The Tate-LaBianca Homicide Research Blog

Terry Melcher
(February 8, 1942 – November 19, 2004)
American Musician and Record Producer.
 
Melcher was born Terry Jorden in New York City to trombonist Al Jorden and his wife, singer/actress Doris Day.  Day was only 17 years old, when she gave birth to Terry.  Before Terry's birth, Day was planning to leave the abusive and violent Al Jorden.  Jorden was outraged when he found out about her pregnancy, and demanded Day get an abortion.  Doris refused, and in turn, Jorden physically abused Day throughout her entire pregnancy.  Shortly after Terry's birth, Day filed for divorce, left Terry with her mother in Ohio, and went back to touring with big band leader Les Brown.  After the divorce, Terry's father failed to visit his son on a regular basis, and had little presence in his life.  Al Jorden would ultimately commit suicide years later.
Doris' career led her to Hollywood where she appeared on local radio shows.  After marrying and divorcing her second husband, saxophonist George Weidler, Day met and married Martin Melcher.  Martin would become Doris' manager and go on to produce many of her movies.  Although Terry and Martin disliked each other intensely, Martin adopted Terry, giving the boy his surname.  After Martin's death in 1968, it was discovered that he had mismanaged or embezzled $20 million of Doris Day's money.
In the early 1960s, Terry 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 band together, The Rip Chords, that had a Top 10 hit "Hey, Little Cobra".  Later, Bruce Johnston would join The Beach Boys. 
By the mid-60s, Melcher had joined the staff of Columbia Records, and went on to work with The Byrds. 
He produced their song, "Turn, Turn, Turn", and helped them to produce their remake of Bob Dylan's, "Mr. Tambourine Man".  Due to conflicts with the band, Melcher was replaced.  He later worked with Paul Revere and the Raiders, Wayne Newton, Pat Boone, Glen Campbell, and The Mamas & Papas.  Melcher was instrumental in signing another near-legendary L.A. band, the Rising Sons led by Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder.  Melcher also performed on the Beach Boys album Pet Sounds, as a background vocalist, and introduced Brian Wilson to Van Dyke Parks in February of 1966, beginning their partnership on the ill-fated SMiLE project.  He was also a board member of the Monterey Pop Foundation and a producer of the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
In 1968, Beach Boy Dennis Wilson introduced Melcher to ex-con and aspiring musician Charles Manson.  Wilson expressed interest in Manson's music, and even recorded two of Manson's songs with The Beach Boys.  Manson eventually auditioned for Melcher, but Melcher declined to sign him.
He served as the executive producer on his mother's CBS series, The Doris Day Show.  He later recorded two solo albums titled, Terry Melcher and Royal Flush.  In 1985, Terry 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 extremely 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 The Beach Boys.  The song was featured in the 1988 Tom Cruise film, Cocktail, and rose to number one on the pop charts that year.  On November 19, 2004, Terry Melcher died at his home after a long battle with melanoma.  He was 62 years old.  http://www.biographicon.com/view/1k518