1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 1: the Mamas and the papas Mama Cass Eliot are insane. 3 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: Cass broke the mold, shattering expectations of what a female 4 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: pop star should be. She battled weight issues with extreme 5 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: dieting routines that often landed her in the hospital. She 6 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 1: was arrested in London for theft. Like most pop stars 7 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: in the sixties, Mama Cass did lots of drugs, but 8 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: unlike most pop stars, she dated not one, but two 9 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: dangerous drug dealers. Mama Cass was also at the center 10 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: of the Manson family murders. In her actions may be 11 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: why the true motive for those murders has been hidden 12 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: for over fifty years. But throughout her career, Mama Cass 13 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: performed with a charisma and sang with a voice that 14 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: was not seen or heard in pop music prior and 15 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: Mama Cass Elliott made great music. Unlike that music I 16 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: played for you at the top of the show. That 17 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from my 18 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: melotron called me Cha Cha Suit Chacha MK one. I 19 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,199 Speaker 1: played you that loop because I can't afford the rights 20 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: to Monday Monday by The Mamas and the Papas. And 21 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: why would I play you that specific slice of Ba 22 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: Da Ba Da Da Da Cheese? Could I afford it? 23 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 24 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: May seventh, nineteen sixty six, And that was the day 25 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: that Cass Elliot truly became a star, gaining her entry 26 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: into a world of Hollywood celebrity and hedonism, a world 27 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: that her presence would perhaps forever alter with disastrous results. 28 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: On this episode, a London arrest would hedonism California dreaming 29 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: in Mama Cass, I'm Jake Brennan in This is Disgraceland. 30 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,519 Speaker 1: It was innocent entertainment in the City of Sin. Mama 31 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: Cass Elliott at Caesar's Palace Circus Maximus. Mama Cass's solo 32 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: stage debut, like the woman herself, was to be Extra. 33 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: Mama Cass, formerly one of four uniquely compelling singers in 34 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: the hip hop group The Mamas and the Papas, personified 35 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixty eight American vision of Extra. Cass was 36 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: extra everywhere, from her big, charismatic voice to her technicolor 37 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: hippie fashion to her physicality. She was the first plus 38 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: sized female pop singing sensation, and there was nothing subtle 39 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: about her. America loved her. The record buying and TV 40 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 1: consumed public welcomed all of the extra that cass Ellio 41 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: had brought to popular culture as an innocent version of 42 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: the whole hippie thing. Mama Cass wasn't dangerous. Mama Cass 43 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: wasn't Jim Morrison, Mama Cass wasn't Jimmy Hendrix. Mama Cass 44 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: was Mama Cass a real straight shooter. Whatever that meant, 45 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: America could accept her, even if her former bandmates could not. 46 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: Little did Cass know her bandmates were there in the 47 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: audience that night, Michelle and John at least, and so 48 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: was half of Hollywood's entertainment industry, there to support their 49 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: friend Cass Elliott as she dropped the Mama from her 50 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: moniker and embarked on her solo ca in Earnest with 51 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: her debut performance. Mia Farrow, Sammy Davis Junior Peter Lawford 52 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: were right there up front. Joan Biahs sent flowers backstage. 53 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: Jimmy Hendricks was in the crowd too, No shit, Jimmy 54 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: Hendrix there to see her. Cass Elliott She'd come a 55 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: long way from Mama Cass. Mama Cass was yesterday, Mama 56 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: Cass was fat jokes. Mama Cass was a John Phillips production. 57 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: This debut at Caesar's Palace was a solo production. John 58 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: that prick. He never wanted cast in the band to 59 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: begin with, supposedly because her voice didn't blend with the 60 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: voices of him and his wife Michelle, or with Denny 61 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: Daugherty's bullshit. Cass's voice was the voice John didn't want 62 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: cast in the band because he thought she was too fat. 63 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: It was that simple, John alfho Fuco that he was 64 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: didn't hide his true colors when the rock press wasn't 65 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: around either. After the Mama's in the Papa's first bit 66 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: of success with their debut album If You Can Believe 67 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: Your Eyes and Ears and their megawatt hit singles California 68 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: