... LP, Vinyl record album

A real moment of magic from the LA scene of the mid 60s – and a record that was seminal in helping the transition from early 60s folk pop to the much headier sounds of the latter part of the decade! The quartet had roots in other work, but really come together here as something special – harmonizing in a way that might have been used a few years before, but with all these dark edges and moody flatness that almost recalls Nico's work with the Velvet Underground – that same sort of "hey, this is sweet – but it also feels like something's wrong, too." Backings are by a core combo of Wrecking Crew members – including Larry Knechtel on organ, Hal Blaine on drums, and Tommy Tedscco on guitar – all working under the direction of John Phillips. The sound is sublime, way deeper than you might expect if you only know their singles – and titles include "No Salt On Her Tail", "Trip Stumble & Fall", "Words Of Love", "I Saw Her Again", "That Kind Of Girl", and "Once Was A Time I Thought". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful harmonies from this legendary group – set to some great backings that include Hal Blaine on drums and Larry Knechtel on keyboards! There's a lot of nice non-hit material – titles that include "Ivy", "Mansions", "The Right Somebody To Love", "Too Late", "Twelve Thirty", "Nothing's Too Good For My Little Girl", "Meditation Mama", and "Midnight Voyage". CD

The final album from The Mamas & The Papas – and a set that really makes us wonder how great they would have sounded had they kept on recording into the 70s! There's definitely a shift here from the earlier work – vocals that still have that incredible way of coming together, but with a feel that's warmer and more layered too – maybe Mama Cass tuned down a bit in the mix, but only in a way that opens up the unity of the group overall! The songwriting is more sophisticated and interesting too – material that maybe made sure that this album never got heavy radio play – but in a way that makes the whole thing a fantastic discovery all these many years later! Titles "People Like Us", "Pacific Coast Highway", "Shooting Star", "European Blueboy", "I Wanna Be A Star", "Step Out", "Snowqueen Of Texas", "No Dough", Blueberries For Breakfast", and "Grasshopper". Really great CD version – done from the original masters, with bonus tracks that include "April Annie", "Me & My Uncle", "Fantastic Four (outtake)", "Andy's Talkin Blues (demo)", "Mississippi", "No Dough (alt mix)", and "Revolution On Vacation (alt mix)". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful harmonies from this legendary group – set to some great backings that include Hal Blaine on drums and Larry Knechtel on keyboards! There's a lot of nice non-hit material – titles that include "Ivy", "Mansions", "The Right Somebody To Love", "Too Late", "Twelve Thirty", "Nothing's Too Good For My Little Girl", "Meditation Mama", and "Midnight Voyage". LP, Vinyl record album

Tracks include "Monday Monday", "California Dreamin", "Dancing Beart", "I Saw Her Again", "Words Of Love", "Creeque Alley", "Dedicated To The One I Love", "I Saw Her Again", "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" and lots more! CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

The final album from The Mamas & The Papas – and a set that really makes us wonder how great they would have sounded had they kept on recording into the 70s! There's definitely a shift here from the earlier work – vocals that still have that incredible way of coming together, but with a feel that's warmer and more layered too – maybe Mama Cass tuned down a bit in the mix, but only in a way that opens up the unity of the group overall! The songwriting is more sophisticated and interesting too – material that maybe made sure that this album never got heavy radio play – but in a way that makes the whole thing a fantastic discovery all these many years later! Titles "People Like Us", "Pacific Coast Highway", "Shooting Star", "European Blueboy", "I Wanna Be A Star", "Step Out", "Snowqueen Of Texas", "No Dough", Blueberries For Breakfast", and "Grasshopper". CD

