If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears

The Mamas and the Papas first made a splash in 1966, with the release of they're album If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears. The title of their first album, came from they're producer Lou Adler. No group had ever looked like them—a magnetic fat girl, a pouty blonde beauty, two sexy Ichabod Cranes in funny hats—or sounded like them: Cass’s wry-beyond-her-years alto, Michelle's pure soprano, and Denny’s aching choirboy tenor lacing through that creamy, 1950s-prom-worthy close harmony, kissed with all those ba da da das. The first single they released was "California Dreamin'", which was written by John and Michelle Phillips (it reached the #4 spot on the billboard charts). Soon, many hits followed: "Monday, Monday", " I saw her again", "Go where you wanna go", "Dedicated to the one I love", etc. However by 1968, only two years after they made their amazing debut on the billboard charts: The Mamas and the Papas were no more. The group disbanded in order to pursue their own careers, and because Michelle had just given birth to daughter Chynna. The Mamas and the Papas legacy lives on today. Michelle is the only surviving member today. Early on, their ranks had been thinned from four to three (in 1974, Cass Elliot died, at a tragically young 32, of a heart attack); then, much later, from three to two: in 2001, John Phillips, 65, finally succumbed, after decades of drinking and drugs, to heart failure. And so, by last January, Denny, 66 died from complications during an operation.

(photos by : Dale Smith, Henry Diltz, and guywebster.com)