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It's not a Winters day and I'm not hoping I was in LA, but damn, this is a pretty song. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present John Phillips, Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips: The Mamas and the Papas. Listen carefully to the harmonies the girls are laying down and their subtle melody changes. Just beautiful, even after all these years. Michelle is the only one still with us. R.I.P. John, Denny and Mama Cass. Your talent is missed.
The song "Creque Alley", the lyrics of which suggest the beginnings of the Mamas and the Papas. Here they are performing it on the Ed Sullivan show, Circa 1967;
John and Mitchy were gettin' kind of itchy
Just to leave the folk music behind
Zal and Denny workin' for a penny
Tryin' to get a fish on the line
In a coffee house Sebastian sat
And after every number they'd pass the hat
McGuinn and McGuire just a-gettin' higher
In L.A., you know where that's at
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass
Zally said "Denny, you know there aren't many
Who can sing a song the way that you do, let's go south"
Denny said "Zally, golly, don't you think that I wish
I could play guitar like you"
Zal, Denny and Sebastian sat (At the Night Owl)
And after every number they'd pass the hat
McGuinn and McGuire still a-gettin higher
In L.A., you know where that's at
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass
When Cass was a sophomore, planned to go to Swarthmore
But she changed her mind one day
Standin' on the turnpike, thumb out to hitchhike
"Take me to New York right away"
When Denny met Cass he gave her love bumps
Called John and Zal and that was the Mugwumps
McGuinn and McGuire couldn't get no higher
But that's what they were aimin' at
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass
Mugwumps, high jumps, low slumps, big bumps
Don't you work as hard as you play
Make up, break up, everything is shake up
Guess it had to be that way
Sebastian and Zal formed the Spoonful
Michelle, John, and Denny gettin' very tuneful
McGuinn and McGuire just a-catchin' fire
In L.A., you know where that's at
And everybody's gettin' fat except Mama Cass
Di-di-di-dit dit dit di-di-di-dit, whoa
Broke, busted, disgusted, agents can't be trusted
And Mitchy wants to go to the sea
Cass can't make it, she says we'll have to fake it
We knew she'd come eventually
Greasin' on American Express cards
It's low rent, but keeping out the heat's hard
Duffy's good vibrations and our imaginations
Can't go on indefinitely
And California dreamin' is becomin' a reality
Further definitions and references;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeque_Alley
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)Agschmid
(28,749 posts)also knows as destroying a hit.. but yet it's kind of a fun remix.
marzipanni
(6,011 posts)I know these days are someone's days, like my eighteen year old son's, but I'm grateful that those were my days...
People around my age seem to say "back in the day", when reminiscing; when we were kids we talked about our parents or grandparents youth as "back in the old days...".
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)We thought they'd never end
We thought they'd last
Forever and a day...