The Lamp of Childhood

Folk-rock combo the Lamp of Childhood was formed in Los Angeles in the fall of 1966 by singer/guitarist James Hendricks, the former husband of Mamas and Papas vocalist Mama Cass and her collaborator in the Big Three and the Mugwumps. Guitarist Fred Olsen, bassist Mike Tani and former Mastin & Brewer drummer Billy Mundi comprised the original Lamp of Childhood lineup, which signed to Dunhill to record its debut single, a cover of the Donovan classic "Season of the Witch" issued in early 1967. By that time, Mundi was already out of the band--he'd joined Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention--and after two more Dunhill singles, "First Time, Last Time" and "Two O'Clock in the Morning," the Lamp of Childhood dissolved in June 1967. ~ Jason Ankeny