Terry Melcher - Career

Career

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 group, The Rip Chords, which had a Top 10 hit with "Hey, Little Cobra". Later, Johnston would join The Beach Boys. By the mid-1960s, Melcher had joined the staff of Columbia Records and went on to work with The Byrds. He produced their hit cover versions of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!", as well as their respective albums. Due to conflicts with the band and their manager, Melcher was replaced by Allen Stanton, although he would later 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 another L.A. band, the Rising Sons, led by Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. Melcher also performed on the Beach Boys' platinum album Pet Sounds as a background vocalist, and introduced Brian Wilson to lyricist Van Dyke Parks in February 1966, beginning their partnership on the Smile project. Melcher was also a board member of the Monterey Pop Foundation and a producer of the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.