The Smiley Smile Message Board

I don't know a whole lot about him. I know he was a friend of Bruce Johnston's back in the 60s. Were they in the same band? I also read that he has passed away. I am assuming in the last 20 years since he has songs on 'Summer in Paradise'. Any more basic and interesting facts on him would be appreciated.

  Terry Melcher was a major producer in the 60s, working with bands like The Byrds, Paul Revere & the Raiders, etc., as well as releasing songs as a solo artist. He was great friends with both Bruce Johnston and Dennis Wilson. There's a ton of info online about Terry's life.

His mother was Doris Day, he (or rather, his house) figures into the Manson/Dennis story, he introduced Brian to Van Dyke, & so on...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Melcher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Melcher)

Try that.

Passed away in '05. Produced Still Cruisin' and Summer in Paradise.

Produced some of Still Cruisin.' The title track, "Somewhere Near Japan," "Make it Big" and "Kokomo." Al produced "Island Girl," and BW is credited for "In My Car." And someone I can't recall for "Wipeout."

Terry and Bruce Johnston also had Equinox Records in the early '70's, tried to get Brian back into recording for that label... formed a studio group called California or California Music, featuring a variety of different line-ups almost day-by-day... the idea was to get that good-time '60's feel back into the music... some of the people involved, if only for a moment, were Dean Torrance, Curt Becher, Bruce, Terry, Brian, Gloria Grinell (probably spelled wrong) and others.  Released a re-make of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" that had some Brian involvement.  Released one or two other singles, none of which charted.  A damned fine idea that never took off.

Actually, it was the B-side of the California Music single, Jamaica Farewell, that had Brian on it. He played organ.

I thought Brian had some production credit for WDFFIL...
And I love their version of Jamaica Farewell...

Anyway, back to Melcher... I've always enjoyed his self-titled solo album from around '73 or '74... not so much his next one, Royal Flush.  Both are worth having, if you can handle his voice.

I think he produced "California Dreamin" also...and performed with Bruce Johnston as Bruce & Terry and had a hit single or two. I think he was in the Rip-Chords who had a chart hit also. I always dug the Dylan medley on his solo record.

Wonderfully confusing:

Brian co-produced and sang bvs on "Why Do Fools...", released as by California Music in 1975

He played organ "California Music" (B side of "Jamaica Farewell"), also released as by California Music in 1976.

Difference is, CM 1 was a Terry Melcher Project while CM2 was helmed by Curt Becher, even though both were on RCA-Equinox. Essentially, same name but two different bands.


And people wonder why I get pissy sometimes. All the info required is in the Wikipedia entry, the link to which I posted earlier.

Terry and Bruce Johnston put out this album together:


http://www.amazon.com/Best-Bruce-Terry/dp/B000009QRW (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Bruce-Terry/dp/B000009QRW)

Outstanding compilation: get that, and the two Rip Chords CDs (and if you want to go the whole hog, the Rip Chords Best Of..., as it has two 'new' bonus tracks) and you've a collection of songs that stand up to anything Jan & Dean did.

This - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDGXpfIoz8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDGXpfIoz8) - is a corker. Mike wrote this with Bruce, and also sings the bass vocal.

Gotta admit-its gorgeous-first listen as well. 8)

At risk of courting controversy, Terry Melcher invented folk rock!!  When he kicked all the Byrds except McGuinn off Mr. Tambourine Man, replaced them with the wrecking crew, gave em that jangly british invasion meets west coast production, some beach boy like harmonies...Mr. Tambourine totally fits in sound wise with the kind of stuff Bruce and Terry were doing, in my opinion, around that time...and putting that sound to a folk song was one of the more important things that happened in the mid sixties in pop music. 

Thanks everybody! I am surprised I never knew how much Terry Melcher influenced pop music. All I knew of him musically, was the collaborations with Mike Love in the late 80s early 90s. So my thoughts on him were not very positive. But hearing some of his songs and the fact he produced some Byrds changes my whole perspectiive on him!

I know I could have looked him up on Wikapedia, but who needs it when there is this message board!

