It's an iconic song from the 1960s....1967 to be precise....and it is purely biographic as John and Michelle Phillips sat down and described the hard times before the Mamas and the Papas took off....this in an area of the Virgin islands known as Creeque Alley. It went to number 5 on the charts....and might have topped the charts if it had a name that you could pronounce just by looking at it.....Creeque Alley....pronounced....Creaky Alley. That the name didn't appear in the song itself didn't help.
It was probably forty years ago....pre-computers....when I did some research on where the rock stars were after their heyday....and this was only ten or fifteen years after that heyday. The Who and the Beatles and the Stones and the Beach Boys had all lost a member by then. It's a long list. Even Karen Carpenter had died.
Back to....Creaky Alley....there is a line that is repeated a few times.....that you will surely remember if you are familiar with the Mamas and the Papas song....
"McGuinn and McGuire....just a-gettin' higher....in L.A. you know where that's at."
It's repeated four times....with a little change each time....ending with....
"McGuinn and McGuire....just a-catchin' fire....in L.A. you know where that's at."
McGuinn and McGuire....Roger McGuinn....leader of the Byrds....typical rock star for a while....Eastern religion.....all that nonsense...and then God has mercy on him....just like He had mercy on me....and hopefully you.
Barry McGuire....The Eve Of Destruction. I find it interesting that he put out that hit song just as we were entering....the eve of destruction. God had mercy on him also. He put out some Christian albums and did absolutely wonderful work with Christian songs for children. One of which....Bullfrogs And Butterflies....is on YouTube below....I have to laugh....this is the same guy who sings....Eve Of Destruction....but then it isn't the same guy....for he'd been....Born Again!
The last line in Creeque Alley is...."And California dreamin' is becoming a reality"....referring of course to another iconic harmonic hit....California Dreamin'....that was actually recorded first by Barry McGuire....with a few lines that went....
"Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Well I got down on my knees
And I pretend to pray
My point here in this post is that whether it is McGuinn or McGuire....or B.J. Thomas or Pat Boone....or Alice Cooper....God has mercy on whom He will have mercy!
