Singer Toni Tennille Returns to Southern Roots

As one half of the popular music duo “The Captain and Tennille,” Toni Tennille enjoyed two huge number one Billboard hits in the 1970s – “Love Will Keep Us Together” and “Do That to Me One More Time.”

Born and raised in Montgomery, 75-year-old Tennille recently left five decades of West Coast life behind her, as well as a 39 year marriage to musical partner Daryl “The Captain” Dragon, and returned to the South with her three Australian Shepherd dogs.

“I’m now living just northeast of Orlando near my sister,” said Tennille, who released her April autobiography “Toni Tennille: A Memoir” written with niece, Caroline Tennille St. Clair (see www.tonitennille.net).

“It took 2 years to write and looks back at my childhood growing up in the segregated South and subsequent career after moving west,” she said.

Young Toni was raised with three sisters in a succession of homes in the Montgomery area, the last move being to Felder Avenue when she was 16.

“My father, Frank Tennille, was a big band singer in the 1930s and owned an antique store downtown,” recalled Tennille. “My mother had her own live TV show called ‘The Guest Room’ doing interviews in the late 1950s on WSFA. She used her maiden name, Cathryn Wright, and was born for the camera.”

With an interest in music, Toni took classical piano lessons and played background music for “Shaping Your Future,” an early exercise show on WSFA hosted by Idelle Brooks. Toni’s father was elected to the Alabama legislature, and also found his way onto television as the moderator of the weekly WCOV program, “The Legislature Speaks.”

However, her father’s financial problems led to depression and alcoholism, making family life difficult. “Daddy lost the furniture store and when they moved to California in 1960, my mother gave up her TV career which was hard for her.”

By then, Toni had developed an interest in rhythm and blues, doo-wop, and boogie, and spent 2 years studying at Auburn University while singing with the Auburn Knights Orchestra. But instead of returning for her junior year, she joined her family in California.

On the West Coast, she worked in Repertory Theater, wrote music, and eventually met and married musician Daryl Dragon. Rather than exhibiting shock at the prospect of her daughter being known as “Mrs. Dragon,” her mother was thrilled.

“She knew Daryl’s father, Carmen Dragon, who was a famous conductor, arranger and film scorer,” she Tennille. Dragon scored the music to the 1956 sci-fi horror film “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and won an Oscar for the score to Rita Hayworth’s 1944 musical comedy “Cover Girl.”

“The family was from Italy and originally named Dragone, but dropped the ‘e’ when they moved to Northern California,” explained Tennille.

After The Captain and Tennille exploded onto the pop music scene in 1975, they were given their own weekly primetime TV variety show on ABC also called “The Captain and Tennille.”

“Back in 1976, there were only two other TV networks, CBS and NBC, and we were on Monday nights at 8 pm opposite ‘Little House on the Prairie’ and ‘Rhoda,’” said Tennille. “So we split the ratings pie three ways, but were still watched by over 33 million people each week.”

Typical of the period, variety show hosts were often required to display an assortment of talents.

“Obviously I loved to sing, and doing the humor skits was fun, but I hated the dancing,” admitted Tennille. “Fortunately, the choreographer took the 6 or 7 steps I knew, mixing and matching them to make me look pretty good.”

Although the show only lasted one season, Tennille says working with the weekly guests was a highlight. “I was so excited about meeting all those fabulous stars like George Burns and Bob Hope. Doing skits with them was such a dream for me.”

The show, however, was difficult for her husband who preferred to remain in the background to focus on the music.

“From the beginning, Daryl wanted to make sure our music wasn’t watered down by the producers. So it was in our contract that he would have a big role in the music production. But that meant he wouldn’t get home until one or two o’clock in the mornings, then be up again at 6:30 am the next day. He also hated doing the comedy skits, although he could be very funny. So it was very, very hard for him.”

With her cheerful and engaging personality, Tennille was back on television again in 1980 starring in her own program, “The Toni Tennille Show,” a nationally syndicated series featuring musical numbers and her interviews with special guests.

“It aired five days a week and we taped two shows a day for three days a week. The other days I would be learning all the songs and duets with guests, and reading biographies about the guests I’d be interviewing. It was hard work, but I’m very proud of what I achieved.”

She also drew on advice that her mother offered years before.

“When she was working on Montgomery television, she once told me: ‘Toni, always be really nice to your lighting guys, because they can make you look like an old hag if they want!’ So that’s what I did.”

Although “The Toni Tennille Show” only lasted a year too, the parade of stars was once again stellar with guests such as Ginger Rogers, Ernest Borgnine, Leonard Nimoy, and Lily Tomlin.

Surprisingly, perhaps, as she continued to tour with Daryl, she says the duo never performed in her home town at the height of their career.

“I don’t know why we never made it back to Montgomery. I suppose we were just never able to fit it into our schedule,” she said. “I have no family left there now, just a few friends from school. The last time I was in the area was around 1986 when I did a brief solo concert with the Auburn Knights.”

By then, over a quarter century since her student days, she was surprised by changes on the Auburn campus.

“When I was there at the end of the 50s, women weren’t allowed to wear jeans or pants on campus, we had to be back at the dorms by a certain time, and our dorm mother would check our breath for alcohol. But I still have many fond memories of Auburn.”

With her glitzy entertainment career now in the distant past, Tennille says she found the perfect house last summer after moving to Florida, and easily slipped back into Southern living.

Her decision to divorce Daryl in 2014 took many fans by surprise, as the duo was publicly perceived as a devoted couple who tenderly performed their string of love songs for years. But, she says, throughout their marriage there were problems that became overwhelming, so it was time to move on.

“I hope when people read the book they’ll understand how hard it was for me to make that decision and why I made it. We were not the lovebirds that the public saw,” she said. “We still talk regularly and care for each other. But my message for people who are in a bad relationship is to get all the help you can to remove yourself from the situation. We all deserve happiness.”

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 600 magazines and newspapers