Saturday, November 19, 2011

Saturday Night Music: The Mamas and the Papas



Cass Elliot, one of the greatest voices...ever.

Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene on Crimespree Cinema.

17 comments:

  1. Very true. Beautiful voice. But as you saw in the clip, people paid more attention to Michelle Phillips, who didn't have half the voice of Cass Elliot (though she was an angelic beauty).

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  2. On camera, looks trump voice, but it's the voice we remember.

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  3. Michelle Phillips, mmmmmmm. She was no slouch as a singer, either. Remember, Cass was rejected the first time she tried to get into the group.

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  4. They made good music. My favourite is CALIFORNIA DREAMS.

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  5. Anonymous7:32 AM

    Amen, Patti. We saw them in the leter mid-60's (I think it was at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium). At least that's how I remember it. Hard to believe Michelle is the only one left.

    I still listen to them.

    The documentary made some years back had Denny discussing how painful it was to have to sing "I Saw Her Again" every night after John discovered his affair with Michelle and wrote the song.

    Jeff M.

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  6. Anonymous7:48 AM

    Patti - What a terrific choice! Cass Elliot had a remarkable voice. It's just so sad she left us so early...

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  7. Another moment of sychronicity: Yesterday at the library I saw Judy Collins's SWEET [sic] JUDY BLUE EYES on the new books shelf and checked it out. It's a very fast read, I'm already half-way through. Anyway, she writes about the folk-singing days in the Village in the early 1960s and mentions John and Denny and Cass and Michelle (who she says always looked like she'd just come from a salon--a "hippie" salon, but a salon none-the-less). Judy also says that Michelle actually had a better voice than she's given credit for. Although, one has to agree that Cass's voice was incredible.

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  8. God, I loved Judy. Different sort of voice but a rival for the best sixties female singer.

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  9. Yeah, it just wasn't as full as Mama Cass's.

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  10. Anonymous3:28 PM

    A great group, though this isn't one of their best songs.

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  11. No perhaps not. But you know those songs so well, I like to find other ones to play.

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  12. To nitpick, it's California Dreamin'.

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  13. willy jerk-off3:02 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  14. "Monday, Monday" never did much for me (though I think it was their highest chart position hit, fwiw). "Straight Shooter," "I Saw Her Again," and other songs that really got into their own psyche, or the wittier ones like "Somebody Groovy" were my favorites...along with "California Dreamin'"...

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