TERRY MELCHERTerry Melcher, who died on 19 November, 2004, was the producer responsible for the distinctive sound of The Byrds and numerous other 1960s acts, as well as writing songs for the Beach Boys and two solo albums.He was born Terry Jorden on 8 February, 1942, in New York. He was the only child of the singer and film star Doris Day and her first husband, trombonist Al Jorden.Ms Day was married twice more before Terry had reached his 10th birthday. Her third husband, film producer and agent Marty Melcher, adopted Terry.He spent most of his childhood on film sets and at recording studios, so it was no surprise when he showed early show business ambitions. He recorded a few singles with the future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston in his late teens under the name Terry Day, but decided he was more comfortable behind the scenes and began training as a record producer at the age 20.He began his career at Columbia, his mother’s label, producing her 1964 album Love Him! and co-writing the hit song Move Over Darling (although this would effectively prove to be her chart swan song).His next assignment was an unheard-of band called The Byrds playing the unheard-of genre of music now known as folk-rock. He helped them achieve the lavish, layered resonance and jangly exuberance of their first two albums, Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn! Turn! Turn! (both 1965).Melcher moved onto bring commercial success to Paul Revere & the Raiders. During the 60s he also worked with the likes of The Mamas & The Papas, Wayne Newton, Pat Boone and Glen Campbell, as well as helping to organise the legendary Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.In 1966, his connection with Bruce Johnston, who had been drafted into the Beach Boys to replace Brian Wilson in the touring band, led to Mr Melcher singing backing vocals on the group’s seminal album Pet Sounds.He worked as an executive producer on The Doris Day Show on CBS television and returned to producing with The Byrds, though the results were not nearly as successful as the first period.In 1973 he went back to recording as an artist in his own right and recorded, with the help of The Byrds, his self-titled debut album. He followed it up with Royal Flush in 1976. Though neither record was commercially profitable, they did gain a niche following.By the 1980s he was living in semi-reclusion with his family in Monterey, California, and only worked sporadically, producing another television show for his mother and co-writing several successful songs for the later incarnations of the Beach Boys. He died of cancer at the age of 62 and was survived by his mother, wife Terese, and son Ryan.
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