The Mamas & The Papas String Man

[aenigmate]

I only recently discovered this girl.

So beautiful she could kill.

And though not as powerful as Cass, she has a very nice voice.

[QuirkyHipster]

She was so underated. She's fab!

[JohnnyGNV]

It's a great song but it's almost silly that Cass obviously comes in towards the end

to finish the piece ~ I always thought as a Kid that this was because Michelle's soft

albeit pleasant voice couldn't do the sustained notes - nevertheless it's a good track.

[Divinecomedy77]

geniales como siempre no volvi a ver nunca un grupo parecido en voces

[Divinecomedy77]

bueno los beach boys son muy buenos

[Karen21242]

Happy 67th Birthday Michelle!!! :D

[bluenail03]

Love this track!!! There are so MANY underrated and unknown Mamas and Papas' musical gems. IMHO, their best songs were NOT their hits.

[onecharmingbastard]

such an underrated track - allegedly about the Gene Clark affair, Michelle is fine form, the band firing on all cylinders, and the best male/female four part harmony team ever at their best.

[ravenwhitechapel]

mama cass is in there too... the voice is more powerful Michelle was wimpy voice

[redtailspirit]

Michelle's voice is marvelous for the majority of this piece, but it is Cass who brings the song home! Do not get me wrong, the one could not excel without the other... Michellle is the one who remains, from what I have seen, she misses the other, as do I! Michellle they were my family too, maybe not as close, personally, but every bit as close spiritualy.I think that you guys got me and helped to create the me that is me! Please keep doing what you're doing, it works!

[TurqouiseTapioca]

man, michelle deserved more credit as a singer. i agree, mama cass is better. but still.. michelle's good :)

[virduarte100]

Michelle. para sempre...

[redtailspirit]

Michelle's voice is sweet, Cass' voice has power, Denny does amazing contrapuntal harmonies, John's voice is OK, I covet his 12 string Gibson ES335... these people taught me how and how not to be a hippie, "if you know what I mean"...

[892lgy7382]

Cass is better, but man, Michelle is sooo underrated. It saddens me that most of the comments about her have something to do with her beauty, and almost none about her singing.

[MokaDan69]

omg cass :D

[slimdudeDJC]

God, she was so beautiful!!!!

[schuyler10]

the best part of the song is when Cass comes in at 2:35

[RandyAKing]

Man, she was a cutie.

[davegasman52]

How does cass bend those notes? Pure talent.

[mamasandthepapas1]

Nice vocals by Michelle nice to hear as lead for a change.

[yak6ex]

Pretty song.

[courtcol]

seems like with all these SO CALLED EXPERTS on the mama and papas--- I would have run across them in La and San Fran in the mid 60's--- reading all these comments are certainly entertaining but not much truth in them !!!!

[xXxRav3rRawrBabyxXx]

Cute song, I love those vocals. <3

[vakantieland4]

True, but the best parts of the song are the last lines, sung by Cass.

[sageofsuccess]

I really like this song. Michelle sounds great in this one and gets her voice out there. You can really feel the emotion--she acts the song as much as she sings it. The song sounds like it's quite autobiographical for Michelle. It's obvious who the "string man" is.

[Richierich53]

Oh, I believe there are some Jill Gibson contributions to album 2. However, I don't buy that she sang on 10 of the 12 songs on that album as the rumor goes. She was only with the group 6 or 7 weeks. I thought maybe Gibson sang on Strange Young Girls...doesn't sound like Michelle. MP has said that it is possible some songs contain both of their vocals. Maybe only Bones Howe, who mixed the album, knows for sure.

[johnsmusicbox]

Richierich53, if you think Jill Gibson is not on the second album at all, then you are wrong as well.

There was recently a big discussion about this involving myself, Jill, M&P's historian Richard Campbell, and several others. Richard has the session sheets, and from what he can work out, Jill is definitely on the record on at least four tracks, "Dancing Bear", "Trip, Stumble & Fall", "I Can't Wait", and the stereo LP version of "Even If I Could".

