Russ Kunkel Kunkel had a cameo as doomed drummer Eric "Stumpy Joe" Childs in the 1984 film "This Is Spinal Tap". In 2010 Kunkel joined the Troubadour Reunion Tour supporting James Taylor and Carole King. In 1968, Kunkel married singer/songwriter Leah Cohen Kunkel, sister of Cass Elliot (born Ellen Naomi Cohen) of The Mamas and Papas. Following Elliot's death in 1974, Leah was given custody of Cass Elliot's daughter, Owen. The couple also raised their son, Nathaniel, an Emmy Award winning sound engineer. In 1990, Kunkel married singer Nicolette Larson ("Lotta Love"), and the two were married until her death in 1997.
The Mamas & the Papas Dreamin': The Songs of the Mamas and the Papas." The New Mamas and the Papas were a by-product of John Phillips' desire to "round out the picture of reform" as he awaited sentencing on narcotics charges in 1980. He invited his children Jeffrey and Mackenzie, both living in Los Angeles, and Denny Doherty, who was living in Canada, to join him at the Fair Oaks Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, where he was undergoing rehabilitation. The children arrived around Thanksgiving and Doherty around Christmas. The idea of reviving the group was born at this time, with Phillips and Doherty in