Dreaming in Monday, Monday, music that revolutionized pop music, music 69 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,799 Speaker 1: that took traditional folk and alchemized electric instruments and jazz 70 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: vocal arrangements into some sort of irrepressible pop gold. Hits 71 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: that radio could not deny, Hits that Americans, both kids 72 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: and parents could not deny. Once that music exploded onto 73 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: the scene, making tremendous stars of each of the four 74 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:31,919 Speaker 1: members of The Mamas and the Papas inevitably, talk of 75 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: solo careers crept into the band's conversations. John was unthreatened 76 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: by Cass seeking fame outside of the group, at least 77 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: he postured as such, telling Cash she could go right 78 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,840 Speaker 1: ahead and start a record label called Fat Records. Hits stung, 79 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: but Cass took it in stride. She knew there was 80 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,239 Speaker 1: power in her voice. She knew that whatever that extra 81 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: thing was, it took a singer from being just a 82 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: deliverer of a song and transformed them into being a star. 83 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: He knew that she had it. She knew that her 84 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: voice was the voice. Sure, Denny could sing, and so 85 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 1: too could John, of course, and Michelle was pretty enough, 86 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: even if she could just barely hold a tune. But 87 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: Cass was a singer born to sing, biologically designed to sing. 88 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 1: Who cared if she didn't look like one of those 89 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: beautiful young girls from the canyon that John's song seemed 90 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: to soundtrack. Cass had it. Work counted in spades, and 91 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: she was charismatic too. Her personality was a new kind 92 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: of hippie innocence, but digging into deeper and there was 93 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: a body, funny, good time gal that everyone who came 94 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 1: in contact with love John Lennon, her hero beatle. John 95 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: was a fan and a friend, maybe even an admirer. 96 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: That shit blew Cass's mind, but it was true. He 97 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: was right there. On film and Bob Dylan's tor film 98 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: from Over in London. In sixty six eat the document, 99 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,840 Speaker 1: Cass almost fell out of her seat. She heard none 100 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: other than Bob Dylan and John Lennon talking about her 101 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: from the back of a limo, glowing beneath the haze 102 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: of grass and the glare of Da Pennebaker's sun gun. 103 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 2: I don't know about the model, then, Papa, I believe 104 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 2: you are backing them very bigly over there. Great, I 105 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 2: knew we did that. 106 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: I believe you are backing them. 107 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 2: Nah, you just just did in the Big Chick, right. 108 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: You interested in the big Chick. She got a hold 109 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: of you too. She's got a hold of you too. 110 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: She's got a hold of everybody. I know. Everybody asked 111 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: me the same thing, and I don't know what they mean. That, 112 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: of course, is a horrible, cheasy recreation of an incredibly 113 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: cool scene from the film Eat the Document that me 114 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: and my friend Chris recorded one night over one too 115 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: many bourbons. Regardless, we highly recommend you check out the 116 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: original film after listening to this podcast. Now back to 117 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: our regular schedule programming cast. Knew what John and Bod 118 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: meant too. She was a novelty. No her talent was 119 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: too intense for that, but her size was immense enough 120 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: to make her an aberration. She broke the mold. All 121 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 1: that weight and all that confidence, big girl weren't supposed 122 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: to behave that way. Where did she get the gall 123 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: to be that charismatic? Shouldn't she have been ashamed for 124 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: not looking like Michelle, for not looking like Mia both 125 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: in the audience right now at Caesar's watching her. How 126 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: could Cass possibly stand the glare? Truth was, Cass could 127 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: hardly stand the glare, but it wasn't entirely due to 128 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: insecurity surrounding her way on stage in front of a 129 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: sold out audience of Vegas hipsters, gamblers, mafioso friends, and 130 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: seinsters from the Hollywood entertainment industry, admire as she admired 131 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: more than they could possibly know, all waiting for her 132 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: to turn in what was expected to be a dynamic 133 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: solo debut performance, Cass Elliot stood stone still in the spotlight, 134 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: preparing to show the world that she was more than 135 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: just a fat chick, and the mamas and the papas 136 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: that she was Cass Elliott to prove to them that 137 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: she was an artist on the level with Jimmy Hendrix, 138 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: on the level with Sammy Davis Junior. She steeled herself 139 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: to do the one thing that letter to this momentous 140 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: point in her life, to sing, except she couldn't. Her voice, 141 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: her one weapon that no one could neutralize with a 142 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: fat joke, was gone. She froze and the band fumbled. 