[mtopper66]

That's definitely her on the first line of "Strange Young Girls". I'm not entirely sure about "Dancing Bear", though. Strange how they deleted most of her vocal contribution when Michelle was re-hired, but kept a few things here and there...

[johnsmusicbox]

Whether or not you're sure about "Dancing Bear", it IS Jill on there, if Richard read the session sheets right. At any rate, I should have copies of all of the session sheets myself soon, and I'll see what I can figure out. If you knew how those songs were recorded, you'd know that it simply wasn't possible to just go and "delete" specific vocal parts, without destroying several other parts in the process.

[mtopper66]

That makes a lot of sense, it answers the mystery. Thanks! Although since it's pretty certain that Jill is on "Strange Young Girls" as well (such an amazing track!), it's strange that Richard's session sheets don't list that one as well.

[johnsmusicbox]

The session sheets are not necessarily easy to interpret. Also, although I don't entirely doubt that Jill is on Strange Young Girls, I also don't believe it's "pretty certain"...

On a side note, if you're interested in seeing the originally planned album cover for the 2nd LP, while Jill was still in the group, go to flickr and do a search for "mamas papas unreleased"...

[mtopper66]

There was a big discussion on this not too long ago here and it was agreed by those familiar with Jill's vocals that it's her voice on the first line (and first line only) of "Strange Young Girls". Oh, and I have seen that alternate cover, it's interesting how when they reshot it with Michelle they kept her in *very* similar fashion to the way Jill was dressed. Or it could be that the cover with Michelle was shot first, and then they tried to get Jill to copy her...

[Richierich53]

The photo of the group standing in a window that was used for album 2 was shot first with Michelle. Later Gibson was shot in the same pose and similar dress and superimposed over Michelle. The studio was not pleased however and a new photo was shot of the group with Gibson by a white picket fence that was planned for the "Crash On, Scream On..." album cover. It is a great photo. When Michelle returned they went back to the original photo and simply called the album "The Mamas and Papas."

[mtopper66]

They were gonna call the album "Crash On, Scream On"?? That's awesome--should've kept it.

[Richierich53]

The working title for album 2 was "Crash on! Scream on! Sing on! And we all fall down." It was mentioned in some press and even announced by Bing Crosby on Hollywood Palace when he introduced the group to perform "Dancing Bear." An article I have states the Crash On album was to have 14 songs. Wonder what the other two were? I've never heard an explanation of why they dropped that title at the last minute.

[Richierich53]

Also, from the liner notes of the second album:

Crash on, said Mama Cass

Scream on, said Papa Denny

Sing on, said Mama Michelle

And we all fall down, said Papa John

Which might have been the tilte

But wasnt

[mtopper66]

Ah yes, I remember those liner notes...been a while since I read them. But it would've been a great title, certainly more imaginative than the one they chose! Youtube has the "Dancing Bear" clip, it doesn't have Bing Crosby's intro. 14 tracks...the other two songs probably ended up on the next album. Be interesting to know what they were, though.

[Richierich53]

query "Bing Crosby hosts Hollywood Palace 9-17-66" on Youtube and it should come up

[johnsmusicbox]

One was "Did You Ever Want to Cry".

By the way, mtopper, it's not the regular 2nd LP photo with Jill cropped in that I posted up there, but the whitle picket fence cover...

[paperroute50]

the second album was called 'Cass, John, Michelle, and Dennie".

[vakantieland4]

@mtopper66 Indeed: first Michelle, later Jill. On YouTube there is an interview Michelle is telling this. She was very angry about it.

[Richierich53]

Pauliewood is wrong about the M&P's 2nd album, half of which was already recorded with Michelle when Gibson replaced Michelle for 2 months. I Saw Her Again was already a single when Gibson was hired. Gibson claimed to have dubbed over Michelle's vocals, but Lou Adler set the "record" str8 in the book Go Where You Wanna Go - he said Gibson's vocals were dropped when Michelle returned before the record was released. Denny is quoted as saying the sound was not right with Gibson.

