Mama's & The Papa's Anthology CD - Import

For the first time - the definitive Mamas and Papas career anthology, presented in a 4CD digibook set. The anthology features all the Mamas and Papas complete studio albums - "If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears", " The Mamas and the Papas", "The Mamas and The Papas Deliver", "International Monterey Pop Festival" (live), "People Like Us", alongside the corresponding single releases, rare tracks and studio /rehearsal takes. Disc four is a disc of rarities & previously unissued ecordings, including live performances from US television, solo tracks from each of the band and tracks from the 'Barry McGuire with The Mamas & Papas' album, which features many early versions of tracks that would later be hits for the group in their own right. Compiled by US expert Jim Pierson and with detailed liner notes by journalist Paul Grein, this set features lavish 72 page full colour booklet with over 100 photos, previously unseen material, a full discography, track annotations and foreword from 'Mama' Michelle Phillips. The Anthology provides not only a must-have set for existing fans but a superb exploration of the bands music for those more recently drawn to their timeless blend of honeyed west-coast harmonies, fusing pop rock and folk matched by few in their wake. Island. 2004. * No US release is scheduled.

What's in a name? If you love mid-'60s folk-rockers the Mamas & the Papas, this four-volume U.K. Complete Anthology (2004) speaks for itself. The 101 selections run in excess of five hours centering on the vintage long-players If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (1966), The Mamas & the Papas (1966), The Mamas & the Papas Deliver (1967), The Papas & the Mamas (1968), People Like Us (1971), and The Monterey International Pop Festival (1971). For many, that gracious plenty would be sufficient. But the real icing (or cake for the hardcore fan) comes in the form of the nearly 90 minutes of hard-to-find material ranging from the quartet's debut as support vocalists for Barry McGuire, to rare singles, audio from a pair of television appearances, and a bevy of post-Mamas & the Papas entries from John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Cass Elliot, and Denny Doherty as solo artists. The contents of the first four LPs sound uniformly excellent, on par with the domestic North American All the Leaves Are Brown: The Golden Era Collection (2001) anthology. They seemingly share the same source -- an actual 45 rpm platter -- for the monaural versions of both "Words of Love" and the autobiographical "Creeque Alley." The latter title is of special mention as the original mix is conspicuously different from the more familiar one that turned up on The Mamas & the Papas Deliver. The 7" contained considerably less reverb throughout, but the most obvious disparity comes during the line "And California Dreamin' is becoming a reality," which is repeated. On the one folks are probably most accustomed to hearing, only the last syllable in the word "reality" is audible. Earnest collector-types should note that a higher-fidelity rendering was incorporated into the D.A. Pennebaker documentary Monterey Pop (1968). Additional extras worth citing are the brief dialogue segments by John Phillips and Cass Elliot that surfaced on A Gathering of Flowers (1971) and were merely excerpted on the two-CD Creeque Alley (1991) package. Similarly, the studio chatter and rehearsals of "Once Was a Time I Thought" and "I Can't Wait" at the end of disc two are also holdouts from A Gathering of Flowers. John Phillips' "Revolution on Vacation," "Cup of Tea," Elliot's "Costume Ball" -- from the Doctors' Wives (1970) motion picture soundtrack -- Doherty's "To Claudia on Thursday" -- off of Jimmie Haskell's California 99 (1971) concept album -- "Indian Girl," and "Baby, Catch the Moon," as well as the majority of the Michelle Phillips sides all make their digital debut here. Complete Anthology (2004) concludes with seven cuts from Barry McGuire's This Precious Time (1966). It was during th