143 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: Cass blurted out a weak melody. The band forced fake smiles, 144 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,440 Speaker 1: cast missed entire vocal phrases, and the audience looked at 145 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: each other for answers, and there were none. Cass stumbled 146 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: through the opener. The audience applauded weakly. The band kicked 147 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: into the next number. Cass sang flat. The audience shifted uncomfortably. 148 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: The band braced for a long night. Cass smirked. Cas 149 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: fumbled to the finish of the song. She made bad 150 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: self deprecating banter some and the audience got up and left. 151 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: John Phillips sat satisfied. Michelle felt for her old friend. 152 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: Mia wondered what Frank kept going on at the Sands. 153 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: Kas kicked into another tune. The band buckled up. Hendrix 154 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,680 Speaker 1: vau must Sammy Davis scanned Amateur Hour wondered what Frank 155 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: kept got going on at the Sands. Cass felt woozy, 156 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: her voice was fading faster and faster, and there was 157 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: a second show. Fuck would there even be an audience 158 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: to not sing to? The Vegas hipsters bounced, The gamblers 159 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 1: returned to their tables. The tourist got a story to 160 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: bring back to their barbershops and bingo parlors. Peter Lawford 161 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: ran through the Blue Fact Girl jokes in his head 162 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: to pass the time. Clark Sammy decided Frank at the 163 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: Sands was the place to be in skatamuched. Cass apologized 164 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 1: and promised a better second show. She failed to deliver. 165 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: Two weeks of shows, two nights each, forty grand a 166 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: week down the drain. Cass knew the rest of the 167 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: shows weren't going to happen, not after this disaster. She 168 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 1: knew it when she hit the backstage, and she knew 169 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: it when she saw him there. He was still there, Pick. 170 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: He was there before the set, and he was there 171 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:54,080 Speaker 1: after the set. He was always there until he wasn't. 172 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 1: And that was a problem. He was a problem. At 173 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: least that's what Cass's friends thought. But to Cass, Pick Dawson, 174 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: international man of mystery, he of the violently handsome good 175 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: looks and endless stash of class A substances, was the 176 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: love of her life. But don't tell Pick that Pick 177 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: was there for his own reasons, to rub up against history, 178 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: to rub elbows with Cass's famous friends, to up his 179 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 1: resume from drug dealer to Hollywood star, perhaps on the 180 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: wings of one of his girlfriend's connections. For that to happen, 181 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,840 Speaker 1: though Cass had to perform. Cass had to keep her 182 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 1: star and ascendance. Cass couldn't blow the show, despite the 183 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,959 Speaker 1: fact that before going on stage that night at Caesar's, 184 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: it was clear to everyone backstage that Cass was in 185 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: no shape to perform. Blame it on her fever, Blame 186 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: it on her tonsils, Blame it on the crash dieting 187 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: she put herself through for the past six months in 188 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: preparation of her solo debut. She weighed three hundred pounds 189 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 1: when she started the diet, and then lost a hundred 190 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: of it from basically starving herself. Then she resorted to 191 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: a diet of mainly milk and cream and regained quickly 192 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: another fifty pounds. Physically, she was in no shape to perform. 