Episode #115 | 11.29.22
Mama Cass (Part 1): Dangerous Drug Dealer Boyfriends, International Arrests, and the Solo Career that Should’ve Been
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In this episode
Cass Elliot, a.k.a. "Mama Cass" from The Mamas and The Papas, broke the mold of female pop superstardom. Despite her weight issues and extreme dieting routines, she shattered expectations of what women in music “should” be. She also was arrested in London for theft, dated international drug dealers, and tanked what was supposed to be a career-defining solo performance while flying high on Iranian hashish. To this day, the biggest controversy swirling around the singer is her connection to the 1969 Manson Family murders. Her actions during the so-called “Summer of Love” might even be why the motive for the murders America has come to accept as fact…is actually entirely false.
This is a crossover episode with BADLANDS Sharon Tate (Part 1)
Sources
Waiting for the Sun: A Rock & Roll History of Los Angeles, by Barney Hoskyns
Go Where You Wanna Go: The Oral History of the Mamas & the Papas, by Matthew Greenwald
What’s It All About?, by Michael Caine
Marlene Dietrich and lesbian nanny who raped her daughter - by her grandson (Daily Mail)
10 Dark Tales Of Depravity, Vice, And Abuse From Old Hollywood (Listverse)
A Penetrating Interview with Dennis Hopper (Rolling Stone)
Sharon Tate's Marriage with Roman Polanski: Orgies, Sex Tapes and More (People)
Pic Dawson (The Great Wen)
Jaw-Dropping Stories About The Mamas & The Papas (Ranker)
Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Music
Hosted, written, and scored by Jake Brennan.
Copy editing by Pat Healy.
Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.
Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak