In February 1967 The Mamas And The Papas released their 'Deliver' album, followed in October by the non-album single 'Glad To Be Unhappy', which reached No. 26 in the US, but did nothing in the UK. The group had cut their first three albums at United Western Recorders in Hollywood, while subsequent records were recorded at the eight-track studio that John and Michelle Phillips had built at their home in Bel Air. While having his own studio gave Phillips the autonomy he craved, it also removed the external discipline that may have been beneficial to a man who described himself as an "obsessive perfectionist". Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot and producer Lou Adler found the arrangement uncongenial, with Elliot complaining to Rolling Stone magazine that Phillips had spent one whole month recording the vocals for just one song, 'The Love Of Ivy', and inevitably the recording sessions for the fourth album stalled. In September 1967 John Phillips called a press conference to announce that the Mamas And The Papas were taking a break, which the band confirmed on The Ed Sullivan Show that aired on 24 September. Concerts had been planned at the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Olympia in Paris before taking time out on Majorca to "get the muse going again", but when the group docked at Southampton on 5 October, Elliot was arrested for stealing two blankets and a hotel key when in England the previous February.
The case was dismissed in the West London Magistrates' Court the next day, but later at a party hosted by the band to celebrate Elliot's acquittal, John Phillips interrupted her as she was telling the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger about her arrest and trial, and a screaming match erupted, with Elliot storming out of the room. The Royal Albert Hall and Olympia dates were cancelled, and the four went their separate ways. John Phillips and Elliot reconciled to complete 'The Papas & The Mamas', which was released in May 1968, but it was the band's first album not to go gold or reach the top 10 in America. In June 1968 'Dream A Little Dream Of Me' was released as a Cass Elliot solo single, although credit to Mama Cass with The Mamas & The Papas against John Phillips' wishes, and it reached number 12 in the US and number 11 in the UK, which was higher than any of the band's recent singles. The success of the single confirmed Elliot's desire to embark on a solo career, and by the end of 1968 it appeared that the group had split. John Phillips, Doherty and Elliot all recorded solo albums immediately after the split, with Elliot, billed as Mama Cass, releasing her second solo album 'Make Your Own Kind Of Music - It's Getting Better' in 1969, Phillips released 'John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.)' in 1970, and Doherty followed with 'Watcha Gonna Do?' in 1971. Michelle Phillips took time away from music, and didn't release a solo album until 1977, although she did record a few tracks earlier in the 70's.
In mid-1971 the band were sued by Dunhill Records, who were determined to get the group's contractually obligated last album, for which it had given them an extension until September 1971. A lawsuit and countersuit between the band and label were settled out of court, and it was determined that the group would record under John Phillips's label, Warlock Records, distributed by Dunhill Records. Phillips wrote a collection of songs, which were arranged, rehearsed, and recorded throughout the year, depending on the availability of the other group members, but they were rarely together at one time, and most tracks were dubbed, one vocal at a time. The Mamas And The Papas last album of new material, 'People Like Us', was released in November 1971, but the sole single, 'Step Out', only reached No. 81 in the US, with the album peaking at No. 84 on the Billboard 200, making it the only record by group not to reach the top 20 in the US. Considering that three of the four members of the group had recorded an album's worth of material before that ignominious final record was released, they could have made a very different album in 1971 by cherry-picking the best of their individual songs, so this album does just that, and imagines what a pre-lawsuit 1971 album from the group could have sounded like, with the addition of a mid-70's single by Michelle Phillips so that she was not completely left out.
Track listing
01 Make Your Own Kind Of Music
02 Captain
03 Tuesday Morning
04 Move In A Little Closer, Baby
05 Got A Feelin'
06 No Love Today
07 Mississippi
08 It's Getting Better
09 Sail The Waterway
10 Holland Tunnel
11 Where's Mine
12 Neighbours
13 Welcome To The World
No comments:
Post a Comment