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.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
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.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
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.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
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.
RCA Records, Wikimedia Commons
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.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
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.
Arthur Dark, Wikimedia Commons
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.
Lasse Olsson / Pressens bild, Wikimedia Commons
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.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
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.
Gorup de Besanez, Wikimedia Commons
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.
Michael Ochs Archives , Getty Images
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.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
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.
Michael Ochs Archives , Getty Images
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.
Screenshot from Theodore Tugboat, Cochran Entertainment / CBC (1993-2000)
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.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
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.
Screenshot from Pit Pony, Cochran Entertainment / CBC (1999)
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.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
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.
Screenshot from Trailer Park Boys, Topsail Entertainment / Showcase (2001-2008)
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.
Scott Penner, Wikimedia Commons
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.”
Eric Koch for Anefo, Wikimedia Commons
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’”.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
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Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
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