Denny Doherty dies

expomick · Post by **expomick** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:25 am

January 19, 2007
Canadian Press
Denny Doherty, the Canadian tenor who was the lead singer of the 1960s super group the Mamas and the Papas, is dead. He was 66.
A family member said this afternoon that the singer-songwriter, originally from Nova Scotia, died earlier today at his home in Mississauga after a short illness.

The Halifax-born Doherty led the group - which included founder John Phillips, his wife Michelle and their friend Cass Elliot - onto the charts with hits including "Monday, Monday," "California Dreamin," "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "Dedicated to the One I Love."

Michelle Phillips is the only member still living. Elliot and Phillips both died in the 1990s.

Doherty started his music career in Montreal in 1960 as the co-founder of the folk group the Colonials, which later became the Halifax Three.

expomick · Post by **expomick** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:27 am

Mississauga is a city (really, a sprawling suburb) southwest of Toronto.

Mr. Doherty was, among many other things, also the voice of "Agropur Cheese" radio commercials that I play here at work every day. Never met him, but I'm assured that he was a gentleman and easy to work with when it came to voice-work.

admin · Post by **admin** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:29 am

This is sad news indeed. Thanks for passing this along Mick.

mark_telfer · Post by **mark_telfer** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:13 pm

This is a real shame, which is compounded by the press release being inaccurate. Cass Elliot died of a heart attack on July 29, 1974 and John Phillips died of heart failure on March 18, 2001.

In interviews, the middle-aged Denny always regretted not accepting Cass' marriage proposals years earlier.

winston · Post by **winston** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 2:43 pm

I was just reading the press coverage and was going to post the news. The press coverage is indeed inaccurate.

RIP Denny

winston · Post by **winston** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 2:46 pm

This coverage appears to be on the ball

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070119/D8MOK2L81.html

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 2:47 pm

God bless.

mgauction · Post by **mgauction** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:32 pm

Another one of my childhood heroes -- gone!

kennyhowes · Post by **kennyhowes** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:13 pm

Brian, that story is wrong too - Cass Elliot did NOT choke on a @#$% sandwich! Argh!

expomick · Post by **expomick** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:24 pm

Amazing how that piece of fiction continues to be told to this day.

The CP story was quickly thrown together, as I had just refreshed my brower, and there it was. Someone got some key facts very wrong.

expomick · Post by **expomick** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:25 pm

Talk about getting things very wrong...it's browser, not brower. I believe I have just been taught a lesson by the typing Gods.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:32 pm

Also, "Dream a Little Dream of me" was Cass's first solo work although it was probably the same studio band and producer (Phillips?) who did the Mamas and Papas.

wmthor · Post by **wmthor** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:35 pm

RIP Denny

jz63 · Post by **jz63** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:48 am

That's a drag. I've become a Mamas & Papas convert recently and I've come to realize that Denny's voice was such a powerful force and one of the reasons that made them stars. I would recommend the Cass bio "Dream A Little Dream" for a fairly through look at the internal mess that became of the band at the height of their fame.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:48 am

Here is a wonderful and very moving song recorded by Denny. It provides a burst of sunlight in the middle of this storm. Who better to help us deal with our loss than Denny.

Life is short. Share your thoughts, otherwise you'll never know.