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Joe Butler | |
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![]() Butler in 1967 | |
Born | Joseph Campbell Butler September 16, 1941 Long Island, New York, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Musician, actor |
Works | Hair, Soon |
Spouse | Kim Ablondi |
Children | Yancy Butler |
Musical career | |
Genres | Rock, psychedelic rock, pop |
Instrument(s) | Drums, vocals, autoharp, guitar, percussion |
Years active | 1964–present |
Member of | The Lovin' Spoonful |
Joseph Campbell Butler (born September 16, 1941) [1] is an American drummer, singer and actor. He is a member of the Lovin' Spoonful, who had seven top 10 hits between 1965 and 1966. [2] Outside of his work on music he is an actor, having acted in several plays.
Butler would replace the bands original drummer Jan Carl, after the band's first performance in 1964, He would play drums on all of the band's albums and he would occasionally sing lead vocals. After frontman John Sebastian left the band in 1968, he took over full lead vocal duties. He would sing fully on their album Revelation: Revolution '69. After the album the band would break up. In 1991 the band would resume touring, Butler would reunite with members Steve Boone and Jerry Yester, Butler would tour and front the band, singing, playing autoharp, percussion and acoustic guitar.
Besides music Butler also is an actor and has appeared in the musicals Soon in 1971 and played Neil and Hair in 1968. Butler has also helped create the Circle Theatre Company. [3] Butler is also the father to actress Yancy Butler and would appear in one episode of her show Witchblade in 2002.
Joe Butler was born on September 16, 1941, in Long Island, New York. He began playing drums at age 10 and started playing professionally at 13. [4] during his teen years Butler would form many bands. [3] Butler would later join the Air Force and was in it until 1963. While in the air force, he met Steve Boone and his brother Skip. Butler, Skip and Steve would form a group called The Kingsmen (not to be confused with another band also with the same name). [4]
In 1964 Butler would join the Lovin Spoonful. Butler was a principal member of the pop rock band the Lovin' Spoonful, founded by John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky in 1965. Drummer Jan Carl was replaced by Joe after their first gig at the Night Owl in Greenwich Village. Eventually, Steve Boone joined the group and they later signed with Kama Sutra Records. The band would release their debut album Do You Believe in Magic in 1965. The Lovin' Spoonful's most well known hits are "Do You Believe in Magic", "Summer In The City" and "Darling Be Home Soon".
While with the Lovin' Spoonful, Butler was given the lead vocals on the songs "You Baby", "Full Measure", "Never Going Back", "Only Pretty, What A Pity" and "Me About You".
In 1968 Sebastian would leave the band, Butler became the lead vocalist for their last album, Revelation: Revolution '69. The album was recorded without Boone or Yester. The album performed poorly and after the album the band would break up. Butler would go on to pursue an acting career.
In 1980 Butler would first reunite with the original line up of John Sebastian, Zal Yanovsky and Steve Boone, to appear in the movie One-Trick Pony. [5]
Butler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Lovin' Spoonful in 2000 [6] [7] and performed with the original line-up for the last time. Butler also was inducted into the vocal group hall of fame with the band in 2006. [8] Since its reforming in 1991, Joe has continued to perform with founding member Steve Boone in and has retained his position as lead vocalist. [9] He also plays the guitar, autoharp and percussion instruments, while Butler fronted the band Mike Arturi would take over drums.
In 2020 he would reunite on stage with John Sebastian and Steve Boone, singing the Spoonful's hits, this was the first time Boone and Butler played with Sebastian since their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. [10]
Besides his career with the Spoonful, Butler is an actor, he also was in the 1971 rock opera Soon , playing the character of Neil. [11] Butler currently plays with several musical ensembles. He replaced the author James Rado in the leading role of Claude, joining the original Broadway cast of Hair . [7] Butler created the role of Alaska Wolf Joe for the off-Broadway production of the Brecht-Weill social opera the Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny .
In 2002 Butler would appear in the show Witchblade, the show starred Butler's daughter Yancy. In the show he would play the former police officer Arthur Buck. This was Butler's first time acting on TV. [12] [13]
Butler is a founding member of the Circle Theatre Company. [14] Alongside award-winning and renowned director Marshall W. Mason and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lanford Wilson, Butler has written and directed numerous projects.
Butler was married to theater manager Leslie Vega on September 2, 1967. He subsequently married Kim Ablondi. His daughter from his first marriage is actress Yancy Butler [12] , star of the 1992 televisions series Mann & Machine and the 1993 series South Beach , as well as films Hard Target and Drop Zone . [15]
The Rascals are an American rock band, formed in Garfield, New Jersey, United States, in 1965.
John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky. During his time in the Lovin Spoonful, John would write and sing some of the bands biggest hits such as Do You Believe in Magic, Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind, and Daydream. Sebastian would leave the Spoonful in 1968 after the album Everything Playing. After leaving the Spoonful Sebastian would focus on a solo career releasing his first solo album in 1970 titled John B. Sebastian, Sebastian would continue on recording solo albums.
