They had a string of hit records including "Monday, Monday", "I Saw her Again" & "Words of Love". No matter what they were singing, Cass Eliot's voice always shone through. Her song "Words of Love" is terrific. Rest in peace Mama Cass.

In those days it was difficult to get on the radio if your song was longer than 3 minutes. Was very common in that era,

Really liked the Mamas and Papa. Mama Cass was the reason they made it

They were all great, but Cass Elliot was exceptional. Dream a Little Dream is her signature song

This great song is probably their biggest hit. A short lived group late 60s. Many very good songs. Monday Monday, Creeque Alley, I saw her Again last Night, Words of Love and more. To me the greatest yrs for music were 68, 69, 70, I was fortunate to have grown up then, great music, simpler times, kinder individuals.

I’ll let someone else explain how special & influential this group was. Very talented people!

As an Older guy who remembers when they first hit the scene... This was the reason they were so big!! What they did was timeless.

The Mamas & the Papas were a great folk rock group in the 60's. I had their records. They were known for their smooth harmonies. They had lots of great hits such as "Monday, Monday", "Dedicated To The One I Love", "Words Of Love", "Dancing In The Street", "Look Through My Window", "Creeque Alley", "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)", "Safe In My Garden", "I Saw Her Again" etc. Mama Cass Elliot went solo & had a big hit with "Dream A Little Dream Of Me".

The Mamas and the Papas were no one-hit wonders. They were huge!

RIP John, Cass, & Denny. John Phillips (the guitarist) and Michelle Phillips were married. Although Michelle was messing around with Denny Doherty (guy who sang the solo) So John wrote a song titled "I saw her again last night" and made Denny sing it every night in concert. Mama Cass Eliot (heavy set gal) had the hots for Denny but he wasn't interested.

one of the best groups of the 60's and in my opinion ever

This is a studio track. They almost always double-tracked all the vocal tracks. You're probably hearing 8 total voices in the final mix.

Mama's and papas is a deep and rich hole to dive into.

I'm pretty sure that was a flute. 😁 They definitely were not one hit wonders. Some of the best harmonies, imo, ever sung. Thanks for sharing your time and reaction to this true 'oldies Gold'. Peace and blessings for all.✌🤗🙏

The magic of John Phillip's (the one playing the guitar) was in the music he composed. His wife, Michelle, is a well known personality even today. Mama Cass (Cass Eliot) and Denny were not married and unfortunately we lost the talent of Cass Eliot many years ago. I would suggest you listen to 'Creeque Alley", it's not a totally accurate account of how the Mamas and Papas came to be, but a lot of the details are true. Another Mamas and Papas classic is Monday, Monday.

Michael, you look like you're digging it, bro! They are one of my favorite singers back in the good old sixties.

Great commentary and appreciation of Michelle Phillips, and your reaction to the performance and song was pretty good too. 😆 P.s. "she's beautiful". A lot of people react that way 😆 her look just epitomizes the 1960s. And I think you're spot-on when it comes to there's a certain kind of strange melancholy to the song.

They were very talented ❤

This is one of the great songs that brings back the 60's for me. By the way, a trio called Wilson Philips,comprised of a daughter of John Phillips from The Mams and the Papas, and two daughters of Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys. They had a superb hit with Hold On in the 90s.

It wasn't a tin or penny whistle, it was a concert flute (played sideways, not straight forward). The performance was lip synced to the studio recording but there are only four voices singing. A lot of the fullness comes from the studioscape providing echoing resonance to the voices, much like singing in the shower or a stairwell a lot of hard surfaces bounced the voices around to come back into the mic a thousand times over a hundredth of a second or less.

Yes they are singing like the Pentatonix today.. As a matter of fact, the Plantatonix got their inspiration from the Mamas and the Papas style of singing!! Michelle and John Phillips were married. Mama Cass Elliot and Dennis Dougherty were friends. He hailed from Canada. They debuted in 1965, and went strong until 1968! Sadly, Mama Cass (the heavy set female) died unexpectedly, and that tragedy was responsible for ending their group. The band wouldn't have lasted, without the rich, soulful voice of Mama Cass Elliot!!

I believe that was a flute you heard, not a tin whistle. If you liked this song, listen to Cass Elliot, the larger woman, sing Dream a Little Dream of Me.

All talent no auto tune. I love the oldie because they were truly talented.

Mama Cass Elliot had the strongest, most distictly beautiful voice of the four.

They used multi-tracking for the voices that was pioneered by Les Paul for his wife Mary Ford. But naturally their voice went so great together. They have a lot of great songs that are true classics, which I recommend you check out even if it's on your own time.

American icons and legendary 60's music of the very erratic times they were.

