He Was Surrounded By Dysfunction
The folk quartet The Mamas & the Papas became hugely famous for their sweet vocal harmonies. Unfortunately, things behind the scenes were as unharmonious as you could get. Somehow, the California dreamers and their dysfunctional ways pulled Denny Doherty, a nice guy from eastern Canada, into their chaos. The Mamas & the Papas only spent a couple of years in the limelight, but it would take Doherty the rest of his life to recover from the trauma.
1. His Mom Was A Mystic
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was the birthplace of Denny Doherty, on November 29, 1940. Doherty was the last child to enter the family. His father worked the docks, and Doherty later described his mother as "a housewife and mystic".
Maybe Mom’s mystical powers could see Doherty’s future fame.
2. He Got Handed A Dare
Doherty was just 15 years old when he started working at a pawn shop. While working there, a friend dared him to sing the Pat Boone classic “Love Letters in the Sand” at a skating rink. He did it and then started performing with his band, The Hepsters. Doherty was on a road to stardom.
3. He Got A Label
The Hepsters lasted for two years, and then Denny Doherty started the folk trio the Colonials. This second band caught the interest of Columbia Records, and this prompted a name change. Halifax III recorded two LPs with Columbia and even had a minor hit with "The Man Who Wouldn't Sing Along With Mitch".
Maybe, Doherty thought he’d reached the big time. He had no idea how far he would go.
4. He Made Some Lasting Friendships
In 1963, the Halifax III met up with members of another band with a three in its name. Through the band Big 3, Doherty started a friendship with Cass Elliot. Around this time, he also met musicians John Phillips and his model wife Michelle.
Doherty had no idea at the time, but these friendships would soon come to define his life.
5. He Was Broke
Denny Doherty was in Hollywood, California when his band, the Halifax III, decided to call it quits. One band member, Zal Yanovsky, stayed with him, but they were in trouble. You see, they were both completely broke. Doherty needed a lifeline to get his life back in order.
A guardian angel must have heard his pleas because she came at the nick of time.
6. He Made Them Change The Name
While in Hollywood, Doherty ran into Cass Elliot, and she had a plan. Both Doherty and Yanoksky could work on the Big 3. All she had to do was convince her manager. She managed to do it, and the band grew by two members. Obviously, they needed a name without the number three. They became the Mugwumps, a rock and roll band that mostly did covers.
Doherty shouldn’t have felt too comfortable here—this band had a short shelf life.
7. He Got A Break
After just one album, the Mugwumps realized that they weren’t making money, so they broke up. Yanovsky teamed up with John Sebastian to create the iconic band the Lovin' Spoonful. Denny Doherty was lucky as well. His friends John and Michelle Phillips had a band called the New Journeymen, and they needed a singer. They welcomed Doherty, and he was back on the road to stardom.
But this road was going to be full of twists and turns.
8. It Was Stressful
The New Journeymen soon signed on with Dunhill Records. They then added Cass Elliot to the band and became the Mamas & the Papas. Tension likely weighed on Doherty because John Phillips did not fully support Elliot’s place in the band. He thought she sang too low, had a different temperament, and that her weight would negatively impact the success of the band.
With this stressful start, Doherty and his bandmates tried to move forward.
9. It Was A Battle
In 1965, Denny Doherty, Elliot, and the Phillips headed to the Virgin Islands to work out exactly what kind of band they were going to be. Once there, it seemed like a battle. Doherty and Elliot were hoping for a contemporary pop band, while John Phillips didn't want to move away from folk music. Doherty and Elliot convinced Phillips to try something electric.
The quartet worked out what they wanted to be, and then they faced the ultimate test.
10. They Nailed An Audition
Doherty and the Mamas & the Papas went to Los Angeles in search of a record deal. They auditioned for Lou Adler of Dunhill Records, and the audition was a hit. They signed a contract stipulating that over the next five years they would record two albums per year. But there was one snag in this process.
Doherty had to watch as his two friends battled it out again.
11. He Had To Cast A Ballot
John Phillips still had a problem with Elliot joining the Mamas & the Papas. In a situation that must have been excruciating for Denny Doherty, it came down to a vote whether Elliot would stay or not. In the end, Doherty voted against his friend John, but so did Adler and John’s own wife, Michelle.
Elliot was in, but the problems were far from behind them.
12. He Was On An Iconic Song
Before releasing their first album with Dunhill Records, The Mamas & the Papas put out a single called “California Dreamin’”. Doherty got the position of lead vocalist and likely had no clue just how big this song would be. It took a while, but “California Dreamin’” would eventually take the top spot on the end-of-the-year survey for Billboard magazine.
Doherty’s fame was rising fast.
