Althouse: Goodbye to The Captain.

January 3, 2019

Goodbye to The Captain.

"He was a brilliant musician with many friends who loved him greatly. I was at my most creative in my life, when I was with him," said Tennille, who was by his side when he passed away.

35 comments:

rhhardin said...: Change your alive or dead game charts.; 1/3/19, 7:44 AM
Danno said...: Since they divorced in 2014, why was Tennille at his bedside at death? I don't expect anyone to know this, but inquiring minds want to know.; 1/3/19, 7:44 AM
Ann Althouse said...: The group gets love from "Friends" in "The One With The Football" (Season 3, episode 9):

Joey: All right, we have to pick captains.
Chandler: And then Tennilles.; 1/3/19, 7:57 AM
Rob said...: After 39 years of marriage, he couldn’t take one more minute of her perkiness. “It was either divorce her or kill her,” he said. “I’ll be damned if the last thing I see in the world is her beaming maw.”; 1/3/19, 8:03 AM
SayAahh said...: “I’ll be damned if the last thing I see in the world is her beaming maw.”

Oh,..the irony.; 1/3/19, 8:06 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Since they divorced in 2014, why was Tennille at his bedside at death? I don't expect anyone to know this, but inquiring minds want to know."

Many ex-spouses maintain various degrees of amity with each other. Given the long professional and personal relationship shared by Toni Tennille and Darryl Dragon, and how recent their divorce, it seems entirely normal to me that she would be with him as he lay dying.; 1/3/19, 8:15 AM
John henry said...: I thought it had something to do with some sort of chronic illness and health insurance.

I still like their music

John Henry; 1/3/19, 8:24 AM
CJinPA said...: That was...a pretty damn good live performance. Didn't seem lip-synched. Great song.

There were no backup vocals, so you miss "Sedaka is back" repeated at the end, celebrating the return to the pop charts of Neil Sedaka, who co-wrote the song. He was still performing as of 2016.; 1/3/19, 8:28 AM
tcrosse said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/3/19, 8:28 AM
William said...: I liked some of their songs. Not enough to buy their records, but I hummed along when they were played on the radio. He had that kind of subliminal celebrity where you only remember his existence until you read of his death.. Gentleman singer off on a spree. Now he has passed and will be forgotten like the rest....... In the obit I read, it said that he had a rapprochement with his ex-wife. She nursed him during his last days. They had been together during their best days on earth. That's a stronger bond than the divorrce proceedings.......He was about my age. I wish when they report on such deaths that they would take note to observe how untimely and unfortunate it is to die at such a young age,; 1/3/19, 8:37 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/3/19, 8:44 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: Loved his brothers band the Surf Punks. Captain and Tenille, not so much. Both brothers, Daryll and Dennis were good surfers back in the day.; 1/3/19, 8:46 AM
FIDO said...: Who didn't love 'Muskrat Love' and the Bionic Watermelon?

A salute, Captain.; 1/3/19, 8:54 AM
Birches said...: I don't understand why old people get divorced. Isn't it just easier to wait things out?; 1/3/19, 9:01 AM
FIDO said...: Though when it came to 70's variety shows, I think the win still goes to Donny and Marie Osmond.

They are still rocking it in Vegas even today; 1/3/19, 9:04 AM
SeanF said...: I find it mildly amusing that someone born with the name "Daryl Dragon" would end up being famous under a pseudonym. "Daryl Dragon" sounds like a stage name someone would pick.; 1/3/19, 9:15 AM
Anthony said...: That's one of the most awesome names ever. I wish my name was Daryl Dragon.

Although you'd expect something like a Bruce Lee movie villain with a name like that. Not some pasty guy playing a piano.; 1/3/19, 9:32 AM
tcrosse said...: I wonder if he had to pay royalties do Count Basie for wearing the yachting cap.; 1/3/19, 9:36 AM
~ Gordon Pasha said...: Jerry Pournelle opined on why they divorced in 2014.
https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/hearing-aid-experiences-the-captain-and-tennille-and-obamacare-target-practice-and-black-holes/; 1/3/19, 9:49 AM
dreams said...: I'm glad they remained friends and she cared for him at the end. The end is nigh.; 1/3/19, 10:18 AM
reader said...: My father died twenty-one years after his divorce from my mom. He was married at the time that he died (he had two other marriages in between). My mom held his durable power of attorney for health care. She was with him when he died.

Anytime he wasn’t married during a holiday she would cook two dinners and then have me take one to him.; 1/3/19, 10:51 AM
prairie wind said...: reader, that is a beautiful memory. I admire any couple who can maintain the friendship even if the marriage didn't work.

Did your mom remarry?; 1/3/19, 11:04 AM
Sally said...: That girl had great teeth.; 1/3/19, 11:25 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "That girl had great teeth."

She's right up there with Freddie Mercury (whose teeth, I've read, helped his singing).; 1/3/19, 11:40 AM
Mark O said...: There is simply no excuse for "Muskrat Love."; 1/3/19, 12:19 PM
reader said...: Yes, prairie wind, my mom did remarry. I do not think my mom would have divorced my father if it weren’t for my sister and me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t beautiful as much as it was sad and dark. At least until the end where I know having my mom with him brought my father comfort.; 1/3/19, 12:20 PM
Earnest Prole said...: I can't find the video where Neil Sedaka introduces Daryl Dragon as a "keyboard wizard," but check out his accompaniment on Muskrat Love.; 1/3/19, 1:35 PM
tcrosse said...: Speaking of Neil Sedaka, here he is playing Chopin on I've Got a Secret. As a teenager he was on his way to Juilliard, but was lured into pop music instead.; 1/3/19, 2:16 PM
RMc said...: That's one of the most awesome names ever. I wish my name was Daryl Dragon.

Well, the Captain's not using it anymore, so...; 1/3/19, 2:30 PM
rcocean said...: As a kid I kept getting Tennielle mixed up with Karen Carpenter.

Fortunately, Tennille wasn't obsessed with being thin and is still alive.; 1/3/19, 4:02 PM
mccullough said...: The Captain and Tennille vs The Eurythmics. Discuss; 1/3/19, 4:18 PM
JMW Turner said...: Actually, I read somewhere, somehow, that the Beach Boys gave him the moniker, "Captain Keyboards",hence, The Captain and etc.; 1/3/19, 5:10 PM
Trumpit said...: The Captain and Tennille were proof of the statement that men are expendable. Another example is Karen and Richard Carpenter. Can you give another prominent example? How about Maggie Thatcher and her husband. By the way, who was her forgettable husband?; 1/3/19, 10:39 PM
donald said...: I’m a Eurythmics guy.; 1/4/19, 6:32 AM
Sharc 65 said...: "She's right up there with Freddie Mercury (whose teeth, I've read, helped his singing)."

Specifically, the way I heard it, by the time he could afford orthodontia, he was paranoid that fixing his teeth would somehow diminish his voice. I don't see the connection, personally.; 1/5/19, 4:45 AM