In memory: Singer Leah Kunkel ‘didn’t have to be the lead voice’

Singer Leah Kunkel, who lived in Northampton, Massachusetts, died on Tuesday after a short illness. She was 76 years old.

Kunkel was the younger sister of Cass Elliot of the folk group “The Mamas and the Papas” and a performer in her own right, said Jim Olsen, president and founder of Signature Sounds.

“She was a really great singer and a good songwriter,” Olsen said.

Olsen and Kunkel met more than 30 years ago, he said, when she was part of the pop-rock band The Coyote Sisters. At the time, Olsen was a DJ at WRSI.

“We played (their music) on the radio, a long time ago,” Olsen said.

Early in Kunkel’s career, in the 1970s and 1980s, she was part of the thriving Southern California music scene, also doing session work with several major label musicians.

“I would say her greatest strength is harmony,” Olsen said. “She appeared (as a backing vocalist) on all kinds of albums by some pretty famous people, including Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Art Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills and Nash. She just had this kind of musical personality where there wasn’t any. must be the main voice.”

Olsen said Art Garfunkel helped Kunkel get a recording contract with Columbia Records in the late 1970s, and she produced two solo albums.

In 1974, when her sister died during a European tour, Kunkel was given custody of her daughter Cassa. At that time, Kunkel was married to a famous drummer Russ Kunkel.

Ten years later according to her obituaryShe teamed up with Marty Gwinn Townsend and Renée Armand to form The Coyote Sisters.

Their debut album just missed Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart, although two singles – “Straight from the Heart (Into Your Life)” and “I’ve Got a Radio” – each landed in the top 40 Adult Contemporary Albums , as her obituary says.

When Kunkle decided to become a lawyer, her music career took a backseat. However, Olsen said she continued to perform until this summer.

“Leah has made one of the most important pivots in her career, from being an artist to going to law school to becoming a lawyer specializing in the music industry,” Olsen said.

After graduating from Smith College, she studied law in Western New England, where she also taught.

Kunkel’s friend, musician June Millington, who lives near Northampton, said on Facebook that she was shocked by her close friend’s death.

“We saw her here the day after the election and she said she wasn’t feeling well at all, she could barely get out of bed… But just a few weeks earlier, we met at May Pangexhibition in town and it seemed fine. We met for lunch and had a great time.”

A few weeks ago, Olsen and Kunkel had dinner together.

“The last thing we talked about, he said, ‘I’m going to put my music on Spotify,’ and I said, ‘I’d be happy to help you with that.’

Shortly thereafter, Olsen said Kunkel was diagnosed with cancer and died less than two weeks later.