As one of the most recorded musicians alive, Kunkel's storied career is like a stroll through rock and roll history. He has either toured, recorded, produced or written hit songs with those artists that created the soundtrack of my generation, and maybe a couple others; George Harrison, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger, Warren Zevon, Harry Chapin, Don Henley, Phil Collins, Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby, Carly Simon, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks,  Jimmy Buffet, Dan Fogelberg, Lyle Lovett, and a long, long list of others. 

Russ has often attributed his success to simply finding himself in the right place at the right time, but that’s not the whole story.

Russell Kunkel was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1948. But he would be 

uprooted across the country to Long Beach, California with his mother nine years later, when his father passed unexpectedly. 

At elementary school in the beach community he joined the orchestra and learned to surf. He became a star on his high school swimming and water polo teams. His coaches tried to steer his 6-ft. wingspan towards the Olympic trials. But, by then, he had also started a high school band that practiced in his garage and would perform at the local the sock hops and school dances. 

Then came the fateful summer when his mother suggested he might need to get a real job. So, he found work at a neighborhood gas station. He survived just enough of those long, grueling hours to realize it wasn’t for him. “That’s when I knew,” Kunkel says with a smile, recalling that horrible summer. “That’s when I got serious about music.” 

The experience served to laser-focus him on a career from which he would never waver. Following the same simple dream he first discovered at seven years old, pounding his heart out on his big brothers drumset, as the Surfaris’ “Wipe Out” screamed from the turntable.

Russ became a professional drummer.

Before he was old enough to drink, legally, Kunkel was a member the house band at Hollywood’s famed ‘Whiskey a Go-Go,’ where he opened for such legendary groups as the The Byrds, The Doors, Cream, Traffic, and even Jimmy Hendrix. 

Not long after, his work would come to the attention of Peter Asher, the head of the Beatles' new record label, Apple Records. He was recruiting players for an album by a fresh, young artist they just signed named James Taylor. Asher hired Kunkel to play on Taylor's debut (which also included Carole King on piano, the afore mentioned Danny Kortchmar on guitar and other notables). The session proved to be the drummer's big break and it wasn't long before Kunkel found himself playing with George Harrison, Bob Dylan and others in a spontaneous, unrehearsed all-night recording session in New York City. The moment proved to be historical, with some of the material ending up on Harrison and Dylan albums. For Kunkel, it led to even more opportunities. He soon became a sought-after session musician and by the time he was 23, he had already played the drums on three of arguably some of the greatest LP’s of all time, Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” Carol King’s “Tapestry” and James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James.”

“If I had stopped there,” he had said once, “It would have been a decent career...” 

He didn’t stop there.

I think that Kunkel’s life was so interesting to me was because of the time that I grew up. I turned 12 in 1969. Music was everything then. The singers and songwriters of that time period held a god-like status because of the social revolution that was dramatically re-doing ‘normal’ as we knew it. All the rules were blurry, but we thought somehow, the music had all the answers. 

Back then, Laurel Canyon was a 10-minute drive that carried you a thousand miles away from the lights of LA and the crowds of the Sunset Strip. It was a strangely-tight geographical and social area full of young musicians who had no idea how talented they were or what their impact would collectively make in American culture.

Imagine for a moment, that you lived in the Canyon then; your landlord is Cass 

Elliott of the Mamas and the Papas. ‘Mama Cass’, which she hated to be called, had never met a stranger. 

“If she walked in this room right now” Russ remembers, “You would feel better about yourself, she was that kind of person.”

On any given evening in her home you might discover strange combinations of the local musical wildlife; there might be Monkees, Eagles, Byrds or even a Beatle or two, hanging out, singing songs, and possibly smoking a joint in your living room. Crosby, Stills & Nash became a group in that room. You might watch Eric Clapton learn a new way to tune a guitar from Joni Mitchell in the backyard on Sunday. Or snap a pic of Frank Zappa talking contracts to Alice Cooper. 

And then on some nights, when it got quiet, you could hear Jackson Brown on the piano, or the guitar of Graham Nash’s next hit echoing along the valley floor. Or, perhaps it’s just Jim Morrison’s angry girlfriend Pamela, throwing his books and clothing at him off the second floor balcony. Down on ‘Love Street,’ such were the times.

 

In 1968, Kunkel married Leah Cohen, who was the younger sister of Cass Elliot. Their son Nathaniel, now a Grammy and Emmy winning recording engineer and producer, was born in 1970. When Cass died in 1974, Russ and Leah Kunkel also adopted her daughter Owen. 

In addition to his session work, Kunkel toured with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Carol King, and others into the 1980s. Kunkel was also known for a cameo as doomed drummer Eric ‘Stumpy Joe’ Childs in the classic 1984 film, “This Is Spinal Tap.”

In 1990, Kunkel married singer Nicolette Larson, a beautiful singer who had a hit with a Neil Young song “Lotta Love”. Their daughter Elsie May Larson-Kunkel was born that year.

Elsie’s Godmother is Nicolette’s best friend Linda Ronstadt. They were married until Larson’s death, in 1997.

Kunkel soon expanded his career by becoming a song writer and a music producer, including producing six albums for his good friend Jimmy Buffet. Russ also maintained a state-of-the art studio in his Nichols Canyon home in LA, one canyon over from Laurel. 

Kunkel married Shauna Drayson Hayward, who had been the widow of Little Feat’s original drummer, Richie Hayward. The couple moved to San Clemente in 2011, where they relish their time off together. 

Still an avid surfer and patron of San Clemente shaper Bill Stewart. San Clemente has been in Russ’s plans for a long, long time.

“I spent the better part of my high school years driving up and down the coast from Long Beach to San Clemente,” he says, “to sneak into the Marine base and surf Trestles. “

“After 45 years of living in Los Angeles, pursuing my musical career, I decided that I wanted to get back to that sleepy little surf town I remembered. 

“We moved here a decade ago, and we’re so happy to be here. The laid back vibe is intoxicating. My friend Bill Stewart once told me, ‘No one ever moves away from San Clemente once you’ve lived here.’ Now I know why.

“When I’m driving back home from up in LA, or points north, I smile every time I pass the Pacific Coast Highway exit, knowing that coming home is like going on vacation. 

“Last November the entire 4pm OC Tavern crew (you know who you are), came down to the Coach House to see the band. (Special thanks to Gerry and Janel for organizing the festivities.)

“Shauna and I are so grateful to be part of this wonderful community,” he says, 

“it doesn't get any better.”

 Meet the Family ... The Immediate Family