If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears

Track Listings

1. Monday, Monday

2. Straight Shooter

3. Got a Feelin'

4. I Call Your Name

5. Do You Wanna Dance

6. Go Where You Wanna Go

7. California Dreamin'

8. Spanish Harlem

9. Somebody Groovy

10. Hey Girl

11. You Baby

12. "In" Crowd

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
As they developed and incorporated more of their own social lives into their music, the Mamas and the Papas became the model for other dysfunctionally self-involved groups like Fleetwood Mac. But none of that is evident on their 1966 debut, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears; rather, it's the quartet's dreamy vocal interaction that is the highlight here. "California Dreamin'" is a touching honeymoon of a song; and its follow-up, "Monday Monday," is much the same--though it comes this close to overwhelming sappiness. k "Spanish Harlem," "In Crowd," and Mama Cass Elliott's lead on the Beatles' "I Call Your Name" are just as enjoyable. Though the accompanying music on this album was not the focus, it's every bit as strong as the vocal arrangements, with Larry Knetchel, Joe Osborne, and Hal Blaine handling the chores here. --Randy Silver --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Tracks:

Monday, Monday
Straight Shooter
Got A Feelin'
I Call Your Name
Do You Wanna Dance
Go Where You Wanna Go
California Dreamin'
Spanish Harlem
Somebody Groovy
Hey Girl
You Baby
The In Crowd

Amazon.com

As they developed and incorporated more of their own social lives into their music, the Mamas and the Papas became the model for other dysfunctionally self-involved groups like Fleetwood Mac. But none of that is evident on their 1966 debut, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears; rather, it's the quartet's dreamy vocal interaction that is the highlight here. "California Dreamin'" is a touching honeymoon of a song; and its follow-up, "Monday Monday," is much the same--though it comes this close to overwhelming sappiness. "Spanish Harlem," "In Crowd," and Mama Cass Elliott's lead on the Beatles' "I Call Your Name" are just as enjoyable. Though the accompanying music on this album was not the focus, it's every bit as strong as the vocal arrangements, with Larry Knetchel, Joe Osborne, and Hal Blaine handling the chores here. --Randy Silver

Customer Reviews:

I'M A BELIEVER !!!.......2006-08-15

To me, great debut albums are few and far between. These days, there's just too much hype made about this group and that group; and, even if they are good, so much media overkill and overplay gets done that you're sick of hearing about someone before they've really had a chance? "IF YOU CAN BELIEVE YOUR EYES AND EARS" is one of those great debut albums--almost a "sleeper," if you will--that can't be beat! From start to finish, you want to hear more; and usually do wind up playing it a second (and maybe even a third) time around before walking away and saying, "Wow," to yourself over and over again. I can only compare that to, say, the first Beatles album (take your pick between the first UK or US release), Boston's debut LP, Skynyrd's "PRONOUNCED," or (another "sleeper") "LISTEN UP... IT'S THE ECHOES"--the latter, in some ways, reminding me of The Mamas & The Papas magic and honesty? This group's definitely earned itself a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I only wish there were more like them!

Metamorpho, Metamorpho...So Good to Me..................2006-01-05

People, people. I remember a long time ago, when I was a Metamorpho in training, trying to angle my radio in just a certain way to pick up a radio station in Boston to hear the latest. Even though I lived in the suburbs of New Jersey - extremely close to N.Y.C. - they really weren't up on it as far as new music was concerned. So.... there I was... trying to get under just the right cloud formation. And then I heard it (Bless Boston, Massachusetts!), California Dreamin'!!!! Then they announced that it was by The Mamas and the Papas. My teenage brain repeated over and over to me.. "MUST GET THIS".
Of course, I had to wait for New York to catch up, and then I had to wait for the album release. It was well worth the wait! At that time (65-66) I remember how unique they were. I mean. who dressed like that? Not even my beloved Beatles took that chance (Sgt. Pepper was years away). As I knew full well upon first hearing, "California Dreamin'" eventually went to Number 1. And not too long after that, they doubled that gift by releasing "Monday, Monday." Accessible pop done expertly.
This first album has many things to reccommend it. The arrangements, the vocal harmonies, the professional session men who provided the backdrop for these voices. The "definitive" Mamas and the Papas, if you ask Metamorpho.
So many good tunes. That great riff on the pop-rock "Straight Shooter", the carnival take on "I Call Your Name", the great tick-tocking of time on "Got a Feelin'". Wonderful, lush, great mid-sixties pop. Memorable and you always felt better after hearing it.
The Mamas and the Papas were different than anything else at the time. Their legacy lives on because there was quality there. Metamorpho is sad because he no longer discovers great music by transistor radio. He is sad because the times have moved from quality to quantity. To quote Metamorpho in one of his more reflective moods, "The discovery of great music is 50% of the joy upon hearing it." I hope my anecdotes and humor help you to the joy of new discoveries! Bye my people.... Metamorpho