[marksmail2]

Michelle's face captivates me.  But also Cass, John and Denny are beautiful to me. The music and the photographic images are always so pleasing.

[oldschooljamz87]

2:35 Cass

[captainsoul1953]

I read somewhere that this was about Gene Clark of the Byrds

Jim

[paperroute50]

Loved Michelle's vocals on "Even If I could" and "That Kind of Girl" from the second album and was thrilled when she came back into he group. Geogous and talented lady.

[jwwutube]

This is one of their best songs. First time I heard this, it drove me 'round the bend!!

[lucisious10]

thank you for posting this song, have it on vinyl record but culdnt find it anywhere on cd, great tune.

[pauliewood]

Michelle's vocals only appear on two of the twelve tracks on the Mamas and The Papas self-titled second album. Jill Gibson sang on the other ten tracks. Michelle's vocals can be heard on "Dancing In The Street" and "Once Was A Time I Thought". Jill should receive her due for delivering beautiful performances, but, the group and management wanted to sweep this fact under the rug.

[BettinaBalser]

Michelle never gets her due in the Mamas And Papas story as a singer. The reality is, she was the only voice in the group that could control Cass' soaring vocals. Cass had to rein it in in order to blend, and because of Michelle, they were able to do so, and beautifully. Michelle is true rock royalty; genuine class.

[bookkeeper57]

She WAS rock royalty/class, until she cheated on John with Denny.

[celsoefranco]

She leads in Dedicated to the one I love too!and very high mixed up in Boys & Girls together.

[ilovemarciabrady]

BEAUTIFUL SONG!

[detectivechristopher]

You know, people, This song is true story about Michelle and John. Listen up!

[tuneaddicted]

so who's the "pretty girl in the crowd", Cass? lol

[af1o1s]

I like this song, but for some reason it doens't make it onto the best-of compilations. You can hear Michelle very clearly on almost every song on the "People Like Us" album, which is actually a pretty good album. Check out "Snowqueen Of Texas" on that album for some prime Michelle!

[taddyd1]

John had been such a dick to Cass that she barely sang on that lp, which of course is why it lacked the funk and punch of their previous 4 efforts. Otherwise it had great songs and arrangements. I agree that Michelle sounds great on that last lp, I think 90% of the female vocals on it are hers and they're very well done but no one can make up for the missing Mama Cass!

[marksmail2]

Yay, Michelle finally gets her credit. It's also just her and John singing at the begining of Creeque Alley and she does a good job then, as well.

[taddyd1]

i think Cass and Denny are on Creeque Alley from the git.

[eekabostatic]

An obscure gem for this group that actually produced quite a nice body of work in just three or four years. "How I squirmed when he bent those strings..."

[britishbrunette1972]

Wow, I love Michelles voice. It always seemed to be lost among the others but she really comes into her own here. Go Michelle!!

[SigneAnderson]

You really should check out Michelle's other solo work which can be found on the CD "Victim Of Romance". She has about 20 songs on that CD (but not "Stringman"). Google it. Michelle as good as the popular girl singers today.

For clarification, that's Cass singing the chorus fade-out at the end of "Stringman".

Remember, Michelle was the only girl in the group with John & Denny before Cass joined.

"Stringman" is particularly great. Michelle is singing her own back-up in the song.

[Karen21242]

Is that Michelle singing leads?

[courtcol]

karen 21242---yea, that's her !!!nobody ever gave her credit for being a super singer...

[Karen21242]

Yeah, I guess you're right! She's better than I thought. Man, now I feel guilty!

[courtcol]

great video,,, and think it is great michelle was featured in these vocals,, which was a rarity in mama and papa songs cause of the incredible talent of mama cass,, but I always thought michelle voice was always underated... I think this video proves she could hold her own with anyone !!!!

[7NTM61Ic]

I forgot about this one! Thanks.

[detectivechristopher]

Cute song. Mamas and papas is my favourite group ever! Nice video too!