The Big 3 was an American folk trio consisting of singer

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 ...

(1941–1974), singer-songwriter-banjo player

Tim Rose Timothy Alan Patrick Rose (September 23, 1940 – September 24, 2002) (unofficial website by long-term correspondent of Rose's) was an American singer and songwriter who spent much of his life in London, England, and had more success in E ...

(1940–2002), and singer-guitarist Jim Hendricks (b. 1940).

Career

In 1962, Tim Rose and John Brown met Cass Elliot in Georgetown, DC: "After trying a few songs together, they went on the road as The Triumvirate. In Omaha, Nebraska, they recruited James Hendricks before heading for New York City as The Big Three." Brown appears to have been left behind. In New York, the reconfigured trio played coffee houses and folk clubs – including

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to ''The Ot ...

– with sufficient effect to secure spots on national television programs such as ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' (1962), ''

Hootenanny A hootenanny is a party involving music in the United States. It is particularly associated with folk music. Etymology Placeholder Hootenanny is an Appalachian colloquialism that was used in the early twentieth century U.S. as a placeholder nam ...

'' (1963), and ''

The Danny Kaye Show ''The Danny Kaye Show'' was an American variety show, hosted by the stage and screen star Danny Kaye, which aired on Wednesday nights from September 25, 1963, to June 7, 1967, on the CBS television network. Directed by Robert Scheerer, it premi ...

'' (1963). They made twenty-six television appearances in all. Meanwhile, Elliot had married Hendricks to help him avoid the draft; it is said that the union was never consummated. The trio released two albums and two singles before personal and musical differences led to its demise. Rose went solo, while Elliot and Hendricks co-founded The Mugwumps. Later, Elliot went on the join the influential pop group,

The Mamas and 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 A ...

before embarking on a moderately successful solo career.

Discography

Albums

;''The Big 3'' (FM Records, 1963) # Rider – 2:30 # (It Makes) A Long Time Man Feel Bad – 3:28 # Nora's Dove (Dink's Song) – 1:56 # Young Girls Lament – 4:13 # Sing Hallelujah – 2:06 # Come Along – 1:52 # Dark As a Dungeon – 3:10 # The Banjo Song – 1:55 # Winken, Blinken and Nod – 3:27 # Ho Honey Oh – 1:29 ;''Live at the Recording Studio'' (FM Records, 1964) # I May Be Right – 2:24 # Anna Fia (Feher) – 2:44 # Tony and Delia – 2:30 # Grandfather's Clock – 1:50 # Silkie – 3:20 # Ringo – 2:13 # Down in the Valley – 2:08 # Wild Women – 3:01 # All The Pretty Little Horses – 2:40 # Glory, Glory – 2:14 #

Come Away Melinda "Come Away Melinda" is a song written by Fred Hellerman and Fran Minkoff. An anti-war song, its first release was by Harry Belafonte in May 1963. The song was subsequently recorded by many other singers. Recordings The song was first release ...

– 3:10

Compilations

In 1995, Sequel reissued both albums on one CD called ''The Big 3 Featuring Mama Cass''. There are two other compilations with the same name. The first, with eleven tracks, was released by Roulette in 1967 and reissued in 1979; the second, with eighteen tracks, was released by Collectables in 2000. ''Essential Folk Masters'' (Classic Music International, 2011), which is credited to "Mama Cass & The Big Tree" (''sic'') on the cover, contains the same eighteen tracks as the Collectables compilation in a different order. This is doubly confusing given that after Rose left, Cass, Hendricks and their new bandmates briefly called themselves Mama Cass and the Big 3 before settling on The Mugwumps.

Singles

* 1963: "The Banjo Song" ("

Oh! Susanna "Oh! Susanna" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), first published in 1848. It is among the most popular American songs ever written. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all tim ...

") / "Winken, Blinken and Nod" (FM Records) * 1963: "Come Away Melinda" / "Rider" (FM Records) Roulette released "Nora's Dove (Dink's Song)" / "Grandfather's Clock" as a single in 1968 to promote its compilation ''The Big 3 Featuring Mama Cass''.The Big 3 Featuring Mama Cass: Nora's Dove (Dink's Song)
Discogs. Retrieved 23 April 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big 3 American folk musical groups