I left California in 1973, I still had some flowers in my hair, ahem.
(BTW, that song was written by John Phillips (Mama's & Papas) in about 20 minutes. He gave it to his friend Scott McKenzie, Scott's only hit)
My neighbor is an immigrant from New Zealand. He says he can no longer afford to go 'home.'
In the late 80’s John Phillips was touring with a reformed version of the Mamas and the Papas. It included Spanky McFarland from Spanky and Our Gang (who actually sounded a fair bit like Cass Elliot), Scott McKenzie and Phillips’ daughter Mackenzie from One Day at a Time (named after Scott McKenzie I presume).
When they came to town our local paper did an extended interview with John Phillips. He explained how back in the days of the original group his then-wife Michelle Phillips did not allow her wedding ring to prevent her from jumping in the sack with any guy she fancied. Apparently one of her favorites was Denny Doherty, who was the other male vocalist in the group.
Phillips said sometimes she’d be doing the deed in the next room while he was sitting at a piano trying to write songs.
“Words of love so soft and tender won’t win a girl’s heart anymore.” What on earth do you think was going on as THAT line was being written?
Left in 78. Never been back.