Terry Melcher

Terrence Paul Jorden was born in New York City to singer/actress Doris Day and her first husband, trombonist Al Jorden. Known as "Terry", the boy was named by his mother after the hero of her favorite childhood comic strip, Terry and the Pirates. Before his birth, Day was planning to divorce Al Jorden because of his violent temper and alleged physical abuse. Jorden responded to his wife's pregnancy by demanding that she get an abortion. Shortly after giving birth, Day filed for divorce and left the infant with her mother in Ohio while she went back to touring with big band-leader Les Brown. After the divorce, Jorden visited his son infrequently and had little presence in his life. After divorcing her second husband, saxophonist George Weidler, Day married Martin Melcher, who would become her manager and produce many of her films. Melcher adopted Terry and gave him his surname. In his freshman and sophomore years of high school, Terry attended the Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut. He then returned to California for his junior and senior years at Beverly Hills High School, and subsequently attended Principia College in Illinois for a short time. ==Early career==

(center) and David Crosby in 1965 Melcher has been credited with helping to shape the sound of 1960s surf music in California. In the early 1960s, Melcher and Bruce Johnston formed the vocal duet Bruce & Terry. The duo had hits like "Custom Machine" and "Summer Means Fun". Melcher and Johnston also created another group, The Rip Chords, which had a Top 10 hit with "Hey Little Cobra". Later, Johnston would join the Beach Boys. Following conflicts with the band and their manager, Melcher was replaced as producer by Allen Stanton and then Gary Usher, although he would work with the Byrds again on their Ballad of Easy Rider, (Untitled) and Byrdmaniax albums. Melcher also worked with Paul Revere & the Raiders, Wayne Newton, Frankie Laine, Jimmy Boyd, Pat Boone, Glen Campbell, Mark Lindsay and the Mamas & the Papas. He was instrumental in signing Los Angeles band the Rising Sons, led by Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. (left), Brian Wilson (right), and Tony Asher (back) in early 1966 Melcher played the tambourine on the Pet Sounds track "Here Today"; he may also have played the tambourine on "That's Not Me," though this is uncertain. The tambourine on that session has been attributed to either Alan Jardine or Melcher, with Brian Wilson naming the latter on at least one occasion. He was a board member of the Monterey Pop Foundation and a producer of the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. ==Manson Family==

In 1968, Beach Boy Dennis Wilson introduced Melcher to ex-con and aspiring musician Charles Manson. Manson and his "family" had been living in Wilson's house at 14400 Sunset Boulevard after Wilson had picked up hitchhiking Manson family members Patricia Krenwinkel and Ella Jo Bailey. Wilson expressed interest in Manson's music and also recorded two of Manson's songs with the Beach Boys. For a time, Melcher was interested in recording Manson's music as well as making a film about the family and their hippie commune existence. Manson met Melcher at 10050 Cielo Drive, the home that Melcher shared with his girlfriend, actress Candice Bergen and musician Mark Lindsay. Manson eventually auditioned for Melcher but Melcher declined to sign him. There was still talk of a documentary being made about Manson's music but Melcher abandoned the project after witnessing Manson fighting with a drunken stuntman at Spahn Ranch. Soon after, Melcher and Bergen moved out of the Cielo Drive home. The house's owner, Rudi Altobelli, then leased it to film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. Manson was reported to have visited the house on more than one occasion asking for Melcher but was told that Melcher had moved. Melcher's former roommate Mark Lindsay stated that "Terry and I talked about it later, and Terry said Manson knew (that Melcher had moved) because Manson or someone from his organization left a note on Terry's porch in Malibu." In reviewing police files and other data, O'Neill found evidence that Melcher was associating with Manson during the four month period after the Tate-Labianca murders, but before Manson was arrested. Bugliosi had seemingly hidden these documents, which undermined claims that the Tate murders had been intended to frighten Melcher, and as revenge for his refusal to record Manson's music. O'Neill also found documents indicating Melcher was having sex with a 15-year-old Manson family member, Ruth Ann Moorehouse. Dean Moorehouse – Ruth Ann's father and a Manson Family member – had also resided at 10050 Cielo Drive with Melcher. Tex Watson was known to frequently visit the residence. ==Later years==

Melcher again acted as producer for the Byrds on Ballad of Easy Rider, their eighth album, released in November 1969. The record peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard charts. At the time it was met with mixed reviews but is today regarded as one of the band's stronger efforts from the latter half of their career. In the early 1970s, Melcher produced the Byrds' 9th and 10th albums (Untitled) and Byrdmaniax. However, Byrdmaniax was not well-received as band member Gene Parsons referred to the album as "Melcher's Folly" because of its prominent overdubs of horns and strings, which were done without the band's knowledge. During this time, Melcher dabbled in real estate and served as the executive producer of his mother's CBS series, The Doris Day Show. He later recorded two solo albums, Terry Melcher and Royal Flush. In 1985, Melcher co-produced the cable show ''Doris Day's Best Friends'' and worked as the director and vice president of the Doris Day Animal Foundation. He and his mother, to whom he remained close throughout his life, also co-owned the Cypress Inn, a small hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. In 1988, Melcher earned a Golden Globe nomination for co-writing the song "Kokomo" with John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, and Mike Love. Recorded by the Beach Boys, the song was featured in the 1988 Tom Cruise film Cocktail and hit No. 1 (the band's career fourth overall) on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified gold with U.S. sales of more than one million copies. ==Death==

On November 19, 2004, Melcher died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, following a long battle with melanoma. ==Discography==