Return to Creeque Alley: Sundazed Continues CD, LP Reissues for The Mamas and the Papas

The folks at Sundazed are going where they wanna go with two new reissues from the classic catalogue of The Mamas and the Papas.  The label is following their mono edition of the group’s 1966 debut If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears with 1967’s self-titled sophomore album in mono and third album The Mamas and the Papas Deliver in stereo.  Both The Mamas and the Papas and Deliver are slated for release on September 24 in both vinyl and CD formats.

It would be difficult for any band to top a debut record that included the Grammy-winning No. 1 smash “Monday, Monday,” and the Top 5 hit – and future standard – “California Dreamin’” (not to mention “Go Where You Wanna Go,” “Straight Shooter” and “Got a Feelin’,” to boot!) but “Papa” John Phillips, “Mama” Cass Elliot, “Papa” Denny Doherty and “Mama” Michelle Phillips gave it their all with The Mamas and the Papas.  For their second album, the Mamas and the Papas again relied on songwriter and arranger John Phillips who provided ten of the album’s twelve tracks either solo or in collaboration with Michelle or Denny.  This even topped the prolific Phillips’ seven compositions on the debut LP.  Of these ten songs, one was a breakout hit.  “I Saw Her Again,” co-written by John and Denny, became another top five single.  The buoyant song was recorded against a backdrop of tumult, having been inspired by Michelle’s affair with Denny.  When John discovered the fling, Michelle was cast out of the group and replaced by Jill Gibson, though the switch was short-lived.   (It’s still a subject of debate today as to which of Gibson’s vocal tracks, if any, remain on the final album.) “I Saw Her Again” was followed by another single drawn from the album which also made the Top 5: “Words of Love,” with Cass Elliot at her brassiest.  “Words” was a double A-side with the LP’s cover of Martha and the Vandellas’ immortal “Dancing in the Street.”  That side, however, only made it to No. 73.  The Mamas and the Papas’ other cover version went back much further than “Dancing,” as the group tackled Rodgers and Hart’s immortal “My Heart Stood Still” from the 1927 musical A Connecticut Yankee.  The album itself peaked at No. 4 in the U.S. and No. 24 in the U.K., continuing the group’s winning streak.

After the jump: a look at Deliver, plus track listings and pre-order links for both titles!