The Late, Great Cass Elliot
The Late, Great Cass Elliot
blueroses
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/18/04
#0The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 1:29pmHer vocals just floor me, and I think she's one of the all-time great female rock and roll singers. She also loved musical theater, and had Broadway aspirations at one point (but never looked the part of the ingenue). Anyway...that voice! My parents were fans of The Mamas and the Papas, and I remember belting out "Words of Love" to their LP when I was a little kid, trying to sound like her. Any other admirers?
#1re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 1:34pm
LOVE. HER.
That voice is so special. There is a "human truth" that rings in every note she ever sang. It's hard to describe it actually. There are far more skilled singers out there in the world, but so few with that kind of emotional connection to the song and the "audience" at large.
VERY few, indeed.
It's an open honesty.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
lovepuppy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/7/05
#2re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 2:09pm
I *love* Mama Cass! My folks listened to M&P's albums all the time when I was a kid 20 yrs ago. Not that there were so many--it's amazing that a group that was together for just a few short years with just a few full LP's have lasted through so many decades! I have a best-of CD in my car that I just love. Plus I'm a huge Beatles fan and they covered lots of their stuff--I love Cass' burlesque-y version of "I Call Your Name!" Also, being in radio for a living, I discovered that "Creeque Alley" was a great song to sing in the car for 15 minutes on the way to work in the mornings just to warm up my throat for talking all day. You know how it is when you just don't sound like yourself in the morning and need to cough out any lingering gunk...anyway...so that range was just enough to get the chords going, but not stressing them out and belting like some of her other stuff.
"Dream a Little Dream" is one of the most beautiful vocals, ever.
blueroses
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/18/04
#3re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 2:12pm
Beautifully put, best12. She had an incredible range and could belt it with the best of them, but she was so intelligent about it. Cass used her voice not to stun you--but to move you. To many singers today, it's all about volume instead of feeling.
Lovepuppy...I sing Creeque Alley in the car ALL THE TIME! 
Updated On: 5/11/06 at 02:12 PM
#4re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 2:13pm
You should try some of her solo recordings, available on her own "best of" collection, or on the "Beautiful Thing" soundtrack.
One Way Ticket
Make Your Own Kind Of Music
Welcome to the World
California Earthquake, etc.
Great, great stuff.
And of course, my personal childhood favorite: "Different" from the Sid & Marty Krofft movie "Pufnstuf!"
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#5re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 2:19pm
What a great voice!
Cass was considered for the role of Miss Marmelstein in "I Can Get It For You Wholesale". Unfortunately it went to some no talent hack named Barbra Streisand who was never heard from again.
nomdeplume
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/05
#6re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 2:58pm
Burlesque is a great word to describe her singing and performance, the "bigness" of it. Just a joy to hear.
Something akin to Ethel Merman in that way, yet a different sound.
#7re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:03pmI always wished that Cass and Louis Armstrong could have performed a duet on "Dream a Little Dream of Me," which he recorded years before she did.
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#8re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:09pmShe's one of my all-time favorites, both alone and with the Mamas and the Papas.
wexy
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/19/05
#9re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:33pmCreeque Alley was a great song. (and California dreaming is becoming a reality).
lovepuppy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/7/05
#10re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:40pm
>>Creeque Alley was a great song. (and California dreaming is becoming a reality).
Yeah, and have you heard the dance mix of California Dreamin'? I was in Ixtapa, Mexico last week on vacation and we kept meeting these cute guys and waiters everywhere we went. I said one of them, "have you heard this? It's a classic!" He said "yeah, every night at this club." I said...no...it's a M&P's song from the 60's...and he didn't know that. Ah, so young, the kids today...
And yes, they played a fair amount of American dance tunes in addition to Spanish dance music artists in the clubs there. Fun times.
blueroses
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/18/04
#11re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:42pmA dance mix? I've never heard it, but will now have to investigate!
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#12re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:00pm
"Creeque Alley" is probably my favorite M&P song, followed closely by "Safe in My Garden" and "My Heart Stood Still."
lovepuppy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/7/05
#13re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:12pm
Safe In My Garden...neat song. Hard to sing, but unbelievable harmonies! John Phillips was a genious, too bad he was so screwed up. But isn't that the way it goes sometimes, I guess.
Too bad none of you live in Chicago...I always fantasized about having a band that, in addition to doing some cool rock and soul stuff, we'd throw in a few M&P's songs just to show off our cool harmonies... :)
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#14re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:21pm
They were all pretty screwed up. Michelle and Denny were probably the most sane, and even that's all relative. It's hard to believe they were together for such a short time. They were incredibly prolific.
blueroses
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/18/04
#15re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:26pm
Unrequited love sucks...poor Cass!
I wish I had seen Denny's tribute show "Dream a Little Dream" when it was playing.
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#16re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:35pmI never got to see it, either. I have the album, which is rather underwhelming.
lovepuppy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/7/05
#17re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:37pm
Michelle did plenty of drugs in her day too, believe me. She was only in the band at first because she was John's teenage blond beach-babe girlfriend, and her boyfriend, as we know, did lots of drugs. She even admits she didn't have the strongest voice, but a very breathy soprano that John pretty much shaped while they were a band. But that doesn't take away from the fact that since that time, she certainly has made a reputable career for herself. She's aged very well; a very beautiful lady indeed.
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#18re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:42pm
Oh, yeah, I know she was as much of a drug taker as the rest of them. She seems to have reservations about her stance on LSD now, though (at least she did in her autobiography).
lovepuppy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/7/05
#19re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:45pmWell...she was like 16 when the band started or something. Now she's a grandmother. At some point I'm sure Responsibility kicked in... :)
#20re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:56pm
Michelle may have had a breathy voice, and certainly wasn't the "soloist" that Cass became, but there's no denying the magic when those four unique voices blended together.
Michelle's mellower and "meeker" sound worked in perfect combination with Cass's brighter, bolder sound.
*sigh*
As they say, the rest is history.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#21re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 5:00pmAs Time magazine once wrote, "[Michelle Phillips has] the purest soprano in popdom."
lovepuppy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/7/05
#22re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 5:00pm
Agreed, Best!
:)
blueroses
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/18/04
#23re: The Late, Great Cass Elliot
Posted: 5/11/06 at 5:07pm
"Michelle may have had a breathy voice, and certainly wasn't the "soloist" that Cass became, but there's no denying the magic when those four unique voices blended together."
Agreed. And to her credit, Michelle also contributed lyrics to Creeque Alley, California Dreaming and other hits.
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