The Mugwumps were a 1960s

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band, based in New York City. It released one self-titled album in 1967 and two singles. The Mugwumps found little success during their short time together in 1964, and are best known for launching the careers of

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...

and

Denny Doherty Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty (November 29, 1940 – January 19, 2007) was a Canadian singer. He was a founding member of the 1960s musical group the Mamas and the Papas for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. ...

(who went on to co-found

the Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...

) and

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Zal Yanovsky Zalman Yanovsky (December 19, 1944 – December 13, 2002) was a Canadian folk-rock musician. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky and teacher Nechama Yanovsky (née Gemeril), who died in 1958. He played lead guit ...

(who co-founded

the Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including ...

History

The origin of the band's name is unclear. One source says that it was taken from the

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

novel ''

The Naked Lunch ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. The liner notes for the 2007 re-release of ''The Mugwumps'' reports that Jim Hendricks claimed that the name came from music producer

Erik Jacobsen Erik Jacobsen (born May 19, 1940) is an American record producer, song publisher and artist manager. He is best known for his work in the 1960s with Tim Hardin, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Charlatans, and Sopwith Camel, and later with Norman Greenbau ...

claimed that the name came from his

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

grandmother. (Historically, "

Mugwump The Mugwumps were Republican political activists in the United States who were intensely opposed to political corruption. They were never formally organized. Typically they switched parties from the Republican Party by supporting Democratic ...

s" were dissident American Republicans of 1884, from Algonquian ''mugquomp'', "important person"). They largely played remakes of other artists' material with some of their own original songs. Their album was released after the band had split up. Members

and Denny Doherty would become one-half of

(who told the story of The Mugwumps in their hit song "

Creeque Alley “Creeque Alley” is an autobiographical hit single written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas in late 1966, narrating the story of how the group was formed, and its early years. The third song on the album '' Del ...

"), while

would form

. Jim Hendricks formed the Lamp of Childhood, which recorded three singles for

Dunhill Records Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distributed b ...

, and had some success as a performer and songwriter. He wrote the top 15 hit "Summer Rain" for

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit sing ...

, and the theme song "Long Lonesome Highway" for the TV show ''

Then Came Bronson ''Then Came Bronson'' is an American adventure/drama television series starring Michael Parks that aired on NBC. It was created by Denne Bart Petitclerc, and produced by MGM Television. ''Then Came Bronson'' began with a television film pilot ...

''. A different 1960s group known as The Mugwumps, based in Los Angeles and produced by

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...

for his

Sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick ...

label, had no connection to the New York group but reached #127 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart in 1966 with a cover version of "Jug Band Music", a song John Sebastian wrote for the Lovin' Spoonful's ''

Daydream Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...

'' album.

Discography

Albums

''The Mugwumps'' (Warner Bros. 1967) ;Side 1 # Searchin' # I Don't Wanna Know # I'll Remember Tonight # Here It Is Another Day # Do You Know What I Mean ;Side 2 # You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover # Everybody's Been Talkin' # Do What They Don't Say # So Fine John Sebastian did not appear on this album. Produced by Roy Silver & Bob Cavallo in association with Alan Loeber /A Cavallo & Silver Production. Recorded in August 1964.

Singles

* "I Don't Wanna Know" b/w "I'll Remember Tonight" (1964 Warner Bros. 5471) * "Searchin'" b/w "Here It Is Another Day" (1967 Warner Bros. 7018)

References

External links

Jim Hendricks Website
Jim Hendricks American Folk Artist {{DEFAULTSORT:Mugwumps, The Rock music groups from New York (state) American folk rock groups Musical groups from New York City Musical groups established in 1964 Musical groups disestablished in 1964 Warner Records artists