Member since 1965St Thomas V.I.
In 1965 the four rehearsed in the Virgin Islands, off Main Street in Charlotte Amalie, and lived on their credit cards. So this page is a card imprinter on a shop counter: charge it, and every slip is a place you can go.
Behind: Main Street, Charlotte Amalie, December 1941 · Jack Delano (Library of Congress) · Public domain
The counter · 10 merchant plates · 9 on the map
Each plate is a place in their story, from a New York winter in 1963 to Los Angeles in 2012. Slot one into the imprinter and pull the handle; the slip shows the real place, its sources and how to visit. A total appears only where a source gives one.
Ten merchant plates on the rack, nothing in the bed. Slot one in.
Charlotte Amalie · St Thomas · 1965
Flicker card
Main Street, December 1941 · Jack Delano (Library of Congress) · Public domain
Off Main Street (Dronningens Gade), downtown Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Creeque Alley takes its title from Creque, or Crequi, Alley (said “creaky”), home to a club in the Virgin Islands where John and Michelle Phillips’s group, the New Journeymen, spent time.
The four spent early spring to midsummer 1965 in the Virgin Islands to rehearse. John Phillips later said it was the first time they tried playing electric.
It was on that stay that Cass Elliot became the last to join, while the group was still the New Journeymen; the new name followed soon after.
Money was short: they made ends meet on their credit cards. The club’s owner was Hugh Duffy, who later ran Chez Shack on Vieques. The alley is named after Henry O. Creque, a Main Street merchant who bought three warehouses and their alleyways in 1905. Duffy’s Bar was in the same alley.
Today its shops are part of downtown Charlotte Amalie’s shopping streets. They had thought of calling themselves the Magic Cyrcle; the name they took came from the Hells Angels, whose word for women was mamas.
The alley is not on the open map, so the pin is Main Street, which it runs off. It is a public shopping lane in the old town; walk it by day.
St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Live marketplace results for walks round downtown Charlotte Amalie and its old alleys. Check each itinerary.
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Compare toursGreenwich Village · 1963–1964
1964 · 118 West 3rd Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty sang together in the Mugwumps with Zal Yanovsky; the group lasted eight months.
Creeque Alley names the Night Owl Cafe in Greenwich Village among the places that mattered to the band’s story. Yanovsky and John Sebastian went on to start the Lovin’ Spoonful, who came to fame at the Night Owl.
Bleecker Bob’s record shop took the address from 1983.
The club has gone; the address is on a public street a block from Bleecker Street.
Greenwich Village, New York
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1963 · 103 Waverly Place, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
California Dreamin’ was written in 1963, in a hard New York winter, while Michelle Phillips was missing sunny California.
John worked on songs late at night, and one morning he brought her the first verse.
The Washington Square Hotel was once the Hotel Earle, which is reportedly where the two wrote it; some dispute the claim.
The hotel says it has welcomed guests since 1902.
A working hotel on the corner of Washington Square Park; the lobby is for guests, the park is open to all.
Greenwich Village, New York
Once the Hotel Earle, reportedly where California Dreamin’ was written, on the corner of Washington Square Park. Its own page says it has welcomed guests since 1902.
See the hotel
6000 Sunset Boulevard · 1965–1966
Adler paid them a $100 down payment towards a contract signed that week.
Barry McGuire brought them in as his backing singers. In a break they moved into Studio Two and sang four songs for Lou Adler with John Phillips on acoustic guitar.
Adler asked the engineer Bones Howe what he thought. Howe said that if Adler did not sign them, he would. The deal was two albums a year for five years, with a royalty of 5% on 90% of retail sales.
Take one · the borrowed track
California Dreamin’ had been cut for McGuire’s album. Their voices went onto the same backing track, which was in the right key, and Bud Shank added an alto flute solo after another session.
Take two · the ghost
McGuire’s own vocal was never wholly wiped: it can be heard briefly on the left channel at the start of the record.
Wikipedia dates the single to December 1965; Howe’s account places the session in early 1966. A Boston station broke it, and it reached No. 4 in March 1966.
Take three · the mistake
On I Saw Her Again, Howe dropped the coda vocals in too early. Adler liked the false start and told him to leave it in.
The group cut its first three albums at United Western Recorders. Western Studio was one half of United Western Recorders. It became Ocean Way, then Cello Studios, and reopened as EastWest Studios in 2009.
Now EastWest Studios, a working studio and not open to visitors. See it from Sunset Boulevard.
Monterey · Hollywood · Laurel Canyon · 1967
16–18 June 1967 · 2004 Fairground Road, Monterey, California
It was planned in seven weeks by John Phillips, Lou Adler, the event producer Alan Pariser and the publicist Derek Taylor.
The Monterey International Pop Festival ran here from 16 to 18 June 1967. The artists played for free and the money went to charity; only Ravi Shankar was paid, $3,000.
Phillips wrote San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) for Scott McKenzie to promote the festival.
The Mamas & the Papas closed it, bringing on McKenzie. Dancing in the Street was the last song, and Cass Elliot told the crowd they were on their own.
Their own set was under-rehearsed: the Phillipses and Adler had been busy organising, and Doherty arrived at the last minute from the Virgin Islands. Michelle Phillips’s interview for the Library of Congress describes the three days and the group’s set. The fairgrounds were built in 1936 and are also home to the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Hendrix’s Monterey is in his World.
Now the Monterey County Fair & Event Center: the gates open for its own events, so check its calendar.
Monterey, California
Park up on the grounds where Monterey Pop was held. Check the event centre’s page for dates and rates.
See the RV park
August 1967 · 2301 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood
In August 1967 they played the Hollywood Bowl to 18,000 people, with Jimi Hendrix opening.