Zalman Yanovsky was a Canadian folk-rock musician and restaurateur. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky and teacher Nechama Yanovsky, who died in 1958. He played lead guitar and sang for the Lovin' Spoonful, a rock band which he founded with John Sebastian in 1964.
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American folk-rock band formed in Greenwich Village, New York City, in 1964. The band was among the most popular groups in the United States for a short period in the mid-1960s and their music and image influenced many of the contemporary rock acts of their era. Beginning in July 1965 with their debut single "Do You Believe in Magic", the band had seven consecutive singles reach the Top Ten of the U.S. charts in the eighteen months that followed, including the number-two hits "Daydream" and "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" and the chart-topping "Summer in the City".
What's Up, Tiger Lily? is a 1966 American comedy film directed by Woody Allen in his feature-length directorial debut.
Daydream is the second album by the Lovin' Spoonful, released in 1966. It features two hits, "Daydream", which reached No. 2 in the U.S. Billboard Top 40 charts, and "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice".
"Summer in the City" is a song by the American folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. Written by John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian and Steve Boone, the song was released as a non-album single in July 1966 and was included on the album Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful later that year. The single was the Lovin' Spoonful's fifth to break the top ten in the United States, and the only one by the group to reach number one. A departure from the band's lighter sound, the recording features a harder rock style. The lyrics differ from most songs about the summer by lamenting the heat, contrasting the unpleasant warmth and noise of the daytime with the relief offered by the cool night, which allows for the nightlife to begin.
Jerome Alan Yester is an American former folk rock musician, record producer, and arranger. Yester has been a member of several bands including The New Christy Minstrels, Modern Folk Quartet, The Association, Rosebud and The Lovin' Spoonful.
Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful is the third studio album by the American folk rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. It was released in November 1966 by Kama Sutra Records. It peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Everything Playing is the fourth studio album by the American folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful, released in December 1967.
Steve Boone is an American bass guitarist and music producer, best-known as a member of the American folk-rock group the Lovin' Spoonful. Boone co-wrote two of the groups' biggest hits, "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" and "Summer in the City".
The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology is a compilation album by the folk rock group the Lovin' Spoonful, released in 1990.
The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful is a 1967 compilation album by the Lovin' Spoonful featuring hits and other tracks from their first three albums. It charted the highest of the group's career, hitting number three on the Billboard Top LPs chart.
"You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" is a song by the American folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. Written by John Sebastian and Steve Boone, it was issued on a non-album single in November 1965. The song was the Lovin' Spoonful's second-consecutive single to enter the top ten in the United States, peaking at number ten. It was later included on the band's second album, Daydream, released in March 1966.
"Daydream" is a song by the American folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. Written by John Sebastian, it was issued as a single in February 1966 and was the title track of the band's second album, Daydream, released the following month. The song was the Lovin' Spoonful's third consecutive single to enter the top ten in the United States, and it was their best performing to that point, reaching number two. The single's European release coincided with a British and Swedish promotional tour, leading the song to be the band's first major hit outside North America. It topped sales charts in Canada and Sweden, and it was ultimately the band's most successful record in the United Kingdom, where it reached number two.
"Darling Be Home Soon" is a song written by John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful for the soundtrack of the 1966 Francis Ford Coppola film You're a Big Boy Now. It appeared on the Lovin' Spoonful's 1967 soundtrack album You're a Big Boy Now. Sebastian performed his composition at Woodstock; it was the fourth song out of the five he performed at the 1969 music festival in White Lake, New York.
Revelation: Revolution '69 is the fifth studio album by the Lovin' Spoonful, released in late 1968. Though credited to "The Lovin' Spoonful featuring Joe Butler", the album features only Butler, the band's drummer, playing with session musicians.
James Yester is an American musician. He is a member of the sunshine pop group the Association, who had numerous hits on the Billboard charts during the 1960s, including "Windy", "Cherish", "Never My Love" and "Along Comes Mary", among many others.
"Rain on the Roof" is a song by the American folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. Written by John Sebastian, the song was released as a single in October 1966 and was included on the album Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful the following month. The song reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the Lovin' Spoonful's sixth-consecutive single to reach the top ten in the United States.
In May 1966, Zal Yanovsky and Steve Boone of the American folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful were arrested in San Francisco, California, for possessing one ounce of marijuana. The Spoonful were at the height of their success, and Yanovsky, a Canadian, worried that a conviction would lead to his deportation and a breakup of the band. To avoid this eventuality, he and Boone cooperated with law enforcement, revealing their drug source to an undercover agent at a party a week after their initial arrest.
... protection relating to her father Joseph Butler the drummer for the 1960s. band Lovin Spoonful While in custody on that charge Butler headbutted a ...