Terry Kirkman | |
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![]() Kirkman in 1966 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Terry Robert Kirkman |
Born | Salina, Kansas, U.S. | December 12, 1939
Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Died | September 23, 2023 83) Montclair, California, U.S. | (aged
Genres | Folk rock, sunshine pop |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Years active |
|
Formerly of | The Association |
Terry Robert Kirkman (December 12, 1939 – September 23, 2023) was an American singer and songwriter best known as a vocalist for the pop group The Association and the writer of several of the band's hit songs such as "Cherish", "Everything That Touches You", and "Six Man Band". As a member of The Association, he was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.
Terry Robert Kirkman was born in Salina, Kansas, on December 12, 1939, and was raised in Chino, California. [1] [2] His parents both had a musical background. His father Gordon had performed in bands as a soprano saxophone player and singer, and his mother Lois played the organ and piano at church and in silent film theaters. [3] He first learned how to play brass instruments as a child, during the Second World War. [4] [5] After graduating from Chino High School in 1957, he attended Chaffey College as a music major. [6] [7] He met Frank Zappa in college and they performed together at local coffeehouses from 1959 to 1961. [6] [8]
As a salesman visiting Hawaii in 1962, Kirkman met Jules Alexander, who was in the United States Navy at the time, and the two resolved to meet when Alexander would be discharged from his military duties. [9]
Kirkman moved to Los Angeles with Alexander in 1963. [10] Kirkman and Alexander founded the folk group the Inner Tubes, which at one time included both Cass Elliot and David Crosby. The Inner Tubes slowly grew from a small group into a 13-piece band called the Men. [11]
The Men disbanded in February 1965 and Kirkman and five other members formed their own band. To find a new name, they perused a dictionary and chose "the Association" after it was suggested by Kirkman's fiancée. [12] The Association quickly gained fame with their songs "Cherish" and "Along Comes Mary" from their 1966 debut album And Then... Along Comes the Association. [13]
In 1966, a collection of poems penned by the six members of the Association was released as the book Crank Your Spreaders, this was reprinted in August 1969. [14]
Kirkman contributed vocals to many songs, including "Never My Love", "Cherish", and "Everything That Touches You". He performed with the group at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. [15] His "Requiem for the Masses", a song written about the war in Vietnam, featured requiem-style vocals. [16]
The Association were nominated for a Grammy Award six times, three times each in the 9th (1967) and 10th Annual Grammy Awards (1968). [17]
Kirkman left the Association at the end of 1972, and returned when the band was reformed in 1979, after previously splitting up the year before. After growing tired of touring, Kirkman left the band in 1984. Subsequently, on rare occasions he performed in guest appearances with the band. He was present when he and the Association's other surviving members were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003 [18] and when the band were recipients of the Rock Justice Awards on January 19, 2019, at The Village in Los Angeles. [19]
A series of interviews that he and Jules Alexander took part in, in early 2023, were released in separate parts, starting on September 1, 2023. The fourth part of these interviews was released a day before his death. [20]
In the years following his departure from the Association, Kirkman retired from the music industry and worked in California as an addictions counselor. [21]
Kirkman lived in Montclair, California, with his wife Heidi. He died from congestive heart failure on September 23, 2023, at age 83, following a long illness. [1] [22] [23]
Title | Year |
---|---|
And Then... Along Comes the Association | 1966 |
Renaissance | 1966 |
Insight Out | 1967 |
Birthday | 1968 |
The Association | 1969 |
Stop Your Motor | 1971 |
Waterbeds in Trinidad! | 1972 |
As a member of the Association, he was nominated for a Grammy Award six times, three times each in the 9th and 10th Annual Grammy Awards:
Category | Song | Note |
---|---|---|
Best Contemporary Group Performance | Cherish | [17] |
Best Contemporary Recording | Cherish | |
Best Performance By A Vocal Group | Cherish |
Category | Song/Album | Note |
---|---|---|
Best Contemporary Group Performance | Windy | [17] |
Best Contemporary Album | Insight Out | |
Best Performance By A Vocal Group | Never My Love |
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And Then... Along Comes the Association is the debut studio album by the Association, released on Valiant Records in July 1966. It became one of the top-selling albums in America, peaking at number five, and remains the Association's most successful album release, except for their Greatest Hits compilation. The album's success was primarily credited to the inclusion of their two U.S. hits "Along Comes Mary" and "Cherish", which peaked at number seven and number one respectively on the Billboard Hot 100; "Cherish" was number one on Billboard's Top 40 list for three weeks starting on September 24, 1966.
"Cherish" is a pop song written by Terry Kirkman and recorded by the Association. Released in 1966, the song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in September of that year and remained in the top position for three weeks. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 7 song of 1966, and later as No. 2, after a revision of the year-end charts. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in the US in 1966. In Canada, the song also reached number one.
Insight Out is the third album by the American pop band the Association and was released on June 8, 1967 on Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album release for the Warner Brothers label and it became one of the top selling LPs of the year in America, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Critic Richie Unterberger has attributed much of the album's success to the inclusion of the U.S. hits "Windy" and "Never My Love", which reached number 1 and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart respectively and were among the most-played records on AM radio during the late 1960s.
Stop Your Motor is the sixth studio album by American pop band the Association, and their final album released on Warner Bros. Records. It marked the debut of keyboardist Richard Thompson, replacing original member Russ Giguere. The songs "That's Racin'" and "The First Sound" were initially slated to be part of a proposed soundtrack for a documentary film about auto racing, Once Upon a Wheel, hosted by Paul Newman but the soundtrack failed to materialise beyond a promotional level. The title song from the documentary, as composed by Terry Kirkman, never saw an official release.
"Never My Love" is a pop standard written by American siblings Don and Dick Addrisi, and best known from a hit 1967 recording by the Association. The Addrisi Brothers had two Top 40 hits as recording artists, but their biggest success as songwriters was "Never My Love". Recorded by dozens of notable artists in the decades since, in 1999 the music publishing rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) announced it was the second most-played song on radio and television of the 20th century in the U.S.
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