The Mamas & the Papas were comprised of Cass Elliot, John Phillips, Denny Doherty and Michelle Phillips, they recorded songs between 1965 and 1972 with a break between 1968 and 1971 when contractual reasons brought them back into the studio.

Jill Gibson was briefly a member in 1966 after Michelle was briefly dumped by the vocal group, but Michelle was reinstated a short time later.

They had one No. 1 hit single in America (‘Monday, Monday’) and one No. 1 single in Australia which was ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’, a single credited ‘Mama Cass with the Mamas & the Papas’ and ‘Mama Cass’ in the UK.

California Dreamin’

‘California Dreamin” the now timeless classic was a No. 4 hit in America while only getting to No. 87 in Australia

How do we know this is not a live performance? Michelle Phillips is eating a banana when she’s supposed to be singing.

As said, this is a timeless classic, from the beginning notes to all the members voices just fitting together so well, it is part of the appeal when people have their own parts of a song.

Monday, Monday

‘Monday, Monday’ the group’s sole No. 1 single in America was released in March 1966, John Phillips said he wrote this song in 20 minutes and the song is about the ‘singer dislikes Mondays because the person he loved left him on that day‘ in short, this song didn’t like Monday before The Boomtown Rats.

This song is a Grammy Award winner when it received the ‘Best Contemporary (R&R) Group Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental‘ in the 1967 awards.

The four members singing combined bring music magic, that is probably the reason why they have endured throughout time.

Creeque Alley

‘Creeque Alley’ peaked at No. 5 in America and No. 4 in Australia was a song written by John and Michelle Phillips.

This song tells the story of the music scene at the time and the group came to be, you basically get a history lesson in three minutes, just the way many people like it.

I Saw Her Again

‘I Saw Her Again’ was a song inspired by an affair and must have been a real awkward song for the group as it involved three of the four members (John was with Michelle and Denny and Michelle were briefly together and Michelle was with Gene Clark of The Byrds), and it was written by Denny and John.

A popular part of the song is the third chorus when it goes ‘I saw her, I saw her again last night’, Denny sang too early which brought about the first ‘I saw her’ but they loved how it came out and it was left in the song.

It is a great song to listen to and worthy of being on any 60s playlist.

Dedicated To The One I Love

This hit was written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass and the song peaked at No. 2 in America and No. 3 in Australia.

The song is dominated by the vocal talents of Michelle and Cass (Mama Cass), Michelle starts off the song before the rest of the group comes in, but the two women sang perfectly together, a real treat for music lovers.

Go Where You Wanna Go

The group’s first single but it didn’t last long as a single because it was moved aside for ‘California Dreamin”, this song was written by John Phillips and said he wrote it about Michelle’s affair with a songwriter, it must have been a really awkward group to be in.

This song showcases the power of Cass Elliot’s voice, one of the finest voices of all time, we are truly lucky that she chose music and had a great career that was sadly cut down by a fatal heart attack in 1974.

While the song didn’t do much for the group, The Fifth Dimension done their own rendition of the song and scored a Top 20 hit with the song.

‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’ was a No. 1 single in Australia, it was recorded in the chaos of a collapsing group and so the record company gave it the credit ‘Mama Cass with the Mamas & the Papas’ and ‘Mama Cass’ in the UK which did not please John Phillips.

Thankfully a version of the song was performed by Cass Elliot on ‘It’s Lulu’ in 1970, and you can watch it above, as said one of the finest voices of all time and here is the live proof for you to hear.