Joe Lala: Difference between revisions

Lala was born in [[Ybor City, Tampa, Florida]],<ref name=independent>{{cite news|last=Perrone|first=Pierre|title=Joe Lala: Sought-after percussionist who switched careers when illness struck to become an actor and voice-over artist |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/joe-lala-soughtafter-percussionist-who-switched-careers-when-illness-struck-to-become-an-actor-and-voiceover-artist-9334826.html|access-date=April 14, 2015|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=May 7, 2014}}</ref> to parents from [[Contessa Entellina]] (one of the [[Arbëreshë people|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.<ref name=tampabay/>

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 (band)|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 (Barbra Streisand album)|Guilty]]'', and contributed to Whitney Houston's eponymous 1985 debut album.<ref name=independent/> Throughout his career, Lala accumulated 32 [[Music recording sales certification|gold record]]s and 28 platinum records. He played on the movie soundtracks of ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'', ''[[Staying Alive (1983 film)|Staying Alive]]'', ''[[D.C. Cab]]'', ''[[Streets of Fire]]'', ''[[All the Right Moves (film)|All the Right Moves]]'', ''[[Breathless (1983 film)|Breathless]]'', ''[[Defiance (1980 film)|Defiance]]'', ''[[The Lonely Guy]]'' and ''[[Airplane!]]''.

A severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome<ref name=independent/> 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.<ref name=tampabay>{{cite news|last=Meacham |first=Andrew|title=Legendary Tampa percussionist Joe Lala dies at 66|url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/obituaries/legendary-tampa-percussionist-joe-lala-dies-at-66/2171028|access-date=April 15, 2015|date=March 19, 2014}}</ref> Joe Lala was the last in the drummer stool for the handful of concerts given in February 1973 by the disintegrating [[Byrds]].