The Tragic Downfall Of Mama Cass

Cass Elliot carried one of her greatest secrets to her grave nobody knew who her child's real father was it was only years later that Elliott's bandmate Michelle Phillips discovered his identity and it was the biggest bombshell of all she was the breakout star of the folk rock band The Mamas and the Papas but her onstage Talent masked her tragic true story full of unrequited love embarrassing career blunders see secret trrs and dangerous diets her struggle with her self-image haunted her right until she sang her last note with one mean meth that persists to this day Ellen Naomi Cohen was born in Baltimore Maryland in September 1941 her family who were Russian Jewish immigrants struggled financially throughout her childhood but despite those hardships she always seemed destined for greatness she had nothing if not a radiant personality and Oodles of talent but she also had her demons even from a young age Cass struggled with her weight and the stigma that came along with it in high school she found a community that allowed her talents to soar she developed a love for theater and performing in front of audiences she came up with a stage name Cass Elliot by reportedly borrowing from the legendary Act R Peggy Cass and a friend who had died this Alter Ego gave her the confidence to perform what she did with that new found confidence was risky having discovered her true Talent Cass dropped out of high school and moved to New York to pursue a career in acting however Broadway wasn't kind to her after losing out on a role to the as yet unknown Barbara strand Cass turned to singing hoping that music wouldn't break her heart like theater had she was horribly wrong breaking out into music Cass met with moderate success she formed two bands between 1962 and 64 the big three and later the mugwumps in fact it was while singing with the mugwumps that she met Denny doerty the man that she would follow to the ends of the Earth in the first cruel twist to her romantic life however she became unexpectedly unavailable even though Cass was in love with doerte she ended up getting hitched to another one of her bandmates in 1963 Cass married her mugwumps guitarist James hris there wasn't any love between the two the marriage was a simple arrangement to help Hendrick Dodge the draft because her marriage was a sham Cass knew that her only real tie to Hendrick was their band so after 8 months the mugwumps split up and Cass struck out on her own hoping that dote would follow her instead however he joined the new Journeymen a band that consisted of the husband and wife Duo John and Michelle Phillips Cass was willing to do anything to get into the new band doerte had so far rebuffed Cass as a lover because of her weight but he couldn't deny her talent and he knew that she was the missing ingredient in the new journeyman but John Phillips didn't want to let Cass in the band apparent L he thought that her voice was too deep for his Arrangements in private however he was singing a different [Music] tune publicly philli stated that cass's voice wasn't right for the new journeyman behind closed doors he was extremely critical of her appearance Phillips believed that Cass was simply too heavy to join the group her already shaky confidence could barely handle the truth throughout her life and career cast faced society's unfair beauty standards in a time that celebrated wafer thin women like Audrey hiitburn Cass felt that she didn't stand a chance despite John Phillips repeated refusals Cass was desperate to join the new journeyman to get closer to doerty according to Michelle Phillips Cass even followed the band around everywhere they went what they put her through was downright cruel as she followed them around the new journeyman treated Cass even worse than they would have treated an annoying groupy they ordered her around forced her to serve them drinks and even teased her by allowing her to rehearse with them but not perform however fortunately for Cass the tables were about to turn dramatically in her favor the new journeyman had a habit of putting Good Times ahead of their music spending more money on substances than on anything else eventually they ran out of money and had to turn to the only person they knew who would take them in Cass desperate for a roof over their heads they turned up at cass's Los Angeles home and she made them an offer they couldn't refuse when the new journeyman showed up on cass's doorstep she saw an opportunity to finally get what she wanted reportedly Cass took advantage of the group's dire situation whether he liked her size or not John Phillips had to agree to let Cass into the band or sleep on the streets but there's another version of the story of how Cass came to be in the band for years the official story was that it was fate and not poor money management that brought Cass and the new journeyman together according to this version of events Cass had accompanied the new journeyman on a trip to St Thomas in the Virgin Island Islands while there she was walking under a construction site when a pipe fell on her head Cass was knocked off her feet and the supposed head injury unbelievably caused her to sing in the higher register