[1] John Phillips and Scott McKenzie (born Philip Blondheim) were childhood friends and had sung together in various groups, including the Abstracts and the Smoothies, during the 1950s.
[3] Phillips turned down Werber's suggestion that he join The Kingston Trio after Dave Guard left, and continued to work with McKenzie and Weissman.
"[2] They had some success with a single, "River Come Down", written by Phillips and Weissman, and continued to perform together in 1962, though the record company started to lose interest, and McKenzie increasingly suffered from mental health issues.
In 1963, Phillips married Michelle Gilliam, and the group began to fall apart, a process exacerbated by the "British Invasion" which made their style of music less fashionable.
[1] When Brickman accepted the head writer position on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson[5] and left the group, he was replaced by Denny Doherty.