On Such a Winter's Day

They weren't The Mamas & The Papas yet...they came upon that name virtually on the spur of the moment later on, after briefly flirting with calling themselves the Magic Circle.  They were just John Phillips, his young wife Michelle, and Denny Doherty, along with their friend Cass Elliot, who had essentially just come along for the ride.  They had driven cross-country and arrived in L.A. in 1965, flat broke and desperate to establish a career in music.

Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, they literally bumped into an old friend from their Greenwich Village folk days, Barry McGuire.  At the moment, quite improbably, the gravel-voiced McGuire was one of the hottest new stars in Rock & Roll, having scored a #1 hit with a protest anthem, "Eve of Destruction".  McGuire invited the quartet to come sing some of John's original songs for Lou Adler, record producer and owner of the Dunhill label, to which Barry was signed.

Cass had wanted to be an official member of their group, but John had resisted adding her.  Phillips was a domineering personality, and Michelle and Denny were much more easy going and willing to let John play the leader.  But Cass was strong-willed as well, and she had no hesitancy to have it out with John whenever she felt he was pushing too hard, resulting in many an angry argument between them.  He couldn't deny that vocally, she blended beautifully with the other three; indeed, with their voices in full flight, they fused together in such a way that it seemed to create a fifth voice in their midst, resulting in an utterly unique sound.  He just wasn't sure he could put up with her standing up to him.

So she tagged along as the others auditioned for Adler.  They ran through several of their songs as the producer sat quietly with his arms crossed, the brim of his hat down over his eyes, saying little more than an occasional grunt.  They thought they had flopped, but when they were done, Adler offered them a contract with Dunhill.  He later said that internally, he was doing veritable backflips, so blown away by the vocal sounds he had heard, but he didn't want to display his enthusiasm for fear the group would demand too much money.

Adler had only one demand:  Cass was in the group, period.

Shortly afterward, Adler brought the group into United Western Recorders on Sunset Boulevard, the favorite recording studio of Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys and Elvis Presley.  Although The Mamas & The Papas were longtime folkies, and John played the acoustic guitar, Adler knew that their best hope for success was in the nascent Folk Rock genre.  So, the producer turned to the "Wrecking Crew", that collection of ace studio musicians who had played on such recent #1 Folk Rock hits as "Mr. Tambourine Man" by the Byrds, and Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe".  The quartet were joined by drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Joe Osborn, and guitarist P.F. Sloan.

One of the first things they recorded was a song called "California Dreamin'", written by John and Michelle back when they were living in New York City during a particularly cold winter.  When they were done, everyone there agreed it was a terrific recording.  To Lou Adler's ears, it sounded like a hit.  And to his way of thinking, there was only one logical thing to do with it.

He gave it to Barry McGuire.

Needing a follow-up hit to "Eve of Destruction", Adler thought "California Dreamin'" was the perfect choice.  They took Denny Doherty's lead vocals off of the track, but otherwise kept all of the backing vocals from The Mamas & The Papas.  Dunhill put the single out, and had McGuire debut it live on TV's "Shingdig", with The Mamas & The Papas singing backup, their first television appearance together.

And it flopped.  Huge.

It quickly became apparent that this song was not going to follow "Eve of Destruction" up to #1.  Indeed, it didn't even flirt anywhere near the Hot 100.  McGuire would go on to be a One Hit Wonder.  (He did have later success as an actor, appearing in several films, and starring in the original Broadway cast of "Hair").

Ordinarily, that would be that for "California Dreamin'", a failed song consigned to the ash heap of music history.  Except that Lou Adler wasn't done with it yet.  He knew deep in his gut that this had all the makings of a hit.  It was a thoroughbred...he had simply put the wrong jockey in the saddle.

Going back into the studio, he restored Doherty's lead vocals to the tune, and he added something else, replacing a harmonica solo during the bridge with a flute, inspired by "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" by the Beatles.

(Adler was a bit sloppy in erasing McGuire's vocals...if you listen closely at the very beginning, you can hear his rough-hewn voice buried amongst the others.)

Now, certain of success, Adler released the song at Christmastime of '65, and the response was a resounding...nothing.  At least at first.  But slowly, radio stations across the country began to play the song, and it built an audience.  Undoubtedly, it sounded nothing like anything else listeners had heard on the radio before, with those sparkling harmony voices (double-tracked to amplify their power) bursting through the speakers like sunshine, and it took a bit of time for people to understand what they were hearing.  But when they did take a moment to reflect on it, they realized that they liked what they heard.  "California Dreamin'" entered the Billboard charts in January, and by March it had peaked at #4.

And The Mamas & The Papas proved they were no one hit wonders, immediately following up their first hit with "Monday, Monday", which went all the way to #1, as did their debut album, the prophetically titled If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears.

A key ingredient to their initial success was their look.  They made the rounds of multiple TV shows..."Shindig", "Hullabaloo", "The Ed Sullivan Show"...and became immediately identifiable.  There was Denny, good locking and cocksure...John, gangly and mysterious, despite an inviting mega-watt smile...blonde and willowy Michelle...and rotund and joyous Cass, who had an angelic voice that could blast you out of the back seat of the theater.  They helped establish the look of 'hippie chic' with their multi-colored caftans and scarves, and swiftly became the most individually recognizable people in Rock & Roll since John, Paul, George and Ringo.

In retrospect, it's easy to say that "California Dreamin'" was destined to be a hit.  After all, how could it not?  But I think it's more important to recall that before it became a "sure fire" hit, it was a spectacular failure.  And that's often the nature of things, because nothing is certain.  But sometimes you get a second chance...and sometimes you should be careful what you wish for.  For The Mamas & The Papas, the success of "California Dreamin'" put them on the mountaintop for precisely two years, until internal squabbling, drugs the fracturing marriage of John and Michelle, an affair between Michelle and Denny, more drugs, and the pressures of stardom drove them apart.  In the midst of the craziness, they still managed to release four albums, and they put nearly twenty songs on the charts; many hit artists today can't achieve that in a decade.

But for all the troubles to come, there is still the pure, glorious dream promised by this song, and that remains undimmed even decades later.