Remembering The Mamas and the Papas - SOUNDS FAMILIAR by Baby A. Gil

John Phillips died of heart failure last March 19 at the UCLA Medical Center. He was 65. The end came quietly after a turbulent life. It was nine years after he received a liver transplant, nearly 10 years after he gave up alcohol and more than 20 years after he cleaned his system of drugs in a rehab clinic. Of course, it has also been 35 years since he, his wife Michelle, Denny Doherty and Mama Cass Eliot, collectively known as the Mamas and the Papas brought hope to American pop music, at a time when it was mightily struggling the British dominated hit charts of the ’60s.

The Mamas and the Papas was the forerunner of all male and female groups. Remember this was the ’60s, long before ABBA and other mixed groups came about. Back then it was eight all-girl, all-boy or boys with a token girl singer, but they changed all that. Theirs was the hippie period and the foursome fully embodied the tenet of their generation by espousing optimism, peace, flower power, drugs and free love, not only in their music but also in their lifestyles. Like Michelle was married to John but had an affair with Denny, whom Cass was in love with. If we are to believe pop music lore John and Michelle fell in love while on an LSD trip, while Cass got her remarkable voice after a lead pipe fell on her head.

For a few years in the mid-’60s, the Mamas and the Papas was one of the hottest selling groups in the world. This is thanks to their sparkling harmonies and clever musical arrangements that John was mostly responsible for. There were also the great, and to this day still hugely appealing songs like California Dreamin’, which Phillips wrote. This remains the best known anthem of those heady times. There was the brilliant cover of the teen standard Dedicated to the One I Love, the Grammy winning and number one selling Monday, Monday plus I Saw Her Again, I Call Your Name, Creque Alley, Words of Love, Go, Straight Shooter, Go Where You Wanna, I Love, Got a Feeling and others.

The beginning of the end came when John and Michelle broke up in 1968. She went on to become a famous movie star and have affairs with the likes of Warren Beatty. The huge Mama Cass successfully turned solo but died in 1974 when she choked on a piece of chicken while eating in bed in a hotel room in London. Phillips despite the booze and the drugs kept up with his music. He helped organize the Monterey Pop Festival composed for other acts like San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) for Scott MacKenzie and Kokomo for the Beach Boys.

His daughter by his first marriage, Mackenzie became an actress and starred in the TV sitcom One Day at a Time. His second and Michelle’s first, Chynna formed Wilson Phillips with two daughters of Beach Boy Brian Wilson and produced some hits of her own. At the time of his death John was getting ready to release an album he started 25 years ago with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It is titled Pay, Pack and Follow. He also has a solo album which he wanted to call Slow Starter.

Top 10 hits of the US of A

Meanwhile here are the top 10 hits from the US of A according to Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 list: Butterfly by Crazy Town; Angel by Shaggy featuring Rayvon; Stutter by Joe featuring Mystikal; Again by Lenny Kravitz; Love Don’t Cost a Thing by Jennifer Lopez; All for You by Janet; It’s Over Now by 112; Put It On Me by Ja Rule, featuring Lil’ Mo & Vita; Don’t Tell Me by Madonna; and Promise by Jagged Edge.

On the local front, here are the tunes most people are listening to these days: I Lay My Love on You by Westlife; It Wasn’t Me by Shaggy; This I Promise You by N’Sync; Nobody Wants to be Lonely, a duet by Ricky Martin and Christina Aguilera; Just My Imagination, another duet by Gwyneth Paltrow and Babyface from the soundtrack of the motion picture Duets; Overload by Sugababes; My Love again by Westlife; Again by Lenny Kravitz; Heaven by Your Side by a1; and Like a Bird by newcomer Nelly Furtado.