The final album from The Mamas & The Papas – and a set that really makes us wonder how great they would have sounded had they kept on recording into the 70s! There's definitely a shift here from the earlier work – vocals that still have that incredible way of coming together, but with a feel that's warmer and more layered too – maybe Mama Cass tuned down a bit in the mix, but only in a way that opens up the unity of the group overall! The songwriting is more sophisticated and interesting too – material that maybe made sure that this album never got heavy radio play – but in a way that makes the whole thing a fantastic discovery all these many years later! Titles "People Like Us", "Pacific Coast Highway", "Shooting Star", "European Blueboy", "I Wanna Be A Star", "Step Out", "Snowqueen Of Texas", "No Dough", Blueberries For Breakfast", and "Grasshopper". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderfully dark harmonies from The Mamas & The Papas – one of those amazing late 60s albums from the group that was pop on the outside, but something very else underneath – a wonderful blend of modes that was hardly duplicated this well again! There's a slightly spooky feel to some of the music – even their leadoff cover of "Dedicated To The One I Love", which has an eerie quality that's way different than any previous readings – possibly a hint of the trouble between the group members – although maybe that's reading too much into it! Whatever the case, though – there's a special magic here that goes way beyond any understanding of the group you may have from oldies radio, and the set features some great original compositions by the young John Phillips too. Titles include "Creeque Alley", "Boys & Girls Together", "Look Through My Window", "Sing For Your Supper", "Free Advice", "Did You Ever Want To Cry", and "String Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A wickedly soulful set – served up by a New Zealand duo, but done with help from a whole host of other musicians as well – including some great guest vocalists who really make the record shine! At the core is work by a combo who use Fender Rhodes and guitar in a nice range of grooves – sometimes upbeat and funky, sometimes more laidback, thoughtful, and jazzy – really mixing up modes in a way that gives the double length record a heck of a lot of depth! The set includes vocal appearances by Omar, Kevin Mark Trail, Ange Williams, and Louis Baker – and titles include "Everything I Have To Give", "No Crime To Try", "Dumplings For Dinner", "That's How It All Is", "Clearer Skies", "That Love", "Some Kind Of Blockage", and "Long Road". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful early work from Mama Cass and Denny Doherty – heard here in a pre-Mamas & Papas group from the east coast! The Mugwups have a sound that's quite unusual, even for their time – in that their approach is folk, but one that's electrified a fair bit before most other groups of their generation – especially some of the more pop-crossover ones. The rhythms are often quite bouncy, and even a bit rocking – romping along with a fullness that's hardly like other folk, and which really pushes along the harmonies of the group in a wonderful way. Other members include a pre-Lovin Spoonful Zal Yanovsky and Jim Hendricks, who handles the guitar – and John Sebastian even manages to play guitar on a few numbers as well. Titles include "I Don't Wanna Know", "Here It Is Another Day", "Do You Know What I Mean", "So Fine", "Do What They Don't Say", "Everybody's Been Talkin",a nd "I'll Remember Tonight". LP, Vinyl record album

The complete albums of this really unique group – all wrapped up in a single set, with bonus tracks too! First up is the self-titled debut – described on the cover as "Eight high-octane musicians who met and jammed in the great peanut butter octopus that is Los Angeles!" The record's got a really trippy approach that's partially folk rock, partially psychedelic soul, and which also has some great touches of groovy harmony pop and Latinized LA rhythms – all wrapped up in some totally great production overall! The whole thing skims and sings around like some of our favorite sunshiney pop from the time – almost a meeting of Triste Janeiro and Mamas & The Papas – with some great instrumental touches that include cello and electric harpsichord! Female lead vocals on most tracks, but the album also spins out nicely, so that you get plenty of instrumental passages too! Titles include "Why Oh Why", "Motherless Child", "Here We Go Again", "For Pete's Sake", "What's Wrong", "Come Take A Walk", and "In A Rainbow". Next is Just For You – the group's second album – and a really sweet batch of tracks that mix together rock and soul influences with touches of west coast hippy jazz, in a style that's almost an LA answer to Rotary Connection, but without all the baroque arrangements. The set's got a great version of "Compared To What", and the extended jazzy jammer "Just For You" – plus the cuts "Day Song", "Just For You", "Look Out", "Without Me", and "Windlace". Last up is Melon – a great little set from Sweetwater – a rock combo at heart, but one who also bring in a nice sense of soul too! The album follows strongly from other of their Reprise releases – almost funky in parts, with drums that kick in nicely, and a flowing sense of groove that features keyboards, flute, and added percussion that helps to spice things up. Most tracks have vocals, but there's some very strong standout instrumental moments – and titles include "Take It From Splice Boys", "Naturally", "Don't Give A Hoot", "Get It While You Can", "I'm Happy Today", "Rejoice The Smile Of Man", and "Join The Band". 2CD set features 8 bonus tracks – including one recorded at Woodstock! CD