193 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 1: Pick took matters into his own hands. He dipped into 194 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: his supply of Iranian hashish, chipping bricks backstage and smoking 195 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 1: casts up to alleviate her pain. When that didn't work, 196 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: he turned to the hard stuff and shot cast up 197 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,960 Speaker 1: with this heroine. By the time cast at her mark 198 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: at Caesar's, she was near blotto, on top of being fevered, 199 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: and with her voice failing. During the sets closer, Cass 200 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: ran through the motions of her solo hit, her version 201 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,959 Speaker 1: of the nineteen thirty one Andre Schwan and Kahn dance 202 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,199 Speaker 1: tune dream A Little Dream of Me. It was functional 203 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: at best. Cass was gone her head in the past. 204 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: Just a few years ago. It was all so easy, 205 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 1: so simple. She opened her mouth to sing, and the 206 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: world opened itself up to her. The mamas and the 207 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: papas were celebrated. FEEDI accepted, which was of course all 208 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: casts were wanted from her earliest days in the burgeoning 209 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: folk scene back in Greenwich Village to be accepted. And 210 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: then that little dream she dreamed came true. It seemed 211 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: that every day brought a new adventure. Cass remembered back 212 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: to sixty seven, just a year earlier, off the coast 213 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: of Massachusetts, on board the SS France and off to 214 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: London were her crush Beatle John awaited. The Mamas and 215 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 1: the Papas were embarking on their limitless future, a five 216 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: day cruise across the Atlantic. Everything seemed possible until it didn't. 217 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: When they arrived abroad, authorities were waiting for her, for 218 00:13:41,720 --> 00:14:09,439 Speaker 1: Mama Cass to place her under arrest. October tenth, nineteen 219 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: sixty seven, Southampton Dock, United Kingdom, America's innocent pop star 220 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: Mama Cass Elliot in handcuffs, arrested on the trumped up 221 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: charge of stealing towels and soap from a hotel upon 222 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: her previous London visit. But in reality, once British authorities 223 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,600 Speaker 1: got Cass and the cooler, all they wanted to talk 224 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 1: about was our international man of mystery, slash on again, 225 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: off again, boyfriend Pick Dawson. The arrest in nineteen sixty 226 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: seven was for a minute, anyway, all anyone back home 227 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: in the States could talk about. It will remain one 228 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 1: of America's most infamous busts from the world of pop 229 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: stardom until two years later in nineteen sixty nine, when 230 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: another arrest for the murder of one of cass Elliot's 231 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: good friends would nearly eradicate casses seemingly innocent bust from 232 00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: the pop consciousness. 233 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 2: We have a weird homicide late last night, another bizarre 234 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 2: murder in Los Angeles, the second in two days. Roman Polanski, 235 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 2: the film director and husband of Sharon Tate, Paul Newsman 236 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 2: to a hotel in Hollywood today and there he made 237 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:21,440 Speaker 2: a long emotional statement, told a good deal of what 238 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 2: had been on his mind since his pregnant wife and 239 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 2: four others were killed at their home on August eighth. 240 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 2: Twenty one year old Susan Atkins is involved in still 241 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 2: another murdered case. 242 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: She appeared in the Santa Monica City courtroom this morning 243 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: to enter a plea in a trial stemming from. 244 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 2: The July thirty first murder of thirty four year old 245 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 2: Gary Hinman, Los Angeles police have placed miss Atkins. 246 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:47,760 Speaker 1: Also known as Sadie Gluts. 247 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 2: At the scene of the Teat murder, taking into account 248 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 2: the published report in the Los Angeles Times, the story 249 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 2: that Susan Atkins told about what allegedly happened that night 250 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 2: after the murder at the Tate House from Clo Drive 251 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,880 Speaker 2: at the base of Benedict Canyon. Up here we found 252 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 2: some trousers and some shirts appeared to be turtleneck shirts 253 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 2: or something dark in color. Did they appear to have 254 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 2: any stains on them? This is where they live among 255 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 2: the state Les barns and tony buildings of an. 256 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: Old rundown movie location, twenty miles from Los Angeles. 257 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 2: They called themselves the Family. Five members are now in 258 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 2: jail on other charges in the Desert John of Independence. 259 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 2: The family's leader, Charles Manson, is jailed here. It is 260 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 2: expected that he will be charged on the Tate murders. 