Unfortunately there's no website dedicated to Terry's work as an artist and producer. There are over 80 45s he produced as well as numerous albums - some obscure stuff among the singles e.g. Jimmy Boyd's cover of the Bee Gees' "That's What I'll Give To You" (VJ 686/Feb 1965,when hardly anyone knew Barry Gibb!)) or The Osmonds "Mr. Sandman", which sounds like "I Get Around" (MGM K 132817/ Summer 1964)

How bout somebody write a book on him!

True, but there is... SpectroPop !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_3ZlgzFqz8&feature=related  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_3ZlgzFqz8&feature=related)

OK, better than the Wikipedia entry, but unfortunately without a discography.
Anybody got these 45s for sale to complete my TM singles collection?
- Doris Day: Oo Wee Baby, Col. 43099
- The Rising Sons: Candy man, Col. 43534
- The Gentle Soul: 2:10 train, Epic 10448
- ??:??, Equinox 70002
- ??:??, Equinox 70003
- ??:??, Equinox 70007
- Michele: Would You Like to Go, ABC 11202

This is, to my best knowledge, the complete RCA-Equinox discography:

  9/74  NB  10120    California Music                            Don't Worry, Baby/Ten Years Harmony
11/74  BEL 1 0786  Bill House                                     Give Me A Break
  3/75  PB  10230    Barry Mann                                  Nothing Good Comes easy/Woman Woman Woman
  3/75  PB  10238    Terry Melcher & Bruce Johnston      Take It To Mexico/Rebecca
  8/75  NB  10363    California Music                            Why Do Fools Fall in Love/Don't Worry, Baby [A side produced by Brian Wilson]
10/75  NB  10404    Papa Doo Run Run                         Be True To Your School/Disney Girls [no Melcher involvement]
  3/76  NB  10572    California Music                            Jamaica Farewell/California Music
  4/76  NB  10587    Terry Melcher                               Fire in A Rainstorm/So Right Tonight
  4/76  BEL 1 0948  Terry Melcher                                Royal Flush

No idea where you got these -

Equinox 70002
Equinox 70003
Equinox 70007

- from.

add these, then it's complete:
- PB 10104 Barry Mann: Nobody But You/Woman Woman Woman
- NB 10106 Bill House: Common Thief/Atlanta
- PB 10319 Barry Mann: I'm a Survivor/It Don't Seem Right

The Equinox 45s I was refering to are from 1968 and were only released in the US by Equinox (a white label with a yellow sun on top, they even came with an Equinox factory sleeve and were distributedby ABC Records), there were at least 8 singles:
- 70000 Grapefruit: Dear Delilah/Dead Boot
- 70001 The Illford Subway: The 3rd Prophecy/New Song
- 70002 ??
- 70003 ??
- 70004 Glad: See What you mean/Bedtime Story (prod by Eirik Wangberg)
- 70005 Grapefruit: Elevator/Yes
- 70006 Glad: Picking Up the Pieces/A New Tomorrow (prod by E.W.)
- 70007 ??
- 70008 Grapefruit: C'mon Marianne/Ain't It Good

1969/1970 further Equinox product was released on Dunhill, RCA , A&M and ABC with the notation " An  Equinox Production":
- Dunhill 4174 Goldrush: Somebody's Turning On The People/Feelin' Glad
- Dunhill 4178 Grapefruit This Little Man/Round Going Round
- ABC 11163 Glad: Johnny's Silver Ride/Love Needs The World (prod by E.W.)
- ABC 11199 Glad: No Ma, It Can't Be/ Let's play make Believe (prod by E.W.)
- ABC 11202 Michele: Would You Like To Go/White Linen (Prod. By Mike Deasy)
- A&M 1154 Camp Hilltop: Sunday/Lost and Found
- RCA  74-0241 Grapefruit: Thunder and Lightning/Blues in my head

all produced by Melcher

Oops, made a mistake - 10230 is not on RCA-Equinox, just RCA... as is 10319.

Can anybody tell me if the record he and Bruce made under the moniker "The Hotdoggers" worth shelling out for?

Not really - mostly instrumental, albeit those instruments played by The Crew.

I don't think you can afford them!

