The Mamas & the Papas for the fourth album eventually stalled completely, and in September 1967 John Phillips called a press conference to announce that The Mamas & the Papas were taking a break, which they confirmed on "The Ed Sullivan Show" which aired September 24. The plan was to give concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Olympia in Paris, before taking time out on Majorca to "get the muse going again", as John Phillips put it. When the group docked at Southampton on October 5, Elliot was arrested on a charge of having stolen two blankets and a hotel key
The Mamas & the Papas sometimes referred to as "Cass, John, Michelle, Dennie", whose names appear above the band's name on the cover, including the unexplained misspelling of Doherty's first name. Recording was reportedly interrupted when Michelle Phillips became indiscreet about her affair with Gene Clark of the Byrds. A liaison the previous year between Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty had been forgiven by her husband John Phillips; Doherty and John Phillips had reconciled and written "I Saw Her Again" about the episode. They later disagreed about how much Doherty contributed to the song. But after Michelle's affair with Clark, John Phillips was determined to