Bert sommer biography

Bert Sommer February 7, — July 23, [1] was an American folk singer and songwriter. He appeared in the musical Hair and at the Woodstock Festival , and he released several albums as a singer-songwriter. He was a self-taught musician piano and guitar , who began writing songs in his teens. He became friendly with other young musicians and songwriters in the area, including Peter Sabatino, Leslie West , Tom Feher, and Michael Brown , and wrote several songs for West then known as Weinstein 's band, the Vagrants , including their single "Beside the Sea", co-written with producer Felix Pappalardi and his wife Gail Collins.

He also sang lead on "Ivy Ivy", written by Tom Feher.

Bert sommer death

The group which included Michael McKean on bass soon fell apart, following legal threats by original Left Banke singer Steve Martin's lawyers. Next, Sommer was recruited as a member of "the Tribe" for the musical Hair , and then promoted to the role of Woof. It was produced by Artie Kornfeld , who also produced his next two albums. Kornfeld's involvement with the Woodstock Festival led to Sommer being invited to perform there.

He was the third act to perform on the opening Friday, August 15, According to some accounts, because he was signed to a rival record label, none of his audio performance was made publicly available until He appeared in the musical Hair and at the Woodstock Festival , and he released several albums as a singer-songwriter.

He was a self-taught musician piano and guitar , who began writing songs in his teens. He became friendly with other young musicians and songwriters in the area, including Peter Sabatino, Leslie West , Tom Feher, and Michael Brown , and wrote several songs for West then known as Weinstein 's band, the Vagrants , including their single "Beside the Sea", co-written with producer Felix Pappalardi and his wife Gail Collins.

He also sang lead on "Ivy Ivy", written by Tom Feher. The group which included Michael McKean on bass soon fell apart, following legal threats by original Left Banke singer Steve Martin's lawyers.

Bert sommer biography

Next, Sommer was recruited as a member of "the Tribe" for the musical Hair , and then promoted to the role of Woof. It was produced by Artie Kornfeld , who also produced his next two albums. Kornfeld's involvement with the Woodstock Festival led to Sommer being invited to perform there. He was the third act to perform on the opening Friday, August 15, According to some accounts, because he was signed to a rival record label, none of his audio performance was made publicly available until Pennebaker 's documentary Woodstock Diary Sommer's second album, Inside Bert Sommer , was released in May on the Eleuthera label, a subsidiary of Buddah Records , and featured the single "We're All Playing in the Same Band", which he wrote [ 5 ] at, [ 6 ] for, and about the Woodstock festival, [ 7 ] about his experience there.

While Sommer continued to write songs, he received another offer. All All. Sign In. Bert Sommer Actor Soundtrack. Bert Sommer was a singer-songwriter and musician whose first live gig was Woodstock, , where he sang the songs "America" and "Jennifer" as part of a song set. He was also in the original production of "Hair" on Broadway and was on the poster for the LA program.

Bert released four albums between , and had one hit single, "We're All Playing in the Same Band. He resumed his singing career in Albany in the s and died of respiratory failure on July 23, Add to list. Photos The album features songs written by Sommer and performed in a mix of styles, from orchestral pop to acoustic folk. His songwriting and singing have been compared to Tim Buckley, but his music was difficult to pigeonhole at the time, and the album did not receive much attention.

In early , Bert's producer and good friend, Artie Kornfeld, booked him to play Woodstock, a gig with the potential to catapult Bert Summer into stardom. His performance at Woodstock was powerful and sensitive at the same time.