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May 27, 2016 · Mike Barnett, a founder of hit vocal group The Lettermen, died Friday at his home in Camarillo, Calif., after suffering from heart problems. He was 89. Born Roy Barnett in Oakland, Calif.,...
- Lamarco Mcclendon
The three singers selected were Mike Barnett, Dick Stewart, and Tony Butala. Jackie Barnett, who was chief comedy writer for the Jimmy Durante TV show, had auditioned the singers, and he decided to name the group "The Lettermen" for the show.
In 1958, Mike Barnett approached Butala and Talmadge Russell to join his group, called The Lettermen, since the other members had dropped out. After that group disbanded, Butala formed a male trio in 1959, also calling it The Lettermen.
The Lettermen was a name belonging to a group that Butala was asked to join in 1958, but by the first rehearsal, the only Letterman left was Mike Barnett. Butala recruited a friend, Talmadge Russell, and the trio performed as The Lettermen at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, as part of a musical revue.
The Lettermen. The Lettermen name first appeared in February 1958 on the marquee of the Desert Inn Hotel Resort Showroom in Las Vegas Nevada, where Butala, Mike Barnett and Talmadge Russell performed in the record-shattering revue, “Newcomers of 1928,” which starred the most popular big band leader of the 1920’s and 30s, Paul Whiteman ...
Within months he'd formed a group with Mike Barnett and Talmadge Russell and found work in a Las Vegas revue starring bandleader Paul Whiteman, featured as The Rhythm Boys, impersonating Whiteman's group of the same name from the '20s (of which Crosby was a member).
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In 1958, Mike Barnett approached Butala and Talmadge Russell to join his group, called The Lettermen, since the other members had dropped out. After that group disbanded, Butala formed a male trio in 1959, also calling it The Lettermen.
