The Mamas And The Papas: If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears (Original CD) CD Track Listing

A list by checkmate

The Mamas And The Papas If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears (Original CD) (1966)
If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears (Original CD)\nMamas And The Papas\n\nOriginally Released March 1966\nCD Edition Released 1989 ??\nRemastered CD Edition Released February 24, 1998\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: In the spring of 1966, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears represented a genuinely new sound, as fresh to listeners as the songs on Meet the Beatles had seemed two years earlier. Released just as "California Dreaming" was ascending the charts by leaps and bounds, it was the product of months of rehearsal in the Virgin Islands and John Phillips' discovery of what one could do to build a polished recorded sound in the studio -- it embraced folk-rock, pop/rock, pop, and soul, and also reflected the kind of care that acts like the Beatles were putting into their records at the time. "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'" are familiar enough to anyone who's ever listened to the radio, and "Go Where You Wanna Go" isn't far behind, in this version or the very similar rendition by the Fifth Dimension. But the rest is mighty compelling even to casual listeners, including the ethereal "Got a Feelin'," the rocking "Straight Shooter" and "Somebody Groovy," the jaunty, torch song-style version of "I Call Your Name," and the prettiest versions of "Do You Wanna Dance" and "Spanish Harlem" that anyone ever recorded.\n\nIf the material here has a certain glow that the Mamas & the Papas' subsequent LPs lacked, that may be due in part to the extensive rehearsal and the exhilaration of their first experience in the studio, but also a result of the fact that it was recorded before the members' personal conflicts began interfering with their ability to work together. The work was all spontaneous and unforced here, as opposed to the emotional complications that had to be overcome before their next sessions. -- Bruce Eder\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nMetamorpho, Metamorpho...So Good to Me..........., January 4, 2006\nReviewer: Metamorpho "reflective seer" (Budd Lake, N.J.)\nPeople, people. I remember a long time ago, when I was a Metamorpho in training, trying to angle my radio in just a certain way to pick up a radio station in Boston to hear the latest. Even though I lived in the suburbs of New Jersey - extremely close to N.Y.C. - they really weren't up on it as far as new music was concerned. So.... there I was... trying to get under just the right cloud formation. And then I heard it (Bless Boston, Massachusetts!), California Dreamin'!!!! Then they announced that it was by The Mamas and the Papas. My teenage brain repeated over and over to me.. "MUST GET THIS". \nOf course, I had to wait for New York to catch up, and then I had to wait for the album release. It was well worth the wait! At that time (65-66) I remember how unique they were. I mean. who dressed like that? Not even my beloved Beatles took that chance (Sgt. Pepper was years away). As I knew full well upon first hearing, "California Dreamin'" eventually went to Number 1. And not too long after that, they doubled that gift by releasing "Monday, Monday." Accessible pop done expertly. \nThis first album has many things to reccommend it. The arrangements, the vocal harmonies, the professional session men who provided the backdrop for these voices. The "definitive" Mamas and the Papas, if you ask Metamorpho. \nSo many good tunes. That great riff on the pop-rock "Straight Shooter", the carnival take on "I Call Your Name", the great tick-tocking of time on "Got a Feelin'". Wonderful, lush, great mid-sixties pop. Memorable and you always felt better after hearing it. \nThe Mamas and the Papas were different than anything else at the time. Their legacy lives on because there was quality there. Metamorpho is sad because he no longer discovers great music by transistor radio. He is sad because the times have moved from quality to quantity. To quote Metamorpho in one of his more reflective moods, "The discovery of great music is 50% of the joy upon hearing it." I hope my anecdotes and humor help you to the joy of new discoveries! Bye my people.... Metamorpho\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nNothing like it before - EVERYTHING like it since, August 26, 2004\nReviewer: C. Littell (Phoenix, az)\nIn an era where groups were categorized as 'Vocal', 'Motown', 'Folk', 'Girl Group', 'British Invasion', and 'Rock and Roll', along came The Mama's and the Papa's (at the time, resplendent with their apostrophes). What, exactly, do you call them? Part of the magic of the band was that you couldn't label them with anything that existed at the time - they really did carve their own niche... then immortalized it in the 2 years they were together. Their effect was profound, even leading to a 4/4 time drum beat that's colloquially referred to as 'Mamas and Papas'. The Classics