TMS Muse of the Week: Leah Cohen Kunkel
(via wikipedia.org)
No one likes being in the shadow of their sibling, especially the older sibling. Unless of course, that sibling is a superstar. Jamie Lynn Spears, Ashlee Simpson and Elizabeth Olsen are a few who hopped on the showbiz bandwagon once their older sisters broke through as celebrities. In Lizzie’s case, she successfully eclipsed her twin sisters’ childhood popularity as a grown-up film/TV actress. Most of the time the siblings are either completely out of the limelight or lowkey having their own moment in entertainment too. For Leah Cohen, she was fine sitting back as the little sister of one of the greatest voices in pop music, Cass Elliot. One way relatives keep anonymity is when the famous person chooses to come up with a new stage name for their career. Which is what Cass did, as her birth name was actually Ellen Cohen. Humorously, most people outside of the Cohen circle must not have even been aware of this, because teen zines like Flip and Tiger Beat erroneously called her sister ‘Leah Elliot’ back in the 1960s. Both sisters were born and raised part of a Jewish family on the east coast and active in local musical theatre before Cass decided to give the folk music scene spreading in Greenwich Village, NY a shot. This eventually led to her becoming ¼ of the pop group the Mamas & the Papas. Seven years younger, Leah stayed behind at home to finish school before venturing into the world herself, around the same time M&P signed to Dunhill Records in Los Angeles, CA in 1965.
Since she was still a teen, it seems like Leah was okay with not jumping into her own career and just enjoying the heart of LA County: Laurel Canyon. As the little sis of the best party host in music, Leah got to socialize and befriend many people in the music industry, including Cass’ bandmates Denny Doherty and John & Michelle Phillips, the Byrds, the Monkees, the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Turtles, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins and so on. The second best party host in town was Leah’s soon-to-be boyfriend and the second most adorable Monkee, Peter Tork; whom she would ‘go steady’ with in 1965, and on-and-off again during the first season of the group’s self-titled sitcom in 1966-67. Although they hit it off and got on well, Peter went from semi-preppy folkie to free-spirited flower child over night during the Summer of Love in 1967. Leah was carefree and had no issue with hippies, but she wasn’t as sold on the new culture as much as Cass and Peter [especially the latter’s sudden interest in ‘free love’]. Though they drifted apart romantically, Leah and Peter actually stayed on good terms after separating and even lived in the same Massachusetts neighborhood in the 2000s.
(Michael Ochs Archives)
After the Mamas & the Papas broke up and Peter left the Monkees by the end of 1968, Leah experimented in music herself with a pop single called ‘Billy’ under the pseudonym Cotton Candy in 1969. The song went virtually unnoticed and was basically a test-run for what Leah would experience the next couple of decades. Throughout the 1970s, the younger Cohen lady was a steady working harmony and backup singer for soft rock musicians like Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel and David Crosby. Most of these performances and recordings included in-demand session drummer Russ Kunkel, who became Leah’s husband from 1968 until around the 1980s. The couple raised two children as well, son Nathaniel [b. 1970] and Cass’ daughter Owen [b. 1967], whom Leah and Russ became legal guardians of after Cass’ tragic death in 1974. By the end of the ‘70s, Leah recorded and released two albums as a solo singer, ‘Leah Kunkel’ (1979) and ‘I Run with Trouble’ (1980), both featuring Russ on drums. In 1982-85, she co-founded a brief lived all-female pop-rock trio called the Coyote Sisters, which resulted in two LPs and two singles, with lukewarm success. During the 1990s, the vocalist decided to completely start over and became a private practice attorney in both California and Massachusetts. Since then, she’s been content to live life ordinarily with her family and friends. Though Leah is occasionally included as a commentator on Cass themed specials and documentaries, she’s stayed completely mum on her relationships with Peter and Russ.
To me, Leah is one of the best examples of having some great experiences while successfully being able to maintain anonymity and privacy. She’s played it classy while having fun, participating in music history and supporting her sister’s legacy.