November 18, 2022 —– Chart #170
Hello Music Friends,
Welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. Today’s song was written in 1931 with music by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt and lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was first recorded in February 1931 by Ozzie Nelson and also by Wayne King and His Orchestra, with vocals by Ernie Birchill. A popular standard, it has seen more than 60 other versions recorded.
I am focusing on the 1968 cover of Dream A Little Dream Of Me by The Mamas & The Papas with lead vocals by Cass Elliot. The group had often sung the song for fun, having been familiarized with it by member Michelle Phillips, whose father had been friends with the song’s co-writer, Fabian Andre, in Mexico City where Michelle Phillips’ family had resided when she was a young girl. “Mama” Cass Elliot suggested to group leader John Phillips that the group record “Dream a Little Dream of Me”. According to him she was unhappy while recording the song, objecting to its campiness. However, Elliot herself would later tell Melody Maker: “I tried to sing it like it was 1943 and somebody had just come in and said, ‘Here’s a new song.’ I tried to sing it as if it were the first time.”
In the album version, recorded with the Mamas and the Papas, a spoken introduction from an engineer is heard mentioning a drink, and then Papa John Phillips himself concludes with the words: “And now, to sing this lovely ballad, here is Mama Cass”. Only the last part was heard on the single version of the song. Cass did her own whistling, which is heard before the song’s fade.
By the time of the album’s release, there were strong indications that the Mamas & the Papas were set to disband, a perception strengthened by the failure of the lead single “Safe in My Garden”. Having an opportunity to promote the group’s best-known member as a soloist, Dunhill Records gave a June 1968 single release to the “Dream a Little Dream of Me” track with the credit reading – to John Phillips’ displeasure – “Mama Cass with the Mamas & the Papas”; in its UK release the artist credit simply read “Mama Cass”. Promoted in the US press and on billboards with a photograph of a discreetly but obviously nude Elliot lying in a bed of daisies, “Dream a Little Dream of Me” was their last major hit, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 that August. The Billboard Easy Listening chart ranked the single as high as #2.
The original Ozzie Nelson version: https://youtu.be/ry3G_JpxDco
Keep rockin my friends,
Stan Bradshaw