that John Phillips had been looking for the crazy pipe to the head story was likely just cass's way of covering up the embarrassing truth decades later sources close to the band revealed that Phillips didn't want it leaking out to their fans that he had essentially fat shamed Cass out of joining whatever the truth Cass was finally in the band after some late night inspiration they ramed themselves The Mamas and the Papas then the good time started to roll with cass's vocals the band recorded huge hits like California dreaman and Monday Munday but even though she was in the band the teasing about her weight didn't stop in fact it got worse John and Michelle Phillips along with doerty openly mocked cass's weight in the lyrics of their songs for example in the band's hit song Creek alley they wrote the lyrics no one's getting fat except Mama Cass the insulting lyrics struck a cord with their fans and much to cass's dismay the nickname Mama Cass stuck then one of her bandmates crossed a line Cass had really only joined The Mamas and the Papas because of her unrequited love for doerty sadly while Cass had been paining over him he'd been lusting over someone else in fact the object of her affection had started up an affair with the object of her jealousy Michelle Phillips when doerty told her that he was having an affair with Phillips Cass was left utterly heartbroken and full of envious rage the Betrayal left her Crest Fallen she lamented to Phillips you can have any man in the world why take the one man I love even after Doty had told Cass about the affair she still held out hope that one day he might grow to love her decades later D revealed that Cass had proposed to him one night but that he hadn't answered because he'd been too intoxicated she buried her woes with The Mamas and the Papas into her music and a dangerous amount and array of substances which led to some wild [Music] behavior in 1967 Cass traveled to London ahead of her bandmates for a scheduled performance but before long she found herself on the wrong side of the [Music] law the local London authorities detained Cass for having pilfered bed linens from the apartment she was staying in there were rumors however that they really wanted her for something far more [Music] serious one of cass's many alleged lovers was a man named pck Dawson but she wasn't the only one interested in Dawson so were the local authorities in addition to possibly being cass's Lover he was also her supplier the authorities in London wanted to use the accusations against Cass in order to get to Dawson she spent a whole night behind bars in London possibly facing serious charges however after she appeared before the magistrate the authorities dropped the charges against her for lack of evidence nevertheless the bad press forced the band to cancel their scheduled performance her days with the masam and the Papas were coming to an abrupt end with nothing but a broken heart and insulting lyrics to show for her time with the band Cass thought about moving on with the success of her solo recording of Dream a Little Dream of Me Cass left The Mamas and the Papas and struck out on her own shortly after the band's breakup she landed a major gig at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas it was a 3-we sixf figure deal that would have made Cass the breakout star from the broken up band now a solo act Cass felt the pressure to slim down more intensely than ever [Music] before to prepare for her big Las Vegas debut she adopted a crazy crash diet she fasted for 4 days a week for 7 months and lost 1/3 of her £300 unfortunately for her the consequences were painful the diet slimmed her down significantly but in a cruel twist it came at a terrible price her health in the weeks leading up to her first Las Vegas show Cass developed acute tonsilitis hemorrhaging vocal cords mononucleosis and a dangerous case of hepatitis all thanks to her dangerous new eating habits she was Ill prepared for what came [Music] next massive stars like Sammy Davis Jr Jimmy Hendricks and Mia faroh turned up in Las Vegas to watch cass's big debut but thanks to her health conditions prior to the show she had barely even rehearsed a single lyric When Cass finally took to the stage for her first performance she left the audience Gob smacked the star studded crowd eagerly awaited her debut as a solo artist nervously Cass took to the stage then fumbled her way through the performance she was so weak from her illnesses that her voice was barely [Music] audible cass's contract stipulated that she would perform two shows a night after a quick rest she tried to salvage the show with her second performance but her voice only got worse and the crowd only got less sympathetic the disappointed audience noisily walked out and Caesar's Palace had no choice but to cancel cass's contract then they added insult to injury when the sun rose on her awful performances the media was unforgiving Newsweek compared Cassis Vegas debut to the sinking of the Titanic she fell into a deep depression but thankfully she had one bright spot in her [Music] life just before she signed her Las Vegas contract Cass had given birth to a healthy baby girl Owen despite the troubles in her love life