Before soundtracking the Summer of Love as
The Mamas & The Papas
, musicians J
ohn Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Cass Elliot, and Denny
Doherty
honed their talents in groups like The Smoothies, The Journeymen, The Halifax Three, The Big 3, and The Mugwumps. In
Gettin' Kinda Itchie
, author Richard Campbell traces the circuitous lives of these groups and individuals-featuring secret marriages, hilarious hijinks, and FBI investigations-as they each contributed to the sound, style, and persona that set the foundation of American folk rock. The definitive untold
Prequel
to the story of The Mamas and The Papas is documented with scores of firsthand interviews, over
400 images
, and 600 endnotes cultivated from from a forty-year collection and archive. The book includes a twenty-five page appendix with the most comprehensive Sessionography, Discography and Concertography for all of the various groups. Crossing paths with the likes of
David Crosby
,
Gordon Lightfoot
John Sebastian
and others,
traces the fascinating intersecting circles of these artists during the early
1960s
folk-revival. This book is about the groups, music and experiences that created The Mamas & The Papas. This is four musicians' journey from coffeehouses, nightclubs and gymnasiums, before leaving folk music behind and taking flight.
The harmonies of
soothed and satisfied millions amid the reverberating cacophony of the times. Social upheaveal, riots and the war in Vietnam were largely quelled with dreams of California and a song about the common reality of the first day of the week. The group stood as troubadours of a generation and a powerful American answer to the British invasion. Between 1965 and 1968 the group garnered top ten hits like "
Monday Monday
," "Creeque Alley," "Dedicated to the One I Love," "I Saw Her Again" and "
California Dreamin
'" which would ultimately go on to sell tens of millions of records.