Eldergays: Tell Us About Mama Cass

She made her own kind of music and sang her own special songs.

She had a lovely voice and a good personality. She subbed for Johnny Carson on his late night show a few times. There was no body positivity movement so her obesity was not seen as attractive.

She was tremendously talented, and very well liked among her peers. I think she could have been a great producer, in either music or film. She had a unique talent of pulling creative types together, she was queen of Laurel Canyon back in the day.

She was loved in the industry. Most everyone who knew her had nothing but great things to say about her.

People say they were shaky, but I love the M&Ps in Monterey Pop. They look like they're having a blast, Cass especially (who is clearly high as a kite). It's too bad John Phillips turned out to be such a creep. They were a great band while they lasted.

blah, blah ,blah,blah blah,,ham sandwich!

She died in Harry Nilsson's apartment.

[quote]She died in Harry Nilsson's apartment.

As did Keith Moon.

R2, being this fat is dangerously unhealthy. Body positivity doesn't exist in real life, its just an excuse fat losers make up to justify their own horrid lack of self-control and laziness.

Hot men don't idolize fat chicks.

In the Laurel Canyon documentary, there's a great scene where Michelle Phillips is talking about how when she first heard the line "no one's getting fat but Mama Cass" she was like "okay guys, but really, what's it going to say" but then they played it for Cass and she thought it was hilarious so they kept it.

I love how she’s compared to Adele only because they’re both fat white women.

She was an obese drug user, she was never going to have a long life.

Mama Cass was a much more interesting and bolder singer than Adele, not sure why they're being compared--oh, that's right, they were both fat.

[Quote] She was an obese drug user, she was never going to have a long life.

Well...

"Mama Cass was a much more interesting and bolder singer than Adele"

But the sound of her voice sucked by comparison

To each their own, but no. Mama Cass was a much better singer than Adele.

Cass Elliot (who disliked being called Mama Cass) was one of the great voices of a generation, at home in any genre. She left quite a recorded legacy. For those who aren't familiar, start with her greatest hits collection, Mama's Big Ones. She wasn't always happy with the material/arrangements she was required to do, but she was clearly a talent.

Cass was talking about child labor in 1969!

There was so much fat shamming then even her band even had a lyric that said "And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass".

If only she had shared that sandwich with me, we'd both be alive today.

Tell you about her? Well...

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!

Harmonizing with DL fave Julie Andrews...

And getting out the vote in 1972. Incidentally, sining "Leaving On A Jet Plane" with John Denver.

R20 see R11 for an explanation

Thanks for that R24

John Denver had an amazing voice too.

Cass was one of the most talented singers ever. She also had a lot of pie and strudel throughout her life. Despite that, she had a good heart (or maybe not), which is hard to encounter in Hollywood. At a time when gay men were oppressed beyond belief, they identified with her struggles and she theirs.

Last interview, 6/15/74. Cass Elliot died two weeks later on June 29th. Age 32.

Back with Julie doing a Simon & Garfunkel medley.

Wasn’t she always in love with Denny? I read she was heartbroken when she found out about Denny’s affair with Michelle.

She was a great harmonizer and had a haunting voice

She died from heart failure. Of course.

Famous pic of Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Eric Clapton, and Cass' daughter all hanging out in Cass' backyard in Laurel Canyon, 1968. Such a great snapshot of the era.

Yes, she always carried a torch for Jim Henricks and Denny Doherty.

R12 you do realize that Adele is thin now right? Not that their size has anything to do with their talent.

Cass' younger sister, Leah Kunkel, is a singer & attorney but not well known.

R34 she also had a thing for John Lennon. That’s why she chose to cover the Beatles’ I Call Your Name.

Honey, we all had a thing for John Lennon.

She had a healthy sex drive. You know she would've swallowed.

Her pussy...well, you know.

Mama Cass was the best.

Poor thing, her family should have gotten her to one of lose kids-must-lose-weight camps.

HS:

She tried it all -camps, diets, whatever -without success. I'm sure if she were around today she'd have had a gastric bypass or other surgical interventions.

She was a beautiful person, a loyal friend, and a loving mother. And one helluva singer.

Extremely intelligent with a beautiful voice. Kind and easy to work with, and treated stage crews with the same regard she treated stars. She was never a diva towards others. Depending on her mood, she would crack jokes about her weight, but if you brought up her size when she wasn't in the mood, she'd freeze you with a stare. She had no patience with bigotry of any kind. Anyone overheard making remarks about blacks or gays, and you'd be quietly and without fuss, be removed from whatever project was being worked on.

I sometimes ponder what songs she would have recorded has she lived. She'd have done well with power ballads like "Tomorrow" and "Memory" but I think she'd have been incredible with Sondheim. What I wouldn't give to hear her sing "Losing My Mind" or "Not A Day Goes By."

Cass seemed headed for what remained of "mainstream" rather than just rock, success in those days. She would have been happy to host a variety show or sing on Broadway or at a show room. She probably could have had a late life career doing jukebox musicals with an understanding of the original music. Well liked and respected and a better singer than Adele or most other contemporary singers.

In those days, R46, graduating to Broadway, standards and night clubs was the goal of many top-40 pop stars. That 's where Berry Gordy originally wanted to go with Diana Ross when she got out of the Supremes, that's where Bobby Darin went successful, that was the dream - it was sort of like a child star making it as an adult star. Then the bottom fell out of that genre and the dream died.

That is interesting R47

I was wondering about that-- although she hung out with all of these well known rock stars like David Crosby and Eric Clapton, it seems like her music was very mainstream--songs like "Make Your Own Kind Of Music" sound like Broadway show tunes more than anything.

