The Papas & The Mamas by The Mamas & The Papas

The Papas & The Mamas is the fourth studio album by the American folk rock vocal group the Mamas and the Papas. Released in 1968, it was recorded at the home of John and Michelle Phillips, although with the same production team as on previous albums. Their original studio, Western Recorders, switched to solid state technology, and Phillips and Adler purchased the tube-based board they had done their previous recordings with, and installed it in their new studio. In retrospect, Adler has said that the recording space was not well made, and the sound quality was not well-suited for a vocal group. With the exception of the very successful cover version of "Dream a Little Dream of Me", the album's subject matter is often downbeat and world-weary, most notably in the lyrical content of "Safe in My Garden", "Mansions", "Too Late" and "Rooms". All the material was new upon release with the exception of "Twelve Thirty", which had been released as a single in August 1967 as "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)". The song "Meditation Mama" featured the first lead vocal ever on a Mamas and the Papas track by John Phillips. All four members of the band contribute lead as well as backing vocals on this album. Although it was the first album from the group not to peak in the top ten, it was a commercial success upon its release, becoming the band's fourth and last top 20 album in America and producing two hit singles (one of which, "Dream a Little Dream of Me", would begin Cass Elliot's solo career). This album is included in its entirety on All the Leaves Are Brown, a retrospective compilation of the band's first four albums and various singles. "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)" is heard during a pivotal scene in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.