Joseph Campbell Butler (born September 16, 1941) is an American drummer and stage actor. He was a founding member of

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including ...

, who had seven top 10 hits between 1965 and 1966.

Early life

Joe Butler was born on September 16, 1941, in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, New York. He began playing drums at age 10 and started playing professionally at 13. Butler was in the Air Force until 1963. While in the air force, he met Lovin’ Spoonful member

Steve Boone Steve Boone (born September 23, 1943, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina) is an American bass guitarist and music producer, who is both a founding member and current member of the folk-rock group The Lovin' Spoonful. Steve co-wrote two of the groups' ...

and his brother Skip, and formed a rock trio.

Career

Music

He was a principal member of the

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

, founded by

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Zal Yanovsky Zalman Yanovsky (December 19, 1944 – December 13, 2002) was a Canadian folk-rock musician. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky and teacher Nechama Yanovsky (née Gemeril), who died in 1958. He played lead guit ...

in 1965. Drummer Jan Carl was replaced by Joe after their first gig at the Night Owl in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. Eventually, Steve Boone joined the group and they later signed with

Kama Sutra Records Kama Sutra Records was started in 1964 by Arthur "Artie" Ripp, Hy Mizrahi and Phil Steinberg as Kama Sutra Productions, a production house. The "Kama Sutra" is an ancient Sanskrit text.Alan Betrock ''Girl groups: the story of a sound'' 1982 p.1 ...

The Lovin' Spoonful's most well known hits are Do You Believe in Magic, Summer In The City and

Darlin' Be Home Soon "Darlin' Be Home Soon" (or "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 a ...

. 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", while he was with the Spoonful. After Sebastian left the band, Butler became the lead vocalist for their last album, '' Revelation: Revolution '69.'' However, the album was a complete flop – most likely because of the absence of Sebastian – which lead to the band's dissolution only months later. Joe was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

as a member of the Lovin' Spoonful in 2000 and performed with the original line-up for the last time, as Yanovsky passed away two years later. Lovin spoonful-cropped 9356

Since its reforming in 1991, Joe has continued to perform with founding member

, and has retained his position as lead vocalist. He also plays the guitar, autoharp and percussion instruments.

Acting

He also was in the 1971 rock opera '' Soon''. Butler currently plays with several musical ensembles. He replaced the author

James Rado James Alexander Radomski (January 23, 1932 – June 21, 2022), known professionally as James Rado, was an American actor, playwright, director, and composer, best known as the co-author, along with Gerome Ragni, of the 1967 musical ''Hair''. He ...

, in the leading role of Claude, joining the original Broadway cast of

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

. Butler created the role of Alaska Wolf Joe for the off-Broadway production of the Brecht-Weill social opera The Rise and Fall of Mahogonny. Butler is a founding member of the

Circle Theatre Company Circle Theatre Company is a theatre group in India. The group has its headquarters in Delhi. Background Established in 2003, under the leadership of Bapi Bose, one of the directors in the contemporary Indian theatre, Circle Theatre is a professi ...

. Alongside award-winning and renowned director

Marshall W. Mason Marshall W. Mason (born February 24, 1940) is an American theater director, educator, and writer. Mason founded the Circle Repertory Company in New York City and was artistic director of the company for 18 years (1969–1987). He received an Obie ...

and Pulitzer prize winning playwright

Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed." Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright ...

, Joe has wrote and directed numerous projects.

Personal life

Butler was previously married to Leslie Vega, whom he married on September 2, 1967, and is currently married to Kim Abondi. His daughter from his first marriage is actress

Yancy Butler Yancy Victoria Butler (born July 2, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Natasha Binder in the 1993 film '' Hard Target'', Jess Crossman in '' Drop Zone'', and Detective Sara Pezzini on the TNT supernatural drama series ' ...

, star of TV series' Mann and Machine and South Beach and films

Hard Target ''Hard Target'' is a 1993 American action film directed by Hong Kong film director John Woo in his U.S. debut. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, an out-of-work homeless Cajun merchant seaman and former United States Forc ...

and

Drop Zone A drop zone (DZ) is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes. In ...

. He currently resides in the

neighbourhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Discography

References

External links

Joe Butler
at lovinspoonful.com * * * 1941 births Living people People from Long Island American rock drummers American folk singers American male singers Songwriters from New York (state) American autoharp players The Lovin' Spoonful members 20th-century American drummers American male drummers {{US-drummer-stub