The Turtles Drummer John Barbata Dead - Happy Together, She'd Rather Be With Me, Elenore Tribute

John Barbata, the drummer for bands such as The Turtles, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, has died on May 8, 2024, at age 79.

Barbata served as percussionist for The Turtles, lending his skills to recordings of hits such as the Billboard Hot 100-topping “Happy Together” 0:31 as well as “Elenore” 5:40 and “She’d Rather Be With Me." 3:25 The Turtles band members in breakthrough year 1967 were Al Nichol, Chip Douglas, Johnny Barbata, Mark Volman, Jim Tucker, and Howard Kaylan. After the Los Angeles-based pop rock group disbanded in 1970, the New Jersey native was tapped by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for live performances and session work on the members’ solo projects before he transferred over to Jefferson Airplane.

The Facebook account for Jefferson Airplane — which Barbata joined in 1972 — shared this post on Monday, May 13, 2024: “Known for his exceptional talent, John left his mark on the music. During a hiatus for CSN&Y, David Crosby introduced John to the Airplane, who hired John instantly. You can hear John’s drumming skills on the band’s final studio album, LONG JOHN SILVER, as well as the live album THIRTY SECONDS OVER WINTERLAND.

After pioneering psych-rock band Jefferson Airplane regrouped in the mid-1970s to create Jefferson Starship, Barbata was the new group’s founding drummer. “We are saddened to hear of the passing of the great John Barbata,” reads a Facebook post on the Starship page. “Our thoughts go out to his family, friends and fans. Rock in peace, Johnny!”

Following his retirement, Barbata released a memoir: Johny Barbata – The Legendary Life of a Rock Star Drummer. “There are lots of great stories about all the the bands and people I have had the pleasure to be involved with during my incredible career,” reads a description of the book on Amazon.

“I’ve done a lot of albums and 28 singles, and my wife said, ‘You know you’re a part of rock ’n’ roll history. You really gotta write a book,'” he told Desert Sun in 2014. “I’m always talking to people about how [the ’60s and ’70s] was the best time, era for music.” Source: Billboard

John Barbata, born in New Jersey, moved to Southern California as a teenager, playing in surf-rock bands — he was a member of the Sentinels, whose “La Tinia” was a local radio hit in 1961 — before joining the Turtles, then riding high after their 1965 cover of “It Ain’t Me Babe.” Barbata recorded on their chart-topper and defining track “Happy Together” and the follow-up smash “She’d Rather Be With Me.”

Barbata stayed with the group through their final three albums, 1967’s “Happy Together,” 1968’s “The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands” and 1969’s “Turtle Soup.” In his memoir, he recalled a wild London trip where he partied with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones, a night that went sideways when a Turtles roadie spilled a pitcher of beer on Lennon.

After the Turtles broke up, Barbata joined CSNY for a run of tour dates that were documented on the live album “4 Way Street,” where he played drums on Neil Young‘s “Ohio,” written in the wake of the Kent State campus shootings.

When that group went on hiatus, Barbata performed on several of its members’ solo albums, including Young’s “Time Fades Away,” Graham Nash’s “Songs for Beginners” and Stephen Stills’ 1970 self-titled record. (Barbata also famously played a 45-minute drum solo to prevent a riot when 1969’s Atlanta Pop Festival suffered a power outage.)

David Crosby recruited him to join the final Jefferson Airplane lineup, and the band later brought him into Jefferson Starship, where he played on hits like “Miracles” over four LPs: 1974’s “Dragon Fly,” 1975’s “Red Octopus”, 1976’s “Spitfire” and 1978’s “Earth.”

Along the way, he recorded and toured with Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, Leon Russell, Doctor John, the Everly Brothers and many more. Barbata, as he recounts in his memoir, declined both an opportunity to drum for Elvis Presley and a chance to join the Eagles, telling the Phoenix New Times that “[David] Geffen walked over to me and said, ‘There is a new group forming, and they want you to be part of it. They are called the Eagles.’ I said, ‘Who the hell are the Eagles? I never heard of them.”

A 1978 car accident and long recovery necessitated his departure from Jefferson Starship, and he largely left the music industry afterward. Barbata published a memoir, “The Legendary Life of a Rock Star Drummer,” in 2005. He eventually moved to southern Oklahoma, where he spent his last years.

“It was a wild ride, and one that I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience,” Barbata told the Oklahoman in 2005. “It was an experience, and one that allowed me to make a lot of money doing what I love to do: make music and perform. I met a lot of great people, learned a lot of hard lessons and eventually met the woman of my dreams. Source: Los Angeles Times

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