261 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 2: Weird hot Side. 262 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: Charles Manson was arrested on October twelfth, nineteen sixty nine, 263 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: in Death Valley, California, for grand theft auto. It took 264 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: authorities a minute, but with Manson and and fellow Manson 265 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: family member Susan Atkins also behind bars and blabbing like 266 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,879 Speaker 1: a schoolgirl. The investigators connected to dogs, and by the 267 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: end of the year formerly charged the career criminal and 268 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:15,600 Speaker 1: cult leader with the Tate LaBianca murders. LA County Deputy 269 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 1: District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi went to work piecing together a 270 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: fantastical tale that supposedly detailed Charles Manson's motive for the murders. 271 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,880 Speaker 1: It involved uber dark, acid induced inspiration from the Beatles 272 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: so called White Album, converting teenage runaways into savage murderers 273 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 1: with orgies, endless amounts of drugs, Verbo's preachings on nouveaux 274 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:43,160 Speaker 1: hippie interpretations of togetherness, ego, and the dangers of the establishment, 275 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: some twisted idea of jump starting a race war between 276 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: America's black and white populations, in which Charles Manson himself 277 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 1: would remain in the end king of the world. His 278 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: supposed motive also involved a healthy dose of spite, jealousy, 279 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:02,679 Speaker 1: and rage aim at Hollywood's music and entertainment industries that 280 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: had rejected Manson because of his supposed complete lack of 281 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: anything resembling actual musical talent. It was a lot to swallow, 282 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: but somehow America did just that. It was an explanation, 283 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: and after Mama cass Elliott's good friend Sharon Tate was 284 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: savagely murdered along with six others, America desperately needed an explanation. 285 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: Historians painted Charles Manson's arrest as the punctuating moment in 286 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: mid century American culture, that moment when the lights went out, 287 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 1: when innocence was lost, when peace and love went dark. 288 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,439 Speaker 1: It was December sixty nine. Charles Manson was on the 289 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: cover of Life magazine. Woodstock was over, Altamont was death. 290 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: The hippie dream was Donzo. Charlie Manson is dirty little 291 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 1: hippie girl's group sex, the summer of love in a 292 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: sixteen year old Sally's living room, right there on the 293 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: six o'clock news. But this thinking was bullshit, convenient huey, 294 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: dreamed up by lazy rock journalists and hack historians. Anyone 295 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,199 Speaker 1: who knew anything about the history of Hollywood and or 296 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: twentieth century America knew, even back in the immediate aftermath 297 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: of the Tate LaBianca murders, that America was never innocent, 298 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 1: and that Los Angeles, even before Charles Manson, was a 299 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: violent psychedelic Healscape Watts was on fire as far back 300 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:31,360 Speaker 1: as sixty five, when the Mamas and the Papa's first 301 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,360 Speaker 1: saying California Dreaming in lou Adler's studio on Sunset. There 302 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,679 Speaker 1: were snipers on the rooftops. Los Angeles was a flame. 303 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:43,240 Speaker 1: Rock had overtaken Folk mcgwynn's shimmery guitar, Sonny Cher and 304 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: the what the fuck is that about? Of it all? 305 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: Tanks rolling down Crenshaw, Uncle loo Venice, Jim Crazy, Charlie, 306 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: Terminal Island, Kim the Vampire, the Roadmangler, Sunset Strips, sizzling 307 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,440 Speaker 1: with sex, sex, sex, Jack on the make Hop Gone blotto, 308 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: Monkeys in the pool, The hippies are at the studio, 309 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: g with the pitchforks. The kids were about to twist 310 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 1: one up and absconde with the keys to the teaboard 311 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: and the castle, and Bob Evans was the only one 312 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 1: with a fucking clue. After sixty five, Hollywood came alive. 313 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: Everything went electric. But even in its analog days, Hollywood 314 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: had always been its own little Gomorrah. Studio heads were 315 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: big dads who exploited young talent, male and female, not 316 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: only for profit, but for sex. The agents were pimps, publicists, 317 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: ministers of propaganda. Lapd moonlighted as bagman for gangster Mickey Cohen. 318 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,680 Speaker 1: Studio security were nothing more than fixers who made problems disappear, 319 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: in pleasure perpetuate. Everyone was in on it, and most importantly, 320 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: stars got what they wanted. Always didn't matter the era. 321 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,120 Speaker 1: If Greta Garbo wanted to steal away with a young, 322 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: beautiful starlet in one of the Garden of Allas private 323 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: villas without anyone being the wiser, then Hollywood made it happen. 