The Lettermen are an American male pop vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is

close-harmony A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also c ...

pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959. They have had two Top 10 singles (both No. 7), 16 Top 10 singles on the Adult Contemporary chart (including one No. 1), 32 consecutive ''Billboard''

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

albums, 11

gold records Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, and five Grammy nominations.

History

In 1958, the stage revue ''Newcomers of 1928'' was produced, a nostalgia act which starred 1920s stars

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

, Rudy Vallée, Harry Richman, and Fifi D'Orsay. The show required three male singers to impersonate The Rhythm Boys, the

vocal group A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by the 1940s. Types Vocal groups can come in s ...

that traveled with Whiteman and his orchestra in the late 1920s, and gave

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

his initial fame. The three singers selected were Mike Barnett, Dick Stewart, and Tony Butala. Jackie Barnett, who was chief comedy writer for the

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

TV show, had auditioned the singers, and he decided to name the group "The Lettermen" for the show. ''Newcomers of 1928'' opened on February 28, 1958, at the

Desert Inn The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was th ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. They played to sell-out audiences and were held over for many weeks. Continuing with a six-week tryout at the Deauville Hotel in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which ...

, the idea continued to be a smash. Barnett and Russell were replaced midway through the run by Gary Clarke and Jerry Paul. When the show ended, Butala landed a job as singer/bass player in a lounge group, "Bill Norvis and the Upstarts", along with Clarke. After a few months, Clarke left the group and was replaced by Jim Pike (November 6, 1936 – June 9, 2019). Pike and Butala decided to leave the Upstarts and form a new group, although they had not yet decided on a name. Pike envisioned a group where each member was an excellent soloist as well as a great group singer. Pike and Butala joined with Bob Engemann (February 19, 1935 – January 20, 2013), a singer that Pike had met when he attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

a few years earlier. (Pike and Engemann had come to Los Angeles, California, and had sung together until Engemann had to go into the California National Guard for 6 months. That's why Pike joined Bill Norvis and there met Butala.) The combination of Pike, Engemann and Butala first recorded in 1960. They secured a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records through Bob Engemann's older brother, Karl Engemann, who was a record producer there, and for whom Pike had earlier released a record called ''Lucy D'', which was not successful. Karl Engemann years later became

Marie Osmond Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television host, and a member of the show business family the Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a country and p ...

's personal manager for many years. Pike, Butala, and Engemann as "The Lettermen" released two

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

in 1960 for Warner Bros. The A-sides were "Two Hearts" and " Their Hearts Were Full of Spring". They were not successful. After Warner Bros., Karl Engemann moved on to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

as President of A&R. He got them out of their contract at Warner Bros. and made an appointment for them to see

Nick Venet Nick Venet (born Nikolas Kostantinos Venetoulis, 3 December 1936 – 2 January 1998) was an American record producer, who began his career at age 19 with World Pacific Jazz. He is best known for signing The Beach Boys to Capitol Records and prod ...

, a producer at Capitol. The audition was successful in getting them another record contract. There was another "Lettermen" group in the late 1950s and early 1960s that recorded for Liberty Records (which was a major record label at the time), an R&B group with five members, and their not-so-successful single was called "Hey Big Brain". About that same time, there was a third group called the Lettermen Trio, headed up by Sammy Vandenburg, who also had no record success. But the "Lettermen" of Pike, Engemann, and Butala had the first

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record ...

, so, by law, they were entitled to use the "Lettermen" name exclusively. The Lettermen were unknown until they signed with Capitol Records in 1961. Their first single for Capitol, "

The Way You Look Tonight "The Way You Look To-night" is a song from the film '' Swing Time'' that was performed by Fred Astaire and composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Dorothy Fields. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. Fields remarked, ...

," succeeded on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop

and climbed to No. 13. Their next, " When I Fall in Love," reached the Top 10 in late 1962 and hit No. 1 on AC. They had several other Top 10 AC

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

, such as 1965's " Theme From A Summer Place". In late 1967, Bob Engemann resigned and was replaced by Jim Pike's younger brother, Gary Pike. The hits continued with the 1967 medley " Goin' Out of My Head"/" Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and in 1968 with " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", plus 1969's " Hurt So Bad", which reached No. 12 and lasted 21 weeks on the Hot 100, second only to the 22 weeks for The Archies' " Sugar, Sugar" within that calendar year. The last successful single was in 1971,

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's "

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

", a solo by Jim Pike. The Lettermen have had two Top 10 singles (both No. 7), 16 Top 10 Adult Contemporary singles, including one Adult Contemporary No. 1, 32 consecutive ''Billboard'' Hot 200 charted albums, 11

, five Grammy nominations, an Andy Award, and a Cleo Award. The Lettermen were featured on the TV show ''Dobie Gillis'' in the episode "Vocal Boy Makes Good" which originally aired on January 16, 1963. The Lettermen were featured on ''The Jack Benny Program'' in the episode "The Lettermen" which originally aired on March 31, 1964. In 1976, Jim Pike left the group because of vocal problems and sold the Lettermen name to Butala. After Gary Pike left the Lettermen in 1981, the Pike brothers along with Ric de Azevedo sang The Lettermen hits, billed as "Reunion". In 1961, The Lettermen started performing live concerts, doing over 200 shows a year, an unbroken string that continues to the present. Over the decades, the group has had various line-ups, replacing members who left for various reasons with new people to maintain a trio. Tony Butala has stated that the group ethos is that of three strong soloists that harmonize, and that the group encourages individual singing and songwriting. Butala has stated that the combination of himself, Donovan Tea (thirty-eight years) and Bobby Poynton (sixteen years) "is the best combination of voices, and best sounding group since the original trio." Butala also said this of the previous line-up of himself, Tea, and Mark Preston (eleven years) thus highlighting the high standard of vocalists The Lettermen had always had. This is also evident in the addition of Rob Gulack to the group in 2019 as Butala eased into retirement. Among their many songs include renditions of several traditional Filipino '' kundimans'' such as ''Dahil sa Iyo'' ("Because of You"), ''Sapagkat Kami Ay Tao Lamang'' ("For We Are Only Human"). Their enunciation and pronunciation in the language has developed over the decades that they have interpreted these love songs. In 1969, in light of

