1. California Dreamin' (2:38) - The tempo is slightly slower than moderate. Instruments include a tambourine and, during the middle instrumental, a flute. Michelle and Cass sing in the left channel, John and Denny in the right. Since the Papas sing lead, the narrator is male; he so much loathes winter weather that he wishes he could spend that whole season in Los Angeles.
2. Go Where You Wanna Go (2:26) - This moderately slow song features violins and a tambourine. Michelle and Cass sing the role of a girl who can't stand being apart from the man she loves. He insists on traveling 3000 miles without her. So she calls off the relationship, telling him "Go where you wanna go, do what you wanna do, with whoever you wanna do it with."
3. Monday Monday (3:25) - This song has a similar speed to the previous one. For the first 8 seconds, Michelle and Cass scat-sing a capella. Again, you hear just them if you turn the balance knob all the way left, or just John and Denny if you turn all the way right. At about 1:40 the key rises from F to G. Instruments include orchestral strings and a tambourine. At 2:36 comes a 1-measure rest for all instruments and voices. I do agree, Monday is the worst day of the week for many people; it means the start of a new week of school for kids, work for adults.
4. I Call Your Name (2:36) - This version is somewhat slower than the original by the Beatles. It opens with a slow, rolling piano solo. In the middle instrumental, an electric guitar plays lead and vibrates. The song slows down toward the end.
5. Do You Wanna Dance (2:57) - This version is moderately slow and soft, a sharp contrast to the fast, rockin' tempo of Bobby Freeman's original and a version by the Beach Boys. The M&P version features a tambourine and orchestral strings. If you prefer to slow-dance with someone special, this is the version for you.
6. I Saw Her Again Last Night (3:11) - The tempo is moderate, with a tambourine playing on nearly every beat. In some parts, when I listen closely, I can hear handclaps. Orchestral strings play lead during the middle instrumental. Denny portrays a man who is trapped in an affair with a girl who believes he loves her. He realizes that he "shouldn't just string her along." Interestingly, he follows with the phrase, "If I couldn't I wouldn't," meaning if he could stop leading her on, he would. At 2:42 Denny sings "I saw her" a little too soon, then restarts the chorus at the proper measure.
7. You Baby (2:19) - This song was previously a hit for the Turtles. This version is somewhat slower and features handclaps.
8. Dancing Bear (4:09) - The tempo is slightly faster than moderate. For the first 40 seconds, a flute and other woodwinds play slowly. Then, in the right speaker, a guitar enters. The narrator hates sweeping chimneys. Seeing a gypsy with a dancing bear, the narrator wishes he could be the gypsy. At 1:25, as if to fit the gypsy theme, a tambourine starts playing in the right speaker.
9. Words Of Love (2:14) - The tempo varies slightly throughout the song, but the general speed is moderate. A soft drum roll fills the first 4 seconds. While a piano plays in the left speaker, drums and a tambourine play in the right. A harmonica plays lead in the middle instrumental. Cass sings almost at the top of her lungs because she was mad at John for insisting that instead of the group singing together, Cass would sing solo. The first time Cass sings "...won't get you where you want to go," Michelle follows with an ad-libbed "no" in the left speaker. The gist of the lyrics is that "worn out phrases" won't help a man capture a woman's heart; instead he must take her to a new place. Years earlier, Buddy Holly had sung a different song with the same title.
10. No Salt On Her Tail (2:40) - This moderately slow song features a tambourine and an organ. This time the guys sing in the left speaker and the gals in the right. "This little bird" is probably a metaphor for the girl the narrator loves. She wants to be free, so he believes that if he lets her be, she might come to him.
11. Look Through My Window (3:06) - Orchestral strings play in the left speaker; drums and a tambourine play in the right. Here's another song that's soft and moderately slow. Also, the theme is similar to that of the previous song: people and relationships change, and the narrator has lost his girl. Through his window he can "see the people hurryin' by, with someone to meet, someplace to go."
12. Dancing In The Street (3:46) - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas sang the original version of this song. This version has a moderate speed, just like the original. The second time Cass sings "Every guy, grab a girl," she replaces "grab" with "grasp." During the last minute of the song, she exchanges ad-libs with the others.
13. Dedicated To The One I Love (2:57) - This slow, 12/8 song was previously a hit for the Shirelles. Michelle sings softly in the opening verse and other parts of the song. Perhaps this version charted higher, as I hear it on the radio more often than the Shirelles' version.
14. Creeque Alley (3:47) - This moderate-speed song is my favorite M&P tune. Most of the instruments play in the right speaker, including a guitar, drums, and a tambourine. The exceptions are a harmonica (during some verses) and a flute (during the instrumentals). This song chronicles the members' lives, starting with their days as struggling musicians in other groups. Denny and Cass had previously been in the Mugwumps with John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky, both of whom found success in the Lovin' Spoonful. In the opening lines, Michelle is nicknamed "Michie" for the sake of rhyming. Some verses end with the line "No one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass." Interestingly, one of the later verses changes that to "Everybody's gettin'..." BTW, the place named in the title is pronounced "creaky."
15. Glad To Be Unhappy (1:41) - This song, somewhat slower than moderate, was written by Rodgers and Hart in 1936. The narrator who, paradoxically, enjoys feeling bad, likens his (or her) situation to that of a lost lamb.
16. Twist And Shout (2:52) - Until I first heard this version, I never imagined anyone singing this song soft and slow. This version doesn't hold a candle to that of the Beatles, who play it fast and SHOUT it, living up to the title.
17. 12:30 (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon) (3:24) - This moderate-paced song begins with half a minute of subdued drums and piano. At first, looking at the title, I wondered whether it referred to 12:30 AM or PM. But it makes no difference, as the narrator hated life in New York City; he used to see from his window a steeple clock that was stuck at 12:30. Seeing the young girls is a happy turning point for him.
18. My Girl (3:32) - This version, featuring chimes and a tambourine, plays at a speed somewhat slower than moderate, as does the original version by the Temptations.
19. Safe In My Garden (3:12) - This slow song starts very softly. The garden provides the narrator a sanctuary from an increasingly violent world.
20. CASS ELLIOT SOLO: Dream A Little Dream Of Me (3:14) - This song has a slow swing tempo. Instruments include a tambourine. Just before Cass starts singing, I hear a male voice speaking in the background. Whereas in "Words Of Love," Cass could belt it, now here's the other end of the spectrum--she sings softly. Her character hopes that the man she loves will dream of her, while she stays awake aching for his hugs and kisses.