324 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 1: If Marlena Dietrich wanted to kill a story about her 325 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: maid raping her thirteen year old daughter, then Hollywood made 326 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: it happen. If Errol Flynn needed to be acquitted on 327 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: the statutory rape charge of a seventeen year old, then 328 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: Hollywood made it happen. If director Raoul Wallsh along with Flynn, 329 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,000 Speaker 1: wanted to steal John Barrymore's dead body and take it 330 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: on one last cruise through town, then Hollywood made it happen. 331 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: If Robert Mitchen wanted to toke up the evil reefer 332 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 1: as early as nineteen forty eight, then Hollywood made that 333 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,399 Speaker 1: happen too, And If Chet Biker wanted to waste his 334 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: god given talent as a first rate jazz man by 335 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: pumping the big age into his veins on a nightly basis, 336 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:31,640 Speaker 1: then you got it. Hollywood made it happen. Hell, if 337 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,679 Speaker 1: the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, wanted 338 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: Marilyn Monroe, the most beautiful woman in town, naked in 339 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: his bed ready in waiting for him at Frank Sinatra's 340 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,880 Speaker 1: Palm Springs the state upon his arrival out West, then 341 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: Hollywood made it happen. And later in nineteen sixty two, 342 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,680 Speaker 1: if the President's brother, Robert F. Kennedy, wanted Marilyn Monroe 343 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:55,479 Speaker 1: to keep a secret, then well that's a different story entirely. 344 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,119 Speaker 1: For this story, we highly recommend you check out the 345 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: two part episode on Marilyn Monroe the other podcast series 346 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:05,240 Speaker 1: I as bad Lands in season one Hollywood Land. The 347 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: point is Hollywood was a company town. Anything went as 348 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 1: long as the company made money. This was Hollywood's m 349 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: going back to its earliest days when the eventual President's father, 350 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,880 Speaker 1: Joe the Bootlegger, helped establish the town with gangster capital. 351 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 1: Hollywood is forever frothing with sex, depravity, violence, and greed. 352 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: There's never been any innocence In sixty nine. It was 353 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 1: a fucking lie and it still is. It's a cheap postcard. 354 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: They sell you over and over again in cheaper documentaries. 355 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:37,399 Speaker 1: Manson the Murders. It was nothing more than reality flicking 356 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:39,120 Speaker 1: the light switch on in the middle of the night 357 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,199 Speaker 1: and America catching a quick glimpse of the scurrying vermin. 358 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: But before the light flicked on, the vermin were happily 359 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,159 Speaker 1: partying with America's plus sized sweetheart at her home in 360 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: Laurel Canyon, and back in the late sixties, in a 361 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: haze of grass and LSD, it was becoming increasingly difficult 362 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: to tell the difference between the good and the bad guys. 363 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 1: But one thing's for sure, all of them, the good 364 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,879 Speaker 1: and the bad, we're all getting fat at the home 365 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: of Mama Cass. We'll be right back after this. 366 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 2: We're were were. 367 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:26,639 Speaker 1: Cass Elliott was the unofficial denmother of Hollywood's music scene. 368 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: In her home on Woodrow Wilson Drive was the scenes 369 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,080 Speaker 1: on official clubhouse. It wasn't a crash pad, but it was, 370 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 1: as Cass put it, a very free house. On most afternoons, 371 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:42,560 Speaker 1: there was a pool party David Crosby, Eric Clapton, members 372 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: of the Monkeys, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young were 373 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: all friends of Cass and as such were all regulars, 374 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: and the guests weren't just musicians. Up and coming Hollywood 375 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: A listers frequented cast as parties as well, Jack Nicholson, 376 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: Dennis Hopper, Warren Baty, Ryan O'Neill, and a young, good 377 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: looking at Donnie Wayne Johnson who would later go as 378 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: just Don and split from Hollywood for Miami and its 379 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,800 Speaker 1: different type of Sonnyvice. Don Johnson, along with all the others, 380 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: were all regulars at Cass's home, and true to Cass 381 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: Elliott's spirit of openness, the party welcomed newbies, friends of friends, 382 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,680 Speaker 1: anyone who seemed open and caring of the hippie ethos 383 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 1: of creativity and togetherness. It being Hollywood hustle, or to 384 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,680 Speaker 1: put it bluntly, young ambitious men and women on the make. 385 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:34,920 Speaker 1: Her boyfriend picked Dawson chief among them. Pick knew no bounds, 386 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,200 Speaker 1: no guardrails, even within the context of the hippie movement. 