Lettermen leader recalls group’s Vegas roots

Friday, June 7, 2002 | 10:12 a.m.

Who: The Lettermen.

When: 8 p.m. today, through Sunday.

Where: Suncoast Showroom.

Tickets: $38.50, $44, $49.50.

Information: (702) 636-7075.

The Lettermen debuted at the Desert Inn in 1958 as part of the revue "Newcomers of 1928." Forty-four years later The Lettermen still perform between 100 and 150 concerts a year, such as those tonight through Sunday at Suncoast.

The stars of "Newcomers of 1928" included band leader Paul Whiteman, silent film comic Buster Keaton and singer Rudy Vallee.

"They were legendary people," said Tony Butala, founder of The Lettermen and the last of the original members of the trio. "They all were so old, but they were alive and kicking in '58."

At 61, Butala is older than Vallee was in 1958 (he was 57) and a little younger than Keaton (62). Whiteman was 68.

"The only other entity around today I would really scratch my head and wonder about their longevity -- and they started after we did -- is the Rolling Stones," Butala said during a recent telephone interview from his home near Green Bay, Wis. "And I don't think the Rolling Stones have done over 100 shows a year for over 40 years."

Butala, who has been singing professionally since age 10, recounted the history of The Lettermen.

"Mike Barnett and Talmadge Russell were the other two members of the group when we played at the Desert Inn," he recalled. "They (the producers of the show) paid us individually $125 a week, because The Lettermen had not been formally created yet."

When the producers decided to take the show to Florida, they asked The Lettermen to go along, but Barnett and Russell couldn't make the trip.

"The producer told me to find two other guys and to keep The Lettermen thing going," Butala said. "He paid me, and I paid them. I took over The Lettermen."

After a couple of false starts, The Lettermen ended up with Butala, Jim Pike and Bob Engemann.

"The chord rang," Butala said. "We all got goose bumps. There was something special about the sound."

As far as the public knew, Butala, Pike and Engemann were the original Lettermen. The three singers formed a partnership, each with one-third interest.

"If you have a signed contract there are no misunderstandings," Butala said.

The group began turning out romantic ballads with rich harmonies, which turned into million-selling records: "When I Fall in Love," "Come Back Silly Girl," "Theme from 'A Summer Place,' " "Goin' Out of My Head," "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," "Hurt So Bad" and "Shangri-La."

Butala said he chose members for the trio who were strong soloists, but who also could sing in harmony.

In 1966 Engemann quit the group and his share of ownership was split between Butala and Pike. When Pike left the group in 1973 Butala bought him out and gained sole ownership of The Lettermen.

Since the beginning, there have been more than a dozen lineup changes in the group, but its popularity has remained constant despite the changes, decade after decade.

The current trio includes Butala, Donovan Tea, who joined in 1984, and Darren Dowler, who became the newest member in the fall of 1995.

Butala says The Lettermen, whose peers once included such groups as The Four Freshmen and The Four Preps, are not a nostalgia group.

"Our show is not a trip down nostalgia lane," he said. "We are an entertainment package that just happened to have had hits in the '60s and '70s."

While many of those hits are part of the show -- sung as a medley of songs -- they are not the entire show.

"Why we have been so long lasting is that from the beginning I knew the group was a product and that we had to keep the product contemporary to the time," he said. "This year we have a 'Lettermen 2002' package. Next year we will have an 'Entertainment 2003' package."

Butala says fans have been coming to concerts by The Lettermen for all these years because the show is entertaining.

"It is entertainment you can't get by putting on our CDs," he said. "CDs and live entertainment are two different animals. A lot of recording artists don't understand that. They just go out onstage and sing their songs. But we have a lot of audience participation -- comedy, impersonations. We have a show.

"People don't come to see The Lettermen because of our hit records. They come because we entertain them."

The show often turns into a love fest.

"People bring their cameras and during the show we invite people up to take pictures," he said. "Afterwards, we encourage people to send us a copy of the picture to us and we'll sign it and send it back."

The Lettermen have recorded more than 70 albums over the past 40 years. Butala says its easy to spot the changing of clothing and hair styles in the United States from the photographs on the group's album covers.

"We have changed from year to year," he said. "What we have not changed is the basic principle -- the folksy, good, clear harmonies and melodies. We sing positive lyrics, never anything political or drug-oriented.

"People have had their first kiss to our music. People have gotten engaged to our music."

Butala laughed and said, "The Lettermen are responsible for 500,000 paternity suits."