The Mamas & The Papas

The Mamas & The Papas’ four voices weaved around each other to help usher in the twin mid-’60s waves of folk rock and L.A. harmony pop. Like a lot of their peers, they came out of the folk scene. But when “Mama” Cass Elliot, Denny Doherty, Michelle Phillips and her husband John Phillips joined forces in 1965, they wrapped their huge, heavenly harmonies around tunes masterfully blending pop, folk and rock. Along the way, they redefined hits by The Beatles, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas and others. In three short years, they unleashed a mighty flow of smashes that became signifiers of the flower-power generation, including “California Dreamin’”, “Monday, Monday” and “Creeque Alley”. They helped put together and featured prominently in June 1967’s legendary Monterey Pop Festival, gathering some of the era’s biggest artists for an event that made both the Summer of Love and the counterculture part of history. By 1968 internal tensions pulled the group apart, but their legacy is indelible.