John and Michelle Phillips remembered it as the high point of the band’s career.
A working amphitheatre, the summer home of the LA Phil; go in for a concert.
Laurel Canyon · private
Salon calls her home the canyon’s salon, neutral ground where musicians shared food and songs.
It was a few blocks from Frank Zappa’s house on Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Salon tells how she brought David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash together there.
The festival foundation counts a talk at Cass’s house, about rock being taken seriously as art, among the conversations that led to Monterey Pop.
Who first sang with whom, and in whose house, is told in the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young World; the canyon from Lookout Mountain is in the Joni Mitchell World.
A private home. The canyon is named here, the house is not mapped. Pictured: the canyon from a public corner.
Los Angeles
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Compare toursBroadway · Cleveland · Los Angeles · 1967–2012
24 September 1967 · 1697 Broadway, at 53rd Street, Manhattan
In September 1967 John Phillips announced that the group was taking a break, and the band confirmed it on The Ed Sullivan Show of 24 September.
The Ed Sullivan Show came from this theatre, then CBS Studio 50, from 1953 to 1971.
The Late Show’s final broadcast from the theatre was on 21 May 2026, leaving it vacant.
See the marquee from Broadway at 53rd Street. The theatre has stood empty since its last broadcast in May 2026.
1998 · 1100 East 9th Street, Cleveland, Ohio
The group was inducted in 1998, by Shania Twain.
They sang together for the last time at the ceremony. Cass Elliot had died in 1974, and her daughter Owen took her place.
The Hall says their sound caught the spirit of Southern California.
A museum on the Cleveland lakefront; check its hours before you go.
1967 · 2012 · 800 West Olympic Boulevard, L.A. Live, downtown
Monday, Monday won the 1967 Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
On 16 February 2012 Michelle Phillips talked about the band’s history with an audience at the museum.
A public museum in the L.A. Live district. Check its opening days before you go.
Where it is now
In Greenwich Village the Night Owl’s address and the Washington Square Hotel are a five-minute walk apart; the Ed Sullivan Theater is a subway ride uptown. In Los Angeles, 6000 Sunset and the Hollywood Bowl are a short drive apart, Laurel Canyon is just west, and the GRAMMY Museum is downtown. Monterey is a long day’s drive north. St Thomas and Cleveland stand on their own. At Monterey, Cass Elliot sent the crowd home by telling them they were on their own; so are you.
9 places you can visit, from Creque’s Alley to the Cleveland lakefront. Cass Elliot’s house is a private home, so it is named but not mapped.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Area reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The alley is not on the open map, so the pin is Main Street, which it runs off. It is a public shopping lane in the old town; walk it by day.
Off Main Street (Dronningens Gade), downtown Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Creeque Alley takes its title from Creque, or Crequi, Alley (said “creaky”), home to a club in the Virgin Islands where John and Michelle Phillips’s group, the New Journeymen, spent time.
The alley is not on the open map, so the pin is Main Street, which it runs off. It is a public shopping lane in the old town; walk it by day.
Stay
The old Hotel Earle, and a pitch on the Monterey fairgrounds.
Greenwich Village, New York
Once the Hotel Earle, reportedly where California Dreamin’ was written, on the corner of Washington Square Park. Its own page says it has welcomed guests since 1902.
See the hotelMonterey, California
Park up on the grounds where Monterey Pop was held. Check the event centre’s page for dates and rates.
See the RV parkGo there
Greenwich Village, Laurel Canyon and old Charlotte Amalie.
Greenwich Village, New York
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Compare toursLos Angeles
Live marketplace results for rock-history tours of Laurel Canyon and Sunset. Homes are seen from the road only.
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Live marketplace results for walks round downtown Charlotte Amalie and its old alleys. Check each itinerary.
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Compare toursWhat’s on
No dated events for the group were listed on an official page when this was checked.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Take it home
The canyon’s story, and the record that went to No. 1.
Michael Walker
The canyon scene round Cass Elliot’s house, from the book Salon reviewed.
Find the bookThe Mamas & the Papas · LP, Dunhill, 1966
Their first album, and their only No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
10 of 10 places · 16 of 16 Moments
Off Main Street (Dronningens Gade), downtown Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
The four rehearse in the Virgin Islands, trying electric instruments for the first time.
Cass Elliot becomes the last member to join, on the Virgin Islands stay.
They think about the Magic Cyrcle, then take a name from the Hells Angels’ word for women, mamas.
118 West 3rd Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty sing in the Mugwumps, a group that lasts eight months.
103 Waverly Place, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
John and Michelle Phillips write California Dreamin’ in a cold New York winter.
6000 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood
In a break from Barry McGuire’s session they sing four songs for Lou Adler in Studio Two.
Their voices go onto the backing track first cut for McGuire, with Bud Shank’s alto flute solo.
Bones Howe drops the coda vocals of I Saw Her Again in too early; Adler likes it and keeps it.
2301 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood
They play the Hollywood Bowl to 18,000, with Jimi Hendrix opening.
2004 Fairground Road, Monterey, California
The festival John Phillips and Lou Adler helped organise; the group closes it.
Laurel Canyon, a few blocks from Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Los Angeles
Cass Elliot’s house in Laurel Canyon becomes neutral ground for musicians.
A talk at Cass’s house about rock as art is one of the conversations that leads to Monterey Pop.
1697 Broadway, at 53rd Street, Manhattan
The band confirms on The Ed Sullivan Show that it is taking a break.
800 West Olympic Boulevard, L.A. Live, downtown
Monday, Monday wins a Grammy.
Michelle Phillips tells the band’s story to a museum audience.
1100 East 9th Street, Cleveland, Ohio
The group is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and sings together one last time.
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