Leah Kunkel
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Leah Kunkel ( Cohen; born June 15, 1948) is an American singer.


Life

Leah Cohen was born on June 15, 1948. She is the younger sister of
Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...
, best known as a member of the folk rock vocal group
the Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...
. In 1968, she married American drummer and music producer
Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Da ...
. Following Cass's death in 1974, Kunkel was given custody of Cass's daughter, Owen. The couple also raised their son, Nathaniel, later an Emmy Award-winning sound engineer. After being signed to Dunhill Records, Kunkel recorded her first record, ''Billy'', under the name Cotton Candy. She performed with a few bands and continued growing as a singer and songwriter. In 1972, she sang the counter-melody for "From Silver Lake" on
Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...
's eponymous debut album. Following additional session work with Stephen Bishop,
Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...
, and
Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...
in the early 1970s, Kunkel appeared on
James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
's 1977 album '' JT''. That same year, she appeared on
Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 ...
's album ''Watermark''. Garfunkel relied on her vocal harmonies for his subsequent albums ''Fate for Breakfast'' (1979), ''Scissors Cut'' (1981), and ''Lefty'' (1988), and he became something of a mentor to her, helping to get her a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1979. In 1979, Kunkel released her first album for Columbia Records, which featured several of her own compositions. The self-titled album produced one single, "Step Right Up". The following year, she released her second solo album for Columbia, ''I Run With Trouble''. In 1980, Kunkel teamed up with Marty Gwinn to form the Coyote Sisters. In 1984, they released their first album, ''The Coyote Sisters'', on Lorimar Records. A follow-up album, ''Women and Other Visions'', was released in 2001. The Coyote Sisters continue to perform with Kunkel, who also continues to appear as a solo performer. Following her initial period with the Coyote Sisters, Kunkel qualified as an attorney, and has been in private practice for over twenty years. She is a member of the state bar associations of California and Massachusetts, with a practice concentration in entertainment law, and lives in
Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...
.Leah Kunkel – Advice and Advocacy for The Artist
noholegal. Retrieved April 8, 2017.


Discography


Solo albums

* ''Leah Kunkel'' (1979) Columbia Records * ''I Run With Trouble'' (1980) Columbia Records


With the Coyote Sisters

* ''The Coyote Sisters'' by the Coyote Sisters (1984) * ''Women And Other Visions'' by the Coyote Sisters (2001)


Vocal appearances

Kunkel has appeared as a guest vocalist on the following albums: * ''
Dave Mason & Cass Elliot ''Dave Mason & Cass Elliot'' was the only teaming of artists Dave Mason and Cass Elliot. The album was produced by both Mason and Elliot and recorded in 1970. The album was released by Mason's label, Blue Thumb Records. Conception After being ...
'' by Dave Mason and Cass Elliot (1971) * ''
Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...
'' by Jackson Browne (1972) on "From Silver Lake" * ''
Another Passenger ''Another Passenger'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released by Elektra Records, on June 5, 1976. For this album, Simon enlisted a new producer, Ted Templeman, as well as his clients, The Doobie Brothers ...
'' by Carly Simon (1976) on "In Times When My Head" * ''
Amigo Amigo(s) (Portuguese and Spanish for ''male friend'') may refer to: People * Carlos Amigo Vallejo (born 1934), Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop emeritus of Seville Places Facilities * Amigos School, a bilingual primary school in Cambridge, Mas ...
'' by Arlo Guthrie (1976) * '' JT'' by James Taylor (1977) on "Handy Man" * ''
Watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...
'' by Art Garfunkel (1977) * ''Craig Fuller & Eric Kaz'' by Craig Fuller and Eric Kaz (1978) * '' Fate for Breakfast'' by Art Garfunkel (1979) * '' An American Dream'' by The Dirt Band (1979) on "Dance the Night Away" and one other song * ''
Scissors Cut ''Scissors Cut'' is the fifth solo studio album by Art Garfunkel released in August 1981 on Columbia Records. It was his second album to miss the US '' Billboard'' top 40 (charting at 113) and his second album containing no US top 40 singles. T ...
'' by Art Garfunkel (1981) * ''
Angel Heart ''Angel Heart'' is a 1987 American neo-noir psychological horror film, an adaptation of William Hjortsberg's 1978 novel ''Falling Angel''. The film was written and directed by Alan Parker, and stars Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, an ...
'' by
Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst ...
(1982) * ''
Lefty Lefty is a nickname for a person who is left-handed. Lefty may refer to: *Lefty Bates (1920–2007), American Chicago blues guitarist *Lefty Bertrand (1909–2002), Major League Baseball pitcher for one game * Steve Carlton (born 1944), American ...
'' by Art Garfunkel (1988) * ''
Suspending Disbelief ''Suspending Disbelief'' is the eighth album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, released in September 1993 by Elektra Records. Production ''Suspending Disbelief'' was recorded in February and March 1993 at The Site and Skywalker Ranch in ...
'' by Jimmy Webb (1993)


References


External links


Coyote Sisters
official website
Faculty profile at Western New England School of Law
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunkel, Leah 1948 births American women pop singers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American musicians Dunhill Records artists Living people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women