Written and first recorded by The Mamas & The Papas (1966).
Hit version by The 5th Dimension (US #16/CAN #9/AUS #75 1966).
From the wiki: “‘Go Where You Wanna Go’ was written by John Phillips, and was first recorded by The Mamas & The Papas for their LP If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears.
“In [Hal] Blaine’s book, Michelle admits ‘Our group had never sung with anything but an acoustic guitar until that fateful day in 1965 when we came together in Studio 3 at Western Recorders. There, the Mamas and the Papas’ ‘sound’ was created with the distinctive beat that Blaine already made himself famous for.’
“That ‘sound’ was the key. Sloan writes, ‘We needed to find a mic that worked magic for their voices, and the perfect echo and reverb for them. Without it, their voices didn’t seem to fly.’ You can hear it on the first Mamas and Papas single, ‘Go Where You Wanna Go’, which inexplicably failed to catch on when it was released on Dunhill.”
– “What Really Happened To The Mamas And The Papas?“, by Mitchell Cohen, 2017
“The Mamas & The Papas released ‘Go Where You Wanna Go’ as the group’s first single from their debut album, If You Can Believe Your Ears and Eyes. It had no apparent chart impact. The second single released from the album, ‘California Dreamin”, was much, much more successful.
“It was Soul City records label mate Johnny Rivers who suggested the song to The 5th Dimension. The vocal quintet recorded the song for their debut studio album, Up, Up and Away, in 1966, and was also that group’s very first single release, preceding the group’s Top-10 title track hit. ‘Go Where You Wanna Go’ charted in the US Top-20 and the Canadian Top-10.”
The 5th Dimension, “Go Where You Wanna Go” single release (1966):
The 5th Dimension, “Go Where You Wanna Go” TV performance (1966):