Chip Douglas - Early Career

Early Career

Douglas was raised in Hawaii and began his musical career with a folk group he formed in high school, "The Wilcox Three", modeled after The Kingston Trio. During a trip to California, they were discovered by a well-known booking agency and signed by RCA/Camden to record an album at their studios in Hollywood.

The group dissolved and Douglas, along with Cyrus Faryar and noted rock photographer Henry Diltz, formed the Modern Folk Quartet (along with musician Jerry Yester) in Los Angeles. They were signed by Warner Bros. and recorded two albums: "The Modern Folk Quartet" and "Changes". They also appeared as themselves in a nightclub scene for the Warner Bros. movie "Palm Springs Weekend" starring Connie Stevens and Troy Donahue (1963). MFQ spent the next several years touring the U.S. playing college concerts.

MFQ was signed by legendary producer Phil Spector in 1966, and recorded a song, "This Could Be The Night", co-written by Spector and up-and-coming singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. Unfortunately, the record was not released at that time, but Douglas and Nilsson became friends. In the latter half of 1966, Douglas was a member of the short-lived Gene Clark Group, a band featuring the ex-Byrd The Byrds Gene Clark, ex-Grass Roots Joel Larson, and Bill Rinehart, formerly of The Leaves. Clark disbanded the group at the end of that year without having recorded or released any records.