The Mamas and the Papas & Shania Twain, 1998

In 1998, superstar Shania Twain honored one of her greatest influences, the Mamas and the Papas, as she inducted them into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty, and John Phillips graciously accept their award, with a little help from Cass Elliot’s daughter Owen.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
M Welcome to Induction Vault, a production of I Heart
Radio and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. M

(00:29):
superstar Shania Twain honored one of her greatest influences, The
Mamas and the Papas, as she inducted them into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Mamas and the
Papas ushered in a new movement in rock, a true
California sound that proved itself to be fully formed even
from their very first single. Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty, and

(00:49):
John Phillips graciously accept their award with a little help
from Cass Elliott's daughter Owen, who credits her mother's embrace
of the positive power of rock and roll still today,
fifty five years after their debut album, The rich harmonies
of the Mammas and the Papas live on as the
soundtrack for the Summer of Love, proving that rock music

(01:10):
is also for the lovers and the dreams. Thank thank
you so much. This is such a fantastic evening. I'm
sure everyone's having a wonderful, wonderful time, but I'm having
the time of my life. I am so honored to
be here tonight, being able to participate in the induction

(01:32):
of my biggest influences, especially as a child in music,
and that is The Moments and the Papas in nineteen
sixty six. That's a while ago. In nineteen sixty six,
pop music was in the middle of one of its
greatest periods of change. England with its never ending stream

(01:52):
of rock bands, New York with his revolutionary songwriters like
Bob Dylan and Detroit, and Memphis with their new directions
in R and B. All of this was happening at
the same exhilarating moments. But it was also a time
when the country and the music was moving west, and
it was a magical record by our next inductees that

(02:12):
heralded that development. Of course, that song was California Dreaming
and the group was The Mamas and the Papas. Rarely
has a group emerged so fully formed on a first single.
But John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and the late
Cass Elliott had a great deal of individual experience, yes uh,

(02:35):
much of it um as part of the vibrant folk
scene of the early sixties, and they were ready for
action when their time came. Their blend of to male
and two male, two male and two female voices, was
very rare at the time and added a richness and
depth to all of the group's work. Although the group
only existed for three years, they left us with such

(02:57):
shits as Monday, Monday, I saw her again in Words
of Love, They're great cover version of the Cherrell's dedicated
to the One I Love and the hilariously autobiographical Greek
Alley My nineteen seventy one, I was wearing out my
eight track tape of their music, which by that time

(03:18):
had already become classic. I was six years old and
mesmerized by the beauty and serenity of their vocal arrangements
and their utterly original musical style. They may only have
been together a short while, but they left me with
a lifetime of influence and inspiration, and all of us
with beautiful, beautiful music. Up next with Michelle Phillips, Danny

(03:46):
Doherty and John Phillips accept their award with a little
help from cast Ellie's daughter Owen, on the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame induction. Bault, very good, thank you
very much. We've been waiting here all day to do this,

(04:08):
as most of you have, so without further Ado, We'll
try to get on with us. I'd like to say
thank you very much for the honor. I'd like to
thank my wife Jeanette, and my kids John and Emberley
and Jessica, and UH absent friends cass Elliott, whose daughter
Owen has come up to receive the award for mom.

(04:37):
She didn't want to come up, but re gragular Uh.
I'd like to thank my fellow Canadians and I a
Twain for the introductions, and to all the Canadians, congratulations
for being Canadian. Michelle safe few words, thank you very
much to the Academy. First of all, I would like

(05:06):
to thank Lou Adler, our producer, who without the fifth
MoMA this would never have happened. I have to thank
Hew Blaine, Larry Nictal, Joe Osborne and Bones how our crew,
and Bobby Roberts, har manager and I thank you all
very much. And John say if he works. But I

(05:31):
want to thank the same people that Michelle thanked. There's
the best rhythm section I've ever played with Joe Osborne
and Larry Ntelle and Hal Blaine and they're wonderful guys
and Lou Elders, but greatest producer writer, I for met
my wife and we're really happy to be here. Thank
you very much. And I thank my wife Arnez, especially
because I think I probably be dead right now the

(05:53):
welcome for her. Thank you very much. I'm thrilled to
be here to represent my mother on this historic occasion. Yeah,

(06:15):
it's hard to believe that it's been almost twenty four
years since the world lost cast Elliott. Then, as now,
rock and roll was suspected of corrupting teenagers and threatening
family values. But my mother recognized the positive power of
rock and roll and was one of the first to

(06:36):
encourage young people to participate in the political process. I'm
grateful for this opportunity to reaffirm my mother's ideals at
a time when we celebrate her incredible talent and the
brilliance of the music of the Mama's and Papas. And

(06:58):
I'd just like to say more thing that I know.
I have personal knowledge that Casts is sitting on top
of that big full moon tonight, looking down on these
proceedings wearing a size six Terry muglad dress and thanking
you all very very much thanks for joining us on

(07:38):
this week's episode of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Induction Vault. For more on your favorite inductees, to shop
inductee merch or to plan your trip to the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame, visit rock hall dot com
plus Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Special on
demand on HBO Max. Our executive producers are Shelby Morrison,

(07:59):
Esa Gurkey, and Taylor Shikoin. Produced by Evan Tire Research
and archival assistance from Isabelle Keeper and Shannon Herb. Thanks
again for joining us on this week's episode of Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Vall. Induction Ball is
a production of I Heart Radio in the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,

(08:24):
visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your favorite podcasts