The Mamas & the Papas had a rare configuration of two male and two female singers, which gave them a distinctive sound. John Phillips, the leader of the group, originally wanted them to be a trio with his wife Michelle as the focal point and their friend Denny Doherty the third member, but that changed when Cass Elliot convince him to let her join.
They came up with the name for the group when they were watching a talk show called the Les Crane Show. The guest was a member of the Hell's Angels biker gang, who responded to a question about the women in the gang by saying they're affectionately known as their "mamas." Cass Elliot decided on the spot that she and Michelle were the Mamas, which made John and Denny the Papas. John agreed that they should be The Papas & the Mamas, which Cass quickly corrected to The Mamas & the Papas. John often made up outlandish stories about how they got the name to amuse himself in interviews, but Michelle set the record straight in her autobiography California Dreamin'.
The Mamas & the Papas had an impressive run of six Top 5 hits starting with "California Dreamin'" in 1965 and ending with "Creeque Alley" in 1967, but they fell apart in 1968 due to a schism in John and Michelle's marriage and a dispute with their record label. They released a reunion album in 1971 that got little attention, so they again disbanded. In 1982, John and Denny re-formed the group with two new Mamas: John's daughter Mackenzie Phillips and Spanky McFarlane of the group Spanky and Our Gang. They played the oldies circuit with various lineups until about 2000.
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