BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Terry Melcher, a record producer and songwriter who aided the careers of Ry Cooder, the Byrds and the Beach Boys, died Friday of melanoma, his publicist said. He was 62. Melcher, the son of actress Doris Day, co-wrote the hit song “Kokomo” for the Beach Boys. He also performed on the Beach Boys album “Pet Sounds.” In the early 1960s, Melcher began singing as a solo act and later paired with future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston to form the group Bruce & Terry. The pair had several hits, then went on to form the Rip Chords, which recorded the 1964 hit “Hey, Little Cobra.” In the mid-1960s, Melcher joined Columbia Records as a producer. Working with the Byrds, he produced their top-selling version of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” and other hits, including “Turn, Turn, Turn.” Melcher also produced hit songs for Paul Revere and the Raiders and worked with Gram Parsons, the Mamas and the Papas, and Ry Cooder. Melcher also helped run his mother’s charitable activities, including the Doris Day Animal Foundation.
[He was also well-known for having pissed-off Charles Manson and for reputedly being the original “hit” planned by the Family]
Been reading about Melcher this afternoon. Some sources say that Manson was probably targeting Melcher, while the AP wire says that the cops found out that Manson knew where Melcher was really living and wasn’t targeting him. Anyone know the full story?
I think Melcher owned the house where Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski, Jay Sebring, and Steven Parent were murdered (sorry, it annoys me when they’re referred to just as the Tate murders). Manson had visited the house at least once while Melcher was living there so there was a question/theory that Manson was actually after Melcher that night.