“If The Byrds can have a hit, anybody could”: Why Cass Elliot dragged The Mamas & the Papas to Los Angeles
When John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, and Denny Doherty were all in with The Mamas & the Papas, Cass Elliot wasn’t so convinced. Her reservations didn’t stem from any uncertainties about their talent; she knew what they had was special. However, the two things holding Elliot back were her underlying desire to go in another direction, namely theatre, and her unease at being pitted against her band member, Michelle.
According to Michelle, her husband wasn’t all that keen on Elliot being in the group in the first place, finding the dynamic between himself and his wife alongside Doherty fitting enough to make it to the big time. However, the singer would also claim that the opposite was, in fact, true and that her husband begged Elliot to be in the group during a time when they needed her the most.
However, Elliot needed a little more convincing than just “we will make it”. Even going down a delusional acid-infused hole and listening to The Beatles wasn’t enough to make her feel they could actually go the whole nine yards. Instead, she had to see it to believe it. Fortunately, this pivotal moment arrived one night when they were out drinking at a bar, and The Byrds’ ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ came on the radio.
According to Michelle, this was the first time Elliot’s ears officially pricked up. Realising the song that was playing, Michelle recalled her husband saying, “Is that The Byrds?” As she went on to explain, “Listen, The Byrds were just a little West Coast opening act. They used to open for people at The Troubadour. They weren’t a really sophisticated group the last time we had heard them.“
Something clicked in Elliot, too, who apparently had a moment of realisation and said: “We got to get to LA fast because if The Byrds can have a hit, anybody could have it.” According to Michelle, it wasn’t just the fact that it was The Byrds, it was the spin they put on ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, which showed The Mamas & the Papas that not only could they make it, they could make it with any style they wanted.
Still, Elliot adopted an element of trepidation, telling the others that she would come and participate in the band’s auditions and nothing else. The first time she saw recording contracts, however, she changed her mind. “We hadn’t convinced Cass until she saw those contracts on the floor,” Michelle recalled in an interview with The Strange Brew. “When she saw the contracts, she wanted to work. They were offering us a job. So we signed on to Dunhill Records, and ‘California Dreamin’ was released.”
The Mamas & the Papas nearly broke up numerous times, and their dynamic was, for the most part, completely fragmented. However, for the mere two years the world witnessed the band in action, some of the greatest, era-defining music was created. Elliot might have known her heart lay elsewhere, but when she dared to dream, she gave the world something many others couldn’t: hope.
