Sophie Tucker lung cancer and kidney failure on February 9, 1966, aged 79, in New York City. She had continued working until the months before her death, playing shows at the Latin Quarter just weeks before. She is buried in Emanuel Cemetery, in Wethersfield, Connecticut, her home state. Tucker's comic and singing styles are credited with influencing later female entertainers including Mae West, Rusty Warren, Carol Channing, Totie Fields, Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr, Ethel Merman, "Mama" Cass Elliot of The Mamas & the Papas, and most notably Bette Midler, who has included "Soph" as one of her many stage characters. She also
The Papas & The Mamas In retrospect, Adler has said that the recording space was not well made, and the sound quality was not well-suited for a vocal group like The Mamas & The Papas. With the exception of the very successful cover version of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (which is not representative of the rest of the album), the album's subject matter is often downbeat and world-weary, most notably in the lyrical content of "Safe in My Garden", "Mansions", "Too Late" and "Rooms". There are few love songs and it is also more experimental - the Hendrix-like guitar textures of "Gemini Childe"