The Mamas & The Papas

John Phillips was a songwriting genius -- just ask Lindsey Buckingham. But in all honesty, he didn't supply the Mamas and the Papas with Grade A material when recording their final album. This is obvious after comparing People Like Us, released in 1971, with John the Wolf King of L.A., Phillips' masterful solo debut from two years earlier. That said, this is the Mamas and the Papas, and there's plenty of soft-rock ear candy here; simply dig that droning breakdown at the end of "Shooting Star."

With John–and good of Lou Adler–in control, the early Mamas & Papas stuff was often pop
dynamite, a superb mix of crisp, clean, creative harmonies, dynamic instrumental chops,
and John's clever lyrics, pop admittedly, but apotheotically so. The Mamas and the Papas
singing, winging, soaring out over the air waves were almost always the high spot of the
radio day. Lo, how the mighty have fallen. People Like Us indeed. People like th... More >

You can blame this on the march of history, stylistic evolution, what have you, but it's not just that we've changed--so have they. John Phillips now reserves his inspiration for his solo LP, where his heart is, and overall the level of simple effort is so sappy it's startling. (Grade - C-)