To bring up another question, everytime I see something on tv or read a common article on the Manson murders; the narrator or article always (most of the time) describes Terry Melcher as the Beach Boys' producer, and that couldn't be further from the truth, unless I'm missing something...anyone care to shed some light of this?

Terry produced The Beach Boys from "Rock & Roll To The Rescue" onwards (excepting "Wipe Out"). Granted, the implication that he was the band's producer in 1968/9 is, at best, misleading.

that's what I thought

I put together a Terry Melcher 45 Productions discography. If you're interested look here  http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=1350 (http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=1350). Corrections and additions welcome.

I picked up his first solo album recently - surprisingly good I thought and what an album cover  :lol . His second lp seems to be much harder to find though. Anyone heard it?

It has no Byrds involvement as the first one, but it's quite good as well- although many people find the mood on both albums too depressive

Terry Melcher invented folk rock..??  I would"nt go that far. Certainly he was there at the beginings of the genre ..Another record around the same time that has been mentioned is Sounds of Silence.. Iv "e  always  though Mcguinn"s  Folkie roots combined with Beatle music + Rickenbacker 12 string was a natural  accident.  I"d give much more credit to Mcguinn than Melcher..

I think he rather moulded Revere and The Raiders into a pop act than made The Byrds a folk-rock band

This is true. The Byrds were already headed into a folk/rock direction, after seeing "A Hard Days Night". Paul Revere and the Raiders were a hard driving party rock band, covering mostly r&b tunes, until Melcher started bringing them pop/rock tunes like "Kicks" and "Hungry". Out went the raucous party band, replaced with something more refined, Mark Lindsay's singing changed from all out hollering to soft, controlled, and the band did harmonies behind him - a style somewhere between the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones.

Something to add to the discussion:  Melcher held Brian Wilson in very high esteem.  In the Endless Harmony documentary (as most of you know), Melcher had the highest praise for Brian, and basically said Brian totally outclassed Phil Specter talent-wise.

YEA.. The raiders had a real good rep as a live act for their day..  Their 1st Columbia LP was a live one called "Here they come" Produced By Bruce Johnston. Now this brings up a point  about  the underrated Raiders. They were excellent live so they had to be good musicians so how often did they actually play on their own records..I have no idea. Anyone know.? Also Gram Parsons + Terry Melcher worked on an album together early 70"s for A+M.. Never released.  Anybody ever heard this or own it..Thanks

Whoa. Would love to hear that Parsons/Melcher collabo.

That '71 Rolling Stone cover story on the BBs (in two parts, two consecutive issues) quotes Terry Melcher extensively on the merits of Brian Wilson.

If you've never heard this Equinox Production, you're in for a real treat...

Dave Edmunds: "London's a Lonely Town"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwnyHglHa7k (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwnyHglHa7k)

Bruce, Terry, Curt Boettcher, and Gary Usher on backing vocals.  It was rumored that Brian was somewhere in the mix as well, although that has since been debunked.  Due to contractual reasons this never made it past the acetate stage.  Edmunds later re-cut this with the original "New York's a Lonely Town" lyrics (also a great version), but his remake had no Equinox involvement.

It was briefly discussed on this board back in 2006: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=1166.0 (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=1166.0)

Enjoy!

Lee

[PS: This just occurred to me... Imagine if you were to replace Dave Edmunds' lead vocal with a lead by Carl, and have Mike sing the "My woodie's outside" lines.  What a hell of a Beach Boys retro single that would have been...]

I've read a lot of books on the Byrds, Crosby et al/  and I have read at least twice that Crosby had a strong dislike for Terry Melcher and his notions about the direction of the band.

Yes, the only son of Doris Day who continues to live in Carmel Valley with her dogs,  a short drive from the Big Sur property of Alan Jardine.  Ryan Melcher is often seen in the area.  I've often thought how lucky Terry was to  have his mothers entrertainment industry connections.

What a time that was to be young, rich, influential, connected, and hanging out at the Sunset Strip scene in those halcyon and golden days.

There's one song on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvJJ0u8Ci8M

And I see there are alot of CD copies on Amazon starting at $19. 

