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Unsteady Freddie sadly reports:
The loss of Terry Melcher
An important force in pop and surf music......
Terry Melcher, surfin'-era musicianBy Myrna OliverLos Angeles TimesPosted
November 21 2004 LOS ANGELES · Terry Melcher, surfin'-era singer, songwriter
andrecording executive who produced the Byrds' No. 1 hits Mr. TambourineMan and
Turn, Turn, Turn and co-wrote The Beach Boys' well-loved Kokomo,has died. He was
62.Mr. Melcher, who also worked on several projects with his mother,actress and
singer Doris Day, died Friday night in his Beverly Hills,Calif., home of cancer,
publicist Linda Dozoretz said Saturday.Helping to shape the California surf,
rock, and folk music scene in the1960s, the multifaceted musician sang
background, played piano, wrotelyrics, composed music and produced records and
shows.During his famous mother's filmmaking heyday, he often composed songsfor
her projects, including the title ballad Move Over, Darling for her1963 movie
with James Garner and Polly Bergen. He also was an executiveproducer of her CBS
television series, The Doris Day Show from 1968 to1972, and
engineered her return to television in the `mid-1980s with theshow Doris Day´s
Best Friends.In the early 1960s, Mr. Melcher formed Bruce & Terry with
BruceJohnston, who later joined the Beach Boys, and had hits with CustomMachine
and Summer Means Fun. The duo also formed The Rip Chords.In the mid-1960s, Mr.
Melcher became a staff producer for ColumbiaRecords and hit his stride when he
was assigned to work with a new bandcalled the Byrds. He helped craft their
fusion of rock and folk into anew and immensely popular sound, and produced
their definitive versionsof Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man and Pete Seeger's
Turn, Turn, Turn, aswell as later albums including Ballad of Easy Rider.He went
on to turn the rag-tag garage band Paul Revere and the Raidersinto a mainstream
pop group. He wrote such hits for them as Him or Me --What's It Gonna Be? and
The Great Airplane Strike.Other well-known artists relying on the Melcher touch
included the Mamasand the Papas, Bobby Darin and Glen
Campbell.He is survived by Day, wife Terese and a son from a previous
marriage,Ryan.The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Co. newspaper
the link:
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/obituaries/sfl-omelchernov21,0,4827028.story?coll=sfla\
-news-obituaries
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