Posted on 10/20/2017 6:24:27 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska
Aaaaaaahh!
Thanks, Ma!
*HUG*
You’re da best!
Hee hee!
Oh!
Happy belated birthday, Prof!
I'm thinking about doing a Mamas & Papas retrospective tomorrow night.
Thanks, unique.
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Dolly & Porter ~ The Last Thing On My Mind
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Thanks, unique.
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Cal Smith ~ They Don't Make 'em Like My Daddy Anymore
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Welcome, everyone to this weekend's edition of the Canteen Music Dedication. The music in this thread is provided for the enjoyment of the troops and their families.
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((HUGS))Good morning, Kathy. How’s it going?
The band was formed by husband and wife John and Michelle (Gilliam) Phillips, formerly of the New Journeymen, and Denny Doherty, formerly of the Mugwumps. Both these acts were active during the last years of the Great Folk Revival of the Fifties. The last member to join was Cass Elliot (Miriam Cohen), Doherty’s band mate from the Mugwumps, who had to overcome John Phillips’ concern that her voice was too low, that her physical appearance would be a turnoff, and that her temperament was incompatible with his. They considered calling themselves the Magic Cyrcle before switching to the Mamas and the Papas, inspired by the Hells Angels, whose female associates were called “mamas.”
They spent the much of 1965 in the Virgin Islands to rehearse and put everything together. John acknowledged that he was reluctant to abandon folk music. Denny said he hung on to it “like death.” Roger McGuinn: “It was hard for John to break out of folk music, because I think he was real good at it, conservative, and successful, too.” John acknowledged that it was Denny and Cass who awakened him to the potential of contemporary pop. While the New Journeymen had played acoustic folk and the Mugwumps played something closer to folk rock, their rehearsals in the Virgin Islands were “the first time that we tried playing electric.” Considering that Bob Dylan and the Byrds were paving the way in 1965, this should not have been a surprise.
The band traveled to Los Angeles for an audition with Lou Adler, co-owner of Dunhill Records. The audition was arranged by former New Christy Minstrel Barry McGuire, who had befriended Cass and John independently over the previous years and who had recently signed with Dunhill in a deal that would see the success of P. F. Sloan’s song “Eve of Destruction.” 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 tied the band to management and publishing deals, commonly known as a “triple hat” relationship. Cass’ membership was not formalized until the paperwork was signed, with Adler, Michelle and Denny overruling John.
The Mamas and the Papas made their inaugural 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. This single was “Go Where You Wanna Go,” which was given a limited release in November but failed to chart. The 5th Dimension would later turn it into a hit.
From the beginning, the band was backed by the Wrecking Crew with a string component. Among the musicians in these sessions were Tommy Tedesco, Carol Kaye, Larry Knechtel and Hal Blaine.
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In his personal life, John Phillips was a monster with heroin problems who bedded his own daughter. But in song writing and arranging, he was a genius.
Rock rarely uses minor keys, but this is 2:44 of utter perfection in D minor. John’s arrangement shows off both harmony and counterpoint at the same time. That’s P. F. Sloan playing the perfect four-bar intro that sets the table for the song and the Wrecking Crew backing it up.
The single was released just before Christmas 1965 and became a sleeper. Although it never reached #1 on the charts, it stayed on the charts long enough to become the top selling single of 1966.
I first heard this song on Philadelphia’s WIBG on a snowy Saturday afternoon in December, and the memory still sticks with me. I was absolutely stunned. This was something very, very special, and I understood that I was in the presence of genius. It’s still my all time favorite recording.
Mama Cass had the best voice of the bunch. All the folky names reminded me of the movie “A Mighty Wind” which pretty much nailed that era!
Cool theme!
I had to do something when I discovered that you were at the FReeper Shoot and not in a position to post tunes. I jumped in on the spur of the moment with something that I knew well.
Cass was the only one with a real voice. Maybe Denny. The rest didn’t really have the chops.
Cass liked putting a different spin on songs, and she was fond of the great songwriters like Rodgers & Hart. Here she and John turn Lennon & McCartney into a torch song.
Absolutely.
We knew it even way back then.
John liked to play against type. Thus far, every arrangement of this song had been relentlessly up-tempo. But John slowed it down, and it influenced Bette Midler a few years later when she recorded her own version. It sounds much better when slowed down.
You are appreciated.
(BLUSH BLUSH)
”California Dreamin’” was still riding high in March 1966 when Dunhill released the band’s third single, which was from their first album. It was their only song to go to #1 on the charts. Among those in this session were guitarist P. F. Sloan, bassist Joe Osborn, drummer Hal Blaine, harpsichordist Larry Knechtel and electric violinist Peter Pilafian. Peter’s pioneering work is carried on today by brilliant session musicians like Arlene Schar.
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