American Musician. Corbetta will best be remembered for being the lead singer of Sugarloaf, which had a smash hit, "Green-Eyed Lady", in 1970. Originally a drummer, he switched to keyboards in his teen years, playing in a couple of bands, one of which became the Moonrakers and cut four singles in the mid-1960s. His next band, Chocolate Hair, got signed to Liberty Records, but before their debut could be released, the label requested the band change their name. They decided to honor their Colorado roots and name themselves after Sugarloaf Mountain. The band's first single, 1970's "Green-Eyed Lady", a seven-minute song that fit in perfectly with the psychedelic heavy blues of the day, was an instant hit. It was edited a number of times for the purposes of radio airplay, and wound up reaching No. 3 on the Billboard singles chart. The band would follow that up with a couple of minor hits, "Tongue in Cheek" and "Mother Nature’s Wine" from their second album, 1971’s 'Spaceship Earth'. Sugarloaf then signed with Brut Records, where there they released only one album, 1973’s 'I Got a Song', before the record label folded. In 1975, they mocked the music industry with their singe "Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You". Corbetta, who carried on with Sugarloaf until 1978, then joined Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons for a few years in early ‘80s, and continued to work on the oldies circuit, particularly with the Classic Rock All-Stars and an occasional Sugarloaf reunion, died from 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.
American Musician. Corbetta will best be remembered for being the lead singer of Sugarloaf, which had a smash hit, "Green-Eyed Lady", in 1970. Originally a drummer, he switched to keyboards in his teen years, playing in a couple of bands, one of which became the Moonrakers and cut four singles in the mid-1960s. His next band, Chocolate Hair, got signed to Liberty Records, but before their debut could be released, the label requested the band change their name. They decided to honor their Colorado roots and name themselves after Sugarloaf Mountain. The band's first single, 1970's "Green-Eyed Lady", a seven-minute song that fit in perfectly with the psychedelic heavy blues of the day, was an instant hit. It was edited a number of times for the purposes of radio airplay, and wound up reaching No. 3 on the Billboard singles chart. The band would follow that up with a couple of minor hits, "Tongue in Cheek" and "Mother Nature’s Wine" from their second album, 1971’s 'Spaceship Earth'. Sugarloaf then signed with Brut Records, where there they released only one album, 1973’s 'I Got a Song', before the record label folded. In 1975, they mocked the music industry with their singe "Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You". Corbetta, who carried on with Sugarloaf until 1978, then joined Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons for a few years in early ‘80s, and continued to work on the oldies circuit, particularly with the Classic Rock All-Stars and an occasional Sugarloaf reunion, died from 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.
Bio by: Louis du Mort
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