Beer Frame
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 1:39AM 
Tonight in my ongoing, patent pending “Master Boozer” series, I present, John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas.
When it comes to rock ‘n’ roll excess, most people think of Keith Richards, but I think John Phillips was the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll party god.
John Phillips formed the Mamas and the Papas in 1965 with his (fabulous babe) wife, Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot. Phillips was definitely the leader of the band and he wrote all their hits and did the vocal arrangements. Like most bands from that era they were into acid, uppers, downers and all arounders. After the Mamas and the Papas split up he released a solo album that had a minor hit (the album was titled, John, The Wolf King of L.A. and it had the hit was the song “Mississippi.” He also became a full-blown heroin/coke/Dilaudid addict. All of this is documented in his book, “Papa John,” which is a great book.
So anyway, he ended up getting busted in the ‘80s for drug trafficking but managed to plea bargain a light sentence: One month in jail. It sounds like he got off easy, but if you’ve ever spent one night in jail, one month would suck pretty bad.
And now we come to where John Phillips earns his Master Boozer stripes. When he got sprung from the joint he discovered a new drug that can really get you fucked up and it’s legal! The drug: Booze, wonderful booze! Phillips started drinking like a Banshee with an unquenchable thirst and by 1992 he had blown out his liver. He did get a liver transplant, which is rough to get and he probably paid someone off to get it. Then he made the rounds and appeared in People magazine saying, “Kids, don’t do what I did. Drinking is bad!” I remember reading that thinking, “Ahh...what an asshole.” But I thought differently a few months later when his picture was in another magazine. The magazine was the National Enquirer and the picture was a photo of him drinking in a bar in Palm Springs! And while most people would’ve been a little embarrassed about this, Papa John went on the Howard Stern show and joked that he was “testing out the new liver.” Ya gotta love this guy! When you get a new liver, they tell you you can’t drink or it can go bad very quickly. Papa John took that advice, said, “Cheers,” and started drinking again!
Before he could ruin his second liver, John Phillips’ heart gave out and he died of heart failure on March 18, 2001.
So tonight I raise my can of Budweiser and salute Master Boozer, Papa John Phillips!
I’ll try to get today’s show on the road around noon today, I’ll see you then. As always, thanks for stopping by The Marty Wombacher Show! I appreciate it!
Cheers,
Marty.
Reader Comments (3)
i like everything about john phillips, except for the fact that he helped to spawn bijou phillips - who, although SMOKIN' hot, seems like a real numbnuts. this is evidenced by the fact that she spent a good deal of her young adult life sucking the schlong of sean lennon. and we all know how much of an asshole THAT kid is! sorry if this seems petty of me (not tom!), but that's just the way i roll. call it annoyance by association. it's true. i can't stand rachel hunter anymore either.
To John Phillips.. AND whores!! Cheers!!
He makes a great pizza!