Synopsis
John Phillips, founder and songwriter of the group The Mamas and the Papas, recounts his life and career from childhood to stardom to drug busts, in this startling and reflective look at the turbulent, dope-crazed decade of the sixties and beyond
Reviews
Phillips was born in 1935 of a full-blooded Cherokee mother and a career officer in the Marines, and had an unexceptional if mostly unhappy childhood. In his teens he learned to play the guitar, exhibited musical talent and began the drift into a music career. By 1965 he had formed the folk-rock group The Mamas and the Papas. Although married, he actively pursued women and also took much pleasure in a variety of pharmaceuticals, and found, with the success of the group, unlimited access to both and the financial ability to gratify those and other desires. Phillips's penchant for drugs led him into increasingly deeper waters, culminating in an arrest in 1980 and a long drying-out period. This is a compulsively readable, juicy autobiography of an egocentric, unrestrained, creative, good-hearted man. It is a revealing look at life at the top in the turbulent '60s that will have the reader alternating between envy, disgust, fascination and nostalgia. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to Rolling Stone and US; Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Probably no pop music group epitomized the era of the hippies, flower power, and the love generation better than the Mamas and the Papas. Their mellow style and close harmonies brought them instant fame and fortune. Almost as quickly, alas, it dissolved into classic discord fueled by drug abuse, clashing egos, and irresponsible sex. Michelle's version of events tends to emphasize the brighter side. While still in her teens, she met and married John, 10 years older and already a well-known folksinger. It was the beginning of a tempestuous but productive relationship that escalated their lifestyle into the celebrity fast lane. Michelle thrived on it all; for her, it was a beautiful time of "good vibrations." By contrast, John's reminiscences offer the darker vision of the alcoholic and drug addict. At first the constant partying seemed to enhance the group's creativity. But the supercharged atmosphere led to a nonstop parade of lovers: John names names, filling in the raunchy details that Michelle only sketches. With the band's resultant demise, the Phillipses separated. John's next project, a space rock musical, flopped. That set off a harrowing descent with his new wife into a nightmare of drug abuse that culminated in heroin mainlining. Ever resilient, John has somehow survived and is now on the nostalgia tour circuit. A tale of regeneration, his book is a hard and honest account whose glamor is tempered with grimness. Paul G. Feehan, Univ. of Miami Lib., Coral Gables
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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