It just occurred to me that without the Mamas and the Papas, there might never have been an ABBA!

The Mamas and The Papas were my favorite group back in the '60s, and were far from being one hit wonders. They were noted for their wonderful harmonies and simply great music. Two band members were actually married to each other - John and Michelle Phillips. Cass Elliott and Denny Doherty were the other two members of the group. And I believe Michelle Phillips is the only surviving member.

Back when they used a lot of real instruments, and not the electronic/digital stuff they have now. That's why I like the 60s and early 70s the best. Like the flute part. So much good music back in the days. And we kept our mayonnaise in the refrigerator.

Michelle Phillips did some acting in her career. I saw her in "Dillinger" with Warren Oates. She also played a former girlfriend of Captain Jean Luc Picard's in Star Trek: The Next Generation. She has a long list of acting credits. She is elderly now and still quite lovely.

A new rabbit hole you just GOTTA jump into! Usual nice reaction, btw.

Love your reaction. The Mamas & the Papas were definitely -not- one hit wonders. Great list of their songs below in other comments. I always loved their harmonies. It's good to see young people discovering them for the first time.

This is a song from when California was beautiful and every teenager wanted to go there.

The group was as you saw phenomenally talented. They were only around for a very short time. From left to right Michelle Phillips married to John Phillips. She was much too young and she had various affairs, Cass Elliot one of the most amazing singers but she led a short unhappy life, John Phillips the songwriter and a totally venal person, ignoring some of accusations from his daughter he got her addicted to cocaine and heroin when she was in her early teens and finally Denny Doherty, originally from the maritimes in Canada. He was an amazing singer with a powerful voice. Cass had a crush on him but the group basically broke up when he had an affair with Michelle. A couple of other great songs and they had many are Monday, Monday and Creeque Alley.

Great group! Glad I was around then and coming of age 😊A great time in music!

The only one still living is Michele Phillips. She is the mother of Chyna Phillips, one of the singers in the group Wilson Phillips.

It's all their voices. Monday Monday and Straight Shooter. And you sure remember the name, Ma Ma's & the Pa Pa's! They sing so well!

Me being older than dirt notwithstanding, I just have a hard time believing that anyone hasn't heard this song before. Enjoy!

At the time this song was released, songs had to be under 3 minutes or so or they would not get played on the radio. Without being played on the radio the song was going nowhere.

I love Mama Cast

Love this song!!! 🥰🌸🌺🍀🍃Try "Monday, monday" 😉 ¡Saludos, desde Argentina!

One of my favorite groups back in the day.

Their harmonies are phenomenal. You should check out Monday Monday next. It's JUST as good. Cheers from Ontario, Canada! :)

Check out "Monday Monday", "Dedicated to the One I Love", "Go Where You Wanna Go", "Do You Wanna Dance", and so many more.

This song truly gets under your skin. It will pop into you head at the oddest time. For me, its usually while I'm driving on the Ventura freeway.

These are a great representation of a whole lot of musicians and singers who shaped a LOT of my teenage years. I'm a singer and a musician myself...always have been, since I was just tiny. My family moved to Valdez, Alaska when I was barely two and my older-younger brother (Gary Minish, who still lives there, as a professional photographer -- you can find his photos online by just searching for his name) was still a fairly new baby. That was in 1951. At the time of the Big Alaska Earthquake on March 27, 1964, I had turned 14 just the past November. By that time, I had been singing in choirs and small groups with my mom and her friends, and with my own friends who also had musical parents, for many years. In 1964, my friends and I were were madly in love with the Beatles, and anyone who was singing in any way like they did, was also well-loved. After we were all able to get back together again in 1965 when school began again in Valdez (I had finished out my 8th grade year in Fairbanks, and my three siblings came down here to South Dakota -- where I now live -- to stay with both sets of grandparents and cousins until school was out), my two best friends and I started up our own folk band. That was in perfect time for the Mamas and the Papas to become one of our best-loved groups -- especially because of their lovely harmonies. THIS song became one of our mainstays. It was written by John and Michelle Phillips in 1963 (when their original group was still The Journeymen) and was first recorded by Barry McGuire.The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas (which is what John and Michelle evolved The Journeymen into), who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in December 1965. The lyrics express the narrator's longing for the warmth of Los Angeles during a cold winter in New York City. It was initially recorded in the key of C-sharp minor. "California Dreamin'" became the top single on the Billboard end-of-the-year survey for 1966. By that time, my friends and I were making good use of their music, as well as many other wonderful folk singers of the time, and singing for events all over Valdez (which had become NEW Valdez on a completely new, safe ground area, because Old Valdez was completely ruined by the quake, due to the glacial moraine underlying the whole area on that side of Valdez Bay. The marriage questions for the group: Only John and Michelle were married. Cass Elliott (not her original name) joined sometime in early 1965, I believe. She didn't always get along with John, but her voice got her a permanent ticket with them, for the short time they were together. The fourth member of the group was Denny Doherty (a Canadian singer). The Mamas and the Papas broke up sometime around 1970/1971, I think. "Mama Cass" (which she did NOT like to be called) passed away in 1974, but in the meantime, she had received many music awards, and was a very celebrated singer. Her voice was a HUGE incentive for me to follow her pop/folk style. I used to sing all of her lovely songs (not just the Mamas and the Papas ones). That's just the bare bones about them. The main thing is, they were simply GREAT, and we all loved them, BIG TIME! So...yeah...THANK YOU for reacting to this song, which will always be one of my very favorites. I'm super glad you like it! 😀

