Mamas & Papas

MAMAS AND PAPAS. American vocal group of the 1960s. The group recorded and performed from 1965-1968 (with a short reunion in 1971) releasing five albums and eleven Top 40 hits including classics ; California Dreamin / Monday Monday / I Saw Her Again / Words of Love / Dedicated To the One I Love and Dream a Little Dream Of Me. To date they have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Their signature sound was based on four-part male / female vocal harmonies (arranged by John Phillips the band's songwriter) who managed to "leave the folk music behind" and blend his writing with the new "beat" sound in an unprecedented mode. Whilst on a solo tour, Cass Elliot died of a heart attack on July 29th 1974 in a London flat owned by Harry Nilsson. She had battled weight, confidence and addiction issues throughout her life and had just performed two successful sold-out weeks to audiences at the London Palladium in the UK. The night before she died, she called Michelle Phillips in LA to tell her how thrilled she was about getting standing ovations. Fellow group members John Phillips died in 2001 of heart failure and Denny Doherty died of Kidney Failure in 2007. The group had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998