13. They Were A Success
With songs like “California Dreamin’” and “Monday, Monday”, The Mamas & the Papas’ first album, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, was a huge hit. The Grammys honored “Monday, Monday” with a Best Pop Performance by a Vocal Group award. Of course, everyone wanted to know if they could follow it up with another success.
Denny Doherty was ready to take his place in the world of fame.
14. He Had A Seat At An Important Table
Lou Adler was on top of the world of music, and he eventually got his own booth at the fabulous LA hot spot Whisky A Go Go. He welcomed Doherty and the other Mamas and Papas to his booth, which sat near the entrance. Here, Doherty could keep an eye on the famous people who came and went.
But things hadn’t always been so great for Doherty at this iconic LA watering hole.
15. His Life Changed Dramatically
Before meeting up with Adler and all the fame that “California Dreamin’” had brought Denny Doherty, he was a nobody in LA. He did manage to get into Whisky A Go Go, but it was a far cry from being in a booth with Adler and watching stars like Steve McQueen walk by.
Being a member of The Mamas & the Papas certainly had its perks, but there was also a dark side.
16. He Got In The Middle
While working with The Mamas & the Papas, Doherty managed to do the one thing he shouldn't: he began a secret affair with Michelle Phillips. Not only was she a bandmate, but she was also the wife of a man whom Doherty considered a friend. The two managed to carry on this affair behind the backs of both John Phillips and Cass Elliot.
This would not end well.
17. It Went On Under The Table
When the four members of the Mamas & the Papas sat around discussing their music, there was something going on under the table and it was a big secret. While they were discussing the future of the band, Doherty and Michelle Phillips were doing some serious footsies under the table. At any moment, John could have looked and seen everything.
But there was a fourth side to this bizarre love triangle.
18. It Was Complicated
There was something that made matters worse for the four members of The Mamas & the Papas. There was already the love triangle involving Denny Doherty and John and Michelle Philips, but complicating things even further was the fact that Eliott had a thing for Doherty. This dysfunctional foursome certainly had their fair share of secrets.
And then suddenly they were out in the open.
19. The Affair Came Out
One day, John came down into Doherty's bedroom. To his surprise, his wife, dressed in a night gown, was sitting on Doherty’s bed and putting candies in his mouth. A shocked John somehow managed to forgive them and even did a song with Doherty about the situation. The song was “I Saw Her Again” and it became a hit.
But there was another person upset by this secret relationship.
20. He Hurt Her Feelings
When Elliot found out about Denny Doherty and Michelle, she was angry. Everyone had probably assumed that Elliot had a thing for Doherty, but now it was out in the open, and Elliot could express her rage. She took it out on Michelle, telling her, “You could have any man you want. Why would you take mine?”
The truth was, Michelle had more than one man on the side.
21. He Wasn’t The Only One
As it turned out, in addition to Doherty, Michelle Phillips also had an affair with Gene Clark, who played with the Byrds. This revelation came out while the group was recording their second album. Clark didn’t get a pass like Doherty did, and John could not forgive his wife. To the shock of Doherty and Elliot, John fired Michelle.
He did this without even talking to Doherty about it.
22. He Wanted Her Gone
John Phillips had fired his wife from The Mamas & the Papas on her birthday, no less. Denny Doherty and Elliot had not even had a chance to add their two cents. But when they demanded to have a say, they ended up agreeing with John. The lawyers, the record label and the three other members of the band all agreed: Michelle Phillips was out.
Now, The Mamas & the Papas had to survive without her.
23. The Fans Revolted
Michelle was only out of the group for a few months, as fans demanded that she come back. It must have been more than awkward, especially for Doherty. He’d had an affair with his bandmate and friend’s wife, and now they were working together again.
Doherty and his bandmates dealt with this stress the way that most musicians deal with stress.
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24. They Performed Poorly
During a tour of the East Coast, two members of the band they were co-headlining with—Webster’s New Word—noticed something odd. All four members of The Mamas & the Papas were going on stage either “high, drunk, or tripping”. Sometimes it was all three at the same time. The members of Webster’s New Word agreed on one thing: Denny Doherty and his bandmates had no business being on stage.
Next, Doherty would take some time to deal with his turmoil.
25. He Licked His Wounds
Doherty was still in emotional turmoil over his affair with Michelle Phillips. While John Phillips and producer Adler organized the Monterey International Pop Festival, Doherty went to the Virgin Islands to lick his wounds. What he ended up doing was drinking a lot. When he came back to the US, he wasn’t in a good place but had to join The Mamas & the Papas on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival.
This would be one of the band’s worst performances.
26. He Ruined The Performance
The festival in Monterey was turning into a big deal with performers like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Sadly, The Mamas & the Papas didn’t quite match the stars around them. They came across as underrehearsed during the festival—and Doherty’s drinking was one of the big reasons why.
