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Tuesday 30 August 2016

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 243 - The Mamas & The Papas (Again!)

 The Mamas &The Papas -  The Mamas & The Papas
Dunhill
Produced by Lou Adler
Released 30th August 1966
US Album Chart #4
UK Album Chart #24



 Original Tracklist
All songs by John Phillips, unless otherwise noted.
Side One
   01. "No Salt on Her Tail" - 2:35
   02. "Trip, Stumble and Fall" (John Phillips, Michelle Gilliam) - 2:35
   03.  "Dancing Bear" - 4:08
   04. "Words of Love" - 2:13
   05. "My Heart Stood Still" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) - 1:43
   06. "Dancing in the Street" (Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter) - 3:00

Side Two
  01. "I Saw Her Again" (Phillips, Denny Doherty) - 2:50
  02.  "Strange Young Girls" - 2:45
  03.  "I Can't Wait" - 2:40
  04.  "Even If I Could" - 2:40
  05.  "That Kind of Girl" - 2:20
  06.  "Once Was a Time I Thought" - 0:58

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Personnel
Denny Doherty - vocals
Cass Elliot - vocals
John Phillips - vocals, guitar
Michelle Phillips - vocals
Jill Gibson - vocals
Hal Blaine - percussion
Larry Knechtel - organ, piano
Joe Osborn - bass guitar
"Doctor" Eric Hord - guitar
Tommy Tedesco - guitar
P. F. Sloan - guitar
Peter Pilafian - electric violin
Ray Manzarek - organ, piano on "No Salt on Her Tail"
Jimmie Haskell - string arrangement on "I Saw Her Again"
Gene Page - horn arrangement on "My Heart Stood Still"
 
 *********************************
Singles from The Mamas & The Papas


US Chart #5
UK Chart #11

US Release Double A-Side
US Chart #5

UK Release
UK Chart #47

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Just about 20 days ago we had a little look at the third studio album from The Mamas and The Papas. Today though we are going to have a quick glimpse at the second album that was released on this very day in 1966. There's a wee spot of drama surrounding it that's quite interesting. More about that in a moment though.

The band had already enjoyed some early success with their debut album hitting the #1 spot on the charts. California Dreamin' had given them a #4 Single and Monday Monday their first #1 Single but all was not well within the camp. Life is not always a series of events that bring success and joy, you can pretty much guarantee that somewhere along the road there will be "trouble ahead" (as the old song says).

That trouble first came when Michelle Phillips had "a liason" with fellow band member Denny Doherty sometime in 1965. John Phillips had forgiven Doherty and they had reconciled and wrote about the event in the lead single for the new album, I Saw Her Again. There has been some debate as to how much Doherty had actually contributed to the song. During the recording of the second album though news came out that Michelle Phillips had been involved in an affair with Gene Clark of The Byrds. This provoked John Phillips to call for her to be fired from the band. So on 28th June 1966 Michelle was fired by her bandmates.

With such a void to fill in the group Jill Gibson was hired as replacement. After being introduced to the band by its producer, Lou Adler, she was soon taking part in concerts (at Forest Hills, New York, Denver, Colorado, and Phoenix, Arizona) television appearances (Hollywood Palace on ABC), and recording sessions. While Gibson was a quick study and well regarded, the three original members concluded that she lacked her predecessor's "stage charisma and grittier edge", and Michelle Phillips was reinstated on August 23, 1966. Jill Gibson, so nearly a full-time Mama, left and was paid a lump sum from the group's funds.
It remains unclear whose vocals appear on The Mamas & The Papas as released on August 30, 1966. Gibson says she sang all but two songs. Studio documents appear to show that Michelle Phillips had already recorded six songs for the album in April 1966, including the singles I Saw Her Again and Words of Love. Lou Adler has said, "We recorded Jill on six songs ... got six vocal performances out of her, which we later replaced, some of 'em." Michelle Phillips has said that she does not know who is singing on the album: "There's no way to know who sang on what, because we both sang on all the parts, and it was up to Bones [Howe] and Lou [Adler] and John [Phillips] what was in the final mix. And they had a lot to choose from! When you listen to the second album ... listen to it ... because I swear I don't have any idea who's singing on it."

I wasn't aware of this particular note regarding the album before so it's quite interesting how quickly they must have been working from the moment Michelle Phillips was thrown out of the band and Gibson brought in to record her parts for the album: 



The photo already chosen for the album's cover featured Michelle Phillips prominently, so Dunhill had Gibson take a photo posed in exactly the same position as Michelle, and then superimposed the new photo over that of Phillips. However, the decision was then made to shoot an entirely new picture with the new line-up, and to also change the album's title to Crashon Screamon All Fall Down. Several thousand advance pressings of the album with this cover and title were sent out to radio stations and record distributors, but with the return of Michelle to the group just prior to the LP's general release, the original cover and eponymous title were quickly reinstated. Copies of the rare Crashon pressings are now highly sought after collectors items.


Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

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