This was included on the Australian LP,   Pebbles -- Vol. 4
there's a CD of it available on Ebay:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/380763908077             

Yeah, Chris, but I was never sure how "authorized" those Pebbles compilations were.  They typically consisted of obscure garage singles and album tracks that the record companies had long ago lost track of.  I doubt that any licensing costs or royalties were paid out.  But you're right, "London's a Lonely Town" was technically "released."

Lee

Terry Melcher did a lot of great backing vocals on a number of Paul Revere and the Raiders songs. 

For an example, check out Good Thing  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjGb-ZYQGPA

Written by Mark Lindsay and Terry Melcher, and produced by Melcher, Lindsay sings lead, and all other vocals are done by Melcher.

Yeah, Terry's voice is all over those Raider hits. You can hear him very prominently on "Him Or Me", too. So much so that as a kid I thought that voice belonged to one of the Raiders - maybe Phil Volk.

They were  100% boots - BFD  (the label) stood for Big Fucking Deal. Also, there is no Dacron in Ohio.  :)

 


HA!  No disputing any of this. Just pointing out that the track is available other than via Youtube( and there are some other great songs on the LP/CD too! 

Also when the CD version came out some tracks were removed/replaced because some of the record companies / artists were not happy.

Lee

Kinda hard to believe that Capitol/The Survivors/Sharon Marie complained...yet they're not on the CD, as they were on the LP

I love Melcher's early stuff with The Rip Chords and as one half of Bruce & Terry, although he was more like 75% of that duo given how he dominated recordings (Bruce still recorded with Terry after joining The Beach Boys into 1966). Some of The Rip Chords' productions – Hey Little Cobra, Three Window Coupe, Summer USA, Hot Rod USA, Wah-Wahini, Stingray, etc... – are the finest of the surf/hot rod genre and I have always been a big fan.

Mr. Melcher knew exactly what he was talking about. Or more accurately, who. +1.

Don't run away is a corker...easily on of my favorites...i constantly listen to it on my homemade comp of favorite 60's tunes

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/charles-manson-today-the-final-confessions-of-a-psychopath-20131121

Charlie is still rambling about Terry Melcher in this.

Best "almost" Beach Boys song there ever was, IMO (that and "Guess I'm Dumb")

Lyrics & bass vocal, Mike.

Here are 3 q&as discussing Terry.

Hal Blaine
http://www.examiner.com/article/terry-melcher-part-i

Carol Kaye
http://www.examiner.com/article/terry-melcher-part-ii-carole-kaye

Mike Love
http://www.examiner.com/article/terry-melcher-part-iii-mike-love?CID=examiner_alerts_article&no_cache=1385568692

Ironically Spector does not consider Brian to be all that talented.

I don't think Terry ever topped his work with Bruce in the first half of the sixties (Rip Chords, Bruce & Terry, Rogues): if you don't have them already, lay your sweaty palms on The Best of Bruce & Terry and the two Rip Chords albums, from the excellent people at Sundazed. To these ears, better than Jan & Dean.

It seems that the tapes were checked out from A&M in 1970 and were never brought back.

So, I  don't think we'll be getting our hands on them anytime soon.  :'(

Id have loved to hear what those 2 were up to.  According  to one of the Parsons"s  books The Melcher tapes weren't up to snuff..

I've heard a few songs from Terry's mother's most recent album: My Heart, (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Heart_(Doris_Day_album)) and there's some Terry/Bruce songs...I have a question about a few of those...
One- Bruce's Let's Visit Heaven Tonight, there was a "rarity" of a recording by Bruce being passed around the circles, it's very eighties...was this JUST Bruce or other Beach Boys or Terry involved? When was Bruce's version recorded? Was it meant for the Beach Boys? I could see it showing up on the 85 album.

I also was wondering about one of the last tracks on Doris Day's album: Happy Endings...Doris introduces it and Terry sings it beautifully with a keyboard most prevalent...anyways, with how this version is "not sounding quite so finished," I often wondered if this was some kind of demo for the Boys to go on when recording their version with Little Richard. Any truth to that?

The version of "LVHT" doing the collectors rounds in the early 80s was just Bruce (as was "If There Were Time"). Don't think ti was ever offered to the band. "HE" is also pretty much Terry's demo.