Mama Lion: Lynn Carey, Rock and Roll and Women’s Sexuality. in the 70s

TicTok is a wonderful way to waste time. A while back I was scrolling through my feed and a video came up on controversial album covers. The album featured in this installment was the debut album by Mama Lion. The controversial album cover showed the lead singer of the band, apparently, breast feeding a lion cub. That image didn’t sit well with a lot of retailers and the cover was censored in most markets (although apparently, Japan was fine with it).

That image sparked a memory a teenage me sneaking girly magazines into the house to be examined after dark. I remember the image of the women with a lion cub from an issue of Penthouse I had long ago. The singer for Mama Lion and the model for the controversial cover was Lynn Carey, Penthouse Pet for December, 1972. At the time, I remember the story saying the Pet was a singer for a band, but my teenage self never imagined it could be worth tracking down. The guy on TikTok said Mama Lion, was a pretty good blues rock band. So I went searching the internet.

I found a CD that features Mama Lion’s first two album on one disc. The controversial photo was not on the cover, but I ordered it anyway.