An Interview with Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas
APT's Donna Hardwick recently spoke to Michelle Phillips about her early days in the group The Mamas and the Papas.
Q: For those watching CALIFORNIA DREAMIN': THE SONGS OF THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS who didn't experience the '60s – what can you tell us about how the band got started and the power of your sound nearly 40 years later?
A: Honestly, at the time it just seemed like the natural thing to do. We were all coming out of folk music and it seemed that folk music was over and there were definitely inspirational people around us who were making that leap. We had heard Bob Dylan but we had heard him in the context of folk. Then when we were in the Virgin Islands we started hearing him with Mr. Tambourine Man on Top 40 and wow that was what we were trying to get. We felt if The Byrds could have a hit we certainly could have a hit! When I look back in retrospect, I don't say we made these decisions for any profound reasons. Who knew 40 years from now there would still be any interest in what we were doing back in 1965. You just can't know that.
Q: When you were living it and writing the songs, was there some point when you suddenly realized what an impact your music was having with your fans and in the music industry?
(Long pause then laughter) Hmm…. no! I think somewhere around the mid '70s, I said 'wow they are still playing our records.' Then with the advent of the CD it was a whole new ball game for us. People started to replace their records with CDs and there was this huge surge in sales. We could never have imagined a technology that would have done that or that there still would have been the interest. So here we are… legends in our own minds! You can never get enough of The Mamas and the Papas!
Q: In 1998 The Mamas and the Papas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What was that experience like for you personally?
Well, it was odd because John wasn't speaking to me. All three of us were there and I didn't want to sing. (Michelle, John Phillips and Denny Doherty at the time were the three surviving members, John Phillips passed away in 2001) I felt that to sing without Cass was ridiculous and Paul Schaffer, the music director, (Late Night with David Letterman) kind of, well, he lied to me. He said 'no, we're all going to get up there and everyone is going to be singing— Santana, the Eagles— we're going to end the show and everyone is going to be singing California Dreamin'. And I said, 'Oh that's a good idea.' But when we actually got on stage, we did a rehearsal with just John, Denny and me and two or three girls singing in the background. And Paul kept saying 'see that's what it's going to sound like, only bigger.' I thought 'oh, well good.' But then when we got on stage to sing, that's who sang. You know, I just started to sing as well as I could. But I realized he bamboozled me and of course he was smiling afterwards!
I thought it was about time we (The Mamas and the Papas) got inducted. We had been eligible to be inducted for six years. I started the process by going to Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone founder) and Ahmet Ertegun (co-founder Atlantic Records) saying to them 'why haven't we been nominated for induction.' And they would say 'well you know a lot of people don't like John.' And I said 'well what about me, and Denny and Cass?' You know, I said to them, 'you guys talk so much about how it is not politically motivated but this sounds to me like it is.' And then the next thing I knew we were nominated. I think they saw that they were being a bit hypocritical – especially if that is why they were keeping us from being inducted.
Q: What do you see are the major differences between the music groups like The Mamas and the Papas produced in the '60s and groups producing music today?
In the '60s the groups were very close emotionally. We did take mind altering drugs and we lived in a commune in the Virgin Islands where you become very close. When we first recorded, we were living together in Los Angeles. But as time went on, we went from being poor hippies to rich hippies! The whole dynamic changed. As a matter of fact, it was really the beginning of the end. By the time we stopped living together, stopped having that kind of communal feeling and stopped having all the problems that living together brought, we didn't have anything to write about anymore. So it had its place and it was really fun. It was great. There was a very strong intimate feeling that came from being together 24-hours a day.
Q: Did that kind of communal living feel like work for bands in the '60s?
Well it did in our case. The group became our life. When you weren't writing together, you were rehearsing together. If you weren't rehearsing together, you were in the studio together. And then you were on the road together, and you started writing again. That was the cycle. I think it was important that we were together a lot. Everything we experienced, we experienced as a small family.
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