Saturday, January 5, 2019

Rest in peace, Daryl Dragon...

Some time ago, I read Toni Tennille's book about her time as half of the popular duo, The Captain and Tennille.  I reviewed the book on my main blog.  Tennille was married to Daryl Dragon (the Captain) for about 39 years.  According to her book, their marriage wasn't particularly loving.  They were good friends and excellent professional collaborators, but not necessarily in love with each other... at least not in the physical sense.

Daryl Dragon died on January 2, 2019.  He was 76 years old, living in Prescott, Arizona.  Toni Tennille was at his side when he passed of kidney failure.  She'd moved to Arizona to be closer to him, as he suffered from dementia.  Recalling her book, when she described the incident that led to their divorce, I'm thinking he may have been suffering from dementia when she decided to split from him.  And yet, she was there at the end when the brilliant, classically trained pianist took his final breath.

As a child of the 70s, I grew up listening to the Captain and Tennille's hits.  I was too young to remember their variety show, although I can watch YouTube clips with the best of them.  Dragon was kind of the quirky one, sitting there silently while Tennille was vivacious and charming.  On stage, they belonged together.


In 1980, Toni Tennille had a talk show and her husband was there by her side.


Toni talks about her book.

I read a comment on Facebook in which someone compared Dragon to Richard Carpenter, but with better fashion sense.  I don't know if that's really accurate, although I do know Dragon was a musical wizard.  I will always remember him in his cap, making funny faces as his glamorous wife fronted their act.  


Interesting video featuring the duo with the Carpenters and Ben Vereen.

Rest in peace, Captain.  

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