The Big 3

Today the Big 3 are recalled chiefly because their lineup once included Cass Elliot before she joined the Mamas & the Papas. Around 1963 the Washington, D.C. trio issued two agreeable pop-folk LPs. Elliot shared the stage with Tim Rose, who later enjoyed a modest yet respected career as a late-’60s singer-songwriter best known for his recording of “Hey Joe,” the arrangement that loosely guided Jimi Hendrix, and with James Hendricks. Like many other ensembles on the East Coast coffeehouse circuit during the first half of the decade, the group favored crisp, layered vocal harmonies reminiscent of the Kingston Trio. They edged only slightly beyond the Kingstons in rhythmic drive and made occasional forays into pop territory by adding a full band. Even so, the bulk of their output remained acoustic, drawing heavily on updated renditions of traditional folk numbers while also incorporating original songs, most of them credited to Rose. The act dissolved in 1964 after Rose departed for a solo path; Elliot and Hendricks then teamed with Zal Yanovsky and Denny Doherty to form the short-lived Mugwumps, a folk-rock prototype whose members soon dispersed into two major folk-rock outfits—the Mamas & the Papas, featuring Elliot and Doherty, and the Lovin’ Spoonful, featuring Yanovsky.