Motorcycles and Mississippi mamas: The unlikely camaraderie of Elvis Presley and John Phillips

“Somewhere down the beach she has a house of her own alone, out of reach she won’t even answer the telephone, and I’m alone:” On a Malibu beach a boy fishes, a young woman jogs, a golden retriever waits patiently, and John Phillips, nicknamed the “Wolfking of L.A.,” is incongruously bedecked in a fur coat, scarf, white top hat, and tall brown boots. This is a circa February 1970 outtake from the cover photo shoot for the founding Mamas and Papas songwriter’s self-titled debut solo album released on Dunhill Records. Photography by Tom Gundelfinger O’Neal

None other than Elvis Presley rode motorcycles with Mamas and Papas mastermind John Phillips in Palm Springs, heard a demo of solo debut John Phillips [John, the Wolfking of L.A.] before its April 1970 distribution on Dunhill Records, and wanted to record the Top 40 country rock hit “Mississippi.” Colonel Tom Parker vetoed the…