THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS - DANCING BEAR

"DANCING BEAR"

THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS

SONGWRITER: JOHN PHILLIPS

COUNTRY: U.S.A.

ALBUM: THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS

LABEL: DUNHILL

GENRE: SUNSHINE POP

YEAR: 1966

The Mamas & the Papas is the self-titled second Studio album by The Mamas & the Papas, released in September 1966. The album peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard 200 album chart and number 24 in the UK. The leadoff single, "I Saw Her Again", reached number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 11 in the UK Singles Chart. "Words of Love" was released as the second single in the US peaking at number 5. In the UK, it was released as a double A-side with "Dancing in the Street" (a cover of the 1964 hit by Martha and the Vandellas) and charted at number 47 in the UK.

After it was discovered that group member Michelle Phillips was having an affair with Gene Clark of the Byrds, the tension in the band erupted and Phillips was fired from the group on June 4, 1966. In June, a new singer was hired to replace her. Jill Gibson was producer Lou Adler's girlfriend at the time and was already a singer/songwriter who had performed on several Jan and Dean albums.

There has been considerable speculation over the years about which songs, if any, Jill Gibson sings on. In 2009, dedicated fans Richard Campbell and Greg Russo talked to Gibson herself, and consulted session sheets from the recording of the album. Their conclusion was that Gibson sings on "Trip, Stumble and Fall," "Dancing Bear," "Strange Young Girls," "I Can't Wait," "Even If I Could," and "That Kind of Girl," as well as "Did You Ever Want to Cry" (which turned up on the following album, Deliver); while Michelle Phillips sings on "No Salt on Her Tail," "Words of Love," "My Heart Stood Still," "Dancing in the Street," "I Saw Her Again," and "Once Was a Time I Thought."

The photo already chosen for the album's cover featured Michelle Phillips prominently, so Dunhill had Gibson take a photo posed in exactly the same position as Michelle, and then superimposed the new photo over that of Phillips. However, the decision was then made to shoot an entirely new picture with the new line-up and to also change the album's title to Crashon Screamon All Fall Down. Several thousand advance pressings of the album with this cover and title were sent out to radio stations and record distributors, but with the return of Michelle to the group just prior to the LP's general release, the original cover and eponymous title were quickly reinstated. Copies of the rare Crashon pressings are now highly sought after collector's items.

The album was first issued on CD in 1988 (MCAD-31043) and also appears in its entirety on All the Leaves Are Brown, a retrospective compilation of the band's first four albums, with the single versions of "I Saw Her Again" and "Words of Love".

I wouldn't want to be a chimney sweep

All black from head to foot

From climbing in them chimneys

And cleaning out that soot.

With a broom and ladder and pail,

The darkened walls I scale –

And far..and high...I see a patch of sky.

I'd rather be the gypsy

(I'd rather be the gypsy)

Whose camped at the edge of town –

(Camped at the edge of town)

The one who has the dancing bear

That follows him around.

And he lifts his big foot up;

He puts his big foot down

And bows...and twirls...

And dances 'round and 'round.

I found I was a cabin boy last night as I did dream –

Bound upon a magic ship for a land I'd never seen.

And the moon she filled our sails;

And the stars they steered our course;

And on our bow there was a golden horse.

The queen eats fruit and candy; the bishop nuts and cheese

And when I am a grown man, I'll taste just what I please –

The honey from the bee, the shellfish from the sea,

The earth, the wind, a girl, someone to share these things with me.

I wouldn't want to be a chimney sweep, [etc...]

(I'd rather be the gypsy, [etc...])

(I dreamed I was a cabin boy, [etc...]).