Singer Leah Kunkel who lived in Northampton, Massachusetts, died Tuesday, after a brief illness. She was 76.
Kunkel was the younger sister of Cass Elliot of folk group "The Mamas and the Papas," and a performer in her own right, said Jim Olsen, the president and founder of Signature Sounds.
"She was really a wonderful 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 on WRSI.
"We used to play [their music] on the radio, way, way back there," Olsen said.
Early in Kunkel's career in the 1970s and 80s she was part of a thriving southern California music scene, also doing session work with several big label musicians.
"I would say her biggest strength was her harmonizing," Olsen said. "She appeared [as a back-up singer] on all kinds of albums by quite famous people, including Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Art Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills and Nash. She just had that sort of musical personality where she didn't need to be the lead voice."
Art Garfunkel helped Kunkel get a recording contract with Columbia Records in the late 70s, Olsen said, and she produced a pair of solo albums.
In 1974, when her sister died while touring in Europe, Kunkel was given custody of Cass's daughter. At the time, Kunkel was married to renowned drummer Russ Kunkel.
Ten years later, according to her obituary, she connected with Marty Gwinn Townsend and Renée Armand to form The Coyote Sisters.
Their debut album just missed the Billboard Top 200 albums roster, though two singles – “Straight from the Heart (Into Your Life)” and “I’ve Got a Radio” – each cracked the top 40 Adult Contemporary charts, her obituary said.
When Kunkle decided to become a lawyer, her musical career took more of a back seat. But she continued to perform, Olsen said, as recently as this summer.
"Leah had made one of the great career pivots from being an artist to going to law school and then becoming an attorney with a specialty in the music business," Olsen said.
After graduating from Smith College, she attended Western New England Law, where she also taught.
Kunkel's friend, musician June Millington who lives outside of Northampton said on Facebook she was in shock over her close friend's death.
"We saw her here the day after the election, and she said she was not at all feeling well, could hardly get out of bed .... But just a few weeks earlier, we met at May Pang's exhibit in town, and she seemed fine. Met for lunch, had a great time."
A few weeks ago Olsen and Kunkel had dinner together.
"The last thing we talked about was, she says, 'I'm going to get my music up on Spotify' and I said, I'd be happy to help you with that."
Shortly after that Olsen said Kunkel was diagnosed with cancer and died less than two weeks later.
Correction: An earlier version of this story contained a photo incorrectly identified as Leah Kunkel.
