The Lettermen

History[edit]

In 1958, the stage revue Newcomers of 1928 was produced, a nostalgia act which starred 1920s stars Paul Whiteman, Buster Keaton, Rudy Vallée, Harry Richman, and Fifi D'Orsay. The show required three male singers to impersonate The Rhythm Boys, the vocal group that traveled with Whiteman and his orchestra in the late 1920s, and gave Bing Crosby his initial fame. 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. Newcomers of 1928 opened on February 28, 1958, at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada. They played to sell-out audiences and were held over for many weeks. Continuing with a six-week tryout at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, the idea continued to be a smash. Barnett and Russell were replaced midway through the run by Gary Clarke and Jerry Paul. When the show ended, Butala landed a job as singer/bass player in a lounge group, "Bill Norvis and the Upstarts", along with Clarke. After a few months, Clarke left the group and was replaced by Jim Pike (November 6, 1936 – June 9, 2019).^[4]


Pike and Butala decided to leave the Upstarts and form a new group, although they had not yet decided on a name. Pike envisioned a group where each member was an excellent soloist as well as a great group singer. Pike and Butala joined with Bob Engemann (February 19, 1935 – January 20, 2013),^[5] a singer whom Pike had met when he attended Brigham Young University a few years earlier.^[1] (Pike and Engemann had come to Los Angeles, California and sung together until Engemann had to go into the California National Guard for six months; Pike then joined Bill Norvis and there met Butala.) The combination of Pike, Engemann, and Butala first recorded in 1960.^[1] They secured a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records through Bob Engemann's older brother, Karl Engemann, who was a record producer there; Pike had earlier released a record for him, Lucy D, which was not successful.


As "The Lettermen", Pike, Butala, and Engemann released two singles in 1960 for Warner Bros. The A-sides were "Two Hearts" and "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring". They were not successful. After Warner Bros., Karl Engemann moved on to Capitol Records as President of A&R. He got them out of their contract at Warner Bros. and made an appointment for them to see Nick Venet, a producer at Capitol. The audition was successful in getting them another record contract.


There was another "Lettermen" group in the late 1950s and early 1960s that recorded for Liberty Records (which was a major record label at the time), a five-member R&B group, and their not-so-successful single was called "Hey Big Brain". About that same time, there was a third group called the Lettermen Trio, headed up by Sammy Vandenburg, who also had no record success. But the "Lettermen" of Pike, Engemann, and Butala had the first hit record, so, by law, they were entitled to use the "Lettermen" name exclusively.


The Lettermen were unknown until they signed with Capitol Records in 1961.^[1] Their first single for Capitol, "The Way You Look Tonight", succeeded on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and climbed to No. 13. Their next, "When I Fall in Love," reached the Top 10 in late 1962 and hit No. 1 on AC. They had several other Top 10 AC hits, such as 1965's "Theme From A Summer Place". In late 1967, Bob Engemann resigned and was replaced by Jim Pike's younger brother, Gary Pike. The hits continued with the 1967 medley "Goin' Out of My Head"/"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and in 1968 with "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", plus 1969's "Hurt So Bad", which reached No. 12 and lasted 21 weeks on the Hot 100, second only to the 22 weeks for The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" within that calendar year. The last successful single was in 1971, John Lennon's "Love", a solo by Jim Pike.


The Lettermen have had two Top 10 singles (both No. 7), 16 Top 10 Adult Contemporary singles, including one Adult Contemporary No. 1, 32 consecutive Billboard Hot 200 charted albums, 11 gold records, five Grammy nominations, an Andy Award, and a Cleo Award.


The Lettermen were featured on the TV show Dobie Gillis in the episode "Vocal Boy Makes Good" which originally aired on January 16, 1963. The Lettermen were featured on The Jack Benny Program in the episode "The Lettermen" which originally aired on March 31, 1964. {S14 Ep25} In 1976, Jim Pike left the group because of vocal problems and sold the Lettermen name to Butala. After Gary Pike left the Lettermen in 1981, the Pike brothers, along with Ric de Azevedo sang The Lettermen hits, billed as "Reunion".


In 1961, The Lettermen started performing live concerts, doing over 200 shows a year, an unbroken string that continues to the present.


Over the decades, the group has had various line-ups, replacing members who left for various reasons with new people to maintain a trio. Tony Butala has stated that the group ethos is that of three strong soloists that harmonize, and that the group encourages individual singing and songwriting. Butala has stated that the combination of himself, Donovan Tea (38 years) and Bobby Poynton (16 years) "is the best combination of voices, and best sounding group since the original trio." Butala also said this of the previous line-up of himself, Tea, and Mark Preston (11 years), thus highlighting the high standard of vocalists The Lettermen always had. This is also evident in the addition of Rob Gulack to the group in 2019 as Butala eased into retirement.


Among their many songs include renditions of several traditional Filipino kundimans such as Dahil sa Iyo ("Because of You"), Sapagkat Kami Ay Tao Lamang ("For We Are Only Human"). Their enunciation and pronunciation in the language has developed over the decades that they have interpreted these love songs.


In 1969, in light of The Doors' singer Jim Morrison's arrest in Miami for indecent exposure, the Lettermen performed at a concert against indecency, along with Anita Bryant, Kate Smith, and Jackie Gleason. President Nixon supported the concert.^[6] The Lettermen had covered songs by the Doors in 1968.


On December 9 and 10, 2012, The Lettermen Society Convention was held at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The members had dinner and breakfast with the current group of Tony Butala, Donovan Tea, and Bobby Poynton. They attended the soundcheck and Lettermen Holiday Show with ticketed audience members in the casino showroom. This celebration was the 31st annual convention.


The 32nd annual Lettermen convention was a four-day event at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas between October 10 and October 13, 2013. Hundreds of Lettermen Society members and fans were invited to attend.


Bob Engemann died at age 77 in Provo, Utah on January 20, 2013^[5] of complications from his December 13, 2012 heart bypass surgery.


Jim Pike died from complications of Parkinson's disease on June 9, 2019, at his home in Prescott, Arizona. He was 82.^[7]


Until 2009, Karl Engemann was Marie Osmond's personal manager, for 35 years.^{[8][9][10][11]}