The sixth Top 5 for the Mamas and the Papas was an autobiographical look at how they got started. The real Creeque Alley (pronounced "creaky") is in Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, one of the places the group honed their sound. There's a website, creequealley.com that explains the song much better than I could, line by line. Papa John Phillips told a slightly different version of their island days, though, in a radio interview years ago with Howard Stern. He said somehow American Express sent him, a starving musician, a card with no credit limit. The catch was that the balance had to be paid in full each month. He had no intention of ever making any payments, so the group ran up all their expenses on that card for a few months until they finally landed a record deal. There was a deadline to sign the contract in L.A., yet they only had $200 total between them. Papa John went to the AMEX office for a cash advance (no ATM's!) to get back to the mainland, but the card was immediately revoked. $150 got them as far as San Juan, Puerto Rico, so Papa John took their last $50 to a casino and sat down at the blackjack tables. A couple of hours and $2,000 in winnings later, they were off to L.A. in style. I don't know how true that was, but it's a hell of a story!
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