Later, Doherty talked about his routine around this time, and it wasn’t a good one.
27. It Wasn’t A Breakfast Of Champions
Doherty once described his routine while working with the Mamas & the Papas. He said he had a ritual and it wasn’t about good health. He said he started and ended the day the same way: with a shot of rum. With a lifestyle like this, it was no surprise that the band had problems.
When they headed to the UK, the problems multiplied.
28. It Ended
Denny Doherty and the band went to the UK in October, and the stress got more intense. John Phillips insulted Elliot, and Eliott, having had enough, walked away from the band. It looked like The Mamas & the Papas could not work through all the dysfunctions of the members. In February 1968, the band made it official. They were calling it quits.
Doherty and the other members all went their separate ways.
29. They Spilt
Michelle Phillips reacted to the split by starting her acting career, and Elliot rebranded herself as Mama Cass and released a successful solo album in 1968. John Phillips followed her lead with his own album in 1970. Doherty was next. His solo album was Watcha Gonna Do? in 1971. But Doherty wasn't completely separated from his bandmates. Both Michelle Phillips and Cass Elliot lent their voices as backup.
But there were still some intense feelings left between Doherty and one band member.
30. He Wasn’t Man Enough
Even after all The Mamas & the Papas had been through, Elliot still carried a torch for Doherty. Maybe it was a last ditch effort that drove Elliot to propose to Doherty. Sadly, Doherty declined. He later shamefully admitted he'd thought, "She weighed 300 pounds and I wasn't enough of a man to get past that".
Elliot must have felt blindsided by what happened next.
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31. He Broke Her Heart
Elliot may have been consoling herself with a belief that Doherty just wasn’t ready for marriage, but she had to face the truth very quickly. It turned out that Doherty was ready for marriage, just not with her. On October 2, 1971, Doherty walked down the aisle with one of the background singers on his album. Doherty and Linda Woodward would later have one daughter, Jessica.
By marrying Woodward, Doherty had broken Elliot’s heart. But her heart was not in good shape to begin with.
32. He Lost Her
On July 29, 1974, after a 24-hour partying spree in London, Elliot passed in her sleep from a heart attack. Even though Doherty had declined her proposal of marriage, he had remained friends with Elliot. This loss devastated him. He met up with John and Michelle Phillips at the funeral.
This meeting led to something Doherty had not expected.
33. He Got A Strange Invitation
Shortly after losing Elliot, Doherty got a call from John Phillips. He had joined forces with celebrated pop artist Andy Warhol and was making a musical called Man on the Moon. Phillips had a great part for Doherty: playing an evil doctor. In addition to writing the script, Phillips was also going to be one of the main actors.
But as the production went into previews, a disaster happened.
34. He Had To Learn A New Role
Before Man on the Moon even opened, they had to make a change. For some reason, they decided to pull Phillips from the cast. Doherty had to make a quick change and replace his buddy. It was a last-minute change, and then they were heading toward opening night.
There was huge hype about this production. Doherty really had to deliver.
35. It Was A Disaster
It’s not clear if it was due to the last-minute changes of personnel that made opening night a disaster. But a disaster it was. Big names like Warren Beatty and Diane von Furstenberg were in attendance for what critics called a “truly bad”, “kiddie musical” that should have had its review “on the obit page”.
Doherty’s first attempt at acting had been a failure.
36. He Changed Wives
Remember, Doherty broke his best friend’s heart when he got married. Cass Eliot had not lived to see it, but this marriage didn't last. In 1978, they called it quits. That same year, Doherty said “I do” to Jeanette Doherty. This was the marriage that took. With a new and supportive wife at his side, Doherty was ready for the next stage of his life.
But this next stage would seem like a step backwards.
37. There Were Three Strikes Against It
It could be that Doherty was dreaming about a reunion of The Mamas & the Papas. But without Elliot, it seemed that this would never happen. Also making it seem unlikely was the fact that Michelle Phillips was now into acting. The third strike was that John Phillips was both in rehab and waiting to see how long his sentence would be on narcotics charges.
Against all odds, this reunion was going to happen.
38. They Recreated The Band
As it turned out, Phillips only spent three weeks in prison. He then contacted Doherty about recreating The Mamas & the Papas. They replaced his wife with his daughter, MacKenzie Phillips, and replaced Elliot with Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. They were now The New Mamas & the Papas.
But some of the problems with the original band carried over to this new lineup.
39. It Was Like Deja Vu
The first performances by The New Mamas & the Papas in March 1982 received great reviews. Somehow, though, they were losing money, so they stopped performing. In 1985, they regrouped and did a world tour, which was more successful. When Phillips and his daughter started using narcotics and booze, their performances went downhill. On a couple of occasions, the audience booed the band off the stage.
