2:11 p.m.
Today we celebrate the life of Ellen Naomi Campbell, I mean Cohen, also known as Mama Cass Elliot.
Mama started her singing career when she was still in school. After leaving school, she went to New York City, where she appeared in The Music Man but lost the part of Miss Marmelstein in I Can Get It for You Wholesale to Barbra Streisand in 1962. Big mama lost to big schnoz.
After belting it out on the dramatic tip, she turned her interests towards a singing career. Here is a list of the bands that Mama performed with:
The Triumvirate
The Big Three
The Mugwumps
The New Journeymen
Word on the street was that Mama's vocal range was improved by three notes after she was nailed in the head by some copper tubing shortly before joining The New Journeymen, while they were in the Virgin Islands. Mama confirmed the story; in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1968 she said,
“It’s true, I did get hit on the head by a pipe that fell down and my range was increased by three notes. They were tearing this club apart in the islands, revamping it, putting in a dance floor. Workmen dropped a thin metal plumbing pipe and it hit me on the head and knocked me to the ground. I had a concussion and went to the hospital. I had a bad headache for about two weeks and all of a sudden I was singing higher. It’s true. Honest to God."
Dayum. Somebody hit me in the head so I can sing more notes. Not that I don't already have an awesome singing voice. I've often been compared to Cat Stephens. Oh wait, now that I think about it, I think they were comparing me to a cat. Either way, I got mad vocal skills.
Since the Journeymen now had two hos in the lineup, they decided it was time for a new name. According to one of the Papas:
"We're all just lying around vegging out watching TV and discussing names for the group. The New Journeymen was not a handle that was going to hang on this outfit. John was pushing for The Magic Cyrcle. Eech, but none of us could come up with anything better, then we switch the channel and, hey, it's the Hell's Angels on this talk show... And the first thing we hear is: "Now hold on there, Hoss. Some people call our women cheap, but we just call them our Mamas." Cass jumped up: "Yeah! I want to be a Mama." And Michelle is going: "We're the Mamas! We're the Mamas!" OK. I look at John. He's looking at me going: "The Papas?" Problem solved. A toast! To The Mamas and the Papas. Well, after many, many toasts, Cass and John are passed out."
He went on to say that the occasion marked the beginning of his affair with Michelle, a.k.a. Kelly Taylor's mommy.
This really sucked for Mama, because she was in love with Doherty. However, Mama Jama was married platonically to Jim Hendricks (not to be confused with Jimi Hendrix, or Jimmy Dale Hendricks, whom I dated in high school) at the time. Doherty has said that Cass once proposed to him, but that he was so stoned at the time, he couldn't even respond.
The hos and pimps continued to record to meet the terms of their record contract until their final album was released in 1971. Big Mama's voice is noticeably weak on that album, as she herself was physically weak from crash dieting. Hmmm... as I look into my crystal ball, I see the image of a blond pop star who has two kids and just had an awesome performance on the VMAs...
The band broke up and Big Mama went on to have a solo career. Dream a Little Dream of Me was her biggest hit. It was also the inspiration for one of the greatest movies of all time starring two of the greatest actors of my generation.
At the height of her solo career in 1974, Elliot performed two sold-out concerts at the London Palladium. She telephoned Michelle Phillips after the final concert, utterly elated that she had received standing ovations each night. She then retired for the evening, and died in her sleep of a heart attack.
Legend has it that Big Mama died choking on a ham sandwich. Speaking to the press shortly after her body was discovered, the police noted that a partly eaten sandwich had been found in her room and speculated that she may have choked while eating it. When the coroner's autopsy was performed, no food was found in her trachea and the cause of death was determined to have been heart failure and that she had died in her sleep. But by then, the specious Fatal Ham Sandwich story was already making the rounds and the real cause of death was rarely discussed. The New York Times did report on August 6, 1974, that "Dr. Keith Simpson, a British pathologist, and Gavin Thurston, a London coroner, issued a report yesterday that ruled out the theory that "Mama" Cass Elliot choked to death on a ham sandwich." In an odd coincidence, Elliot died in the same flat, No.12 at 9 Curzon Place, that legendary drummer Keith Moon died in, a little over four years later. I wonder what he was eating?
Source: Wikipedia
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