IV would name a song after them; Peter, Paul and Mary would dedicate an entire verse to them in their hit "I Dig Rock and Roll Music"; Donovan would write a song for Cass. The group was as adept at others' material (a full HALF of this album is comprised of tunes by other artists), as they were at their own. \n\nCalifornia Dreamin' - an ageless classic which made Rolling Stone's top 100 of the best songs ever recorded, and with good reason. A haunting, minor-chord revelation, the song takes the beachy California confections of the early 1960's and gives them folk's depth and mood. And, by the way, the second verse ends with "you know the preacher LIGHTS the COALS, he knows I'm gonna stay (get it, it's cold outside, the preacher lights a fire for the wandering troubadour who's dreamin' of California - the Beach Boys cover of this song sported a video that illustrates this point with some clarity). \n\nStraight Shooter - Rock and Roll, pure and simple. Driving, groovy, and downright sexy towards the end (listen carefully for Cass's grinding 'half of that belongs to me' at the end of the song). \n\nGot a Feelin' - One of the first four songs the group ever composed, the liner notes of the album refer to the song as 'feathery'. I really can't improve on that. \n\nI Call Your Name - Cass' first showcase on the album, it defines the Mama's and Papa's brilliance (for the most part) at recording other's tunes, and Papa John's ability to rearrange a song and make it completely different. The Beatles' rock and roll standard becomes an almost ragtime love song, if you can believe your ears... \n\nDo You Wanna Dance - another cover tune, late of Bobby Freeman AND the Beach Boys, it is arguably the group's best version of someone else's song - so good, in fact, that Dunhill - the group's record label - would mine it for a single TWO YEARS AFTER THE FACT. The beauty and sincerity of this song is BEGGING to appear on a soundtrack of a romantic comedy. Brilliant beyond words. \n\nGo Where You Wanna Go - simple, cool, four-part-harmony fun. The first single - though preemptively - released from the album, it was quickly pulled in favor of California Dreamin'. The 5th Dimension would later cover the song and send it into the American Top 20, thus launching THEIR career. \n\nMonday, Monday - won the group the Grammy in 1966, and with good reason. It's a symphony. In stereo, the one speaker will produce Cass, John, Michelle, and the strings, while the other will feature Denny's lead, the harpsichord (!) and percussion. It is technically awe-inspiring, simple and complex at the same time. Michelle thought it was pretentious at the time, and potentially career-limiting. Never has an artist been so happy to be so wrong. I can hear this song 1,000 times - and have - and can still find something new to love about it. \n\nSpanish Harlem - on par with Do You Wanna Dance, Denny's vocals are pristine and plaintive, with the girls' harmonies behind him evoking the balcony to which he's singing. A love song lovers' love song. \n\nSomebody Groovy - another of their first four tunes, it - along with the rest of the album - demonstrates the group's ability to be good time rock n' rollers. It's got a great beat, and you can... well, you know. \n\nYou, Baby - The Turtles are targeted in this cover, and I'm hard-pressed to decide who's won. The boys do it a little faster; the Mama's and the Papa's do it a little more rock-er. One of the few times the group would take on another artist's tune and match it closely, rather than re-invent it entirely. \n\nHey Girl - A great answer-back pop tune that should've appeared on more of the millions of compilations than it has. An early showcase for the girls' voices. \n\nThe In-Crowd - Watch Cass take a soul tune and make it her own. The other side of the coin from I Call Your Name, here Cass is finally unleashed on a song, her barreling contralto owning every note. \n\nI still cannot imagine, after all the greatest hits re-do's, that California Dreamin' and Monday, Monday actually appeared on the same album together ORIGINALLY. Universal in its acceptance, If You Can Believe is to the Mama's and the Papa's what Pet Sounds is to the Beach Boys, and Sgt. Peppers is to the Beatles. \n\nYes, there was Abba, the Carpenters, the Sunshine Company... but FIRST, there was The Mama's and the Papa's. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nTheir Fabulous Classic First Folk-Rock Album!, May 15, 2002\nReviewer: Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States)\nNo single group flashed faster to the top nor created more hype than the fabled the Mamas and the Papas. From their initial burst onto the scene with "California Dreaming" to their final efforts with "For The Love Of Ivy", they created a new, exciting, and melodramatic form of vocal harmonies into the folk-rock mainstream. The album featured here was their freshman effort, and it is indeed a classic, containing wall to wall hits with "Monday Monday", "I Call Your Name", "Go Where You Wanna Go", and of course, "California Dreaming". \nThe cover shot of the four of them gathered fully clothed in an empty bathtub was typical of their earthy presence and flair the unconventional. Within a couple of years they had conquered the pop heavens, had an incredible string on non-stop hits, and promptly dissolved among the internal frictions so common to mid-sixties super-groups like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and a number of others. Yet the incredible sound they created remains, and I defy anyone to listen to this album without snapping a finger or tapping a foot in time with incredible sounds emanating from the stereo. This album is a must-have for collectors of sixties folk-rock music. Enjoy!