Rediscovering my ‘Mama’ – the music legend I never got to know
Mama Cass Elliot died suddenly on tour as her solo career was flourishing and her daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugell, was just seven.
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.
Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Owen Elliot-Kugell with her mother Cass Elliot. Credit: Henry Diltz)
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