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"California Dreaming" is alive and wellJan 31 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line The reformed Mamas and Papas are excellent in concert performers and are well worth the price of admission if you like the flower power sound.
In 1994 a reformed Mamas and the Papas hit the Australian concert circuit as part of a “California Dreaming” World tour. The new incarnation of the sixties flower power group featured original Papa Denny Doherty, sixties folk singer Scott McKenzie and two hitherto unknown replacements for the legendary Mama Cass and Michelle Phillips. I managed to catch their show at the Twin Towns Auditorium, Queensland, on 23 April 1994. With three of the original members of the group missing, including former leader John Phillips (who at the time was recovering from open heart surgery), I was understandably apprehensive prior to the concert as to what to expect. In any event I still went to some trouble to score a front row seat and to convince a number of friends who were at best only cursory fans of the original group to come along. Fortunately, my efforts were well rewarded. The strength of the reformed Mamas and the Papas was that they were experts in singing four-part harmony. Unlike in the studio, this type of harmony is a high-risk strategy for live performances as it is very difficult to do well and sounds appalling when botched. The Mamas and the Papas rarely tripped in this regard and for the most part appeared to harmonize effortlessly. The result was that their renditions of well-known Mamas and the Papas hits like “Monday Monday” (1966:US #1; UK #3), “Creeque Alley” (1967: US #5; UK #9) “Young Girls are coming to the Canyon” (1967: US #20) and “I Saw Her Again” (1966: US #5; UK #11) sounded fantastic. The least appealing parts of the show were the attempts to recreate the tracks originally performed principally by Mama Cass or Michelle Phillips. Despite the efforts of the female vocalists on hand, their performances of songs like “Dedicated to the One I Love” (1967: US #2; UK#2) and “Words of Love” (1966: US #5), though professional, were pale imitations of the hit versions. The surprise highlight of the concert was Scott McKenzie’s rendition of his sixties flower power hit “Are You Going to San Francisco” (1967: US #4; UK #1). Prior to singing the number, Scott acknowledged original Papa, John Phillips, for writing the song for him. He also gave a touching account of how the song had become an anthem for peace over the years. He cited numerous instances of World events where the number had been used. The most moving example involved the student protests in China some years ago. Apparently the students linked arms and sang the song as Government tanks approached and ran over them (you may recall many of them were killed as a result of this action). As example after example was reeled out (including the fall of the Berlin Wall) I noticed many people in the audience (including myself) becoming quite emotional and some had a few tears. Feeding off the energy of the audience, Scott gave an inspired rendition of “Are You Going to San Francisco” that far surpassed the original recording. At the conclusion of the number he was given a well-deserved standing ovation that never seemed to end. Scott seemed somewhat taken back by the audience reaction and strangely almost seemed embarrassed. The person who had the toughest task, however, was Denny Doherty who was scheduled to sing lead on the next number and was expected to keep the momentum going. The other not surprising highlight of the concert was the next to final number, “California Dreaming”. The audience went wild during this performance and sang along throughout. The atmosphere crackled with energy as we were seemingly magically transferred back to a time when flower power ruled the musical world. The standing ovation at the end of the performance was almost deafening. In short, I enjoyed this concert and so to did those who attended with me. The event was made extra special when later in the night we inadvertently walked into Denny Doherty as he was getting into his limousine. Although clearly exhausted, he most graciously gave us his autograph before heading on his way.  |
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