John Barbata

John Barbata (April 1, 1945 – May 8, 2024) was an American drummer who was active especially in pop and rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s, both as a band member and as a session drummer. Barbata served as the drummer for The Sentinals, The Turtles, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jefferson Airplane (for its final album and tour only), and Jefferson Starship (from 1974 to 1978). Barbata claimed to have played on over 60 albums in an uncredited capacity.

Early life

Barbata was born on Easter, April 1, 1945, in Passaic, New Jersey, to Martina and Charles Barbata. He was raised in Saranac Lake, New York, till the age of seven and later in Nutley, New Jersey. His mother was an Austrian emigrant who worked as a records keeper at a hospital and his father was a firefighter and mechanic. He was the youngest child of three, preceded by his older brother Chuck and sister Lauren. His first claim to fame came to him as a young infant when his mother found a man stranded in a boat that had run out of gas. The man was Albert Einstein, who held the child as Barbata's mother delivered them to shore.

After five years with the Sentinals, the band broke up, and Barbata, along with his bandmate Lee Michaels, headed to Hollywood. Shortly after, Barbata joined Joel Scott Hill of Canned Heat, after his drummer left and went on to play with the Mamas and Papas. Joel, Barbata, and Chris Ethridge later went on to put out the album L.A. Getaway in 1971. Barbata played on the Turtles' biggest US hit "Happy Together" which, on March 25, 1967, went to No. 1 on the charts and stayed there for three weeks. One of his trademarks was to incorporate stick twirling into his performances, a technique also used by Dino Danelli of The Rascals and Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge.

The Turtles were invited to play on the Ed Sullivan Show (May 14, 1967), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Hollywood Palace, American Bandstand, Where the Action Is, and The Johnny Carson Show. The group went on to have many other hits with Barbata, including "She'd Rather Be with Me", "You Showed Me", "She's My Girl", and "Elenore". Barbata also appeared on The Dating Game show. Soon after, Barbata joined Jefferson Airplane and went on to record the album Long John Silver (1972) and the live album Thirty Seconds Over Winterland (1973). They also performed as the unnamed band in the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978).

Personal life At the age of 33, Barbata retired from the mainstream music industry and built a house and recording studio in the remote redwood village of Comptche, California. He continued making music locally. On July 3, 1981, Barbata married the Oklahoma native and artist, Angela Evans (1961–2016). They released two albums together, California and Oklahoma. In 1987, their daughter Leah was born. They later relocated to his late wife's hometown of Ada, Oklahoma, where Barbata resided up to his death. In 2016, after 34 years of marriage, his wife died from cancer. Barbata continued to play music, often performing with former band members or his singer-songwriter daughter.

Discography

The Sentinals Big Surf! 1963 The Sentinals Vegas Go Go 1964 The Turtles Happy Together 1967 The Turtles The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands 1968 Lee Michaels Recital 1968 Linda Ronstadt Hand Sown ... Home Grown 1969 The Fool The Fool 1969 Ry Cooder Ry Cooder 1970 Stephen Stills Stephen Stills 1970 Ethridge/Hill/Barbata L.A. Getaway 1971 Johnny Rivers Home Grown 1971 Batdorf & Rodney Off the Shelf 1971 David Blue Stories 1971 John Sebastian The Four of Us 1971 Judee Sill Judee Sill 1971 The Everly Brothers Stories We Could Tell 1972 Graham Nash & David Crosby Graham Nash David Crosby Graham Nash Songs for Beginners 1972 Neil Young Time Fades Away 1972 JD Souther John David Souther 1972 Jefferson Airplane Long John Silver 1972 Jefferson Airplane Thirty Seconds Over Winterland 1973 Graham Nash Wild Tales 1973 David Blue Nice Baby and the Angel 1973 The Byrds Byrds 1973 Booker T. & Priscilla Jones Chronicles 1973 Paul Kantner, Grace Slick and David Freiberg Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun 1973 Grace Slick Manhole 1974 Jefferson Starship Dragon Fly 1974 Jefferson Starship Red Octopus 1975 Jefferson Starship Spitfire 1976 Jefferson Starship Flight Log 1977 Jefferson Starship Earth 1978 Jefferson Starship Gold 1979 Philo Hayward Rounder 1981