Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)

About Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)

"Twelve Thirty" a.k.a. "Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)", the song's main refrain, is a song by The Mamas & the Papas. After the release of the group's third album -- Deliver—and their appearance as the closing act of the Monterey International Pop Festival, the group was scheduled to appear in England. The visit was catastrophic for both the group and Cass Elliot (see The Mamas & the Papas main article for further details), and resulted in Cass leaving the group temporarily. The group had completed four tracks for their fourth album—initially titled Springboard—but when the group fracture occurred, progress on the new album stopped completely. Dunhill Records, hoping to keep the group in the public eye while personal matters were sorted out, released a Greatest Hits compilation, entitled Farewell to the First Golden Era, a smash hit at #5 on the charts, and certified gold. "Twelve Thirty," one of the completed songs from the fourth album, was included on the album in order to entice record buyers with new material, and simultaneously released as a single. "Twelve Thirty" would also appear on the now-retitled fourth album, The Papas & The Mamas, when finally released in the fall of 1968. The song peaked at number 20 as a single in the US, but failed to chart in the UK. The group would perform the song on The Ed Sullivan Show on 24 September 1967, in one of their last televised appearances as a group. more »