The Mamas & the Papas - 16 of Their Greatest Hits (1986), CD, MCAD-5701/JVC-436

 

I was prompted to reassess this longstanding item in my collection when I received a notice from Real Gone Music that they had restocked their 2 x LP Complete Singles 50th Anniversary Collection, which I am tempted to consider buying. I also already own the group's first 3 LPs on vinyl in Sundazed reissues, but the audio quality of these is pretty underwhelming, rather dull, and lacking the "live-in-the-room" presence that makes listening to well-mastered and -pressed vinyl a transcendent experience. And while the track lists for the Real Gone 2-LP set does not match that of the 3 Sundazed LPs, both contain all the big hits plus a myriad of B-sides or LP-only tracks to round things out. The Real Gone set is mastered by Aaron Kannowski, whose work I am not familiar with, but who seems to have a generally favorable reputation on the Steve Hoffman Music Forums, though there are not really enough detailed reviews of his work to make me certain that he is of the same caliber as the top mastering engineers. Also, his only works listed on discogs.com are Real Gone releases, the majority of them CD-only releases. Still, if I were merely considering vinyl, the Real Gone set would likely be an upgrade.

But then I also have this somewhat greatest hits CD, titled 16 of Their Greatest Hits (as opposed to the 16 absolutely greatest hits), which is mastered by Steve Hoffman, who generally has a good reputation as a mastering engineer (some people worship him, some loathe him). So I gave the CD a relisten, and was generally impressed, as much as one can be for a standard redbook CD. Worth noting--the CD is all stereo mixes, whereas the Real Gone vinyl set uses the mono mixes, so if you're a mono maniac, the vinyl set is the way to go. But the CD certainly beats the dull Sundazed vinyl LPs in my collection as far as sound quality and lifelike reproduction, which makes it a keeper for now, even if there are some songs I wish were on it, like "Somebody Groovy" and "Straight Shooter," that are included on the Real Gone vinyl set. The only song on the CD not included on the Real Gone set is the group's cover of the Beatles' "I Call Your Name" (taken from the debut LP If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears), which is OK but nothing special. I'm also not a fan of the group's attempted humorous goofing, a la "Monkees-shines," at the end of "Dancing in the Street" and "Midnight Voyage," but I am guessing the mono single versions of those tracks have the same drawback since the running times are about the same. Also of note, the 2-CD version of the Real Gone set adds another 22 tracks of singles released by individual members Cass Elliott, John Phillips, and Denny Doherty.

Do I Really Need This record?  As noted above, this CD has the best-sounding versions of the Mamas and the Papas biggest hits, albeit in stereo, currently in my collection, so it needs to stay. In one way, it lessens the temptation to fork over the $30 for the Real Gone vinyl singles collection, but if I were to finally succumb to that lessened but not nonexistent temptation, this CD would become superfluous.