Forget About The Sandwich!

Heard a bit of sad news today. Denny Doherty, 1/4 of the Mamas and the Papas, passed away on Friday. His voice was the one most prominently heard on their recordings (not John Phillips, the primary songwriter, as most assumed). And while that bit of news was a downer, what followed in all the postings that I saw about it.. well, that’s what pissed me off the most. And what was that? This line, which I read over and over in various places (from the Associated Press):

The members re-formed in 1971 for the album “People Like Us,” but all hope for a reunion ended in 1974 when the 30-year-old Elliot choked and suffered a fatal heart attack while eating a sandwich in London.

Now, if you go look at the story on their site, which will only be available for a few days before you’ll have to pay to access it, you’ll see this line. Or will you? When I first loaded their site this evening looking for the original source (I’d read it from somewhere else, but saw the dateline was AP), that line read “Elliot suffered a fatal heart attack in London.” Now I go back, and it’s back to the sandwich. Half the news sites say there was a sandwich involved in Mama Cass’s death, the other half just say the heart attack. Now, I’m no expert, but when so many other places say the sandwich was just there and had nothing to do with her death, I have to wonder what moron does their fact checking, since this has been a known fact for quite some time now.

On a related note, since John died in 2001, that leaves Michelle Phillips as the only member of the group still alive.

One comment

  1. Hey S & S…
    Just dropping in to say hello… hope the two of you are doing well.
    I went on the DVRA repeater last night via Echolink and was listening from Welcome, NC saying hello to everyone. Being that our road here is the “RF Trap of America”– it’s in a valley, AND there is an AM station at the top of the other hill cellphones and radios can’t survive here….
    (drive faster Brian– I hear the banjos!)… LOL

    Anyway, my husband loves Echo and I might turn him into a certified ham here soon! We’ll both be in Daytona shortly with Jeff Burton’s #29 Holiday Inn Chevy!! C’mon sing it ya’ll, “We all goin to the Holidae Eeeen”… LOL

    Wishing you both the best,

    Jennifer
    JerseyGirlRacing.com

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