Mamas & Papas Complete Singles 2CD Set

The Mamas And The Papas: The Complete Singles - The 50th Anniversary Collection (2-CD Set)

With the debut of their first hit, California Dreamin’, on the charts, The Mamas and the Papas proclaimed themselves to be a potent new force in the burgeoning West Coast folk-rock movement, announcing to the world that something special and beautiful was happening in California.

Now, 50 years to the day after California Dreamin’ entered the Billboard Hot 100 on January 8, 1966, Real Gone Music is celebrating this very special anniversary by releasing The Mamas and the Papas: The Complete Singles The 50th Anniversary Collection, a two-CD, 53-track set that includes for the first time ever the A and B side of every single the group released, all in their impossible-to-find-on-CD original mono single mixes.

But this one-of-a-kind collection, which is remastered by Aaron Kannowski, the engineer responsible for Real Gone’s acclaimed collections of singles by fellow Dunhill label acts The Grass Roots and Steppenwolf doesn’t stop with The Mamas and the Papas singles; it also includes the solo single sides that group members Mama Cass Elliot, Denny Doherty and John Phillips cut for the Dunhill and ABC labels, again in their rare, original single mixes.

Co-Producer Ed Osborne’s notes feature quotes drawn from extended interviews with Mama Michelle Phillips and Dunhill label head and producer Lou Adler, while the package also includes a number of rarely-seen images of this eminently photographable band. Many of the solo singles and B-sides have never been on CD, let alone in their single mixes; plus, over the course of listening to this set (which clocks in at over 150 minutes) you’re going to hear such legendary songs as Monday, Monday, California Dreamin’, Creeque Alley, I Saw Her Again, Words of Love, Dream A Little Dream Of Me, Glad To Be Unhappy, Dedicated To The One I Love, and It’s Getting Better exactly as folks heard them over the radio back in those halcyon days.

Due to the unfortunate situation with the Dunhill single master tape reels (supposedly thrown out at the behest of one of the label’s owners), Mamas and Papas fans had despaired of ever hearing the group’s original singles on CD. Now, after countless hours spent tracking down sources, Real Gone Music is proud to release the most significant addition to The Mamas and the Papas discography in years!

Amazon US is already taking pre-orders. Street/Release Date is January 8th, 2016 (Real Gone Music).

Disc: 1
1. Go Where You Wanna Go
2. Somebody Groovy
3. California Dreamin'
4. Monday, Monday
5. Got A Feelin’
6. I Saw Her Again
7. Even If I Could
8. Look Through My Window
9. Once Was a Time I Thought
10. Words Of Love
11. Dancing In The Street
12. Dedicated To The One I Love
13. Free Advice
14. Creeque Alley
15. Did You Ever Want To Cry
16. Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming)
17. Straight Shooter
18. Glad To Be Unhappy
19. Hey Girl
20. Dancing Bear
21. John’s Music Box
22. Safe In My Garden
23. Too Late
24. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
25. Midnight Voyage
26. For The Love Of Ivy
27. Strange Young Girls

Disc: 2
1. Do You Wanna Dance
2. My Girl
3. Step Out
4. Shooting Star
5. California Earthquake (Mama Cass)
6. Talkin’ To Your Toothbrush (Mama Cass)
7. Move In A Little Closer, Baby (Mama Cass)
8. All For Me (Mama Cass)
9. It’s Getting Better (Mama Cass)
10. Who’s To Blame (Mama Cass)
11. Make Your Own Kind Of Music (Mama Cass Elliot)
12. Lady Love (Mama Cass Elliot)
13. New World Coming (Mama Cass Elliot)
14. Blow Me A Kiss (Mama Cass Elliott)
15. A Song That Never Comes (Mama Cass Elliot)
16. I Can Dream, Can’t I (Mama Cass Elliot)
17. The Good Times Are Coming (Mama Cass Elliot)
18. Welcome To The World (Mama Cass)
19. Don’t Let The Good Life Pass You By (Mama Cass Elliot)
20. The Costume Ball (Mama Cass Elliot)
21. Watcha Gonna Do (Denny Doherty)
22. Gathering The Words (Denny Doherty)
23. To Claudia On Thursday (Denny Doherty)
24. Tuesday Morning (Denny Doherty)
25. Mississippi (John Phillips)
26. April Anne (John Phillips)

Edited by Santi Paradoa

Underground Dub wrote: So excited about this one!

Me, too! With Ed and Aaron doing their usual stellar work, this should look and sound fantastic!

So were they able to find tape sources for these songs, or
did they have to resort to needledrops?

crapfromthepast wrote: Aaron will never tell!

Cleary, you haven't found his price point yet. ;)

crapfromthepast wrote: ...or did the best transfers from vinyl that I've ever heard.

Judging from the vinyl dubs Aaron and I have exchanged in the past, Dunhill could have cut the Mamas & Papas sessions to Edison wax cylinders and Aaron could make them sound great. Probably better than the original 45s, since Thomas Edison's choice of wax quality was a lot better than Dunhill's was for vinyl or styrene.

crapfromthepast wrote: Do we hear turntable rumble or surface cracklies?

Surface Cracklies!! Best breakfast cereal name ever! Ron, hie thee to General Mills HQ and submit that name, pronto! :)

With the M&Ps now officially on the release schedule, The Thomas Group Complete Dunhill Singles, C-Sides, D-Sides, Outtakes, Splicing Tape Scraps And Floor Sweepings set just has to be in the pre-production pipeline by now.

If not, I'd settle for the Pratt-McClain Complete Dunhill Singles set. ;)

Seriously, Aaron's work is second to none. As for the endless Dunhill tape-vs.-needledrop guessing games (a virtual cottage industry spectator sport on the Hoffman forum for both the Grass Roots and Steppenwolf collections) as long as the end result sounds great, I couldn't care less what it was sourced from, especially when it comes to mono 45 mixes. If Aaron's name is on it, that's good enough for me.

Yah Shure wrote: Judging from the vinyl dubs Aaron and I have exchanged in the past, Dunhill could have cut the Mamas & Papas sessions to Edison wax cylinders and Aaron could make them sound great. Probably better than the original 45s, since Thomas Edison's choice of wax quality was a lot better than Dunhill's was for vinyl or styrene.

I have done a few ABC/Dunhill needledrops that sound like
they could have come from tape. It's not that hard.