Customer Reviews

16 of Their Greatest Hits

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4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I would like to make a note that the cassette/LP and CD versions of this compilation are different. The track listings that are on this site are the tracks on the Steve Hoffman remastered CD from 1986 and "Trip Stumble and Fall," and other tracks mentioned in one review are on the cassette/LP released in 1969. Nevertheless, this is one of the best single disc collections of Mamas & The Papas music. Every once in a while, my local Record Town still receives copies of this CD and Columbia House does carry this album to this date. Otherwise, check out half.com, eBay, gemm.com, etc. to find this disc. Too bad this great CD is OOP although with the routes in this review state, you can find a copy of the CD of this collection that I've bought at my local Disc-Go-Round used.

"The Mamas & The Papas: 16 of Their Greatest Hits" is one of those hits collections that pretty much includes all of the best of a particular group. Go ahead and listen to the four albums The Mamas & The Papas put out and dollars to donuts you will end up rather listening to this one. What is always interesting to me is to see what someone's favorite songs are on this album, because once you get past their biggest hits, "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'," everybody seems to pick different songs; my two are "I Call Your Name" and "Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon). All of these songs were produced between 1965 and 1968 by Lou Adler and they do indeed represent the very best of the group's unique four-part harmonies. I happen to be deaf in one ear and so when I listen to this album on a head set I switch around the headphones from time to time; this allows me to hear the break down of the harmonies, which is quite interesting. I wish I could explain it musically, but that sort of things is way beyond me, I am afraid. However, Cass Elliot is one of those singers you could listen to all night long, even without the rest of the group. More than the Beach Boys, CSN&Y or the Mike Curb Congregation, it is The Mamas & The Papas who represents the best of pop harmonies in the Sixties.

This is the only Mamas and Papas recording I have, but I'm glad to have this one, since it's truly one of their best compilations. I find it amazing that despite much personal turmoil, this group managed to produce such beautiful music. The harmonies are perfect, and many of them evoke strong emotion. I would recommend it to anyone who loves good (sixties) music. This CD obviously has most of The Mamas and the Papas' greatest hits, including California Dreamin', Monday Monday, and a personal favorite, Creeque Alley. This album chronicles good times and bad times of a great group. Hopefully it will be re-released soon!

'The Mamas & The Papas, 16 of Their Greatest Hits' does not have quite the cachet of their 1960s' 'Farewell to the Last Golden Era', but it succeeds in bringing back so many memories anyway.

For some reason, I vividly remember my first encounter with 'The Mamas and the Papas', as it was while I was watching a Dick Clark special televised from Atlantic City, and the group performed 'Monday, Monday'. I believe this was in my relatively unsophisticated pre-infatuation with the Beatles, so I was scornful of a group with such a contrived name and what seemed to be such a saccarine style. I am not quite sure exactly when my perception of 'The Mamas and the Papas' changed, except that it was probably just after they broke up and I started realizing what we lost.

The sense of loss was exasperated when Mama Cass went the way of Janis and Jim and Jimi.

This album has every performance I recall so well from my car radio of the time and every one evokes feelings as strong as the very best of the Beatles and far stronger than any American contemporaries.

Mama Cass sure could sing! Her voice is just incredible. The group harmonizes beautifully, and Cass is definitely the superstar. This collection doesn't have a single bad song, only a couple that one might argue are not *quite* as amazing as the rest. But with 16 tracks, I suppose everyone will have their favorites and one or two that they don't enjoy as much. The sound quality is fantastic- I imagine that original tracks have all been remastered. My husband and I like to give this a listen while we clean up the kitchen after dinner. Generally, our musical tastes are pretty far apart, but The Mamas and the Papas are where we come together. Personal favorites include Monday, Monday Dream a Little Dream of Me, I Saw Her Again Last Night, and Midnight Voyage.

This is a great Mamas & Papas compilation, perhaps the best. I always liked the album jacket photos better than the one on the CD release.

Released in 1969 on Dunhill/ABC Records, DS 50064. The album release has a slightly different program and sequencing than the CD.

