Cass Elliot was one of the most-loved characters in 60s and early 70s pop music, and one of its most distinctive voices.
The summer of 1966 brought the Californian quartet's next hit.
The quartet's debut album displayed their unique ability to “own” songs across a wide range of pop styles, both their compositions and covers.
The album was a gold-certified No. 2 hit in the US, spending spent over a year on the bestsellers.
The singer's uplifting 'Move In A Little Closer, Baby' made its Billboard Hot 100 bow on 15 March 1969.
Their creative intensity in little more than two initial years of success makes The Mamas and the Papas In 20 Songs an unmissable listen.
Still known at this time by the name she came to dislike, Mama Cass, she released her debut solo album in October 1968.
The ex-wife of bandmate John Phillips helped to create the sound of California.
Lewis Merenstein, whose most famous credit was producing Van Morrison's 1968 classic Astral Weeks, died on 6 September in New York at the of 81.
As the last surviving member of pop harmony giants the Mamas and the Papas, we celebrate Michelle Phillips' musical legacy on her birthday 4 June 1944.
