The Mamas & The Papas - various, live @ Monterey Pop, 1967

Songs performed: Straight Shooter, Somebody Groovy, San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers In Your Hair) - lead vocals by Scott McKenzie (January 10, 1939 – August 18, 2012) I Call Your Name, Monday,Monday, Dancing In The Street The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group was composed of Americans John Phillips, Cass Elliot, and Michelle Phillips and Canadian Denny Doherty. Their sound was based on vocal harmonies arranged by John Phillips, the songwriter, musician, and leader of the group, who adapted folk to the new beat style of the early 1960s. The Monterey Pop Festival was produced by Lou Adler & John Phillips. Some of their most popular singles include “California Dreamin’“, “Monday, Monday“ and “Dedicated to the One I Love“. The Mamas & the Papas were formed by husband and wife John Phillips (formerly of the New Journeymen) and Michelle Phillips, and 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[4] (Elliot struggled with obesity all her life and felt deeply insecure about her physical appearance. 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.“ Phillips acknowledged that he was reluctant to abandon folk also acknowledged that it was Doherty and Elliot who awakened him to the potential of contemporary pop, as epitomized by the Beatles. Previously, the New Journeymen had played acoustic folk with banjo, and the Mugwumps played something closer to folk rock, with bass and drums. Their rehearsals in the Virgin Islands were “the first time that we tried playing electric.“ The band then traveled 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. The single “Go Where You Wanna Go“, which was given a limited release in November, failed to chart. 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. 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 20 pop hit.