Nothing like it before - EVERYTHING like it since.......2004-08-26

In an era where groups were categorized as 'Vocal', 'Motown', 'Folk', 'Girl Group', 'British Invasion', and 'Rock and Roll', along came The Mama's and the Papa's (at the time, resplendent with their apostrophes). What, exactly, do you call them? Part of the magic of the band was that you couldn't label them with anything that existed at the time - they really did carve their own niche... then immortalized it in the 2 years they were together. Their effect was profound, even leading to a 4/4 time drum beat that's colloquially referred to as 'Mamas and Papas'. The Classics IV would name a song after them; Peter, Paul and Mary would dedicate an entire verse to them in their hit "I Dig Rock and Roll Music"; Donovan would write a song for Cass. The group was as adept at others' material (a full HALF of this album is comprised of tunes by other artists), as they were at their own.

California Dreamin' - an ageless classic which made Rolling Stone's top 100 of the best songs ever recorded, and with good reason. A haunting, minor-chord revelation, the song takes the beachy California confections of the early 1960's and gives them folk's depth and mood. And, by the way, the second verse ends with "you know the preacher LIGHTS the COALS, he knows I'm gonna stay (get it, it's cold outside, the preacher lights a fire for the wandering troubadour who's dreamin' of California - the Beach Boys cover of this song sported a video that illustrates this point with some clarity).

Straight Shooter - Rock and Roll, pure and simple. Driving, groovy, and downright sexy towards the end (listen carefully for Cass's grinding 'half of that belongs to me' at the end of the song).

Got a Feelin' - One of the first four songs the group ever composed, the liner notes of the album refer to the song as 'feathery'. I really can't improve on that.

I Call Your Name - Cass' first showcase on the album, it defines the Mama's and Papa's brilliance (for the most part) at recording other's tunes, and Papa John's ability to rearrange a song and make it completely different. The Beatles' rock and roll standard becomes an almost ragtime love song, if you can believe your ears...

Do You Wanna Dance - another cover tune, late of Bobby Freeman AND the Beach Boys, it is arguably the group's best version of someone else's song - so good, in fact, that Dunhill - the group's record label - would mine it for a single TWO YEARS AFTER THE FACT. The beauty and sincerity of this song is BEGGING to appear on a soundtrack of a romantic comedy. Brilliant beyond words.

Go Where You Wanna Go - simple, cool, four-part-harmony fun. The first single - though preemptively - released from the album, it was quickly pulled in favor of California Dreamin'. The 5th Dimension would later cover the song and send it into the American Top 20, thus launching THEIR career.

Monday, Monday - won the group the Grammy in 1966, and with good reason. It's a symphony. In stereo, the one speaker will produce Cass, John, Michelle, and the strings, while the other will feature Denny's lead, the harpsichord (!) and percussion. It is technically awe-inspiring, simple and complex at the same time. Michelle thought it was pretentious at the time, and potentially career-limiting. Never has an artist been so happy to be so wrong. I can hear this song 1,000 times - and have - and can still find something new to love about it.

Spanish Harlem - on par with Do You Wanna Dance, Denny's vocals are pristine and plaintive, with the girls' harmonies behind him evoking the balcony to which he's singing. A love song lovers' love song.

Somebody Groovy - another of their first four tunes, it - along with the rest of the album - demonstrates the group's ability to be good time rock n' rollers. It's got a great beat, and you can... well, you know.

You, Baby - The Turtles are targeted in this cover, and I'm hard-pressed to decide who's won. The boys do it a little faster; the Mama's and the Papa's do it a little more rock-er. One of the few times the group would take on another artist's tune and match it closely, rather than re-invent it entirely.

