Overview

Before soundtracking the Summer of Love as The Mamas & The Papas, musicians John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Cass Elliot, and Denny Doherty honed their talents in groups like The Smoothies, The Journeymen, The Halifax Three, The Big 3, and The Mugwumps. In Gettin' Kinda Itchie, author Richard Campbell traces the circuitous lives of these groups and individuals-featuring secret marriages, hilarious hijinks, and FBI investigations-as they each contributed to the sound, style, and persona that set the foundation of American folk rock. The definitive untold Prequel to the story of The Mamas and The Papas is documented with scores of firsthand interviews, over 400 images, and 600 endnotes cultivated from from a forty-year collection and archive. The book includes a twenty-five page appendix with the most comprehensive Sessionography, Discography and Concertography for all of the various groups. Crossing paths with the likes of David Crosby, Gordon Lightfoot, John Sebastian and others, Gettin' Kinda Itchie traces the fascinating intersecting circles of these artists during the early 1960s folk-revival. This book is about the groups, music and experiences that created The Mamas & The Papas. This is four musicians' journey from coffeehouses, nightclubs and gymnasiums, before leaving folk music behind and taking flight. The harmonies of The Mamas & The Papas soothed and satisfied millions amid the reverberating cacophony of the times. Social upheaveal, riots and the war in Vietnam were largely quelled with dreams of California and a song about the common reality of the first day of the week. The group stood as troubadours of a generation and a powerful American answer to the British invasion. Between 1965 and 1968 the group garnered top ten hits like ""Monday Monday,"" ""Creeque Alley,"" ""Dedicated to the One I Love,"" ""I Saw Her Again"" and ""California Dreamin'"" which would ultimately go on to sell tens of millions of records.

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Reviews

"Praise for Gettin' Kinda Itchie In Gettin' Kinda Itchie, Richard Campbell meticulously puts together the puzzle of how The Mamas & The Papas were made, and he gets it exactly right. - Michelle Phillips, Original Member of The Mamas & The Papas, Actress, and Songwriter. Telling the prequel story of the journey that led to the creation of The Mamas & The Papas, Gettin' Kinda Itchie finally completes the picture and is a must-read for any true fan. - Owen Elliot-Kugell, Daughter of ""Mama"" Cass Elliot Gettin' Kinda Itchie was an enthralling, and revelatory read. You will feel as though you were there as these brilliant, wild, and flawed artists found their destinies. - Mackenzie Phillips, Film and Television Star, Singer, and daughter of John Phillips. In the 1940s and 1950s music was a required subject in school, and all children learned it. When these kids came of age in the '60s, they shared their common musical knowledge and traded their differing traditions-be it gospel from church, jazz from a club, or banjo tunes from Appalachia. Through their evolving musical configurations, and infused with their newly acquired styles, they inspired one another to create an original sound for a transitional moment in American culture. In Gettin' Kinda Itchie, Richard Campbell magnificently documents these events by telling the story of the paths that led John, Cass, Denny, and me, to each other. With incredible research, Campbell meticulously puts together the puzzle of how The Mamas & The Papas were made, and he gets it exactly right. - Michelle Phillips, Original Member of The Mamas & The Papas, Actress, and Songwriter. As ""the guy"" I call to double-check any information I'm given about The Mamas & The Papas, Richard Campbell's vast and impressive historical knowledge was born out of a true love for the band and their timeless music. His dedication to keeping my mother's memory alive is second only to mine! Telling the prequel story of the journey that led to the creation of The Mamas & The Papas, Gettin' Kinda Itchie finally completes the picture. It is a must-read for any true fan. - Owen Elliot-Kugell, daughter of Cass Elliot. For me, Gettin' Kinda Itchie was an enthralling, riveting, and revelatory read, unlocking direct quotes I'd never heard and photos I'd never seen. Richard Campbell is an incredible historian, not only for the folk-rock movement, but for me and my family as well. His eye for detail and thirst for the whole story is so wonderful and satisfying. For readers, it will feel as though you were there as these brilliant, wild, and flawed artists found their destinies. - Mackenzie Phillips, Film and Television Star, Singer, and daughter of John Phillips. Richard Campbell's incredible wealth of knowledge and dedication to The Mamas & The Papas has always been impressive, and I'm so glad he has built a home for it. Meticulously researched and highly engaging, Gettin' Kinda Itchie blew me away. - Emberly Doherty, daughter of Denny Doherty. Gettin' Kinda Itchie, Richard Campbell's odyssey into my father's early days, and those of his cohorts, was eye-opening, touching, and thorough. Featuring many photographs that I had never seen; it was wonderful to get a peek into those emergent years that led to The Mamas & The Papas. - Jeffrey Phillips, son of John Phillips."

Author Information

Richard Campbell serves as a Circuit Court Judge in Richmond, Virginia, and has been a judge and attorney in Virginia for nearly 30 years. Longer than that, he has been an avid collector of all things Mamas & Papas. ""The Keeper of the Flame"" as Michelle Phillips once dubbed him, Judge Campbell has been a consultant and/or expert for television programs such as A & E Biography, Lifetime's Intimate Portrait, VH1's Behind the Music, Bravo TV (Canada) and E! True Hollywood Story. He worked as a special consultant and contributor to Denny Doherty's theatrical production, Dream a Little Dream - the Nearly True Story of the Mamas and the Papas in Halifax, Toronto and New York -Off Broadway from 1999-2004. Together with Owen Elliot-Kugell, daughter of Cass Elliot, he created www.casselliot.com, The Official Cass Elliot Website, over 25 years ago. Currently he is serving as an acting content adviser on an upcoming documentary on Cass Elliot, as well as an historical compilation of the complete discography of John Phillips compositions. He has penned and published more than 25 sets of liner notes for Mamas & Papas associated digital reissues and been quoted in domestic and international print and broadcast media. Additionally, he has taught a course on the History of Sixties Rock at The University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University. Judge Campbell is a graduate of The College of William & Mary, and The University of Richmond School of Law and makes his home in Richmond with his wife and three daughters and their English Labrador Retriever.

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