Cass Elliott was in a trio called “The Big 3” before she joined “The Mamas and the Papas.” You can easily find albums online with the covers touting “featuring Mama Cass.”
The question: Are these the original covers–in which she would have been “Mama Cass” before she was a “Mama”, or were these reissued after she became famous to cash in on her name?
Here is a page showing the original covers of the two Big 3 albums. Note that the reference to Cass Elliot on the live album is a sticker, not part of the actual cover design, obviously added to capitalize on the Mamas & the Papas’ success.
The Wikipedia page on Cass Elliot seems to indicate that she was first called “Mama” when they named the group. The album cover of her earlier work with The Big Three looks like a re-issue:
Thanks. That answers that.