Mamas and Papas Member Dies at 66

The Mercury News reports that Denny Doherty, member of the '60s folk group, The Mamas and the Papas, died Friday at his home in Mississauga, Canada. His sister, Frances Arnold, said he had suffered kidney problems following a surgery he underwent last month. He was 66.

Doherty, who is best known for harmonizing on The Mamas and the Papas popular hits, "California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday," made up one quarter of the group, which featured John Phillips, the main songwriter, his wife, Michelle, and female vocalist, Cass Elliot. While most bands in the '60s were unisex, The Mamas and the Papas were one of the first bands to introduce both men and women singing simultaneously.

The band's song, "Monday, Monday," hit Number One on the charts and won the band a Grammy for Best Contemporary Group Performance. Other favorites included "I Saw Her Again Last Night," "Go Where You Wanna Go," "Dancing Bear," and versions of "I Call Your Name" and "Dedicated to the One I Love."

Larry Leblanc, Canadian editor of Billboard Magazine commented, "What made the group special was their haunting and sumptuous harmony singing," according to The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll "...Everybody used to think that John Phillips, who wrote the songs, was also the main voice of the group, but it wasn't - it was the angelic voice of Denny Doherty. He was often overlooked but it was really his voice that carried the group."

Although the The Mamas and the Papas enjoyed early success, they disbanded in 1968 when John and Michelle divorced. They later reunited for 1971's album,People Like Us, but their new attempt to regain stardom ended abruptly in 1974 when 32-year-old Cass Elliot died of a fatal heart attack in London. John Phillips finally re-formed the group one last time in 1982 with his actress daughter, Mackenzie, Doherty, and Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. However, they played Phillips' originals and oldies rather than Mamas and Papas' singles. The Mamas and the Papas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

In 2003, Doherty became co-author and performer in the off-broadway musical, Dream a Little Dream: The Mamas and the Papas Musical, which chronicled the band's early years, rise to fame and breakup among drug and alchol addiction and Doherty's affair with Michelle Phillips. About the show, Doherty once told the Associated Press, "There's a part of this thing that if I'm not careful, I'd be just a blob on the stage crying my guts out. Everybody knows about death and dying and sadness, so it's an exercise in staying in the moment and not getting maudlin about your friends dying.

Doherty, born in Halifax, began his career in Montreal in 1960 as the co-founder of the Colonials, who later became known as "The Halifax Three." In 1974, he released a solo album and voiced all the characters on the children's TV series, Theodore Tugboat. He was married twice, but both wives have predeceased him. He is survived by his three children, John, Emberly, and Jessica as well as his three sisters and a brother.