The Mamas & the Papas released us from our contracts and we were history, though we still owed the label another album." Elliot (billed as Mama Cass) had released her solo debut "Dream a Little Dream" in 1968, Phillips released "John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.)" in 1970, and Denny Doherty followed with "Watcha Gonna Do?" in 1971. Dunhill maintained momentum by releasing "The Best of the Mamas and the Papas: Farewell to the First Golden Era" in 1967, "Golden Era Vol. 2" in 1968, "16 of Their Greatest Hits" in 1969, and the Monterey live album in 1970. Dunhill was determined to
The Mamas & the Papas the record in the fall of 1966, playing a series of precarious and reportedly bizarre shows. At a September 1966 concert at Fordham University in New York City, the band was noted by Gus Duffy and Jim Mason of their co-headlining band, Webster's New Word, as being clearly "high, drunk, or tripping. When they got on stage, it was clear that these people shouldn't be on stage ... They tumbled onto the stage, shambled around, and just got nowhere. After completing their brief East coast tour, the group started work immediately on its third album, "The Mamas & The Papas