Cass Elliot

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One of my favorite female rock singers is none other than the "Mama and papas" very own "Mama" Cass Elliot. Cass was born Naomi Cohen and had been involved in theater and music in her youth. She played in number of groups before Denny Doherty discovered her singing one night. Her voice stopped Doherty in his tracks. And Cass, well, Cass noticed Doherty straight off, too. Now there's a lot of debate about how Cass came to join the band. One story states that John Phillips didn't like her vocal range so he didn't accept her right away. A freak accident happened, Cass got hit in the head with a pipe and when she came to, had a full octave more range which Phillips liked and approved her for being in the band. Another story goes that the previous story was made up, a ruse for the fact that it wasn't her voice that kept her out of the band temporarily but instead her appearance. Cass was a larger lady. Well however it went down, finally, thankfully, Cass made it into the band. In "Mamas and papas" she lent her voice her voice to such hit songs as "Monday, Monday", "California Dreaming", "Words of Love", "Creeque Alley", "Go Where You Want To Go", "Dancing in the Streets", .... Michelle Phillips remembers Cass, fondly. Recalling, in a humble fashion that Cass was the better singer of the two and that Cass had been an excellent friend. She helped Michelle stand up to her intimidating husband, John and was an inspiration for Michelle. Drama was not in short supply in this little band. Things between Michelle and John were tense. Cass was in love with Doherty, at one time - proposing to him. Stories vary - some say he made a crack about her weight, and some say he simply never replied. In the video interview I saw, he looked very sad about the event years later, remorseful. Doherty and Michelle Phillips went on to have an affair. Of course all of that was far from the worst thing. Years later Mackenzi Phillips would confess to an incest relationship with her dad - John Phillips. There are few haters of Cass out there, but whenever I hear any snide comments today about her weight, all I can think is - how is it worse that Cass was a heavy girl, than the Phillips accusation? Cass was a strong woman - she was large in a time when being full figured was not acceptable. It didn't stop her from doing what she wanted to do. Michelle recalled in interview that Cass could always have her pick of boyfriends and had a real strong stage presence, in spite of, or maybe because of, her size. While those close to her when interviewed did say that deep down, the comments hurt her - she didn't let it show and even posed nude in a men's magazine of the time. Cass was pursuing a solo career, planning to save up to proceeds so that she could spend more time with her daughter, "Owen". She had a sold out show in England with people applauding her. Her hotel room is where her life ended. A ham sandwich in her room prompted a rumor that she had chocked. In her career she sang a lot of hits and appeared often on tv specials and made a lot of people happy with her talents. It was a hard choice to pick what video to accompany this post. I was considering "Creeque Alley" since it tells the story of the formation of the "Mamas and papas", I was also considering the spectacular duet "Do Right" that Cass did with Tom Jones (which, by the way, it looked like they had some real chemistry), however I decided on this one - Here's Cass along with Mary Travers and Joni Mitchell singing "I Shall Be Released". I want that dress. :