1. John Barbata 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.
21 Facts About John Barbata
1. 2.
John Barbata claimed to have played on over 60 albums in an uncredited capacity.
3.
John Barbata was born on Easter, April 1,1945, in Passaic, New Jersey, to Martina and Charles John Barbata.
4.
John Barbata was raised in Saranac Lake, New York, till the age of seven and later in Nutley, New Jersey.
5.
John Barbata's mother was an Austrian emigrant who worked as a records keeper at a hospital and his father was a firefighter and mechanic.
6.
John Barbata was the youngest child of three, preceded by his older brother Chuck and sister Lauren.
7.
The man was Albert Einstein, who held the child as John Barbata's mother delivered them to shore.
8.
At the age of 16, John Barbata's family relocated for a brief stint to Rialto, California, where John Barbata formed his first band called the Velvatones.
9.
John Barbata soon went on to help form a band called the Ambassadors and bought his first set of drums.
10.
Shortly after, John Barbata joined Joel Scott Hill of Canned Heat, after his drummer left and went on to play with the Mamas and Papas.
11.
The first song John Barbata recorded with the Turtles was "Outside Chance" in July 1966.
12.
John 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.
13.
In 1970, John Barbata was invited to join CSNY after Neil Young fired their previous drummer, Dallas Taylor.
14.
John Barbata continued to play on eight albums with CSNY and the individual members of the quartet, including Graham Nash's Songs for Beginners and Wild Tales, Graham Nash and David Crosby's Graham Nash David Crosby, Stephen Stills' Stephen Stills album, and filling in for Kenny Buttrey with The Stray Gators on Neil Young's live album Time Fades Away.
15.
John Barbata declined as he was already in one of the biggest musical groups at the time.
16.
John Barbata later went on to play on Red Octopus, which was the Starship's best-selling album, containing the hit single "Miracles".
17.
In October 1978, John Barbata was in a serious car crash in Northern California that broke his neck, arm and jaw.
18.
At the age of 33, John Barbata retired from the mainstream music industry and built a house and recording studio in the remote redwood village of Comptche, California.
19.
On July 3,1981, John Barbata married the Oklahoma native and artist, Angela Evans.
20.
John Barbata continued to play music, often performing with former band members or his singer-songwriter daughter.
21.
John Barbata died on May 8,2024 of heart complications, at the age of 79.