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

' singer Jim Morrison's arrest in Miami for indecent exposure, the Lettermen performed at a concert against indecency, along with Anita Bryant, Kate Smith, and

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

. President Nixon supported the concert. (Source: ''Rock Almanac'', 1983) The Lettermen had covered songs by the Doors in 1968. On December 9 and 10, 2012, The Lettermen Society Convention was held at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The members had dinner and breakfast with the current group of Tony Butala, Donovan Tea, and Bobby Poynton. They attended the soundcheck and Lettermen Holiday Show with ticketed audience members in the casino showroom. This celebration was the 31st annual convention. The 32nd annual Lettermen convention was a four-day event at the

South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa (formerly South Coast) is a resort located along Las Vegas Boulevard in Enterprise, Nevada, south of the Las Vegas Strip. It is owned and operated by Michael Gaughan, the founder of Coast Casinos. It includes a ca ...

between October 10 and October 13, 2013. Hundreds of Lettermen Society members and fans were invited to attend. Bob Engemann died on January 20, 2013, in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Utah, fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County, Utah, Utah County and is home to Bri ...

, at age 77, of complications from his December 13, 2012, heart bypass surgery. Jim Pike died from complications of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

on June 9, 2019, at his home in Prescott, Arizona. He was 82.

Personnel

Current members * Tony Butala – second tenor * Donovan Tea – baritone * Bobby Poynton – first tenor * Rob Gulack – second tenor Past members * Jim Pike – first tenor * Bob Engemann – baritone * Gary Pike – baritone & first tenor * Doug Curran – first tenor * Donny Pike – first tenor * Ralph "Chad" Nichols – baritone * Don Campeau – first tenor * David "Red" Saber – baritone * Harrison "Harry" Clewley – first tenor * Mark Preston – first tenor * Ernie Pontiere – first tenor * Paul Walters – baritone * Darren Dowler – first tenor

Timeline

Awards and recognition

*2001: Inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame *2011: Inducted into the " Fans' Entertainment Hall of Fame" - Las Vegas, NV *2012: Inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame *2020: inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Discography

Albums

Compilations

*1966: '' The Best of The Lettermen'' (re-released 1988 on CD/Capitol)(No. 17) *1969: ''The Best of The Lettermen, Volume 2'' *1969: ''Close Up'' (No. 90) (Released 7/16/1969) The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania)16 Jul 1969, WedPage 14 *1970: ''The Lettermen'' (3-LP set) *1971: ''Let It Be Me/And I Love Her'' *1973: ''Best Now'' (CD: Capitol/Japan) *1974: ''Sings Old Rock'n Roll'' *1974: ''All-Time Greatest Hits'' (No. 186) *1975: ''The Lovin' Touch of The Lettermen'' *1977: ''With Love from The Lettermen'' *1988: ''Twin Best Now'' *1989: ''When I Fall in Love'' *1990: ''Best Now'' (CD: Capitol/Japan) *1990: ''Greatest Hits – 10 Best Series'' *1992: ''Collectors Series'' *1993: ''Best Hits'' *1993: ''36 All-Time Greatest Hits'' *1994: ''Their Greatest Hits & Finest Performances'' *1997: ''Super Now'' *1998: ''Memories: The Very Best of The Lettermen'' *2002: ''A Song for Young Love/Once Once Upon a Time'' *2003: ''Soft Rock Collection'' *2003: ''Greatest Hits: The Priceless Collection'' *2003: ''The Lettermen Collection: Beautiful Harmony'' (6-CD set:Japan) *2004: ''Absolutely the Best'' *2006: ''Complete Hits'' *2007: ''Complete Hits Volume Two'' *2010: ''Lettermen Best'' *2014: ''The First Four Albums And More''

Singles

Footnotes:
¹ "Son of Old Rivers," a parody of "Old Rivers" by Walter Brennan, was recorded by Engemann and Pike.
² "Turn Around, Look at Me," the

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of "How Is Julie?," did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 105 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
³ "Again" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 120 on the Bubbling Under chart.
⁴ "Heartache Oh Heartache" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 122 on the Bubbling Under chart.
⁵ "Allentown Jail" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 123 on the Bubbling Under chart.
⁶ "Put Away Your Tear Drops" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 132 on the Bubbling Under chart.
⁷ "Girl With a Little Tin Heart" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 135 on the Bubbling Under chart.
⁸ "Sweet September" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 114 on the Bubbling Under chart.
⁹ "Chanson D'Amour" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 112 on the Bubbling Under chart.
¹⁰ "All the Grey Haired Men" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 109 on the Bubbling Under chart.
¹¹ "I Have Dreamed" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 129 on the Bubbling Under chart.
¹² "Hey Girl" did not chart on the Hot 100, but hit No. 104 on the Bubbling Under chart.
¹³ The 1976 release of "The Way You Look Tonight" was a new disco version.

References

External links

* *
'The Lettermen' Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lettermen, The Latter Day Saints from Arizona American musical trios American pop music groups American vocal groups Capitol Records artists Liberty Records artists Traditional pop music singers Musical groups established in 1959 1959 establishments in Arizona