John Barbata Dies: Jefferson Starship’s Original Drummer & The Turtles, CSN&Y Alum Was 79

Erik Pedersen
·2 min read
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John Barbata Dies: Jefferson Starship’s Original Drummer & The Turtles, CSN&Y Alum Was 79
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John Barbata, who played on the final Jefferson Airplane album and was successor band Jefferson Starship original drummer and also made hit records with The Turtles and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, has died. He was 79.

He died May 8 in Oklahoma. Barbata’s death was confirmed on the official Facebook pages of the Starship and Airplane, but neither provided details.

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“We are saddened to hear of the passing of the great John Barbata, Jefferson Starship’s original drummer,” reads the Starship post. “Our thoughts go out to his family, friends and fans. Rock in peace, Johnny!”

Barbata played on the final Jefferson Airplane studio album, 1972’s Long John Silver, and them toured with the group. He is heard on the 1973 live disc Thirty Seconds over Winterland. When the Airplane rebranded as Jefferson Starship soon after, he was among the originals along with Airplane alums Grace Slick, Paul Kantner and others.

Back cover of Jefferson Starship’s 1976 album ‘Spitfire,’ with John Barbata at bottom right
Back cover of Jefferson Starship’s 1976 album ‘Spitfire,’ with John Barbata at bottom right

Barbata drummed and sang backup on all of the less hard-rocking Starship’s albums through 1978’s Earth, three of which went platinum. The group’s sophomore set Red Octopus topped the Billboard 200 for a month in the summer of 1975, spawned the smash single “Miracles” and has sold more than 2 million copies. He also appeared on the group’s popular tracks “Ride the Tiger,” “With Your Love,” “Runaway” and more.

He toured with the group through 1978 but was badly injured in a car crash late that year and had to leave the band.

Born on April 1, 1945, in Passaic, NJ, Barbata relocated to California and began playing in bands. After a stint in surf-rock group The Sentinels, he joined The Turtles in 1966 and enjoyed his first taste of mainstream success. He drummed on the classic 1967 No. 1 single “Happy Together” as well the late-’60s Top 10 hits “Elenore” and “You Showed Me.”

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Barbata left The Turtles in 1969, just ahead of their split, and joined Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, who were hot off the seminal album Déjà Vu. He played on the Neil Young-penned Kent State elegy “Ohio,” which made the U.S. Top 15 and became a rock classic, and appears on the chart-topping 1974 live album Four-Way Street. He would continue to record with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Young in various iterations of the group and solo sets for several years.

He also recorded with the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Rivers, Lee Michaels, Ry Cooder and The Ever Brothers.

Barbata retired from national touring and big-name recording after his accident, taking more than a year to recover. He resumed making albums and playing live in the 1980s.

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