Rhino Factoids: Joni and Mary Meet Mama

46 years ago today, Joni Mitchell and Mary Travers - you know, the Mary who was regularly seen with guys named Peter and Paul? - joined Mama Cass, famed member of the Mamas and the Papas, for her ABC special, The Mama Cass Television Program.

In an interview at the time, Cass Elliott mused on why she dug the idea of taking her act to TV. “Records can be a bad trip,” she said. “The audience can play your mistakes over and over. In a television special, they see you once and you work hard to make sure they're seeing you at your best. Of course, live audiences are the greatest of all: you have the audience right there communicating with you.”

One can only imagine what audiences made of the special's guest list, which was diverse even by '60s variety show standards: Martin Landau and Barbara Bain of Mission: Impossible, comedian Buddy Hackett, and - in addition to Mitchell and Travers - John Sebastian, late of the Lovin' Spoonful. Still, you can't complain about the music: Mitchell turned in a performance of “Both Sides Now,” Travers tackled Laura Nyro's “And When I Die,” and then the two of them joined forces with Elliott to cover “I Shall Be Released.” In addition, Sebastian performed “She's a Lady” and - with Elliott's assistance - “Darlin' Companion.” And that's not even mentioning Hackett's performance of “My Daughter” and the all-star version of “Meeskite,” from Cabaret, covered by Hackett, Elliott, Landau, and Bain. Now that's entertainment!