Go Where You Wanna Go: The Oral History of The Mamas and The Papas
Projecting a sunny, carefree image with folk-pop hits such as  "California Dreamin' " and "Monday, Monday," the Mamas & the  Papas pioneered the kind of complex internal dysfunction later  popularized by Fleetwood Mac. Greenwald, a rock journalist and  longtime fan, collects quotes from new and existing interviews  with M&P; friends and associates to tell the group's soap-opera  story. The band itself is represented by new interviews with  surviving band members Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty, a  previously unpublished interview with the late Cass Elliot, and  previously published quotes from the group's recently deceased  leader, John Phillips. The oral biography approach has pitfalls,  as many of the quotes seem muddled without an author's narrative  to provide background and context. Once the account reaches the  group's breakup in 1968, important later events are given short  shrift. For instance, it is unclear from the text exactly when  Elliot died; only a caption from a funeral photo tells readers  it was 1974. Later, an early Eighties reunion fronted by Doherty  and John Phillips is ignored completely. Also annoying are a  significant number of typographical errors in the proofs. Still,  the lurid details of sudden fame, drug consumption, and an  affair between Michelle and Doherty (leading to Michelle's  firing and rehiring and Mama Cass's jealous wrath) make for  fascinating reading. Recommended where there is demand for  Sixties rock music titles, especially since the dueling  autobiographies of John (Papa John) and Michelle Phillips  (California Dreamin') are out of print. Lloyd Jansen,  Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., CACopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.