So what you're saying is that she wasn't selling out, just that was the accepted career path in those days especially for female performers as they got older.?

In spite of her fame, she didn't have a lot of control over the material during the early part of her career. She was on record as saying "Dream A Little Dream" was "hokey" -But she loved what it did for her.

Her songs epitomize the optimism taught me growing up in the early 70s. Stuff like this and Free to Be You and Me gave me hope for the future. AIDS, Reagan, Bush, Trump have killed that.

Who is the goofy guy with Cass R50? Was he someone well known at the time. He's kind of cute in a nerdy early 70s way.

David Steinberg. Was a standup back then; later a director.

Thanks R52

There are only 7 or 8 of these replies that I don't wholeheartedly agree with, and those aren't not worth pointing out. So far, no one has mentioned the concussion that she suffered in the 1960s that increased her range, according to an interview she gave to [bold]Rolling Stone[/bold]. Whether or not this contributed to giving her the soaring contralto that so many of us loved, and still miss, I have no idea. I just know I loved her, and her voice.

[quote]aren't not worth

my bad, as the kids say.

Crosby looks like he’s offering the baby that joint in the pic @ R33...

She was one of the few entertainers back then to have true crossover appeal. Grannies and suburban folk liked her but hipsters and kiddies did too. Her chubbiness and warmth made her unthreatening (even though she was probably on drugs most of the time).

[quote] So far, no one has mentioned the concussion that she suffered in the 1960s that increased her range

That was a myth.

Where is the laurel canyon documentary available?

Laurel Canyon documentary is on Epix

I’ve never heard about her daughter’s father. Was he a rock star?

[quote] I’ve never heard about her daughter’s father. Was he a rock star?

Only the daughter and Michelle know.

[quote] Elliot gave birth to daughter Owen Vanessa Elliot on April 26, 1967. She never publicly identified the father, but many years later Michelle Phillips helped Owen locate her biological father. When Chuck Day died in 2008, it was revealed that he was Owen's father.

[quote]Is that a true story about a pipe falling on your head … It’s true. I did get hit on the head by a pipe that fell down and my range was increased by three notes. They were tearing this club apart in the islands, revamping it, putting in a dance floor. Workmen dropped a thin metal plumbing pipe and it hit me on the head and knocked me to the ground. I had a concussion and went to the hospital. I had a bad headache for about two weeks and all of a sudden I was singing higher. It’s true. Honest to god. (Cass Elliott in the October, 26,1968 [italic]Rolling Stone[/italic] interview.

It never occurred to me not to believe what she said to [italic]Rolling Stone[/italic]. Thank you for the Snopes info. I stand corrected.

And I stand corrected on the father. The doc I saw was out of date.

r64 was to r58 and I forgot to sign the reply. Apologies.

"Before Adele" that cracked me up.

She was considered monstrously obese in her day. Extraordinarily overweight. Today, you see people who are bigger than she ever was everywhere you go.

[quote]John Denver had an amazing voice too.

He was an amazing asshole too. A friend of mine grew up in the Aspen, CO area in the 80s and 90s and said Denver was a nasty drunk. He was not well-liked at all.

Very true, R57, I think it was mainly because she came across as so much fun and had a warm and inviting stage presence.

"So what you're saying is that she wasn't selling out, just that was the accepted career path in those days especially for female performers as they got older.?"

I'm not sure about Cass specifically, R48, but becoming a singer that people over 30 listened to - people who paid to see them in night clubs and Las Vegas - was a goal of many (male and female) whose audience had been primarily teenage. Very few had what it took to make the change successfully. Cass' options after the Mamas and the Papas was either to be a singer of more sophisticated songs or to become a nostalgic or novelty act.

Where does this sell out shit come from? It so dumb, what do they expect, Cass writhing around on stage singing like Janis Joplin? That's absurd.

John Denver had an amazing voice too? Ha ha ha ha, you MUST be joking. Or never heard a real good voice.

R24, That is a lovely video, one I watch time and again. I love how Cass was a counterculture heroine from the late beatnik/coffee house era, became a California canyon denizen (before it all got so rancid and Manson-y), and had established herself as a pop performer often doing duets with older crooners and the likes of Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett.

I am also a big fan of this video. A perfect blend of musical talent, tastes, and voices.

[quote]A perfect blend of musical talent, tastes, and voices.

Absolutely, [R72]. Thanks for this. I haven't heard it in a long time, but I hadn't forgotten how lovely it is.

She liked to eat, was very fond of food and had an insatiable appetite. Oh and she sang too.

I saw this movie when I was 13. I felt like Cass was singing directly to me. It was exactly what little gay me needed to hear.

I don't like obese people. I know, my bad.

r72: Funny that you bring up Laurel Canyon getting all Manson-y. Cass was friends with Frykowski and Folger, and John and Michelle were close to Polanski and Tate. Meaning three-quarters of the band, possibly the whole band, spent a lot of time at that house on Cielo Drive. Even freakier, the open-door policy of those halcyon days meant Charlie actually got around in their circles a fair amount; tried and tried to get John Phillips to record with him, but even creeps have standards, and John was having none of it. In fact, if memory serves, Michael Caine tells a story of having rubbed shoulders with him at one of Cass's parties.

I've always wondered why "Different" didn't become a gay anthem. The Pufnstuf film was a gigantic acid trip, but there were a couple of great songs, and this one has stood the test of time.

One of my absolute favorites

This might have been my first exposure to her. The second Scooby Doo show really had an ecclectic list of guests: Mama Cass, Sandy Duncan, Jerry Reed, Phyllis Diller, Harlem Globe Trotters, Speed Buggy, Batman and Robin etc.