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 singles charted in the UK. The Mamas & the Papas cut their first three albums at United Western Recorders in Hollywood, while the group's subsequent releases were recorded at the eight-track studio John and Michelle Phillips built at their home in Bel Air (at a time when four-track recording was still the norm). John Phillips said, "I got the idea to transform the attic into my own recording studio, so I could stay high all the time and never have to worry about studio time. I began assembling the state-of-the-art equipment and ran the cost up to about a hundred