Hey Girl - A great answer-back pop tune that should've appeared on more of the millions of compilations than it has. An early showcase for the girls' voices.

The In-Crowd - Watch Cass take a soul tune and make it her own. The other side of the coin from I Call Your Name, here Cass is finally unleashed on a song, her barreling contralto owning every note.

I still cannot imagine, after all the greatest hits re-do's, that California Dreamin' and Monday, Monday actually appeared on the same album together ORIGINALLY. Universal in its acceptance, If You Can Believe is to the Mama's and the Papa's what Pet Sounds is to the Beach Boys, and Sgt. Peppers is to the Beatles.

Yes, there was Abba, the Carpenters, the Sunshine Company... but FIRST, there was The Mama's and the Papa's.

Buy this album. Right now.

5 Stars Plus!!!.......2002-10-09

This is great makeout music! On Do You Wanna Dance, Monday, Monday and Spanish Harlem, Denny Doherty is a singer par excellence!!! Cass is super on Somebody Groovy and In Crowd!!!

Come back John and write some more songs! You left us too soon!

Their Fabulous Classic First Folk-Rock Album!.......2002-05-15

No single group flashed faster to the top nor created more hype than the fabled the Mamas and the Papas. From their initial burst onto the scene with "California Dreaming" to their final efforts with "For The Love Of Ivy", they created a new, exciting, and melodramatic form of vocal harmonies into the folk-rock mainstream. The album featured here was their freshman effort, and it is indeed a classic, containing wall to wall hits with "Monday Monday", "I Call Your Name", "Go Where You Wanna Go", and of course, "California Dreaming".

The cover shot of the four of them gathered fully clothed in an empty bathtub was typical of their earthy presence and flair the unconventional. Within a couple of years they had conquered the pop heavens, had an incredible string on non-stop hits, and promptly dissolved among the internal frictions so common to mid-sixties super-groups like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and a number of others. Yet the incredible sound they created remains, and I defy anyone to listen to this album without snapping a finger or tapping a foot in time with incredible sounds emanating from the stereo. This album is a must-have for collectors of sixties folk-rock music. Enjoy!

If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
Average customer rating:

One of the premier debut albums of the fun filled Sixties

If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears

Manufacturer: MCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000E4UMMS

Product Description

Includes 12 songs. Including Monday Monday, Straight Shooter, Do You Want To Dance, California Dreaming, Hey Girl and 7 others.

Customer Reviews:

One of the premier debut albums of the fun filled Sixties.......2006-04-07

"If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears," the first album released by the Mamas and the Papas, is clearly the group's best album. "California Dreaming" was rocketing up the charts in the spring of 1966 when this album was released and introduced the crisp harmonies that John Phillips had developed through months of rehearsal in the Virgin Islands and hours of polishing the sound in the recording studio. It is hard to imagine what it must have been like when this sound was new and fresh. The album went to #1 on the Billboard charts and won a Grammy in the rather inclusive Other Pop/Rock&Roll/ Contemporary Awards or Instrumental category.

Of course, this is the group's best album (hits collections not included) since it has both of their greatest hits, "California Dreaming" (#4) and "Monday, Monday" (#1). Through into the mix the almost as good "Go Where You Wanna Go," the lovely "Got a Feelin'," and the awesome torch song cover of the Beatles song "I Call Your Name" that allows Cass Elliott to show off her solo skills, and none of their other albums are even close to being this good. Actually, the covers of "Spanish Harlem" and "Do You Wanna Dance" are pretty good as well. Besides, pretty much as soon as this album was released the group started to implode from the interpersonal conflicts.

Consequently, in the end I think that you can make an argument that "If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears" should be remembered as a Sixties album on at least the level right next to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Pet Sounds," in terms of the exquisite way in which the songs and album were crafted. My contention would be that obviously you want to have a hits collection of the Mamas and the Papas (and there are several decent ones out there), but that picking up this first album would be worth it as well because this is the one that got everybody excited all their sound in the first place.

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Return

1. Monday, Monday
2. Straight Shooter
3. Got a Feelin'
4. I Call Your Name
5. Do You Wanna Dance
6. Go Where You Wanna Go
7. California Dreamin'
8. Spanish Harlem
9. Somebody Groovy
10. Hey Girl
11. You Baby
12. "In" Crowd