Buzzy Linhart

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William Charles "Buzzy" Linhart (born March 3, 1943 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , † February 13, 2020 in Berkeley , California ) was an American singer , songwriter , guitarist and vibraphonist .

Life

Linhart took an interest in music and theater at the age of seven and first played percussion in a school orchestra. At the age of ten he switched to the vibraphone and at the age of 14 he attended the Cleveland Music School, where he led several school bands. From 1961 he attended the US Navy School of Music and went to Florida in 1962, where he met the singer, guitarist and songwriter Fred Neil and performed with him in clubs. In 1963 he came to Greenwich Village, New York, with Neil, and became friends in the local folk scene with John Sebastian , who later became a founding member of The Lovin 'Spoonful . Neil was a kind of emcee at the folk club Cafe Wha? where he introduced new folk singers to the audience, including Bob Dylan and Buzzy Linhart.

The American folk scene was enthusiastic about Indian music at the time, especially Ravi Shankar and his virtuosity on the sitar. Inspired by this, Neil, Linhart, guitarist and singer Tim Hardin and other musicians played long jam sessions in clubs like the Night Owl Cafe and the Café au Go Go with improvisations in a combination of folk and Indian ragas. The later called raga-rock fusion was to become the forerunner of psychedelic music.

In 1966 Linhart founded the quartet Seventh Sons , together with Serge Katzen, Steve Denaut and Max Ochs , which recorded a raga rock LP, but soon disbanded. Shortly thereafter, the band leader Mitch Ryder hired Linhart for a tour of the USA, Germany and Great Britain. During another stay in London in 1968 he was able to sign a recording contract with Phillips Records and record his first album buzzy . With the song Sing Joy contained on it, a typical Linhart raga-folk adaptation with the accompanying instruments guitar, sitar, tabla and mellotron is documented for the first time.

After returning to New York in 1969, he formed the Buzzy Linhart Quartet with Doug Rodriguez on lead guitar, John Siomos on drums and Douglas Rausch on bass , which he later renamed Music . An LP with the same title was released in 1970, but the band broke up shortly after it was released. In the same year he took part in the recording of John Sebastian's first studio album.

As a session musician on the vibraphone, he also played a. a. on albums by Richie Havens , David Crosby , Mama Cass , Carly Simon , Buffy Sainte-Marie , Cat Mother & All Night Newsboys and Jimi Hendrix ( Cry of Love ).

In 1971 Linhart moved in songwriting circles and got to know some of the later most successful musicians. For Carly Simon he wrote the raga rock song The Love's Still Growing , for Bette Midler his most famous song Friends , which appeared on her first album The Divine Miss M. , which in turn reached number 6 on the Billboard charts and became her signature song.

In the same year Linhart recorded his third album The Time to Live Is Now with Midler's friend Luther Rix on drums and Bill Takas on bass. His fourth, Buzzy (The Black Album) , which was mixed by Todd Rundgren , was released in 1972. Also in 1972, he wrote songs for a musical that was then pending legal proceedings in London against authors and publishers of the underground magazine OZ for allegedly obscene content busy. Even John Lennon and Yoko Ono took part in protests against this method. The musical was performed a few times on Broadway , but then canceled because of Linhart's provocative lyrics.

Linhart's last album with a major record company was Pussycats Can Go Far , released in 1974. Two years later he wrote the songs for the film Rush It! by director Gary Youngman , with Judy Kahan and Tom Berenger in the lead roles. He himself had supporting roles in the films The Groove Tube 1974 and Modern Problems 1981 (with Chevy Chase ), as well as 1976 in the comedy series by Bill Cosby .

From 1983 to 1994 he presented radio programs. He last lived in Berkeley, performed live until 2018 and has written and recorded numerous songs, many of which have remained unreleased. In 2008 his first album was re-released on CD.

Discography

The Seventh Sons

  • Raga: 4am at Frank's (album, 1966)

solo

  • Buzzy (album, 1969)
  • Buzzy Linhart Is Music (album, 1970)
  • The Time to Live Is Now (album, 1971)
  • Buzzy (The Black Album) (Album, 1972)
  • You Got What It Takes / Same (Single, 1972)
  • Pussycats Can Go Far (album, 1974)
  • Friends / Same Flip (single, 1974)
  • You Don't Have to Tell Me Goodbye / A Tear Outweighs a Smile (Single, 1974)
  • Buzzy Linhart Loves You (album, 2001)
  • Buzzy Linhart Presents the Big Few (album, 2003)
  • Studio (album, 2006)
  • Buzzy's Buzzy (album, 2008)

Buzzy Linhart & Moogy Klingman

  • The Buzzy / Moogy Sessions (album, 2001)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jim Farber: Buzzy Linhart, Eccentric and Eclectic Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 76. In: The New York Times , February 18, 2020 (English). Retrieved February 20, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Linhart, Buzzy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Linhart, William Charles (full name at birth)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer, songwriter, guitarist and vibraphonist
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , United States
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 2020
Place of death Berkeley , California , United States