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Originally Posted by becca
Hey PenguinHead...
I'm sure I've seen some clips of Cass and Dave Mason doing material from their album on some old tv show. It flashed by in some documentary about Cass. I wonder if there might be anything full length on YouTube? She also appeared with John Sebastian on some show doing Darling Companion. There is a version of 'Didn't Want To Have To Do It' with Cass on lead vocals that was recorded in NYC between the Mugwumps ending and the Lovin' Spoonful forming, in fact there are two takes one where she doubles the vocal is the better... nice guitar by Sebastian and/or Zal on it too! Let me know and I could shoot them to you via email if you don't have them. I think the Ms&Ps really didn't like themselves live because they couldn't double or triple the vocals as they sometimes did in studio. The Fifth Dimension benefited from inheriting all their studio people, so something good came out of their big bust up.
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Sorry for not responding sooner.
What TV show Cass and Dave were on? Was it live or lip-synced? I can't recall ever seeing it.
I discovered the two versions of Didn't Want to Have to Do It years ago. Thank you for the offer though! I could never place the time frame they were recorded.
Her duet, Darling Companion, with John Stewart was a performance on her first TV special, which also featured Joni Mitchel,Mary Travis (of Peter,Paul and...),and others. A DVD of the show was released a few years ago. She made one more TV special that hasn't been released. Hopefully it will see the light of day.
By the time the Mamas and Papas became successful, they were individually road weary from touring in their various folk groups. Their records and TV appearances were keeping them in the public eye. Their entire existence lasted only three years but produced four albums. Their tours consisted of series of short stints of five or six shows in major markets. Cass was quoted,saying they that worked really hard to sound much like their records when they performed live.
Of course they couldn't exactly replicate the craftsmanship of their studio records, musically or vocally, in a live performance, but it's reasonable to think they could still sound good. The messy Monterey Pop performances reveals a glimmer of evidence to that notion ( despite no rehearsals and Michelle's faulty mike). Their issue wasn't about the quality of their live performances. It was because they really weren't much of touring band. And much like Fleetwood Mac, their group dynamic was fraught with tension.