The Mamas and The Papas: Top Ten Unbelievable Facts
I’m trying out a new listicle format, in addition longform pieces and songwriter breakdowns. Some days, you don’t have time for full-fledged music nerdery…and for those days…there’s TOP TEN!
Hope you like this first post. As always, if you’re more of a video person, you can watch it on YouTube.
If someone were to ask you: What was the darkest or most scandalous mainstream band of the 1960s, who would you think of? The Rolling Stones? The Grateful Dead? Maybe The Doors? Black Sabbath at the tail end there?
Well, it might just be The Mamas and the Papas. I was looking for some fun facts for this list…and I found a few, but I found far more objectively not-fun facts. Despite the sunny exterior, there was always incredible turmoil among the new-folk movement’s favorite foursome. Anyway, here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.
ONE
Though they were a quintessential LA band, Michelle Phillips was the only member of the Mamas and The Papas from California. John was from South Carolina, Cass was from Baltimore, and Denny was Canadian. And the band, well, it was founded in New York.
TWO
You’ve heard this one before. The rumor that Cass Elliott died by choking on a ham sandwich was always considered a cruel joke, but it was actually concocted on the spot by her manager to get ahead of the overdose rumors that would have inevitably spread. It was a heart attack, plain and simple, but given the times and the band’s reputation, including the fact that Mama Cass had been investigated for narcotics traffcking, the manufactured rumor was better than the organic rumors. The ham sandwich just happened to be in the room and was a convenient prop.
THREE
The Mamas and the Papas wasn’t the group’s first choice of names. The band’s working title was “The Magic Circle” and other names like “The Straight Singers” topped the shortlist. The name “The Mamas and The Papas” was chosen on a whim, inspired by The Hells Angels’ use of the AAVE slang term “Mama” for female partner. Lots of motorcycle lingo showed up in California pop at the time. See also, big mama, old lady, rider…you get the picture.
FOUR
According to Michelle Phillips, when she was briefly kicked out of the band, she crashed a rehearsal and told her bandmates: “I’ll bury you all”. And she did. Michelle is the last surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas.
FIVE
John Phillips claimed that he was invited to Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski’s house on the night of the Manson murders, but he got high and didn’t show up. If he had, that may have been curtains for the Mamas and the Papas. John was briefly Roman Polanski’s chief person-of-interest in the murders, and both he and Cass Elliott were requested as defense witnesses in Manson’s trial. In the small world of 1960s Los Angeles, they were closely connected to both the victims and the murderers.
SIX
It is well known that the song, “Creeque Alley” was inspired by the five weeks the band spent living on a beach in the Virgin Islands and constantly doing acid. What isn’t as well known is that Cass Elliot brought all of that acid, one quart to be exact, to the islands…on an airplane. Obviously, this was pre-TSA, but depending on dose and dilution, one quart of liquid could contain millions of hits of LSD.
SEVEN
The Mamas and the Papas were incredibly popular and influential, but they only ever had one number one single, and one number one album. They received one Grammy, when “Monday, Monday” won best pop performance by a duo or group in 1967.
EIGHT
“California Dreamin’ “may be the most enduring John and Michelle Phillips song, but it didn’t start out that way. The number had been rejected by The Byrds and The Turtles before finally being recorded by Barry McGuire. “California Dreamin” wasn’t initially considered for a Mamas and Papas single, but their recording of the song was released as a replacement A-Side after “Go Where You Wanna Go” underperformed.
NINE
1960’s America really loved The Mamas and The Papas. Their singles spent a collective 110 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 during the 60s. A recording of “California Dreamin’” was even carried aboard the Apollo 10 mission in 1969. As a comparison, The Rolling Stones’ singles spent only 64 collective weeks on the Hot 100 in the 1960’s…and buddy…we love the Stones.
TEN
They may have been pop musicians, but Much like The Beach Boys, The Mamas and The Papas pioneered very innovative recording techniques in their work with Lou Adler and Bones Howe, including stacking bounced vocals and phasing echos. This “California Sound” in vocal production was cited by The Beatles as influencing Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. And we’ve all been doing it ever since.
