BBS Sounds: Rediscovering My ‘Mama’ – The Music Legend I Never Got to Know

Cass Elliot, known as 'Mama Cass', shot to fame in the 1960s with the folk-rock group The Mamas & the Papas. Their intricate harmonies in songs like California Dreamin' and Monday Monday captivated audiences. After launching a solo career Cass Elliot became a regular face on television chat shows and in 1974 had just completed a run of concerts at the London Palladium when she died unexpectedly aged only 32.

Cass left behind a musical legacy but also a seven-year-old daughter, Owen, who has spent the last 50 years speaking to those who knew Cass best and trying to discover who her mother really was. Owen Elliot-Kugell has written a book about that journey called My Mama, Cass.