\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nTheir Debut Is Still the One To Own, December 2, 2001\nReviewer: Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE)\nOf the four studio albums this highly influential group recorded during their all too brief career (1966-68), their debut is still the most thoroughly satisfying. It contains their two signature songs and biggest hits--"California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday"--and both sold over a million copies. \nAlmost every song on this album would have succeeded as a single, but by the time "Monday, Monday" was dropping off the charts "I Saw Her Again" (from their soon-to-be released sophomore album) was already climbing the charts. [In fact, their first three albums were released during an astonishing 12-month period!] \n\nWhether doing covers like "I Call Your Name," "Do You Wanna Dance" and "Spanish Harlem" or John Phillips originals like "Straight Shooter" and "Go Where You Wanna Go," the group's folk-pop sensibilities and lush vocal harmonies make this album a real treasure.\n\nWhile internal friction caused the breakup of the group by mid-1968, they left behind a body of work which rightfully earned them a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nEasily one of the greatest pop-rock albums of the 60's, June 13, 2000\nReviewer: Michael Paulsen (Huntington Beach, CA USA)\nComing at a time prior to the '67 Summer of Love, but riding the crest of folk music's metamorphosis into electric psychedelia, this stunning debut is packed with gorgeous pop melodies enhanced by The Mamas & The Papas soon-to-be trademark harmonizations. All of the classic singles are here: "Monday, Monday" , "Go Where You Wanna Go" and "California Dreamin'", and even when they are covering other songs, they create fascinating interpretations that stand on their own. Bobby Freeman's "Do You Wanna Dance" is a good example: The Mamas & The Papas take this classic rollicking dance-hall number and strip it down to a beautiful, almost melancholy love song. Elsewhere, they do a vaudevillian send-up of The Beatles' "I Call Your Name", with Mama Cass on lead. And I still like their version of "You Baby" better than the better-known Turtles version. This is easily their masterpiece in a short and turbulent career.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThe one Mamas and the Papas album to own!, September 24, 1999\nReviewer: A music fan\nThis is it! This is the pinnacle of the Mamas and the Papas, the beginning of the decline of the one of the best rock groups of all time. Never will there be a mixed sex group that could harmonize like these guys could. Unfortunately (similar to Crosby Stills Nash & Young and Simon & Garfunkel), they weren't very good on their own (exception: Mama Cass). Every single song on this album is a classic, even the maudlin "Got a Feelin'". A CD that needs to be in any serious rock fan's library, is heavily influential and just plain excellent! Listen to this and I dare you not to be enthralled by it!\n\n\nHalf.com Details \nProducer: Lou Adler \n\nAlbum Notes\nThe Mamas & The Papas: John Phillips (vocals, guitar); Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty, "Mama Cass" Elliot (vocals).\n\nAdditional personnel includes: Peter Pilafian (electric violin); P.F. Sloan, Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborn.\n\nIncludes liner notes by Andy Wickham, Lou Adler and Andy McKaie.\n\nThe Mamas And The Papas' 1966 debut, IF YOU CAN BELIEVE YOUR EYES AND EARS (reissued with the original uncensored cover, which features--gasp!--a toilet in the corner), is probably their best album.\n\nIt contains three timeless hit singles: "Go Where You Wanna Go," "Monday Monday," and "California Dreamin'," alongside a handful of originals and some excellent close-harmony covers, including the Beatles' "I Call Your Name," "Do You Wanna Dance," and a lovely take on the Drifters' "Spanish Harlem." As always, the terribly underrated Cass Elliott handles most of the vocals and does the best job. A true sunshine pop classic.\n\nIndustry Reviews\nRanked #127 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time - [S]unshine pop with a rustic heart, the Beach Boys for folkies.\nRolling Stone (12/11/2003)
This rock cd contains 12 tracks and runs 34min 56sec.
Freedb: 7b082e0c
Buy: from Amazon.com

Categories

Latest lists

The Mamas And The Papas: If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears (Original CD) CD Track Listing

Category

Tags

cyList

Legal