2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Barry McGuire with The Mamas & The Papas, April 9, 2010
This review is from: This Precious Time/The World's Last Private Citizen (Audio CD)
It took a long time but the 2 albums on 1 CD features the 1965 album THIS PRECIOUS TIME by Barry McGuire with the first recordings of The Mamas & The Papas backing him up on vocals. Out of the 12 songs on this album, 7 have the group supporting McGuire with backing. That in itself is reason enough to hear this music. The distinctive sound of the group was already fully formed, albeit in just a support role. But the group did more than this, supplying him with CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'. Here is the first version of it, with McGuire singing the lead. There is a harmonica solo instead of the flute solo that we all know, and another difference with background vocals on the first 2 lines of the second verse that are not on The Mamas & The Papas classic version. With McGuire's gruff voice, it doesn't have the magic of Denny Doherty's lead vocal that just sealed the deal on making the group's version a major hit, and creating history. It is a groove , as they would say at the time to hear the sound of The Mamas & The Papas on then-contemporary hits like DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC, YESTERDAY, and YOU'VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY . The version of HANG ON SLOOPY is like an extended jam party , good time music at it's best. To hear the blend of Cass and Michelle on it is a groovy gas. Their vocals are more prominent on the album , than Denny's. It's got the strong Cass Elliot sound. The title cut, THIS PRECIOUS TIME is a sublime P.F. Sloan song with anthem-like lyrics of personal freedom, and shimmering, gorgeous backgrounds by the group. These 7 cuts are certainly more than being odds and ends to the Mamas & Papas golden era. They bring back the magic sound of the group. The rest of the album is Barry's with protest songs,folk/rock and feel good 60's sounds.
The second album, THE WORLD'S LAST PRIVATE CITIZEN is an obscure 1968 release that is more of a compilation of songs from 1965-1968. It includes the #1 hit EVE OF DESTRUCTION, so it's an extra plus to have his only real hit on this CD. There's nothing earth-shatteringly great on this 2nd album of the two here, but it's nice to have . All produced by Lou Adler, of course. This CD is worth getting just for The Mamas & The Papas vocals.
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