Terry Melcher - Later Years

Later Years

Melcher again acted as producer for The Byrds on Ballad of Easy Rider, their eighth album, released in November 1969 (see 1969 in music). The album peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard charts. At the time it was met with mixed reviews but is today regarded as one of the band's stronger albums from the latter half of their career.

In the early 1970s, Melcher was the producer of The Byrds' 10th album Byrdmaniax, but the results were not well received; one critic referred to the album as "Melcher's Folly". During this time, he also dabbled in real estate and served as the executive producer on his mother's CBS series, The Doris Day Show. He later recorded two solo albums, 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 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 John Phillips, Scott McKenzie and Mike Love. Recorded by The Beach Boys, the song was featured in the 1988 Tom Cruise film Cocktail, and hit No. 1 (the band's career fourth overall) on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified gold for U.S. sales of more than a million copies. Melcher also produced the band's 1992 studio record, Summer in Paradise, which was the first record produced digitally on Pro Tools.