RIP Jerry Corbetta, Lead Singer for Sugarloaf ("Green Eyed Lady")

[Miles Archer]

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jerry-corbetta-sugarloaf-dies/

Jerry Corbetta of Sugarloaf, best known for their 1970 smash, “Green-Eyed Lady,” died on Sept. 16 in Denver. He was 68.

He’d been diagnosed with Pick’s disease, which slowly destroys the nerve cells in the brain similarly to Alzheimer’s disease. The condition forced him into retirement upon diagnosis in 2009.

Originally a drummer, where he gained fame around Denver as a child, he switched to keyboards in his teen years, serving in a couple of bands with guitarist Bob Webber, one of which became the Moonrakers and cut four singles in the mid-‘60s. The second, Chocolate Hair, featured Corbetta, Webber and another ex-Moonraker, bassist Bob Raymond. They eventually picked up drummer Bob MacVittie and got signed to Liberty Records.

But before their debut could be released, the label requested the band change their name due to the potential for “Chocolate Hair” to be seen as racially insensitive. They decided to honor their Colorado roots and name themselves after Sugarloaf Mountain, which is near Boulder, Colo.

[In_The_Wind]

1. Rest in peace

Green-Eyed Lady was a great song.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. RIP. The first concert I ever attended was Sugarloaf, Dr.

Hook and the Medicine Show and Rare Earth.

[Lars39]

3. Sugarloaf brings back some good memories.

Sounds like an absolutely horrible disease.

I loved the band's sense of humor.