| The Mamas & the Papas discography | |
|---|---|
 The Mamas & the Papas in 1967 | |
| Studio albums | 5 |
| EPs | 5 |
| Live albums | 5 |
| Compilation albums | 23 |
| Singles | 17 |
| Video albums | 6 |
| Music videos | 6 |
The Mamas & the Papas were a vocal group fromLos Angeles, California, that was active from 1966 to 1969. Their discography consists of a total of five albums and 17 singles, six of which made theBillboard top ten, and sold close to 40 million records worldwide.[1] "Monday, Monday" hit number one on theBillboard Hot 100 chart in March 1966 and "California Dreamin'" was the top song on theBillboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1966.
The Mamas & the Papas' recordings were released onDunhill Records until 1967, when the company was sold and the label becameABC-Dunhill.[2] Around 1973, ABC-Dunhill discarded all multi-track session recordings and mono masters because they were deemed obsolete and too expensive to store.[3] The original recordings of the Mamas & the Papas, and of labelmates such asThree Dog Night, are therefore lost, and it has been necessary to create digital versions from the stereo album masters, often second- or third-generation tapes. This is why the sound quality of Mamas and Papas' reissues does not match the best from the 1960s. In 2012, Sundazed Records located a mono master ofIf You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears in the UK and released it on 180-gram vinyl and a limited edition of 500 compact discs.[4] Three years later an extensive search of label archives worldwide turned up all the mono singles and mono LP masters from which the 50th Anniversary 2-CD set was made a year later and reissued for Record Store Day in 2018.[5]
TheRIAA[6] has certified the single "California Dreamin'" as3× platinum, and the singles "Dream a Little Dream of Me", and "Monday, Monday" asplatinum.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [7] | CAN [8] | GER [9] | UK [10] | |||
| If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears |
| 1 | — | — | 3 | |
| The Mamas & the Papas |
| 4 | 10 | 14 | 24 |
|
| Deliver |
| 2 | 3 | 30 | 4 |
|
| The Papas & the Mamas |
| 15 | — | — | — | |
| People Like Us |
| 84 | 55 | — | — | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Historic Performances at the Monterey International Pop Festival |
|
| Greatest Hits: Live in 1982 |
|
| Live in Concert |
|
| California Dreamin' |
|
| Live! |
|
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [7] | AUS [14] | BEL (FL) [15] | NL [16] | UK [10] | |||
| Farewell to the First Golden Era |
| 5 | — | — | — | — |
|
| Golden Era Vol. 2 |
| 53 | — | — | — | — | |
| Hits of Gold |
| — | — | — | — | 7 | |
| 16 of Their Greatest Hits |
| 61 | 13 | — | — | — | |
| A Gathering of Flowers |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| 20 Golden Hits |
| 186 | — | — | — | — | |
| The Best of the Mamas and the Papas |
| — | — | — | — | 6 | |
| The ABC Collection |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| The Hit Singles Collection |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| The ★ Collection |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| Creeque Alley: The History of the Mamas and the Papas |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| California Dreamin': The Very Best of the Mamas and the Papas |
| — | — | 45 | 33 | 14 | |
| California Dreamin': The Greatest Hits of the Mamas and the Papas |
| — | — | — | — | 30 | |
| Greatest Hits |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| Before They Were the Mamas & the Papas... The Magic Circle |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Mamas & the Papas |
| — | — | — | — | — |
|
| All the Leaves Are Brown: The Golden Era Collection |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| Complete Anthology (4-disc box set) |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| Gold |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| California Dreamin': The Best of the Mamas and the Papas |
| — | — | — | — | 21 | |
| Icon |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| The Complete Singles (50th Anniversary Collection) |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| Ultimate Anthology |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Straight Shooter |
|
| The Very Best of the Mamas and the Papas |
|
| California Dreamin': The Songs of the Mamas and the Papas |
|
| The Mamas & the Papas & Other '60s Greats |
|
| Legends of the Canyon |
|
| The Ed Sullivan Show Presents: The Mamas & the Papas |
|
| The Ed Sullivan Show Presents: California Dreaming' - The Songs of the Mamas & the Papas |
|
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [20] | AUS [14] | BEL (FL) [15] | BEL (WA) [21] | CAN [22] | GER [9] | NL [16] | NZ [23] | SA [24] | UK [10] | ||||
| "Go Where You Wanna Go" | 1965 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears | |
| "California Dreamin'" | 4 | 87 | — | — | 3 | 31 | — | 14 | — | 9 |
| ||
| "Monday, Monday" | 1966 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| |
| "I Saw Her Again" | 5 | 9 | — | 47 | 1 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 11 | The Mamas & the Papas | ||
| "Look Through My Window" | 24 | 67 | — | — | 5 | — | — | 18 | — | 53[a] | Deliver | ||
| "Words of Love" | 5 | 6 | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | 47 | The Mamas & the Papas | ||
| "Dancing in the Street" | 73 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Dedicated to the One I Love" | 1967 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 26 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 2 |
| Deliver |
| "Creeque Alley" | 5 | 4 | — | 26 | 1 | — | — | 16 | 19 | 9 | |||
| "Twelve Thirty" | 20 | 20 | — | — | 14 | — | — | 11 | 16 | 51[a] | The Papas & the Mamas | ||
| "Glad to Be Unhappy" | 26 | 55 | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | Golden Era Vol. 2 | ||
| "Dancing Bear" | 51 | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | The Mamas & the Papas | ||
| "Safe in My Garden" | 1968 | 53 | 86 | — | — | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | The Papas & the Mamas | |
| "Dream a Little Dream of Me" | 12 | 1 | — | — | 7 | 5 | — | — | 8 | 11[b] |
| ||
| "For the Love of Ivy" | 81 | — | — | — | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Do You Wanna Dance" | 76 | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears | ||
| "Step Out" | 1972 | 81 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | People Like Us | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||