Dream a Little Dream…

Today in rock history (7-29-08), Mama Cass Elliot died in 1974 from a heart attack. Her only solo hit was the song, “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” which received backing by the rest of The Mamas and The Papas. The song, and its parent album, were released to fulfil contractual obligations in 1968. It was the last hit recording by the band, making it to number 12. A popular legend about Elliot is that her vocal range was improved by three notes after she was hit on the head by some copper tubing shortly before joining the group, while they were in the Virgin Islands. Elliot herself confirmed the story; in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1968 she said,
" It’s true, I did get hit on the head by a pipe that fell down and my range was increased by three notes. They were tearing this club apart in the islands, revamping it, putting in a dance floor. Workmen dropped a thin metal plumbing pipe and it hit me on the head and knocked me to the ground. I had a concussion and went to the hospital. I had a bad headache for about two weeks and all of a sudden I was singing higher. It’s true. Honest to God.” However, according to people who knew her well, this was not true - Elliot always had a standout singing voice. Her friends said that the pipe story was used as a more politically-correct explanation for why John had kept her out of the group for so long, because the real reason she was not accepted sooner was that John considered her to be too fat. After her death, an urban legend arose that Elliot died choking on a ham sandwich. Speaking to the press shortly after her body was discovered, the police noted that a partly eaten sandwich had been found in her room and speculated that she may have choked while eating it. When the coroner's autopsy was performed, no food was found in her trachea and the cause of death was determined to have been heart failure and that she had died in her sleep. But by then, the specious story was already making the rounds and the real cause of death was rarely discussed. Elliot died in the same flat, No.12 at 9 Curzon Place, Mayfair that The Who drummer Keith Moon would die in, a little over four years later. Ooh – déjà vu! I’ll bet that that flat goes for a pretty penny (or shilling, as the case may be) today, just for the morbid curiosity value! Here is Mama Cass singing her swan song. This is a rather swarmy live version from the Smothers Brothers Show in 1968. Truly icky! Thanks, as always, to HYPERLINK "http://www.garylessard.com" www.garylessard.com and HYPERLINK "http://www.wikipedia.org" www.wikipedia.org for the info, and keep on rockin’, carefully, and don’t sing with your mouth full!