THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS CONCERT-1960’S-ST.LOUIS

Although the exact date eludes me, it was probably the mid-1960’s in St. Louis. The venue was Kiel Auditorium. For some reason I recall it was fall, but I could be wrong there. My research turned up nothing to confirm the date.

In those days I would hang out at KXOK Radio on South Kingshighway. It was the number one Top 40 radio station at the time. I’d take the bus (yes, I took buses before I was able to drive) down to the station. This was not unusual practice for me, the local radio and TV stations fascinated me because they were the closest to show business I could get. Occasionally I would manage to talk my way backstage at the American Theatre once in a while.

At KXOK I had made friends with the morning DJ Mart Crowley. He was wild and irreverent and had an act not dissimilar to that of Jonathan Winters. Mart had an array of characters like Edna St. Louis Missouri, the poet laurite of St. Louis. He also had small sound effects door in the studio which he would use to into and outro his characters.

The Mamas and Papas were coming to Kiel on tour and I had bought a ticket. The night of the concert I went inside and was dismayed at the distant location of my seat and went out to the stage entrance hoping to run into Mart before he went in.

Sure enough I ran into Mart as he was arriving, greeting me, asking if I had a ticket for the concert. I showed it to him and told him my seat was high up in the nose bleed section. Mart said, “Follow me” and we entered through the artist’s entrance...

As we entered Mart pasted through without a problem. As I followed all the security staff started to approach me until Mart said, “He’s with me,” and they backed off. Mart turned to me and handed me his briefcase. “Might as well earn your keep,” and we started up the back steps.

As we went up stairs we could hear the Mamas and Papas warming up, A Cappella; it was the clearest, cleanest sounds I’d ever heard. What you need to understand is that the backstage superstructure of Kiel Auditorium was thick concrete, so to experience that kind of fidelity was magical, that’s how good The Mamas and The Papas were.

We got backstage and I held Mart’s briefcase as he opened it and took out a tube of make- up and a plastic flower (it was the era of Flower Power). He told me to watch from the wings so I stepped into the stage right wing area. There was a small couch and a cigarette machine, more like a waiting room.

Mart was introduced and he walked out to center stage to an enthusiastic audience. He did some comedy bits, warming up the audience. I stood and watched, then sensed I wasn’t alone and turned around to find John Phillips, Mink hat and all, standing behind me. Next to him was Denny Daugherty, whose eyes seemed to match the bright pink of his psychedelic tie, Cass Elliot in her iconic Mumu, and Michelle Phillips, wearing tight striped jeans, white pull over blouse, with her straight blond hair and piercing blue eyes; the adolescent fantasy of the California Girl.

I stood there dumbstruck staring at them, mumbling hellos, etc. Their opening act finishing their set on stage. Finally, just a minute before they were announced John suddenly said “Shit! I left my cigarettes in the dressing room.” I immediately ran to the cigarette machine in the wings jamming quarters into the machine and calling out “What brand?” “Marlboro,” was the reply and I pulled the handle just as Mart announced them. The pack of cigarettes dropped into the machine. I grabbed it, ripped open the top of the pack and tossed it across the room.

Like in a movie, the pack seemed to spiral end-over-end...the cigarettes flying out of the pack onto the floor. So there I was, with The Mamas and The Papas, on the floor, picking up the cigarettes and handing them to whoever was closest as they headed out on stage.

I watched the rest of the concert from the wings and it was one of their best.