The Lamp Of Childhood

In autumn 1966, singer/guitarist James Hendricks assembled the folk-rock group the Lamp of Childhood in Los Angeles. Hendricks had previously been married to Mama Cass of the Mamas and the Papas and had performed with her in both the Big Three and the Mugwumps. The original roster featured guitarist Fred Olsen, bassist Mike Tani, and drummer Billy Mundi, formerly of Mastin & Brewer. The band secured a contract with Dunhill and cut its first single, a reading of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch,” which surfaced in early 1967. Mundi had already exited by then to join Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. Two further Dunhill singles followed—“First Time, Last Time” and “Two O’Clock in the Morning”—before the Lamp of Childhood disbanded in June 1967.