Hey, gang!
Welcome to the first of our prime numbers and Day 29.
Music has always been one of the joys of my life. And thanks to my mom’s sister, my amazing Aunt Mary Lou (part big sister, part trusted confidant) and a New York City-based radio station CBS FM, I got a musical education at a young age.
By the time I was 19 years old, I was practically a walking, talking Encyclopedia Britannica (rememeber those?!) of musical knowledge. From girl groups like The Shangra-Las and The Ronettes to 1960s British Invasion stars that included The Zombies, Herman’s Hermits and, of course, The Beatles, I knew pretty much every word to every song with very few exceptions.
And while I loved them all, there was one group that meant more to me than the others, one that was just in a class by itself. You’ll laugh, but when I used to walk guard back in my VMI days, to keep myself awake I’d sing songs by The Mamas and The Papas.
Yeah, I was one exhausted shaven-headed warbler, shuffling along in rapidly dulling low quarter shoes, toting an old M-1 rifle and dragging ass through the warm Virginia night. But like I said, I had America’s premier folk rock group to keep me company. “California Dreamin’,” “Dream a Little Dream,” and my all-time favorite “Dedicated to the One I love.”
Born Ellen Naomi Cohen in Baltimore, MD, “Mama Cass,” as she will forever be known, was the heart and soul of The Mamas and The Papas. But sadly, like so many musical artists who lifted us, we lost her all too young. Our beloved Mama Cass died on July 29, 1974 at the age of 32.
We still have her legacy, though, and you could argue that she helped create some of the greatest harmonies in the history of popular music, those imitated by lounge singers, tribute bands and, yes, even by punch drunk cadets stuck on guard duty who needed that wonderful voice to keep from stumbling around in the dark.
See you tomorrow, my friends.
@Copyright 2025 by John L. Fischer