That's a very young Michelle Phillips on the front cover – and the issue features a long interview that has her going far back in the wayback machine – even to recall some of her time in the 60s as a fashion model, as well as the early days of the Mamas & Papas! There's plenty more great articles too – a look at the MC5 in London in 1972, the great southern songwriter Dan Penn, Peruvian rock giants Traffic Sound – and more on The Traits, The Emperors, The Fringe, Subway Sect, and Doug Ingle of Iron Butterfly! As always, the magazine is jam-packed – about 150 pages, with very little in the way of ads, and lots of other great reviews and columns too. Magazine

Ten tracks from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steely Dan, The Mamas And The Papas, Thunderclap Newman, Steppenwolf, Elton John, The James Gang, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, Fever Tree, and Rare Earth. CD

Music from Scott McKenzie, the Turtles, the Mamas & the Papas, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Harpers Bizarre, the Box Tops, the Beach Boys, the Lovin' Spoonful, Stevie Wonder, the Hollies, Jefferson Airplane, Cream, The Byrds, Van Morrison and more. CD

A deep deep dive into the farther reaches of the California scene in the late 60s – music that's completely wonderful all the way through, and presented with a level that really blows away some of the less-official collections on the market! If you know the hit sounds of the time, you'll know a bit of what to expect here – but the selection of cuts goes way way deeper, put together by Alec Palao, a guy we'd already trust with anything Cali from the 60s – and who really knocks himself out with this set! If you dig Beach Boys, Mamas & Papas, and the Byrds, you'll find plenty of new sounds here to fall in love with – and as usual with Ace, the whole thing comes with superb notes, and even features a few unreleased tracks – including two rare cuts by Third Wave, who recorded one album for MPS! Titles include "Niki" and "Three Kingfishers Ferris Wheel" by Third Wave, "Go Try & Put Out The Sun" by The Forum, "Soul Sunrise" by JP Rags, "A Thousand Faces" by The Thousand Faces, "Out In The Open" by The Justice League, "Meadows & Flowers" by Curt Boettcher, "Richard & Me" by Evergreen Tangerine, "Someday Sunday" by The Gettysburg Address, "Lazy Bones" by The Tricycle, "Sugar Stone" by The Candy Company, "The Life You Lead" by A Small World, "Summer Flower" by Crystal Set, and "Until Now" by Augie Moreno. CD

Jimi Hendrix, live in Los Angeles – just days before the release of his classic Are You Experienced album – a record that changed a generation! Jimi was actually working that night as the opening act for The Mamas & The Papas – and we're guessing that his searing solos and raw musical vision really blew the whole crowd away – so much so, we wish the set had a visual component, so we could see reaction shots of the crowd! The Experience group has the classic lineup of Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums – and titles include "Purple Haze", "Wild Thing", "Fire", "Catfish Blues", "Foxy Lady", and a reading of "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". LP, Vinyl record album

It's a long way from The Mamas & The Papas by this time for John Phillips – standing on the beach on the cover, all bedraggled in a dirty hat and coat, with a long beard, and a worn-out look on his face – but that change turns out to be a great one for him, as you'll hear on the set! The style here is much rougher and earthier than the sweeter pop of the 60s – a batch of Laurel Canyon folksy numbers that show the hipper side of Phillips that didn't always get expressed in his former pop years. Titles include "April Anne", "Captain", "Drum", "Someone's Sleeping", "Holland Tunnel", and "Mississippi". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes tracks by the Byrds, Mamas & the Papas, Beach Boys, Tommy James & the Shondells, the Knickerbockers, Lou Christie, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Capitols, and Los Bravos – 22 tracks total. CD