It’s been about a solid month of doing a lot of listening and reading about the Mamas and the Papas. I first heard expert Richard Campbell on the Discograffiti podcast series about the group, and his intro covered a lot of the same ground as this book. I could have stopped there, but I’m glad I didn’t. Campbell has a lifelong love for the band and it shows in the exacting detail in this book. The Mamas and the Papas show up only at the end, really to close the story’s loop. After hearing Campbell and reading the book, I now believe that the Mamas and the Papas were really rock’s first “SuperGroup” since all the members came from established bands that had recorded and toured extensively.
If you have any interest in U.S. folk groups and the start of ‘folk rock’ you would like this book. Campbell has hundreds of interesting artifacts collected and shown in the book, including every LP front AND back cover, large enough that you can read the liner notes. To create an immersive experience he’s curated both Spotify and YouTube playlists of the music he writes about which is an incredible perk I wish more music authors could do. The scholarship/research that went into this book is incredible, with hundreds of footnotes and the author not afraid to say if something isn’t known. Interested, or want to hear the folk music that begat the Mamas and the Papas? Visit the link for the book.
I’ve been listening to a podcast series about the Mamas and the Papas, and remembered that this book by Cass’ daughter was in the works. One quick download from the library and I started reading.
This is another one that I’ve had in the queue for a while on the ereader. I backed a Kickstarter for it on the basis of hearing about it through Chuck Gannon, and there are some great names contributing here. I didn’t read every story (honestly, maybe about half), but Fonda Lee’s “Welcome to the Legion of Six” was delightful. The book must have done well as it has become a series with number 5 coming out this March.