Record producer Terry Melcher, who worked with the likes of The Byrds, The Mamas and Papas and The Beach Boys, has died aged 62. The son of actress Doris Day, among the hits he produced were The Byrd's 'Mr Tambourine Man' and The Beach Boys' 'Kokomo'. The latter, which he also co-wrote, got him a 1988 Golden Globe nomination after it was used on the soundtrack to the movie 'Cocktail'.
Melcher also performed in his own right as part of a duo called Bruce & Terry, (the Bruce being future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston), and produced TV shows and charity projects for his mother.
He had a short moment of notoriety in 1969 when some claimed he was the real target of the Charles Manson murders in which actress Sharon Tate and four of her friends were killed while living in a house which Melcher once rented. There were rumours that Melcher was the real target because he had turned Manson down for a record contract. But LA police denied the rumours, saying Manson knew that by that point Melcher was living in Malibu.