John Victor Colla (born July 2, 1952) is an American musician (playing the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

), singer and songwriter. He is a founding member of the American rock band Huey Lewis and the News. He has been heavily involved in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene for decades, having been in several other bands, including

Rubicon The Rubicon ( la, Rubico; it, Rubicone ; rgn, Rubicôn ) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just north of Rimini. It was known as Fiumicino until 1933, when it was identified with the ancient river Rubicon, famously crossed by Julius Ca ...

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, Sound Hole, and Johnny Colla & The Lucky Devils. Colla has two children, Allison Colla and Ryan Colla.

Career

The first bands that Colla was involved with from Fairfield, California,were The Furlanders, The Yewess Army and Cottonmouth. In the early 1970s, he moved to Marin County, California and joined Sound Hole as a singer and saxophonist. Sound Hole was successful at a local level and became

's backing band for a time. Other members of Sound Hole were drummer Bill Gibson and bassist Mario Cipollina, who also eventually joined with Huey and The News. Sound Hole was the major local competition to Huey's band Clover. After Sound Hole, Colla was enlisted as sax man/arranger with Sly and the Family Stone, recording and touring with Sly for a few years. In the late 1970s, Sound Hole and Clover alumni merged to form a new group, the American Express, which later became known as Huey Lewis and the News. For the News, Colla became saxophonist, rhythm guitarist, backing singer and songwriter. Colla was drawn to San Francisco]from the Sacramento Valley during the 1960s Summer of Love. Like many others, Colla patronized the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore Auditorium.

"I moved to Marin because that's where all the musicians moved after the San Francisco scene blew up. For a start-up musician in the 1970s, it was a hot-bed of musical activity; a great place to be and be heard." He says. "Then I beat the odds. We not only started a great band, but actually became successful at it!"

Colla co-wrote hit songs such as "

The Heart of Rock & Roll "The Heart of Rock & Roll" is a song performed by Huey Lewis and the News, released as the third single from their 1983 album ''Sports'' in 1984. The single peaked at number six on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Background The song was inspire ...

", " If This Is It", " The Power of Love", and " Back in Time". Lewis and Colla co-produced the band's 2001 album ''

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

'', and they are currently working on a new HLN project. Colla embarked upon a solo career, releasing his first solo album ''Lucky Devil'' in the mid 1990s. He released his second solo album, ''I Hear Voices'', in 2012, which takes a more vocal approach than ''Lucky Devil'', and he is currently working on an a cappella version of the same CD.

Discography

Colla also produced or performed on these records: *

Patrick Simmons Patrick Simmons (born October 19, 1948) is an American musician best known as a founding member of the rock band The Doobie Brothers. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, he has been the only consistent member of the band throughout their tenure. Simm ...

, ''Arcade'' ( Elektra Records, 1982) songwriter, "Don't Make Me Do It" *

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...

(EMD/ Capitol Records, 1985), backing vocals on "Nothin' at All" and "These Dreams" on ''

'' *

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,The Rose of England The Rose of England is Child ballad 166 and Roud Folk Song Index 4001. It is an account of Henry VII of England claiming the throne from Richard III of England, frequently allegorically. It may be the oldest ballad on the Battle of Bosworth, an ...

'' (

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

, 1985) backing singer "

I Knew the Bride "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)" is a song written by Nick Lowe and first popularized by Dave Edmunds. It was released on Edmunds's 1977 album '' Get It'' and a year later in a live version by Nick Lowe's Last Chicken in the S ...

(When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)" * ''Back to the Streets: Celebrating the Music of Don Covay'' (Shanachie Records, 1993) lead vocal (duet) with Arlene Smith, " Letter Full of Tears" *

Pablo Cruise Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People *Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer * Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer * Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist *Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * Pablo Bren ...

, ''Out of Our Hands'' (

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, 1993) saxophone solo, "Talk to Me Right" * Yoshihiro ishikawa, ''Peace'' (Pioneer ldc, Japan, 1993) produced, recorded, arranged and performed on several tracks * A tribute to

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

''People Get Ready'' (shanachie records, 1993) produced, arranged and sang with Huey Lewis and the News on "It's Alright" * Yoshihiro Ishikawa ''Love'' (Pioneer ldc, Japan, 1994) produced, recorded, arranged and performed on several tracks * Doc Kupka's Strokeland Superband ''Kick It Up A Step'' (Strokeland Records) backing vocals and vocal arrangement, "Bittersweet With a Ray of Hope" * Holiday Heroes compilation cd ''Holiday Heroes'' (Soul Purpose Records, 1995) songwriter, lead vocal, producer, "My Christmas Wish" *

Grace Slick Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, ...

, ''

Software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

'' (

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

) backing vocals, "Through the Window", "It Just Won't Stop" * Deborah Coleman, ''Soft Place to Fall'' (Blind Pig Records, 2000) songwriter, "Don't Lie to Me"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colla, Johnny 1952 births Living people American rock saxophonists American male saxophonists American rock guitarists American male singers American male songwriters Huey Lewis and the News members Sly and the Family Stone members Musicians from Sacramento, California 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century saxophonists American people of Italian descent American male guitarists Rubicon (American band) members