrumental backup, although PF Sloan played the guitar intro and the flute player was Bud Shank, better known for his work in jazz. And if you listen closely you can hear where Barry McGuire's vocal wasn't completely erased and his voice can be heard faintly in the left channel at the beginning of the song!
Yes, it's a flute, but it's an alto flute, which is bigger and has a deeper sound. I loved these old songs not afraid to put those kinds of instruments into their music.
I have developed a liking for music from the 60's , my mom would listen to all these different musicians.. I didn't get anything of hers when she passed , memories of her favorite music is all I have of her ..
The incredible musicianship in this iconic song was supplied by the famous LA studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. They played on literally hundreds of hits in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Van -- You're so cool! Great reaction. The solo part is an alto flute, I think, played by a studio musician named Bud Short (not one of the 4 vocalists who make up The Mamas and The Papas). The group had a band besides the 4 singers. Known for superior harmonies. Kind of part of California folkie acoustic rock in the 1960s. Worth listening! Try their "I Saw Her Again" or Mama Cass lead singing in "Dream a Little Dream of Me." What fun!
This is from the hippie era! The cover of the album is supposed to highlight the free and easy spirit of the mid-sixties. I was only in kindergarten but remember this playing on the radio quite a bit.
You can hear Mama Cass' powerful volume and control carrying the whole harmonies (she was a big woman, like an opera singer... powerful voice.) They were all perfectly matched... Denny Doherty, Michelle Philips and John Philips.
The Mamas and the Papas were one of a kind, the music holds up because it didn't sound like anything else. The Guy Webster photo was spur of the moment more or less, but there was some cheating going on with Denny and Michelle, John, her husband is at the foot end of the tub, so likely some symbolism. The Wrecking Crew were the LA based session musicians and for the most part, The Mamas and the Papas didn't play the instruments on the track. Joe Osborne was the bass player and I had the pleasure to meet him in the studio this was recorded! Bud Shank played the flute, he also played sax. PF Sloan was the opening guitar, he was a singer/songwriter, probably most famous for writing 'Secret Agent Man'. For context, the Wrecking Crew were the Funk Brothers of LA and some of the Funk Brothers did come to LA after the sale of Motown, to work as part of the Wrecking Crew.
It is supposed to be haunting. You were looking at their album cover. They were folk singers before they got into popular rock n roll music so their vocald ertr very folk insoired. Their hits are iconic now.
This was seriously your first time hearing this song? We are around the same age, I'm guessing, I was born in 83. I was exposed to this song because my parents were a bit hippy and had old records. Fell in love with this song!
The cover picture, represents a cool album cover, probably from a photoshoot they had. I don't think there's any meaning behind it. Also if you like this you should listen to "Monday Monday" by the mamas and the papas, or for something smooth by another band, The Lovin' Spoonful "Daydream" Also I might be wrong, but that sounds kinda like a mellotron(a precursor to the synth but with tapes instead of digital) rather than a real flute