With an assembly of those who loved her and cared: once-upon-a-time bandmate Michelle Phillips looking real skinny, Michelle's daughter Chynna, who runs a YouTube station on her Christian life - wearing a giant cross, John Sebastian of Lovin' Spoonful fame, who knew Mama before the Mama's and the Papa's, music producer Lou Adler wearing rubber shoes and shorts as if he had just come on down from pool-side, Stephen Stills of CSN, and other bands, and other people who you may have heard of, MAMA CASS ELIOTT has gotten a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The person behind it is her daughter OWEN, who was raised after Cass' death by Cass's sister Leah and her husband Russ Kunkel, a drummer who played with - you know his work from albums - Carly Simon, James Taylor, and some others.
The Mama's and the Papa's had a brief reign on the charts, the radio, but their music went on and on, the Oldie stations continued the play and every once in a while you might catch California Dreamin on the air, as fresh as ever.
The thing I've been most impressed with reading around these people and the Los Angeles - Laurel Canyon music scene in particular - is that Mama Cass was not just a talented and ambitious singer, she was also the kind of person who introduced people to people, who was among those who ran a kind of salon. And, although one might think of it all springing up "organically," through casual encounters, actually, they were all ambitious, they all wanted to earn money, make it big, be rich, and don't let that hippie thing fool you. It's impossible to sort it all out, especially from such distance, but Cass was integral in making the scene happen because of she was thinking about how to help others achieve theirs. And that willingness to share and include and help people along - that generosity - that knowing it was not all about her - gets her five stars from me.
That's my commentary.
Here's a link to an article from Variety:
VARIETY : DEDICATED TO THE ONE I LOVE by Roy Trakin
An excerpt: Owen is using the star ceremony as a springboard to finish her own biography of Mama Cass expressing displeasure at the previous one, British writer Eddi Fiegel's 2005 book, "Dream a Little Dream of Me: The Life of Cass Elliot.: With the help of rock estate specialist Jeff Jampol, she is exploring other options for her mom's story, including a biopic.
And another from Daily Mail in which Owen is called a son, and when someone does not know who John Sebastian is, they skip identifying him in a picture. Probably in hast to beat a deadline... Also, treats it like a fashion commentary as if one cannot see what people are wearing from the photos.
However some interesting quotes if can bear all the pop up ads and clickbait...
DAILY MAIL : MICHELLE PHILLIPS, CARNIE WILSON HONOR MAMA CASS by Brian Gallagher
C Christine Trzyna
