The Mamas & The Papas Straight Shooter
March 2008 Reviewed by: Joseph Taylor Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

The Mamas & the Papas: Straight Shooter is a 1988 documentary about the great ‘60s folk-rock group. Like The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn, M & P founder John Phillips was a folkie in the mid-‘60s when the British invasion blew things open for rock‘n’roll. Phillips had enjoyed some success in New York with his folk group the Journeymen, which he had formed after he realized that the doo-wop and swing-jazz vocal groups he’d used as a blueprint to achieve fame in music were no longer popular. When the folk music scene began to fade, Phillips looked for a way to buy into the new music culture that was taking hold.

"John would seize an opportunity," his friend John Stewart (a member of the Kingston Trio) notes in the documentary. "If it had been 30 years earlier, he would have been writing Oklahoma and Carousel." Phillips was absolutely determined to make it in music, and he had a combination of talent, adaptability, and doggedness that led to success. He also had an ear for good singers. He had met Denny Doherty, who was with the Halifax Three, and Michelle Gilliam (later Phillips) while on tour with the Journeymen. The three formed a group and Doherty suggested his friend Cass Elliot as a fourth member. During a trip to the Virgin Islands, the Mamas & the Papas were officially formed.

Straight Shooter is, ultimately, the story of John Phillips, whose life was a microcosm of ‘60s rock bohemianism. Phillips was a few years older than many of his peers in rock, and he had been living a counterculture life long before baby boomers coined the term. He married young in 1957 and almost immediately started wandering off on various adventures, including a trip to Cuba during its revolution. In his pursuit of fame he often left his family behind, usually without telling his wife where he was going. Yet Straight Shooter doesn’t leave the impression that Phillips was callous or cruel.

He does, however, seem careless and, at times, morally thick-headed. The film suggests that the demise of the Mamas & the Papas led to Phillips’ drug abuse, but drugs were something he was casual about early on. He, Doherty, and Michelle used Benzedrine to fuel a marathon practice session for their first gig, and the first time Elliot met with them they had dropped acid and offered some to her. When Phillips later descended into heroin addiction and then recovery, he seemed surprised to discover that his drug use had such a negative effect on his family.

Visually, The Mamas & the Papas: Straight Shooter is a mess. The lighting is harsh and the director often shoots the interviewees too close. However, archival concert footage is skillfully woven into the group’s story; the sound is pretty good for 1988 stereo; and, as long as Denny, John, and Michelle are talking, the documentary is compelling. Ignore the film’s technical flaws. The three principals (Elliot had been dead 14 years when the film was made) tell their story well. The DVD extras include the full-length interviews that were edited for the final version.

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