Side 1: "California Dreamin'," "Dedicated To the One I Love," "I Call Your Name," "Twelve-Thirty," "Creeque Alley," "Dancing In the Street," "For the Love Of Ivy," "Go Where You Wanna Go."

Side 2: "My Girl," "Look Through My Window," "Words of Love," "Twist and Shout," "I Saw Her Again," "Dream a Little Dream Of Me," "Trip, Stumble, and Fall," "Monday, Monday."

As you will have noticed, there are over 40 CDs available on this legendary quartet, first formed in Los Angeles in 1965, many of them much better purchases than this MCA release.

First of all, there are no liner notes whatsoever, nor discography, so typical of most such compilations released by the major labels. And secondly, four of the tracks [6, 8, 9, 16] were not "hits" in the strictest sense of the word. My Girl was the flip of Do You Wanna Dance? which hit # 76 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in late 1968 (and is itself omitted here), Go Where You Wanna Go is an album cut, Got A Feelin' backed Monday, Monday in early 1966, and Midnight Voyage was the flip of Dream A Little Dream Of Me in August 1968 and billed to Mama Cass with The Mamas And The Papas.

Since this offers 16 tracks, and that is exactly the number of Top 100 Billboard hits they had for Dunhill and Dunhill/ABC between 1966 and 1972, this could have been turned into a 4-star CD with the omission of the non-hits and, in their place, the inclusion of Do You You Wanna Dance? as well as the following: Dancing Bear [# 51 in January 1968]; Safe In My Garden [# 53 in June 1968]; For The Love Of Ivy [# 81 in October 1968]; and Step Out [# 25 Adult Contemporary/# 81 Hot 100 in February 1972].

Another star would be assigned with the simple addition of a Few paragraphs in the insert telling us a bit of their background. For example, that Cass Elliot first appeared with The Mugwumps along with Denny Doherty of Halifax, Nova Scotia and Zal Yanovsky from Kingston, Ontario and who would later help form The Lovin' Spoonful. Fascinating information on John Phillips and Holly Michelle Gilliam Phillips also abound - something not overlooked by the distributors of some of the other group compilations available.

If you want to hear the Mamas and the Papas like you never heard them before, this is it! Remastered by an obvious genius, Steve Hoffman, this cd comes through with such clarity on all fronts, that it will shock you, yes shock you! Although the magic that is the Mamas and the Papas is evident in all of their recordings, this one here is so well put together, that there is no comparison. It's that good. I compared this with the other "Sixteen Greatest Hits" and didn't even make it through the the first song to know that this was really something special. If your a M&P's fan, this will certainly make your day. If your not a M&P's fan, you will become one after playing this!

The original audio CD released in 1990 was the best collection of Mamas and Papas long string of hits at the time. This collection however was not mastered from tapes. You can clearly hear vinyl hiss, crackles and pops and just plain distortion on many tracks. If you compare the tracks on this collection to the same tracks on the 2001 collection "All The Leaves Are Brown, The Golden Era Collection", you can clearly hear the difference in quality between the vinyl sources and the tape sources. Listen to "Monday Monday" on the "Greatest Hits" CD and you'll hear incredible distortion along with surface noise in the quiet passages. One track on the "All The Leaves Are Brown" collection still sounds like it was mastered from a vinyl source (I Saw Her Again Last Night) but it still sounds better than the "Greatest Hits" version. The "All The Leaves Are Brown" collection will most likely cost you a little more, but you get 2 CD's of Mama's and Papa's gems containing 27 tracks on Disc One and 25 tracks on Disc Two. The improvement in sonic quality over the "16 Of Their Greatest Hits" collection makes it the better choice for fans of The Mamas and Papas.

My favorite "folk" style band possibly ever. "California Dreamin'" is/was one of the most requested songs EVER and is mentioned even in rap songs in the last decade(California Love by Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur mentions this song in the lyrics). I WILL NEVER GET TIRED OF THIS BAND and I mainly listen to hard rock and hard rap which this cd CERTAINLY is not. 60's "folksy"-like rock that will never die. It stands the test of time, period. 'Nuff said.