Did Michelle sing at Monterey?

[jcg]

Hello,

Does anyone know what happened to Michelle's voice during Monterey Pop? While shown in the documentary singing passionately, her voice isn't audible on any of the recordings I've heard.

I am always so pleased to read the insightful and authoritative posts and how passionate and knowledgable most people are here, so I'm hoping some of you learned scholars can clear up the confusion. Thank you in advance for any help.

My sincere wish for peace and prosperity to all my fellow Cassophile!

JC

[dunhill]

Her microphone was either turned off or the volume was very low. I believe her mic was off, but others claim to be able to hear her voice at various places throughout the performance.

[Ars_Nova_Chris]

[jcg]

I appreciate the input in clarifying this issue.

This comes partly as a relief to know, as I thought I was just tone-deaf! I absolutely could not hear Michelle, even though I could clearly see her singing in the video. So basically then, Monterey is a good place to hear what the Mamas and the Papas would sound like as a trio!

I wonder if there's been any acknowledgment from her as to what the story was? Also, I wonder if Hendrix and the Who just blew her mike away?

[Sportguynj1]

Denny has said in previous interviews that The Who and Jimi Hendrix "nearly destroyed the stage" during their performances with knocking over drums and mics and breaking their guitars all over the place. If you watch the Monterey dvd which displays most of the Mamas and Papas' performances at the festival (Disc 3 - the Outake Performances), you'll notice that when the Mamas and Papas take the stage and get ready to sing their opening number, "Straight Shooter," that Lou Adler has to come out and try to adjust the monitors and get the mics working. Cass and John's mics are working but Denny's mic wasn't turned on properly until just before he was supposed to start singing the first verse - you actually see him trying to test the mic and he realizes it isn't working. Somehow his mic comes on right before he has to start singing. I believe that Michelle's mic was either mistakenly turned off or, more probably was damaged as a result of the previous performances by The Who and Jimi Hendrix. The only time you can really hear her in when she's standing close to Cass and her voice - faint as it is - is picked up by Cass's microphone. Obviously, this is just one of the reasons why the group has owned up to the fact that this was their worst live performance.

Rob

[jcg]

Fascinating!

You guys rock. Thanks for taking time to answer my question.

[John Sands]

I was PO'ed that Michelle could not be heard, especially on 'Got a Feelin'. On the record either before or after "Somebody Groovy', I can hear Cass yell 'Michelle' and Michelle answer 'What?'. Heard her there for some reason.

[Sportguynj1]

John,

I remember some video footage from a Cass Elliot biography from years back which actually shows the interplay between Cass and Michelle that you hear on the CD. The reason you can hear Michelle there is because she was right near Cass and her voice was picked up over Cass's microphone since they were in such close proximity to each other. Actually that moment is kind of funny because it occured at the end of "I Call Your Name" and Cass was down on her knees and Michelle was standing right next to her. Apparantly Cass couldn't get up so she said "Michelle attenzione!" to get Michelle to help her get back to her feet. Then she threw in another zinger and said "I like to inject a little culture in her life whenever I can" which was one of her favorite ways to take a dig at Michelle when they were on stage together.

I agree with you - it's too bad you can't hear Michelle on those live recordings because, I'm sure if her microphone was working properly the harmonies which she and Cass sang so beautifully would certainly have made that performance a lot better than it was!

Rob

[John Sands]

I thought that maybe it was Denny's mike picking it up. Thanks for the clarrification.

[jcg]

I went back and listened and you can, indeed, hear Michelle in spurts throughout. I'm surprised to say that I appreciate the Monterey performance that much more knowing the circumstances. It's a trip to hear them as a trio! In any case, thanks again to everyone.