Cass Elliot
Cass Elliot , sometimes called Mama Cass (Elliot) , actually Ellen Naomi Cohen (born September 19, 1941 in Baltimore , Maryland , † July 29, 1974 in London , England ), was an American singer and member of the band The Mamas and the papas .
Life
Cass Elliot was born in Baltimore and raised in Washington, DC . She was the first of three children of Philip Zachary Cohen (1916–1962) and his wife Bess Joan Cohen, née Levine (1915–1994), both children of Russian Jews who immigrated to the United States. Her younger sister Leah (* 1948) and her younger brother, Joseph William Cohen (1951-2016), also became musicians and songwriters.
Before graduating from high school, she began singing and acting, and after school, in the early 1960s, moved to New York City , then the center of folk music . She sang in several folk bands until she met John Phillips and his wife Michelle and Denny Doherty in the mid-1960s . Together they founded the band The Mamas and the Papas.
The band only existed for a short time, but created the flower power movement's formative hits such as California Dreamin ' and Monday, Monday . Cass Elliot's version of Dream a Little Dream of Me is arguably the best-known interpretation of this song. After the birth of their daughter Owen Vanessa in 1967 and the breakup of the band in late 1968, she tried her hand at a solo career. It's Getting Better and Make Your Own Kind Of Music are her best known solo hits; a planned three-week concert series in Las Vegas turned into a debacle, however, as Elliot had health problems and the project had to be canceled after only one evening. David Crosby later stated that the singer was already addicted to heroin at the time and often used the drug with him.
Elliot's career then seemed to recover. In addition to the two solo albums Dream a Little Dream (1968) and Bubble Gum, Lemonade & Something For Mama (1969), she recorded a duet album with Dave Mason in 1970 and sang in TV shows with John Denver , Johnny Cash and Julie Andrews . For the film Doctors' Wives (1971) she sang the theme song (The Costume Ball); she had a guest appearance in the film Pufnstuf (1970).
In 1971 the band came back together to record one last album together (People Like Us) , which was then less successful than the previous albums . Cass Elliot's solo career stalled, which was also due to her drug and alcohol excesses.
After the final separation from The Mamas and the Papas, 1972 marked the beginning of their careers. Three more solo albums followed: The album Cass Elliot (with this title she wanted to leave her "Mama Cass" image behind), The Road Is No Place for a Lady and the concert recording Don't Call Me Mama Anymore . Successes in the single or album charts failed to materialize; Elliot continued to suffer from her drug addiction.
In Europe, Elliot had great success with her solo show in 1974; the concerts at the London Palladium were sold out for two weeks. Before the end of this period, however, she died in the apartment of her musician friend Harry Nilsson on July 29, 1974 at the age of 32 of a heart attack. The rumor that she choked on a ham sandwich is not true. Rather, Elliot, severely overweight since her youth, had her heart damaged in attempts to reduce her weight through shock diets; Years of drug abuse presumably also played a role. She died of heart failure .
Her daughter Owen Vanessa Elliott-Kugell is also a singer and tours with the Beach Boys musician Al Jardine .
reception
When Jonathan Harvey's coming-out play Beautiful Thing was due for filming in 1996 , director Hettie Macdonald decided on a soundtrack made up of a total of 15 recordings by Mama Cass and the Mamas & Papas. Mama Cass is the idol of the adolescent Leah, who sings excerpts from her songs.
Her song Make Your Own Kind Of Music experienced a revival among its fans thanks to the mystery series Lost ; he initiated the second season and later appeared in some key scenes relating to the character Desmond Hume.
In the eighth season of the Dexter series , the song was also used in key scenes of a character.
Discography
For publications with The Mamas and the Papas see here .
With The Big 3
- 1963: The Big 3
- 1964: Live at the Recording Studio
With The Mugwumps
- 1965: The Mugwumps
Solo albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
|||
| 1968 | Dream a Little Dream |
US87 (10 weeks) US |
|
| 1969 | Bubblegum, Lemonade, and ... Something for Mama |
US91 (14 weeks) US |
|
| Make Your Own Kind of Music |
US169 (6 weeks) US |
New edition of Bubblegum, Lemonade, and ... Something for Mama
|
|
| 1970 | Mama's Big Ones |
US194 (1 week) US |
|
| 1971 | Dave Mason & Cass Elliot |
US49 (7 weeks) US |
with Dave Mason
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1968 |
Dream a Little Dream of Me Dream a Little Dream of Me |
DE5 (25 weeks) DE |
CH22 (5 weeks) CH |
UK11 (12 weeks) UK |
US12 (11 weeks) US |
1931 a hit for Wayne King
authors: Gus Kahn , Wilbur Schwandt , Fabian André chart entry in DE and CH only in 1992 |
| California Earthquake Dream a Little Dream of Me |
- | - | - |
US67 (5 weeks) US |
||
| 1969 | It's Getting Better Bubblegum, Lemonade, and ... Something for Mama |
- | - |
UK8 (15 weeks) UK |
US30 (19 weeks) US |
|
| Move in a Little Closer, Baby Bubblegum, Lemonade, and ... Something for Mama |
- | - | - |
US58 (6 weeks) US |
||
| Make Your Own Kind of Music Make Your Own Kind of Music |
- | - | - |
US36 (9 weeks) US |
||
| 1970 | New World Coming Mama’s Big Ones |
- | - | - |
US42 (7 weeks) US |
|
| A Song That Never Comes Mama’s Big Ones |
- | - | - |
US99 (2 weeks) US |
||
More singles
- 1970: The Good Times Are Coming
- 1970: Don't Let the Good Life Pass You By
- 1971: Something to Make You Happy
- 1971: Too Much Truth, Too Much Love
- 1972: Baby I'm Yours
- 1972: (If You're Gonna) Break Another Heart
- 1972: That Song
- 1972: Does Anybody Love You
- 1973: I Think A Lot About You
Web links
- Cass Elliot in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Cass Elliot at Discogs
- California Dreamin ' review of the organic comic on ComicRadioShow
- www.casselliot.com
Individual evidence
- ^ The Rolling Stone Interview. Text reproduction of Rolling Stone at casselliot.com (secondary source). October 26, 1968. Retrieved August 23, 2017 .
- ^ Joseph William "Joe" Cohen Obituary (1951 - 2016) Daily Hampshire Gazette. Retrieved September 19, 2021 .
- ↑ Mama Cass Death Rumors. Retrieved July 4, 2021 (American English).
- ↑ Questions about the Beach Boys' music releases. superseventies.com, December 28, 1999, accessed August 23, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Chart sources: DE CH UK US
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Elliot, Cass |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Elliot, Mama Cass; Cohen, Ellen Naomi (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer, member of the band The Mamas and the Papas |
| BIRTH DATE | September 19, 1941 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baltimore |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 29, 1974 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | London , England |