Gettin' Kinda Itchie: The Groups That Made The Mamas & The Papas Paperback – August 10, 2023

"In Gettin’ Kinda Itchie, Richard Campbell meticulously puts together the puzzle of how The Mamas & The Papas were made, and he gets it exactly right." – Michelle Phillips, Original Member of The Mamas & The Papas, Actress, and SongwriterGettin' Kinda Itchie traces the circuitous lives of the various groups in which the members of The Mamas & The Papas performed in the years before the formation of their group. Many of the groups are long lost to history: The Abstracts, The Smoothies, The Journeymen, The Hepsters, The Colonials, The Halifax Three, The Triumvirate, The Big 3, Mac's Pipe & Drum House Band, Cass Elliot & The Big 3, D & Z, The Mugwumps, and The New Journeymen. The groups may now be answers to trivia questions, but they each contributed to the sound, style, and persona that became the bedrock of American folk rock. Along the way they intersected the circles of artists like David Crosby, Gordon Lightfoot, John Sebastian and Scott McKenzie.More than a verbal flow chart, this book is the untold prequel story to The Mamas & The Papas whose harmonies soothed and satisfied millions amid the reverberating cacophony of the times. Social upheaval, riots, and the war in Vietnam were largely quelled with dreams of California and a song about the common reality of the first day of the week. The Mamas & The Papas stood as troubadours of a generation and a powerful American answer to the British Invasion. Between 1965 and 1968 the group garnered top ten hits like "Monday Monday," "Creeque Alley," "Dedicated To The One I Love," "I Saw Her Again" and "California Dreamin'," which would ultimately go on to sell tens of millions of records. They broke new ground as architects of the historic 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, which kicked off the Summer of Love and the next wave of popular music. It was the end of a long path-a magic circle.This book is about that magic and that circle. It is about the groups, music, and experiences that created The Mamas & The Papas. It is the account of The Smoothies carrying spears in costume, and of the FBI tracking The Mugwumps in Cold War Washington, D.C., and secret marriages to avoid the Draft and keep on singing. This is four musicians' journey from coffeehouses to nightclubs and gymnasiums, before leaving folk music behind and taking flight. Read more