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 The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts (including "Windy (The Association song), Windy" ...

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 The Vocal Group Hall of Fame & Museum Company Inc. was an American-based hall of fame that honored vocal groups throughout the United States. James E. Winner Jr. was the financial and managing partner of the For-profit corporation. Winner and ...

in 2003.

Early life

Terry Robert Kirkman was born in

Salina, Kansas Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889. In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1858 ...

, on December 12, 1939, and was raised in

Chino, California Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino's surroundings ha ...

. His parents both had a musical background. His father Gordon had performed in bands as a

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly small ...

player and singer, and his mother Lois played the

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

at church and in

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

theaters. He first learned how to play brass instruments as a child, during the Second World War. After graduating from Chino High School in 1957, he attended Chaffey College as a music major. He met

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

in college and they performed together at local

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

s from 1959 to 1961.

The Association

As a salesman visiting

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in 1962, Kirkman met Jules Alexander, who was in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

at the time, and the two resolved to meet when Alexander would be discharged from his military duties. Kirkman moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with Alexander in 1963. Kirkman and Alexander founded the folk group the Inner Tubes, which at one time included both

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Cass Elliot, was an American singer. She was also known as "Mama Cass", a name she reportedly disliked. Elliot was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the P ...

and

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

. The Inner Tubes slowly grew from a small group into a 13-piece band called the Men. 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. The Association quickly gained fame with their songs "Cherish" and "Along Comes Mary" from their 1966 debut album '' And Then... Along Comes the Association.'' 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. Kirkman contributed vocals to many songs, including "

Never My Love "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 songwri ...

", " Cherish", and " Everything That Touches You". He performed with the group at the

Monterey Pop Festival The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16-18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix Ex ...

in 1967. His "Requiem for the Masses", a song written about the war in Vietnam, featured

requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

-style vocals. The Association were nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

six times, three times each in the 9th (1967) and 10th Annual Grammy Awards (1968). 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

in 2003 and when the band were recipients of the Rock Justice Awards on January 19, 2019, at The Village in Los Angeles. 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.

Personal life and death

In the years following his departure from the Association, Kirkman retired from the music industry and worked in California as an addiction counselor. Kirkman lived in Montclair, California, with his wife Heidi. He died from

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

on September 23, 2023, at age 83, following a long illness.

Discography

Albums

Nominations

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:

9th Annual Grammy Awards (1967)

10th Annual Grammy Awards (1968)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkman, Terry 1939 births 2023 deaths American male singer-songwriters American pop musicians Capitol Records artists Deaths from congestive heart failure in the United States People from Salina, Kansas Singer-songwriters from Kansas The Association members