3.5 Stars rounded up to 4
I've always enjoyed some of the Mamas and the Papas hits as a casual fan, owning their Greatest Hits compilation on vinyl, and reading some of their other memoirs. When I saw that "Mama" Cass Elliot's daughter Owen wrote a memoir about her mother, of course I had to read it. Cass died at the age of 32 in 1974 when Owen was just 7 years old.
The book begins on a poignant note with little Owen having the sweetest and most loving exchange with her Mom Cass at the airport. Owen was being sent to stay with family because Cass had a business trip to London. Little did she know that it would be the last time Owen would ever see her mother alive.
I've read John Phillips' and his daughter Mackenzie Phillips' memoirs as well as another recent Mamas and the Papas biography called "All the Leaves are Brown", and I've watched various documentaries- so I was already well-informed on the topic. It was a tad annoying in the first half of the book as Owen recounted her mother's history and kept stating, "Mom must have felt this" and "Mom must have felt that". Having only been 7 years old when she lost her mother , she's obviously relying on a lot of information she's culled over the decades from everyone that knew her Mom. When Owen was just a tot her mother's home in California was a hot refuge and meeting place for other musicians such as Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, and Graham Nash (of Crosby, Stills & Nash). In fact, Mama Cass was directly responsible for bringing that trio together! Throughout the book Owen references events and iconic photos, but there were none in my advance reader copy. However, she described them so vividly that I was able to perform internet image searches and see the relevant photos. One particularly haunting photo was a closeup of Owen sitting on her now stepfather's lap in a limo leaving her mother's funeral.
Oddly enough, the book really took off for me after Cass died, as it was so interesting to read about the family fallout after Cass's death and how they all coped- especially Owen. She was friends with the children of Brian Wilson and was originally supposed to be part of what became the successful Wilson Phillips trio (consisting of Wendy and Carnie WIlson and Chynna Phillips). Owen is quite strident in disputing the unattractive legend that her mother died while eating a ham sandwich. Overall this was a worthwhile book to add to the others out there documenting the life of "Mama" Cass Elliot, but also for learning about the daughter Cass left behind whose father was kept a secret.
Thank you to the publisher Hachette Books for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
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