Dave Mason & Cass Elliot

Dave Mason & Cass Elliot was the only teaming of artists Dave Mason and Cass Elliot. The album was produced by both Mason and Elliot and recorded in 1970. The album was released by Mason's label, Blue Thumb Records.

Conception
After being introduced by their mutual friend Gram Parsons, Mason and Elliot hit it off and decided to pursue singing together professionally. Elliot, having released two solo albums at that time, missed the collaborative effort of producing music and Mason, who had just arrived in the U.S. after splitting with Traffic, was interested in a fresh collaboration. Originally Elliot was intended to be co-producer with Mason on an intended solo album by the latter: after Elliot sang background for Mason on some sessions the idea of the album being a Mason/ Elliot collaboration emerged.

Album
Despite receiving co-billing with Mason, on several of the songs Elliot's contributions are limited to background vocals, which highlighted a raspy, more raw side of Elliot’s voice. When interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine Elliot stated, "I sing better with David because he's so good. You want to do better. I'm singing notes I never sang with The Mamas & the Papas".

The music falls into the country rock harmony sound of its time, but with a bluesier edge. Mason wrote five of the songs on the album, while Elliot co-wrote two: the single "Something to Make You Happy" and her only solo song on the album, "Here We Go Again". This was the first time that Elliot lent her hand in songwriting since her days with The Big 3 and The Mugwumps, and also the last.

Dave Mason & Cass Elliot was recorded - at the Record Plant West - in the autumn of 1970 for release by Blue Thumb Records, who had released Mason's debut album Alone Together: Dunhill Records, on whose roster Elliot was, held right of release to any singles from the album Dave Mason & Cass Elliot and also a second collaborative album from the two singers. Two singles were released from the album Dave Mason & Cass Elliot: "Something to Make You Happy" in January 1971, "Too Much Truth, Too Much Love" released the following month.

Reception
The album was released in March 1971 and was a moderate success landing at the 49th spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart. To promote the album, Mason and Elliot both appeared and performed on The Tonight Show and The Andy Williams Show. They also performed two concerts with the first one at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and the second at New York’s Fillmore East. Although Mason and Elliot remained close friends and both discussed interest in recording together again, this would be their only collaboration.

It was reissued in 2008 by the British Rev-Ola Records. Cherry Red Records reissued the CD in 2019 as CDMRED737.

Personnel

 * Dave Mason - guitar, vocals
 * Cass Elliot - vocals
 * Bryan Garo - bass
 * Paul Harris - keyboards, strings
 * Russ Kunkel - drums, percussion
 * Technical
 * Dave Mason, Cass Elliot - producer
 * Gary Kellgren - engineer