Mamas and the Papas-If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (Cover #5)

Mamas and the Papas-If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (Cover #5)

Cover has normal wear and tear for the age. Cover is graded VG. Record is graded VG.

If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears is the debut album by the Mamas and the Papas (written as The Mama’s and the Papa’s [sic]), released in 1966. The stereo mix of the album is included in its entirety on All the Leaves are Brown (2001), a two-CD retrospective compilation of the band’s first four albums and various singles, as well as on The Mamas & the Papas Complete Anthology (2004), a four-CD box set released in the UK. The mono mix of the album was remastered and reissued on vinyl by Sundazed Records in 2010, and on CD the following year. It is the band’s only album to reach number one on the Billboard 200.

Five versions of the album cover were produced:

No. 1: The original cover (shown at upper right) features the group in a bathroom, sitting in a bathtub with a toilet in the corner. These were pulled from stores after the toilet was judged indecent; they have since become valuable on the collector’s market, with one copy selling at auction for $300.

No. 2: Most of the toilet bowl is covered with a scroll listing the presence of “California Dreamin’” on the album.

No. 3: Two additional songs from the album are shown on the scroll: “Monday, Monday” and “I Call Your Name”.

No. 4: Same as No. 3 but with a gold record award blurb added (in black) to the left of the group.

No. 5: Black cover with a closely cropped shot of the group that hid the fact that the picture was taken in a bathroom.