Joe Lala
| Joe Lala | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Anthony Lala |
| Born | November 3, 1947 Ybor City, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | March 18, 2014 (aged 66) Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Drummer, actor, voice actor and percussionist |
| Instruments | Percussion, vocals |
| Years active |
1966-2014 1977-2006 (acting) |
| Associated acts | Blues Image, Stephen Stills, Manassas, The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Stills-Young Band, The Bee Gees, Whitney Houston, Joe Walsh |
1966-2014
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Lala (November 3, 1947 – March 18, 2014) was an American musician, percussionist, actor and voice actor. In 1966, he co-founded the rock band Blues Image.
Lala was born in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, to parents from Contessa Entellina (one of the Albanian communities in Sicily). His father was Sicilian, and he left the family when Joe was a child, so he was raised by his mother on her own. Lala’s mother, Janie Cacciatore, an avid dancer, took her son to as many shows as she could. Lala spoke fluent Spanish and Italian. He started out playing the drums in several Florida bands, before forming the band Blues Image. He also occasionally sang lead vocals, most notably on the song "Leaving My Troubles Behind". As a drummer and percussionist, he worked with The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Manassas, The Stills-Young Band, The Bee Gees, Whitney Houston, Joe Walsh, Andy Gibb and many others. He played the trademark congas that drove the Bee Gees' 1976 US chart-topper You Should Be Dancing, subsequently included on the multi-million selling Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Lala provided the wide selection of percussive effects on Barbra Streisand's 1980 worldwide No. 1 album Guilty, and contributed to Whitney Houston's eponymous 1985 debut album. Throughout his career, Lala accumulated 32 gold records and 28 platinum records. He played on the movie soundtracks of Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive, D.C. Cab, Streets of Fire, All the Right Moves, Breathless, Defiance, The Lonely Guy and Airplane!. A severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome ended Lala's career as a percussionist. It kept him from performing full-time, but he continued to record with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, the acoustic band Firefall, Dan Fogelberg, Dolly Parton, Rod Stewart and many others. Joe Lala was the last in the drummer stool for the handful of concerts given in February 1973 by the disintegrating Byrds.
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