The Mamas & The Papas 💜 THEN & NOW 2021

when you think of 1960s folk music you can't possibly leave out the mamas and the papas consisting of papa john and michelle phillips denny doherty and of course mama cass it's hard to fathom that a group only together for three years from 65 to 68 could become such a vital part of music history yet despite the widespread success it couldn't prevent this family from behind the scenes tension that included affairs breakups and copious amounts of substance abuse i'm nostalgic nick with do you remember and today we're taking a deep dive into the mamas and the papas seeing what led them together in the mid 60s and what they all did after the split if you enjoy our throwback please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel so you never miss a beat now let's head on down to creek alley john phillips known as the leading man and the primary songwriter of the group john phillips left his first wife to marry michelle and sparked the creation of the group the popularity of folk music was dwindling and a friend of john's denny dougherty encouraged him to write pop material in the vein of the beatles and john became world famous for his songwriting ability creating top folk hits for the mamas and the papas including california dreaming [Music] and monday monday both of which hit the billboard top 10. california dreaming came to fruition in 1963 when john and michelle were living in new york city and missing the warmth and vibrant west coast technically they were still in their previous group the new journeymen but it would become the song synonymous with the mamas and the papas and monday monday was their only number one hit on the us billboard hot 100. [Music] and the first time in history that a song by a mixed gender group reached the top of the charts but behind the scenes things were messy michelle phillips was a believer in free love and her marriage to jon didn't halt her beliefs she began an affair with the only other man in the group denny and when jon found out he wrote the song i saw her again and made denny sing the lead as a punishment but that was far from the end of michelle's free loving nature more on that soon after the mamas and papas broke up john began a solo jaunt and although his work didn't equal commercial success his first solo album was given four stars by rolling stone and is critically praised doherty has stated that if the mamas and the papas had recorded that album it would have probably been their best then the 1970s were a drug-fueled haze that landed john in prison his years of drug and alcohol abuse led to a liver transplant in 1992 and john died in march of 2001 at the age of 65 from heart failure it was after his death that his oldest daughter mackenzie spoke out about some truly horrifying events we talk about them more in our child stars of the 1970s video but mckinsey revealed that she and her father had a drug-fueled ancestral relationship which lasted nearly a decade and ended only after she became pregnant and had an abortion paid for by her father truly horrifying while john's third and second wives respectively deny these allegations denny's daughter jessica alleges that her father knew the awful truth and was quote horrified at what john had done cass elliot mama cass was the heart and soul of the group with her glowing smile infectious personality fun dance moves and powerhouse vocals cass moved to new york right after high school and famously lost out on a role in the musical if i can get it for you wholesale to the legendary barbra streisand in 1964 cass met denny doherty and helped form the mugwomps which lasted eight months and when denny suggested cass to john and michelle in 1965 it was a match made in argument as jon put up quite the fight believing that her heavy weight would be a deterrent and ruin their image denny was able to convince jon and she joined them vacationing in the virgin islands mama cass became a phenomenon during the late 60s and when the quartet embarked on their solo careers cass's brief one shown the brightest she appeared in two tv specials one on abc and 69 and then over on cbs for 1973's don't call me mama anymore and people still call me mama the only one i really like to call me mama is my daughter and her two late 60s albums before a record label swap were highly successful with the highlight tune being 1968's dream a little dream of me [Music] but cass dealt with health problems throughout her later years she managed to lose 100 of her 300 pounds but the weight loss led to a stomach ulcer and throat problems this was all before her infamous las vegas show in october of 68 where she was bombarded with negative reviews newsweek even compared her performance to the titanic disaster saying quote mama cass slid down the waves and sank to the bottom rumor spread that cass was involved in heroin to which she later confirmed she had been shooting up before going on stage embarrassed by the whole ordeal she plummeted into a deep depression but things were improving in the 70s and she was performing as a solo star at the london paladium michelle phillips recalls in a documentary about receiving a phone call from an ecstatic cast who had received standing ovations and sold out shows both nights the following day michelle received more news this time that cass had died in her sleep of a heart attack at the age of 32. doherty the second papa to john phillips in 1960 denny and his friends pat lacroix and richard byrne started a group called the colonels which later renamed the halifax three after signing under colombia records during that time denny met cass elliott when she was part of the group the big three [Music] with all these different bands john's the journeyman and new journeyman the mug whoops the big three the entire pre-mamas in the papa's history is outlined in the very unique song creek alley and then there's the infamous affair with michelle denny would say that the affair was a one-and-done incident and was over quickly although at the time it was pretty hard on all involved and cass who was forever courting denny to no avail was also heartbroken by michelle's conkers saying quote you could have any man you want why would you take mine denny doherty sadly passed away in early 2007 at the age of 66 he suffered from kidney failure following a surgery for an aortic aneurysm always seen as the talented male heartthrob of the group we'll always remember him as such michelle michelle was dabbling in commercials and modeling for a bit before she met john at a club while he was touring with the journeyman the two began a whirlwind romance as john divorced his wife and married michelle in 1962 when she was just 18 years old the newlyweds soon began writing songs together and the new journeyman was morphed into the mamas and the papas in 1965. by the time their second album was coming about the news of michelle's affair with denny had been revealed but this betrayal wasn't even the final straw for michelle's dismissal and the eventual decline of the group that would be her other affair with gene clark the founding member of the birds when clark showed up to a mamas and papa's concert denny would later describe michelle as blowing kisses to clark during the show obviously enraging jon after the gig john chased michelle into the parking lot telling her she was fired from the group and for a time michelle was replaced with jill gibson who was record producer lou adler's girlfriend but that didn't last long and michelle made her way back into the group for the short time before they all went their separate ways michelle and papa john divorced in 1969 michelle then transitioned into acting and was part of the critically acclaimed crime biopic dillinger in 1973 and then valentino in 77 and she worked more consistently on tv like seven episodes of fantasy island now i will die and then starring as the scheming anne matheson sumner for 89 episodes of knott's landing we last saw her in the elvis wannabe film unbeatable herald in 2006. today phillips is 77 years old and is the last surviving member of the mamas in the papas she's also highlighted in 2019's documentary echo in the canyon as an interview subject about the 1960s music scene and hopefully we haven't heard the last from michelle and there you have it the mamas and the papas folk icons whose work continues to influence folk music to this day so let's discuss what's your favorite song by the mamas in the papas did you enjoy cass elliot's solo career the best any great duets you recall and did the mamas and the papas create the best harmonies ever get in the comments and you let us know and as always please give this folky deep dive a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel so you never miss a memory from all of us here at do you remember thanks very much for watching

Channel: DoYouRemember?

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Id: EvgKgIYZ9wU

Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 01 2021