January Birthdays 
Barbata, Johny.
2007?
Johny Barbata: the Legendary Life of a Rock Star Drummer.
The Turtles
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
The Jefferson Airplane
The Jefferson Starship
100 Albums and 20 Hit Singles
Rock and Roll Memoirs
of the 60's, 70's, 80's & 90's
Self published.
pp. 150, b&w illustrations in the text
8.55 in. x 11 in. paperback
$35 ($38 with autograph)
Available from http://www.johnybarbata.com/.
This is an autobiography of Johny, originally Johnny, Barbata, drummer for the Sentinals and, of course, a great many other better known bands, since, too. It deals mainly with the years 1966-1978. It does deal briefly with the Sentinals and considering the source and the scarcity of material on them, it's a must read for anyone interested in them. It's also a must read for anyone interested in the other bands listed on the cover/title page, of course!
"Now, in the summer of 1961, my father decided to move north to San Luis Obispo ... I spent the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades at San Luis Obispo High School ... Tommy Nunes, the leader of the Sentinals, came up to me and offered me a job because they had lost their drummer. ... Of all the bands that I played with ... I had the most fun with The Sentinals, and here's why. The Sentinals were a 6-piece band, which basically played rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll. We played James Brown medleys, Marvin Gaye medleys, the Ventures, the Champs ("Tequila"), Bobby "Blue" Bland, Otis Redding, and a lot more. The band was very versatile and, as a result, that's where my 'chops' and roots came from as a drummer. The band was really a horn band, with a trumpet and a sax in the band. When I was 17, we were playing all over the country. I remember my first summer we played in Kingman, AZ, to nine -- count 'em, nine -- Navajo Indians. They loved us. ... In 1961, we were right in the middle of the surf craze, so we put out an album called <b>Big Surf</b>. Even though we weren't a surf band, they used to hire us because we were a show band. ... In my sophomore year, we had a #1 California and West Coast surf hit called "La Tinia." It was #1 all over California! ... Wow, it was great! ... We were playing big shows with the Beach Boys. I remember one big gig in Buena Park. We blew the Beach Boys off the stage. Denis Wilson, drummer of the Beach Boys said we kicked butt." (Barbata, p. 12)
I don't want to steal the good stories. You'll have to get the book if you want the story of Norman Knowles' fight at the Morgue in Honolulu.