This song was at the root of one of my most vivid "nightmares" from my freshman year of college many moons ago. I grew up in L.A. and unexpectedly found myself in Nashville, TN (long story; it was my father's alma mater). I was homesick from DAY ONE, the summer humidity had me thinking I needed a SCUBA tank, and then the end of the first semester was unusually cold for the area. One day, after stomping around my dorm room to get the feeling back in my frozen feet, I turned on the TV. The little icon in the corner said it was 2 degrees. 2 DEGREES! I then turned on the radio - and THIS song came on. I just sat on my little twin bed and cried lol.

Great commentary! Thanks.

Oh, they are my all time favorites from the 60s !!! Awesome group !!!

These guys were an awesome group. This was when talent was real..ppl could really sing! ❤️

60s, NY to LA, village folkies to cali rock royalty, pot to acid, cash-strapped to buying mansions, free love to betrayal, broken hearts n acrimonious breakups, vocals n harmonies from heaven, professional production, studio musicians from 'the wrecking crew' and several biiiiiig hits, and hosting the 67 monterey pop fest ...... yeah....

Once you go down the Mamas and Papas rabbit hole, you will be amazed at what you discover. Their harmonies were the greatest of all time.

YES!!! Its ALL them!! That was their very famous sound.

Denny Doherty was from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Years after his time with the Mamas and the Papas he played the Harbormaster in a children’s show ‘Theodore Tugboat’ on PBS.

I was about 10 when this came out. Songs of that era were generally 2 to 3 minutes long due to radio play. Mama's and Papa's are a bit of a rabbit hole. Several more great songs of theirs.

Rarely has there been a more dysfunctional group of musicians than the Mamas and the Papas, but for a couple of years (circa 1966-67) they could do no wrong as hitmakers. John Phillips was a junkie and alleged abuser of his daughter Mackenzie Phillips (who found fame as an actor in the popular '70s sitcom One Day At A Time), but he had a great gift for songwriting and arranging. He was the bandleader. Denny was a great tenor voice and Cass was a one-of-a-kind singer. Michelle Phillips was a weaker singer, but provided hippie-chick vibes. Their amazing light burned briefly, but brightly.

They have a backing band offstage as you can clearly hear the drums not visible onstage. Same for the flute. Good comment about the dark undertone & nostagia. This song was written in NYC when California native Michelle Gilliam (the pretty blonde at left) whined and complained to her husband John Phillips that NYC is too cold and grey and she misses her home state where it's warm and sunny.

Yeah, we grew up hearing this song on the radio. The time of the best singers and bands.

The Mamas and Papas recorded from 1965-1968. They have a plethora of good tunes.

Great group, great song, Denny Doherty is a Canadian from Nova Scotia Canada, great reaction.

Make your own kind of music ,was my fave of theirs !😍

Mamas and The Papas were so awesome! I remember them well. Love your reaction! ♥

As mentioned elsewhere, they are miming to a multi-track studio recording -- I think all of their TV appearances were. What is not generally known is that the basic music was written and arranged by John Phillips, performed by studio musicians, and was intended for another singer -- Barry McGuire, I think. When the singers you see here came in to record the backing vocals, they liked the tune so much that John yanked it away from the singer and handed it over to his new group, The Mamas And The Papas. About the only way to hear them live that I know of us to see the tracks in the Monterey Pop movie, or get the record of their complete performance at that festival. I believe you can easily find it on KZfaq.

Michael..... I'm 61..... I grew up with this song.... brings back memories, thanks for sharing! If you really want your mind blown what it was like in the 1970's, check out the video "FUTURE SHOCK" on YOU TUBE.... it is narrated by Orson Wells. It is a documentary that was made in 1972... you will get to see the hair styles, the fashion styles, the glasses, what computers looked like (that will really blow your mind!), what people were like, how we talked back then (everything was "GROOVY", crazy times .... things they thought may happen, and some of it has, WILL SHOCK YOU!! This documentary was predicting the future 48 YEARS AGO ..... It is about 42 minutes long and I don't know that you can do a reaction to it, you may want to check that out.... but it would be a good one to do a reaction to if you can!! If you don't want to, that's okay, but check it out, I highly recommend it! I can only imagine what it will be like 48 years from now, and when they look back at 2024 or even between 2000 and 2024.... what they would think of what is going on in our world today! Have a great day.....

