John Barbata, drummer for the Turtles, CSNY and Jefferson Airplane, dies at 79

John Barbata, the classic rock drummer who played on era-defining records by the Turtles, Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, has died. 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.’” For the record: An earlier version of this story said John Barbata performed on the Turtles’ 1969 album “Turtle Soup.” He did not play on that album. Barbata, born April 1, 1945, 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 1967’s “Happy Together” and 1968’s “The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands.” 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. 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. 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.