Terry Kirkman, a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter who was a founder of the 1960s pop group the Association, whose lush vocal harmonies and sugary melodic hooks propelled a string of indelible hits, including Cherish (which he wrote) and Along Comes Mary, died on Saturday at his home in Montclair, Calif. He was 83.
A gifted musician who could play up to two dozen instruments, Mr. Kirkman and Jules Alexander, a guitarist and songwriter, formed the six-member Association in 1965. With a folk-inflected sound that was both sunny and sophisticated, the Association proved a veritable AM radio hit factory in its late-1960s heyday. The band's debut album, And Then Along Comes the Association, released in 1966, spawned two signature hits of the era: Along Comes Mary, which hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 that June, and Cherish, which reached No. 1 in August.
[
add
]
[
|
|
...
]