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Joe Butler Biography

 

Joe Butler was in the Air Force when he met Steve
and Skip Boone and formed the Kingsmen, one of the
top bands in Eastern Long Island in the early 1960's.
After leaving the service in 1963, Joe headed straight for
Greenwich Village where he began singing in clubs and
recorded sides for a solo album on Mercury Records.
Producer Eric Jacobson suggested that Joe and Steve Boone
hook up with John Sebastian and Zal Vanovsky, and the
Lovin' Spoonful was born.

The Spoonful became one of the most popular and
influential American bands of the '60's, creating more
than a half dozen albums as well as soundtrack music for
the debut films of Woody Allen ("What's Up, Tiger Lily?,"
1966) and Francis Ford Coppola ("You're a Big Boy
Now,"1967.) In 1968, John Sebastian left the group. Joe,
Steve and Jerry Yester carried on, releasing several
charting singles and the album "Revelation/Revolution
before moving on to their own projects in 1969.

After the Spoonful stopped touring, Joe Butler landed
Broadway leads in "Hair," "Mahogany," and "Soon,"
collecting raves. Joe appeared in a half- dozen
feature films, including "Born to Win" with George Segal
and "One Trick Pony" with Paul Simon. He also composed
music for many commercials.

Since the Spoonful reunited in 1991, Joe Butler has
stepped out from behind the drums as lead singer,
performing the classic hits, new Spoonful material and his
own new songs.

Joe lives with his wife Kim in Greennwich Village, and is
the proud father of actress Yancy Butler, star of TV
series "Mann and Machine" and "South Beach" and films
"Hard Target" and "Drop Zone."