If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears

The Mamas & the Papas - Greatest Hits The Mamas and the Papas had a sound that helped define a portion of the 1960s. Their breezy folk classics had a bit of San Francisco psychedelia woven in, and, despite the sweet harmonies, there was also a noticeably dark feel to some of their more popular work. "California Dream...	California Dreamin'	Surrealistic Pillow Originally released in 1967, this RCA/BMG Heritage remastered reissue adds 6 bonus tracks 'In The Morning', 'J.P.P. Me Stop B. Blues', 'Go To Her', 'Come Back Baby', 'Somebody To Love' (mono single version) & 'White Rabbit' (mono single version). This groundbreaking piece of ...	The Very Best of Peter, Paul and Mary One of the most enduring acts in American music, Peter Paul And Mary both defined and transcended the 1960s folk revival. The trio's passionate commitment to peace and social justice made them the conscience of an era as they soulfully communicated political concerns through musi...	At Folsom Prison Johnny Cash had been breaking new ground for a decade when At Folsom Prison suddenly made the world at large take notice. The interaction of a volatile prison population starved for entertainment and a desperately on-form Johnny Cash was electrifying. His somber machismo finally ...
Deliver / The Mamas and the Papas Two of the hit California-based pop vocal group's original LPs together on one CD, 1967's 'The Mamas & The Papas Deliver' (which stayed at #2 for seven weeks in a row at the time!) and 1968's top 20 'The Mamas & The Papas'. Includes the hits 'Dedicated To The One I Love', 'Look T...	Disraeli Gears Fresh Cream, the album that introduced this seminal super-blues trio to America, was perhaps a bit too blues-based to do the advance hype ("Clapton is God!") justice. Two of its three best-known tracks, after all, were blues covers. It was Disraeli Gears that turned Cream into a ...	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band N	Highway 61 Revisited Dylan was virtually gushing great songs when this masterpiece arrived in the summer of 1965. From the epochal opening of "Like a Rolling Stone" through the absurdly apocalyptic closer, "Desolation Row," his command of surrealistic language was daring and amazing. As a vocalist, h...	Bridge Over Troubled Water No one can say Simon & Garfunkel went out with a whimper. The popular duo's 1970 swan song produced four hit singles and won six Grammy awards, including Record, Album, and Song of the Year. An involving mix of sweeping epics ("The Boxer," the title track) and breezy throwawa...

If You Were Around
If you were around during the sixties, this is an important album/CD to have. On a comparative basis, the Mamas and Papas were not the most inventive or talented of the top bands back in those days,they had several super hits that really became benchmark identity songs of the era, California Dreamin being the biggest. If you were a kid back in those days these tunes seem to be very important and give you a feeling that transports you to those better times. You can feel the sixties in the air when this music is played. When I hear this album, I think of the summer of love, the culture change that occured, Gene Clark having "the affair" with Michelle which served to create "I Saw Her Again Last Night", and of course the smell of incense and weed burning. This album is a time machine. Personally, I feel the cover on the original album is worth the price of the trip.

OUTSTANDING!
I had this "album" as a teenager (40+ years ago) and I LOVED it. I just logged in to Amazon to check out the 60's CDs and found this one by the Mama's and Papa's. I HAVE to have it!

somewhat dated, great popular music
It's very much of its time, I suppose. "Sunshine pop" is the name it's been given, and some of the subject matter could sound naive now and for anyone in the over-17 crowd, but it's so breezy and the melodies are so infectious that it makes for good listening much longer than one expects on the first rotation. It's very unique as a period piece, but more than just "California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday" hold up long after the fact.

words and music
The Mamas & The Papas turned out this excellent debut album in early 1966; and the music was way above par from the start. This album almost instantly shot to the top of the charts and even today, all these years later, it's easy to understand why. The album offers beautiful music; but of course there are some songs that particularly impress me. "Monday, Monday" is a stream of consciousness song with great singing, harmonizing and percussion. Awesome! "Straight Shooter" is a strong ballad with harmonizing and a terrific beat that feels like a blend of folk rock and mainstream rock. Moreover, listen for "I Call Your Name;" The Mamas & The Papas handle this tune by members of The Beatles and press their own stamp on it with an excellent interpretation of this ballad. "Do You Wanna Dance" gets a much slower tempo than usual to infuse this number with a folk rock flavor. Of course, "California Dreamin'" was one of their greatest hits ever; this number inspired many young people to flock to California in search of inner peace, love and a better quality of life. "California Dreamin'" is performed flawlessly by this group and it will always be a fixture in the world of music. "Spanish Harlem" also gets a folk rock treatment which works rather well, actually. Denny sings this very well. Michelle and Cass do great harmonizing on the backup vocals and I think you will enjoy "Spanish Harlem" very much. The album ends with "The `In' Crowd;" Cass sings this one a bit more forcefully than she could when she had to reign herself in to avoid obscuring Michelle's "thin" voice. Cass could really belt `em out; and on this final track we see some of that rather easily. The Mamas & The Papas didn't stay together all that long; but whatever they did produce was more than enough to make them a solid fixture in the world of great music. I highly recommend this album for people who like folk rock mixed with mainstream rock from the `60s.

I'M A BELIEVER !!!
To me, great debut albums are few and far between. These days, there's just too much hype made about this group and that group; and, even if they are good, so much media overkill and overplay gets done that you're sick of hearing about someone before they've really had a chance? "IF YOU CAN BELIEVE YOUR EYES AND EARS" is one of those great debut albums--almost a "sleeper," if you will--that can't be beat! From start to finish, you want to hear more; and usually do wind up playing it a second (and maybe even a third) time around before walking away and saying, "Wow," to yourself over and over again. I can only compare that to, say, the first Beatles album (take your pick between the first UK or US release), Boston's debut LP, Skynyrd's "PRONOUNCED," or (another "sleeper") "LISTEN UP... IT'S THE ECHOES"--the latter, in some ways, reminding me of The Mamas & The Papas magic and honesty? This group's definitely earned itself a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I only wish there were more like them!