387 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,640 Speaker 1: Picked Dawson colored outside the lines. He moved serious drugs 388 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,639 Speaker 1: kept bag company came and went as he pleased, and 389 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 1: had Cast convinced that someday he would marry her. But first, 390 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: of course, there was the matter of whatever score he 391 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 1: was trying to hook up. The new synthetic drug MDA 392 00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: was Pick's newest bag. Pick had some friends, Billy Dory, 393 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: who was always slightly less handsome and mysterious than Pick, 394 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: and who, in the spirit of the sixty sexual liberalism, 395 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 1: was also romantically involved with Mama Cass. Despite both of 396 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: the relationships with Pick Dawson, Billy as a friend Cass 397 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: as a lover, Pick didn't care, though Pick had plenty 398 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:21,639 Speaker 1: of relationships, including another friend who was always around, another 399 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: good looking piece of Western trade who Casts and everyone 400 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: else in their circle seemed to be in awe of, 401 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: and for good reason. She was badass, butch and mooey mysterious. 402 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 1: She went by the name Cowboy. Cowboy was different from 403 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,159 Speaker 1: most everyone else who hung around Cass's home. Cowboy was 404 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: a vibe and scary but attractive tall real tall over 405 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: six feet, broad shouldered and stunning but somewhat masculine. She 406 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: dressed in the requisite denim and heavy leather and swayed 407 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: to the day. But on Cowboy, her build made it 408 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: all come off more gower gulch than whiskey at Go go. 409 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,960 Speaker 1: Word was. Cowboy had a made for movies background, bizarre rumors, 410 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 1: had her origins in Tennessee post war, born from some 411 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: sort of country music royalty, and then a quick run 412 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,719 Speaker 1: through the seams of the studio system, some combo of honeypot, 413 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 1: muscle and fixer. None of it made sense, but then again, 414 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: it was nineteen sixty nine, so all of it made sense. 415 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,960 Speaker 1: Cowboy was way into guns, all kinds, and knives too. 416 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:29,520 Speaker 1: Cowboys screamed military, the kind of military you didn't hear about, 417 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 1: the sneaky kind, the kind of ducks past enemy lines 418 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: at night, plants whatever needs planting, and is gone before 419 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: sun up in a way before whatever atrocity was just 420 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: committed as available in the papers for you to read about. 421 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: A cowboy liked to get high too, and she always 422 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: had the best grass, so Cass's crew let her in. 423 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,200 Speaker 1: Cowboy taught Crosby how to shoot, Cowboy taught a monkey 424 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,959 Speaker 1: had to swim, and Cowboy taught Mama Cass how to 425 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: properly handle a man's unique set of needs, just like 426 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:02,680 Speaker 1: a big girl should. Cowboy came and went at Cass's 427 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,040 Speaker 1: house freely, and so too did her friends. And Cassa's 428 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: boyfriends picked Dawson and Billy Doyle, all of them mixing 429 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,439 Speaker 1: it up with Cassa's rock star and celebrity pals, and 430 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,240 Speaker 1: most notably introducing their own strange element into the unique 431 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,920 Speaker 1: Hollywood mix druggies, black magic shaman, straight up hippie losers. 432 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,840 Speaker 1: Most of these Charlatans who entered Cass's home were too high, 433 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: too dumb, too starstrucker, some combination of all three. That 434 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,119 Speaker 1: most would just leave an embarrassment and never return, but 435 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,440 Speaker 1: some some gave off the vibe that they weren't ever 436 00:27:35,480 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 1: going anywhere unless it was of their own volition. The 437 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: English actor Michael Kane was not some drugged out, sunset 438 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: stripped rube who wandered into the A list scene at 439 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: Mama Cass's house by accident. Michael Kane was fresh off 440 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: of the film The Italian Job, and he entered cass 441 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 1: Elliott's home brimming with unnoticeable excitement and understated cool. Nineteen 442 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: sixty nine, Hollywood was in full flex, and Michael Kane 443 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,920 Speaker 1: had arrived. Of course he had. He was the star 444 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,640 Speaker 1: he put in the work constantly, and this was as 445 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,160 Speaker 1: much his destiny as it was Cass Elliots or any 446 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:35,640 Speaker 1: of her other megawalk guests. It was a scene, ma'am 447 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: Cass's backyard pool overflowing with sixties bash and pop, beautiful 448 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 1: caramel skinned, bikini clad young women everywhere, in the immediate 449 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,440 Speaker 1: smell of grass, A glass of something iced and wet 450 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 1: quickly placed in your hand. Neil Young in the corner 451 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 1: looking out beyond his scraggly black bangs over his acoustic guitar, 452 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 1: Peter Torque, and the monkeys running around in a kimono. 