Drummer and Passaic native John Barbata, who worked with bands like The Turtles, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and both Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, has died. He was 79.
No cause of death or place has been reported, though Best Classic Bands reported that he died on May 8.
Barbata, who was known as John, Johny or Johnny, was born in Passaic in 1945 and was part of the California rock scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s. His first well-know band he was part of was the instrumental surf music band the Sentinals from 1961 to 1965. Throughout his career, Barbata also worked with artists like Linda Ronstadt, Ry Cooder, Johnny Rivers, John Sebastian, the Everly Brothers and Judee Sill.
Barbata auditioned for The Turtles in 1966 with the help of the Byrds’ Gene Clark and joined to perform on the hit song “Happy Together.” He also contributed the drums to songs like “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “You Showed Me,” “Elenore” and “She’s My Girl.”
He also performed on shows like “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and “American Bandstand.”
He stayed with The Turtles until 1969 before leaving to join Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young who recruited Barbata to replace their drummer, Dallas Taylor. He contributed drums to the band’s live album “4 Way Street,” solo and joint projects by all four members of the band, including Neil Young’s “Time Fades Away” and Graham Nash’s “Song for Beginners.”
In 1972 while the band was taking a break, Crosby connected Barbata to Jefferson Airplane who recruited him to replace their drummer Joey Covington. Barbata played on the band’s last studio album “Long John Silver” and the live album “Thirty Seconds Over Winterland” and when the Airplane left, he played with members Paul Kantner, Grace Slick and David Freiberg on the 1973 album “Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun” then joined their side project, Jefferson Sharship, where he contributed to four of their albums.
He left the band in 1978 after getting into a car accident that left his neck, arm and jaw broken. After healing, he continued to work as a drummer but never regained the ability to play at the level he did in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
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Saleah Blancaflor may be reached at sblancaflor@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @saleyley and Instagram.
