John and michelle phillips biography

American musician (1935–2001)

Musical artist

John Edmund Andrew Phillips (August 30, 1935 – March 18, 2001) was an American musician. He was the leader of the vocal group the Mamas & the Papas and remains frequently referred to as Papa John Phillips. In addition to writing the majority of the group's compositions, he also wrote "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" in 1967 for former Journeymen bandmate Scott McKenzie, as well as the oft-covered "Me and My Uncle", which was a favorite in the repertoire of the Grateful Dead. Phillips was one of the chief organizers of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.

Early life

Phillips was born August 30, 1935, in Parris Island, South Carolina. His father, Claude Andrew Phillips, was a retired United States Marine Corps officer. On his way home from France following World War I, Claude Phillips managed to win a tavern located in Oklahoma from another Marine during a poker game. His mother, Edna Gertrude (née Gaines), who had English ancestry, met his father in Oklahoma. According to Phillips's autobiography, Papa John, his father was a heavy drinker who suffered fro

Folk-rockers the Mamas & the Papas — made up of John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot — provided the musical backdrop to the late 1960s with hit songs like "California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday." Yet the groovy era didn't save the group from behind-the-scenes upheaval that included affairs and heartbreak, break-ups and reunions, substance abuse and epic parties. As Michelle recalled to Vanity Fair of their time together from 1965 to '68, "It was two and a half years of total melodrama."

Mama Cass Elliot was not allowed to join the band at first because of her weight

The drama started for the Mamas & the Papas before they were even a group. John, who'd left his first wife to marry Michelle, was ready for the couple to sing with tenor Denny Doherty. But John objected when Elliot, another figure in New York City's music scene, wanted in as well.

Elliot's voice wasn't a problem, as she had a standout contralto. She was also fun to be around. However, John felt her being overweight would turn off audiences. According to Rolling Stone, Elliot was only allowed to sing with the other three after she'd followed them around, including to the Virgin Islands (the four did travel there, but Elliot's sister has suggested this version of the story may have been skewed due to John's jealousy that Elliot became the breakout star of the group).

According to Elliot, her trip to the islands was significant in another way: It left her with an expanded vocal range for the beautiful harmonies John composed. "I did get hit on the head by a pipe that fell down and my range was increased by three notes." Elliot told Rolling Stone in 1968. "I had a bad headache for about two weeks and all of a sudden I was singing higher. It’s true." The group headed to California and signed to a record label in 1965

As soon as the foursome was coming together , their credit card got cut off and they were left with about $50.00 . Cass got a plane to LA , the other three hopped on a boat and headed for the casinos . They dressed Michelle in a sexy red dress and sent her to the craps table . She threw 17 straight passes and got enough money to fly them all first class back to New York . When they got there it was cold ; a big change from the Virgin Islands . Michelle was "itching" to get back to warm weather , and John and Denny wanted to show off their new sound. This is when John wrote " California Dreamin' " , and Michelle helped him write the words down ( that's how she got half publishing and royalties ). So , they all made their dream a reality and headed for the West Coast .

There , they met up with their old friend, Cass who was staying with her friend , Barry McGuire. Barry had a single that was climbing the charts , "The Eve of Destruction" . When he heard them sing he told them to sing for Lou Adler, the hottest record producer in town. But when John, Michelle and Denny asked Cass to sing for them, she refused. She was mad at Michelle and Denny for their "island flirtations" and at John for not originally letting her in the group. But she eventually said okay, she'd sing for the audition, but she was not part of the group.

So they went to Western Recording Studios and auditioned. Lou Adler couldn't believe his eyes and ears.He asked them to come back the next day, and their were "contracts all over the floor". And Cass Elliot was a pretty practical woman , so she signed right away and WAS part of the group. Within 48 hours they had a new name. They got this name by Cass, who was mouthing off at the TV when an interview with the Hells Angels came on and one of them said something like , "We call our women mamas". So Cass said, " Well, we got Mamas in our group and we got Papas!" So, John said yeah we could be called the Papas an

American folk rock singer and actress (born 1944)

Holly Michelle Phillips (néeGilliam; born June 4, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame as one of the two female vocalists in the musical quartet the Mamas & the Papas in the mid-1960s. Her voice was described by Time magazine as the "purest soprano in pop music". She later established a successful career as an actress in film and television beginning in the 1970s.

A native of Long Beach, California, she spent her early life in Los Angeles and Mexico City, raised by her widowed father. While working as a model in San Francisco, she met and married John Phillips in 1962 and went on to co-found the vocal group the Mamas & the Papas in 1965. The band rose to fame with their popular singles "California Dreamin' " and "Creeque Alley", both of which she co-wrote. They released five studio albums before their dissolution in 1970. While married to John Phillips, she gave birth to their daughter, singer Chynna Phillips. Michelle Phillips is the last surviving original member of the band.

After the breakup of the Mamas & the Papas and her divorce from John Phillips, she transitioned into acting, appearing in a supporting part in The Last Movie (1971) before being cast as Billie Frechette in the critically acclaimed crime biopic Dillinger (1973), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 1974, she had lead roles in two television films: the crime feature The Death Squad, and the teen drama The California Kid, in the latter of which she starred opposite Martin Sheen. She went on to appear in a number of films throughout the remainder of the 1970s, including Ken Russell's Valentino (1977), playing Natacha Rambova, and the thriller Bloodline (1979). She released her only solo album, Victim of Romance, in 1977.

Phillips's first film of the 1980s was the comedy The Man with Bog