@michaelwduffy First of all I love this song for years and I am not 70, but 47... Just last Friday my friends from university were playing in rock club in my city, I haven't seen them for maybe 20 years playing... I know the leader and guitarist loved all his life mainly blues/rock music. They were great, but what happened! I would never imagine that someone just in 3 ( guitar, bass, drums ) and 1 vocal would try to do cover of this song which for me is based from 99% on vocals. And they did it in such an amazing way. This really shocked me and I almost couldn't breathe.

I just YESTERDAY, had a video pop up on my feed of their isolated vocals on this song. Yep, they were that crazy good with the harmonies. Just the four of them.

Your reactions seems ...... OK, and then better .....Such a LEGEND group ..... huge fan of "Mama" Cass Elliot, RIP, you are missed. This song ...... BECAME a staple for several groups, including today's musicians who remixed and took this to a new modern level. The Mamas and the Papas are TRUE to me, wish more of the music in the current day had this feel ...... I'm a boy from the BEACH. Please support the Mamas and the Papas .........

They were one of the greatest bands back in the day! There music genre is still enjoyed today!

Cass Elliott had a great voice, she left us way too soon.

This song reminds me of growing up near Pasadena, CA. My oldest brother and I would go hang out in Lacy Park. For some reason this song takes me back to those days.

Love this live. Glad to hear you about this. Bravo Michael 👍👍👍

Love this song still after all these years.

Band only lasted 4 years but they had 6 top ten hits in that time. Monday Monday was their only number 1 hit. California Dreaming, I saw her again, Words of Love, Dedicated to the one I love, Creeque Alley were the other top tens. "Dream a little dream of me" got to 12.

Now you're talking. Sublime. You have to listen to more of their stuff. I play them when I want to go back to my teenage years. Better than a time machine.♥♥

That's John on the flute.

all time classic ♥

Reminds me of Crosby Stills, Nash and Young.

Most people today when they think 1960s - it’s Beatles, but there were so many more like this group who are icons of this distinctive popular music era. Of course it wouldn’t be common for younger people to be familiar with sixty year old pop music .

It was an anthem of California, especially Southern California

What they do is they have a backing track to fill in the harmonies but the singers are singing live usually or lip syncing if necessary.

everyone who has ever lived has regrets--but at least in terms of music, I have none--I was privileged to live in the GREATEST era of popular music EVER!

Loved your reaction to this monster number one smash hit. This went straight to the top of the charts.

Until Marty Robbins released "El Paso", most song were less than 2 and a half minutes long. Yes, what you are hearing are four people.

the instrument is a flute.

You're so adorable!!! LOL! You always brighten my day, Michael! (a Grandmother :D )

Your grandparents were listening to this in Jr. High School; the good stuff never gets old. I think Michelle is the only member still with us.

I remember when Mama Cass Elliott died.

Mama Case has the most beautiful voice.

That was a flute. AM radio of the 50's and 60's did not want 3:00 songs.

Monday, Monday Creeque Alley A great band from the 60’s

None of the group wanted Cass to be on stage singing with them. She had the best voice of them all, was kinder to them than they were to her. At one point they were all homeless and they went to Cass to stay with her. She let them in. Michelle may have been pretty but she was unkind to Cass. After Cass died so did the band. Never cared for the others in the band.

You made me feel really old there. Not knowing who they were. Great music

It was SOP at the time for singers to be singers and musicians to be musicians because we were raised that a way. It wasn't until people became dishonest and frauds that we became the society of today.

monday monday

Dream A Little Dream of Me by Cass Eliot. Such a sweet solo.

Cass Elliott had a fantastic voice!!

If you like this song then try "Dedicated to the One I Love" by the Mamas and Papas. Also, yes you are correct. Artists were instructed to keep their songs under 3 minutes back then because Radio Stations had to appease their paying advertisers. There could not be a span over a certain time frame that you were not hearing an add from someone. Not until those feisty radio FM Rock stations in the late sixties and early seventies did all those four and five minute songs get their just air play.

Recent Subscriber to your Channel and like your reactions to the music I have listened to and at 74 been listening to them since they were released. I suggest try " Your Still the One " by Orleans as you will love the harmoies and lyrics. Keep up the good work.

That era was the last of good music.

My two favorites of theirs are "Safe In My Garden" and "Too Late"