20 Golden Hits

Back Cover: It's a long time between magic moments in the music business, but when they come, it makes the waiting worthwhile. Once, a long time ago, back in 1966 when the world seemed a lot simpler (remember back that far?) there came a group that made the whole country smile and tap its feet. They created as well as captured the purest essence of what we all wanted for our world - a lot of sunshine, pretty songs, smiling faces and happy endings. It seems like a lot longer than just five years ago, but that was when it happened. The group was The Mamas and the Papas, quite simply, the very best American of that or any year, a super group, before every electric rock ’n’ roll collection that came along was proclaimed **SUPER**. John Phillips, Michelle Gilliam, Denry Dohetry and Cass Eliot, the magic group, The Mamas and the Papas. Their music reached every level of the country. People of every hair length and job description, color and social background hummed their tunes, tapped their feet and enjoyed the warmth of their music. The Mamas and the Papas didn’t sing for a special group, their music defined a group and brought people closer together, and that group was the largest and most enthusiastic following ever. Their songs were more than just “hits,” they defined a whole era. It was magic time and a whole generation danced to “Dancing in The Streets,” held hands to “I Saw Her Again” and took for their anthem “Go Where You Wanna Go” a song that defined the direction of their own emerging free spirits. Magic Groups, contrary to popular press releases, rarely appear out of the blue, fully formed and ready to ride. They take time and a hell of a lot of work and polish before they begin to hew out a sound that is unique. The Mamas and the Papas “Paid their dues” just like most other musicians, but from the beginning, there was an aura about them and their music which set them apart from the mass and which foretold something extra. You remember their history, if you don’t, you must have been on the moon during the summer of 1967 when their autobiographical million seller “Creque Alley” was topping the radio charts around the country, telling it all from starvation to stardom. “Creque Alley” tells about The Mamas and the Papas from start to finish or rather, start to fade, because the mafic group that sang “California Dreaming” and foretold the dreams and fantasies of a generation couldn’t just vanish, they faded as a group, going their own ways, the intensity of the closeness that made them the biggest group in america also took its toll on the people who compromised it. They may have been a supergroup, but they were also human beings who wanted to grow, in this case, apart and to find their individual identities outside the group. So, by acclamation and with love, they parted, each to do his own individual projects. That was in 1968 when they were at the top. The Mamas and the Papas music is still magic, just as happy, up and good. Songs about real people and real love. Lots of those amazing tight vocal lines that they’re famous for, “all those crazy overtones flying around” as John once described that magic when the four voices locked in and took you higher than you remember being before. The magic is back and this collection Of Their Greatest Hits will get you high. Just like they did the first time you heard them.