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Baltimore-born Cass Elliot: Rock star, devoted mom, independent thinker

Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas (L) and her daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugel. Elliot-Kugel's memoir, 'My Mama, Cass' includes stories of her mother's friends, music making, and the complex truths of mother's her life. Photo: Hachette Book Group
Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas (L) and her daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugel. Elliot-Kugel's memoir, 'My Mama, Cass' includes stories of her mother's friends, music making, and the complex truths of mother's her life. Photo: Hachette Book Group

For many, the memorable element of the singing group The Mamas and the Papas was Cass Elliot’s clear contralto. Cass Elliot was born Ellen Naomi Cohen in Baltimore in 1941, attended Forest Park High School in Northwest Baltimore, and left high school six weeks before graduation to find her show business fortune in New York. She was 32 when she died of a heart attack in London after a brilliant run at the Palladium in late July 1974.

Her daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugell, was 7 years old when her mother died, and has just published a memoir, "My Mama, Cass." We talk with her about it.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'