People Like Us

On this 1971 final effort by The Mamas & The Papas, the recording sessions were thick with tension, and the attendant push-me-pull-you energy is audible (and highly listenable) in even the most beautiful, breezy passages. Band leader/album producer “Papa” John Phillips attempted to contemporize things by going for a slightly R&B-enhanced stoner vibe over the group’s patented California dreamy sound; he eschewed the Wrecking Crew session musicians (whom he’d used on the previous albums) mostly in favor of Motown’s Funk Brothers. The Brothers’ heft and swing illuminate throughout, particularly on “Snowqueen of Texas,” “Lady Genevieve," and the Janis Joplin tribute “Pearl.” Elsewhere, Michele Phillips’ unsarcastic standout “I Want to Be a Star” says everything about where her head was at when the album was recorded, and the title song recalls the group’s struggling, pre-L.A. days in Greenwich Village. Although Cass Elliot’s vocals are nearly nonexistent here (purposely mixed low to alter the tenor of the group’s classic harmonies), the album still sounds like the work of a quintessential ’60s band that’s a tad backdated, which makes it a fascinating, worthwhile listen.