1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die - #67. The Mamas And The Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears (1966)

The Mamas And The Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears (1966)

Label – RCA
Producer – Lou Adler
Art Direction – Uncredited
Nationality -USA
Running Time – 34:10

Track Listing (standout tracks listed in bold)

1. Monday Monday
2. Straight Shooter
3. Got A Feelin'
4. I Call Your Name
5. Do You Wanna Dance
6. Go Where You Wanna Go
7. California Dreamin'
8. Spanish Harlem
9. Somebody Groovy
10. Hey Girl
11. You Baby
12. In Crowd

Wow. What a change of pace this record was. Listening to the 1001 albums in a chronological order really lets you know how different some artists really were at the time these records were initially released. This is on of them. Can you imagine how in the spring of 1966 when ‘If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears’ was released how genuinely different and fresh to listeners it must have sounded! The record was released just as the single "California Dreaming" was climbing the charts with a bullet.
"Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'" are familiar enough to anyone who's ever listened to the radio, as well as "Go Where You Wanna Go". But it’s the rest that is also mighty compelling and lets you know that the group was more then just the staple hit songs we’ve all come to associate them by.
The spacey "Got a Feelin'," the rocking tracks "Straight Shooter" and "Somebody Groovy," are worth mentioning. And then there is the torch song-style version of the Beatles track "I Call Your Name". Easily one of the best covers of a Beatles ever recorded, and one that brought a smile to my face.
The album wasn’t without a bit of controversy. All thanks to a toilet! The first cover pressings featured the group in a bathroom, sitting in a bathtub with a toilet in the corner. This cover was pulled from stores after the offending toilet was declared indecent. (the remaining covers featuring the toilet have since become collector's items.) A second album cover was then released with a scroll over the toilet listing the presence of "California Dreamin'" on the album. Two more songs were later added to the scroll/box over the toilet. Still later, a Gold Record Award blurb was added (in black) to the left of the group. Finally, a later album covers were released with a closely cropped shot of the band surrounded by a black border that removed any hint that the picture was taken in a bathroom.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 127 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, is a great listen and it is highly recommended.


You can purchase the CD here.