Posted on 05/07/2024 7:01:07 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The myth that Cass Elliot died by choking on a ham sandwich in 1974 was invented by her manager in an attempt to protect her legacy, the singer’s daughter said.
Owen Elliot-Kugell was 7 years old when Elliot passed away at 32 from a heart attack after 36 hours of performing and partying. The former The Mamas & the Papas vocalist had been developing her solo career in London, U.K,. and seemed to have a bright future ahead of her.
“By the time she got back to her flat, it was evening the following day,” Elliot-Kugell told the BBC in a new interview. “She was hungry, and her dancer made her a sandwich from the only thing that was in the flat – ham – and left it on her bedside table. She never even took a bite.”
She added: “Even as a little girl… I would go home to have playdates with some of these kids and it was kind of frequent that one of their parents would make a comment to me like, ‘Hey, did your mom really die choking on a ham sandwich?’
“It bothered me because it was such a horrible story, and I knew that it wasn’t true. And it just felt so cruel to have a rumor like that perpetuated. It tortured me.”
After five decades of wanting to know where the story had come from, she was face-to-face with journalist Sue Cameron – a friend of Elliot – who owned up. “I said, ‘I really just wish I knew where that story came from.’ [Cameron] looked me in the eye and said: ‘I did it.’”
Cass Elliot Ham Sandwich Myth Makes Sense to Daughter Cameron reported that she’d called Elliot’s manager, Allan Carr, on hearing of the tragedy. “So many of her peers had passed away due to drug overdoses that Carr really wanted to protect her,” Elliot-Kugell continued.” And there was a sandwich that was found there.”
Carr came up with the choking story and asked Cameron to use it, she added, saying it was originally only meant to avoid speculation until full details were available – instead of becoming a long-believed myth. “Allan Carr wanted to protect his client’s legacy, and in a weird way it did,” Elliot-Kugell said. “So now I understand, and it makes sense.”
Her memoir, My Mama, Cass, is published on May 7 via Hachette Books.
Read More: Cass Elliot Sandwich Myth Was Manager’s Invention, Says Daughter | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/cass-elliot-sandwich-myth-was-managers-invention-says-daughter/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
I had forgotten he died in Bangkok. Looking back, he was one weirdo if I ever saw one.
(Seems like a lot of musicians were screwed by their managers.)
Yep! David Bowie’s manager screwed him out of all the money he was making in the 70’s. Bowie finally took command of the situation and fired him then went on to make millions.
Grand Funk Railroad is another classic example of a band that got screwed by their manager.
You’re exactly right.
Leonard Cohen also got swindled by his manager.
Didn’t the Beatles also get screwed by their first manager?
Big time! I just read up on it.
One night in Bangkok can make a hard man humble...
John Fogerty, Tom Petty...and of course, Elvis.
LOL!
Zanz Kant Danz but he’ll steal your money.
Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ first manager, did much to make them a success by insisting that they get properly groomed and adopt a clean image. That helped launch the Beatles from seedy small clubs to larger concert venues, TV appearances, and hit records. By today’s standards, Epstein’s contracts with the Beatles were too lush for him and his business practices were shady and often dishonest. Yet, as the Beatles themselves admitted, they signed their contracts with Epstein without reading them and found the money they actually netted and their success far beyond their expectations.
-PJ
Thanks.
It’s been a long long time now since I paid attention to news about bands and musicians and the details have faded. I knew there was some question about his honesty/ethics but that description of things is true, he had a lot to do with their success.
The Beatles certainly made enough money to make a lot of people rich.
Heard the sleaze was actually a guy named Yantce but John had enough legal trouble just trying to get some of his stolen money back.
Beatles! Unlike "Colonel" Parker Brian Epstein was not just a manager but a genius song collaborator and recording engineer who truly earned the sobriquet "the Fifth Beatle" whom without him would have probably sputtered out before getting out of Liverpool.
Cass Elliot was a hell of a singer. I’ve always liked “Make Your Own Kind of Music.”
It’s very sad if adults really were asking 7-year-old Owen about the circumstances of her mother’s demise. People can be such a-holes.
Many musicians naturally prefer to put friends and hangers on into business and advisory roles instead of finding and hiring the best they can get. Part of the hard lesson for musicians is that good and honest managers, lawyers, accountants, and financial mangers are expensive and are almost always straight laced types who do not live like musicians and lack an artistic temperament.
As for Brian Epstein, the so-called "Fifth Beatle," his commingling of the roles of friend and manager invited problems, as did his amphetamine use. The Beatles have cause for complaint as to Epstein's contract terms and business dealings, but they invited that trouble by their own carelessness. And the Beatles also have reason to be grateful to Epstein for helping bring them from a minor British club act to worldwide phenomenon.
Yes but Carradine’s family couldn’t ‘fix’ his death cert, as it happened in a foreign country. He had gone into a cut rate brothel for kinky stuff, was all strung up and had a heart attack. The ‘service’ people just walked out and left his body there.
She was likely killed. She knew everything about everyone in the music industry.
-SB
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