This seemed like a flashback to a hard time in Doherty’s life. He wasn’t going to have any of it.
40. He Went Off-Broadway
In 1987, Doherty walked away from The New Mamas & the Papas. He was ready to try something new—but not too new. He produced a play which he called Dream a Little Dream (the Nearly True Story of the Mamas & the Papas). This off-Broadway play tells the story of the early years of The Mamas & the Papas, and it doesn't try to hide the “adultery, unrequited love and booze”.
Doherty was ready to put the drama of The Mamas & the Papas behind him and work on something positive.
41. He Became Animated
Life with The Mamas & the Papas was always seen as very dysfunctional. Maybe this is why Doherty spent eight years working on the Canadian children's series Theodore Tugboat. You see, on this show, the tugboats solve every problem through communication, which helps them keep the Big Harbour the friendliest in the world. Doherty voiced all the tug boats and the Harbourmaster.
Like this children’s TV show, Doherty’s life was on a positive track. And then it came to a crashing halt.
42. He Lost The Love Of His Life
With his second wife, Jeanette, Doherty had another daughter and a son. His second marriage lasted 20 years and seemed to lack any kind of drama. That all stopped when Jeanette got a diagnosis of ovarian cancer and passed in 1998.
It was another harsh drama in Doherty’s life. It seemed like a good time to go home.
43. He Got To Go Home
In 1999, Doherty performed in the CBC Television series Pit Pony, which is a series about the men who work in the dangerous mines in Nova Scotia. This is the same province that Doherty grew up in, so he could work in a place that seemed a million miles away from all the drama he’d experienced with The Mamas & the Papas.
But his bandmates never seemed to fully disengage from his life.
44. He Saw Her One More Time
Several years later, around late 2006, Michelle Phillips had heard that Doherty was having surgery, and she paid a visit to offer moral support. She said that this time together was like most their times together since the breakup of The Mamas & the Papas; they kept things professional and didn't “slip back” into acting like they were in a relationship.
With Phillips’ moral support, Doherty went in for his surgery.
45. He Had A Setback
The surgery Doherty needed was for an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Doherty survived the surgery with one setback: he now suffered from kidney failure. But this didn’t stop Doherty from working. In fact, he was about to appear in an iconic Canadian TV series.
46. He Appeared In An Iconic Series
Trailer Park Boys is a much-loved and internationally famous mockumentary Canadian TV series. Guests have included Snoop Dog and Tom Arnold. Doherty appeared as an FBI agent in the season seven finale.
Sadly, he wouldn't live to see it air.
47. We Lost Him
On January 19, 2007, Doherty passed in his home in Mississauga, Canada. They did not give a reason for his passing, but most believe it was due to the kidney failure he suffered after his surgery. He was laid to rest at the Gates of Heaven Cemetery, which is near his birthplace in Nova Scotia, Canada. Michelle Phillips attended both his burial and his funeral.
It seemed like it was time to tell Doherty’s surprising and heartbreaking story.
48. They Told His Story
In 2010, Paul LeDoux released Here I Am: Denny Doherty and the Mamas & the Papas. This first person documentary used parts of Doherty’s off-broadway show Dream A Little Dream. It also used some newly-found recordings. Maybe most importantly, it featured an interview with The Mamas & the Papas last remaining member: Doherty’s ex-girlfriend, Michelle Phillips.
Besides this documentary, there's another way that we can remember Doherty.
49. He Left A Legacy
Doherty’s son, John Doherty, has become a musician just like his dear old dad. He appeared as a stand-in for the guitarist of the ska punk band illScarlett during their first show at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. A few years later, he became the band’s full-time bass player.
You can also hear a reminder of Doherty’s voice in a classic song.
50. His Voice Set A Trend
Way back in 1965, Doherty was recording “I Saw Her Again” and the technician made a mistake. He put Doherty’s line “I saw her again” twice, which gave it an echo effect. The producer liked the mistake and kept it. When Paul McCartney heard it, he was sure it was a mistake, saying “nobody’s that clever”. That didn’t matter. In 1980, Kenny Loggins copied the sound of Doherty’s echoing voice in his song “I’m Alright.”
51. They Thought He Had A Secret Love Child
Back in 1967, Cass Elliot had given birth to a healthy baby girl, Owen. She refused to reveal the identity of the father—which did little to quell the rumors that Denny Doherty was the man in question. After a decade of questions, it was Michelle Phillips who solved the mystery: the father of Cass’ daughter was guitarist Chuck Day, who played with the Mamas & the Papas on tracks like “California Dreamin’”.
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Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17