and career Cass was obsessed with being a good mother she guarded her daughter fiercely even firing nannies who grew too close to protect her reputation and her child's privacy she kept the news out of the headlines more importantly when the media found out about her child Cass staunchly refused to identify the father that didn't stop the media from speculating wildly however there were even darker rumors that followed Cass throughout her career Cass hosted legendary Hollywood parties with all of the biggest stars not to mention some terrible ones as well Legend has it that Cass had hosted on at least one occasion the notorious and noxious cult leader Charles Manson and his Associates at her house it's not clear how close she was to Manson but she was close enough to make some people look at her differently after Manson's horrific and brutal Massacre John Phillips point Ed the finger at Cass he blamed her for having invited Manson and his followers into their group he even blamed Cass for the grizly slaughter that ended Sharon Tate's life thankfully the authorities didn't agree with Philip's [Music] assessment with her Las Vegas flop cass's solo career stalled but she spent the next few years making regular television appearances she even had her own television variety specials the mama cast television program and don't call me Mama anymore in her heart however Cass longed for more than just a middling career she wanted the one thing that had always alluded her love when she least expected it she found it in 1971 Cass finally found someone to call her own it's not clear how she met Donald Von venman a journalist and heir to a Bavarian Barony but it must have been love at first sight and divorce at second site after just 2 months the marriage was over as quickly as it had [Music] begun Cass Elliot continued her dangerous dieting habits but by 1974 it caught up with her while waiting backstage at the Johnny Carson show she unexpectedly collapsed medical staff rushed her to the hospital but she waved the incident away as mere exhaustion my blood sugar level dropped or something and I just sort of tipped over but everything was okay yeah everything was fine she ignored the warning signs of her waning Health after her collapse at the Johnny Carson show she wrapped up two weeks of concert at the London Palladium then without taking so much as a catnap she kicked off her post show celebrations with Mick Jagger's 31st birthday party at his place in Chelsea Cass left MC Jagger's party and went to a brunch hosted by Georgia Brown in her honor however much to everyone's dismay Cass appeared unwell blowing her nose frequently coughing and having trouble breathing nevertheless later that evening she went to another party hosted by the American entertainment journalist Jack Martin her appearance there however left everyone [Music] confused wherever she went Cass was always the life of the party at Martin's party however life appeared to have left her even though everyone commented that she seemed to be in good spirits her sickly looking appearance had everyone concerned Cass again chalked it up to exhaustion and decided to head home for the tonight it would be her final public appearance Cass returned home to an apartment owned by Harry Nelson in the affluent Mayfair neighborhood however when Cass failed to emerge from her room the next day her secretary became suspicious when he finally opened her bedroom door he was left devastated he found her lifeless in her bed she died of an apparent heart attack but predict ibly the rumor mill concocted its own version of events before long everyone was viciously reporting that Cass had choked while eating a ham sandwich an obvious smear against her long-standing struggle with obesity four years later The Who drummer Keith Moon also died in the same bedroom also at the age of 32 after her passing cass's daughter went to live with the singer's younger sister Leah it wasn't until years later however that Michelle Phillips of all people finally solved the mystery of cass's unknown lover and Owen's [Music] father the father was Chuck day the second guitarist on hit song's Monday Monday in California Dreaming in October 20 22 Cass was given a postumus and long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame attended by her family and friends including her Mama's and Papa's bandmate Michelle Phillips in a time when fat phobia was so normalized that people would make degrading comments right to her face in front of millions of people Cass was always going to struggle more than most people to be taken seriously and gain the kind of recognition that her Talent deserved now ah here is a big lady bigger in the United States than she is here an example of the sheer presence and power of her voice when The Mamas and Papas reunited for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 98 they performed California Dreaming and they had to have three backing singers just to try and make up for cass's absence they did not succeed if you enjoyed this video please give it a like And subscribe for more videos

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Length: 20min 5sec (1205 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 04 2024