453 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 1: Jimmy Hendrix's experience blasting through the high five. Was that 454 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 1: Mia Farrow who was the older gentleman in the ascot 455 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,200 Speaker 1: with the siltaire? Was that Bob here who offered him 456 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: that joint? And how old was she? She couldn't have 457 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: been more than fifteen? And where were her clothes? And 458 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 1: that was definitely Dennis Hobber, wild eyed and frantic, you 459 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: couldn't miss him. But who was the young man on 460 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 1: the sofa and the short shorts making eyes? And how 461 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: young was he? Was that Candy Bergen, such a beauty, 462 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: but she was with her moonfaced boyfriend, the music producer 463 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: Guy Doris Day's boy Terry Melcher. And what were those 464 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 1: women at the edge of the pool chanting? And what 465 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 1: was with their get up? They looked like they had 466 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:36,959 Speaker 1: him bathed in weeks And that was definitely Dennis Wilson 467 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: from The Beach Boys in the middle of them, and 468 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: he definitely didn't seem to mind the funk. Cass went 469 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,960 Speaker 1: to work making introductions, first to Pick and Billy and Cowboy. 470 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,520 Speaker 1: Michael was unimpressed, so too were a Pick and Billy 471 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 1: and Cowboy. Then intros to more familiar faces. Michael, this 472 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: is Sharon, Sharon, this is Michael. But Michael definitely knew 473 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 1: who Sharon was. She was the the hottest, at least 474 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,960 Speaker 1: physically speaking, actress in Hollywood at the time. The Texas knockout, 475 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 1: the very tall, the very leggy, and the very blonde 476 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: Sharon Tate, who was as she was most always with 477 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: her ex and now close friend Jay See bring hairstyles 478 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:18,400 Speaker 1: to the stars, including Michael Kane. And though Sharon's husband, 479 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: Roman Polanski wasn't there, Michael could feel his presence the 480 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: whole town could. Roman was the hottest director on the 481 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: planet at the time. Steward of nineteen sixty eight psychological 482 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: horror smash the satanic thriller Rosemary's Baby. But Michael didn't 483 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: know the other's cast proceeded to introduce him to, and 484 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,640 Speaker 1: he didn't care to get to know them beyond introductions. 485 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: One a friend of Roman's, a big polish brute named 486 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 1: Voytech Freikowski, and his slight, well heeled girlfriend, Abigail Folger. 487 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,800 Speaker 1: Another pole even more brutish than another fellow, a short, 488 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: scruffy dude who was with yet another group of very young, 489 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,560 Speaker 1: very filthy girls, girls who looked an awful lot like 490 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: the group of girls assembled at the end of the 491 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: pool around Dennis Wilson, and this dude, unlike Dennis and 492 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:08,280 Speaker 1: unlike most everyone else at the party, did not appear 493 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: to be the social type. Cass introduced him to Michael 494 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:16,360 Speaker 1: Kaine shortly after making the introduction to Sharon. Michael, this 495 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:21,440 Speaker 1: is Charles Manson. Charles Manson gave Michael Cain a weak smile, 496 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 1: didn't offer his hand, and skulked away. All of the 497 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 1: dirty young women followed. Michael Caine felt something very strange 498 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,800 Speaker 1: Emini from the freaky little hippie who just blew him off. 499 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: He looked around, Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring and this new weird, 500 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 1: angry little man named Charles Manson. It wouldn't be until 501 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 1: months later, in nineteen sixty nine that Michael Kin would 502 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: fully realize what strange company cass Elliot kept. I'm Jake 503 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: Brennan and this episode of Disgraceland is to be continued. 504 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 505 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 506 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,120 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 507 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 508 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,200 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and 509 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 510 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com slash Membership. 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