PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Michael L. "Mick" Valenti died peacefully on Oct. 24. He was 77.

Mick was the son of Gino M. and Virginia J (nee Paoli) Valenti of Pittsfield.

He was born on Feb. 23, 1949. He was a graduate of Mt. Carmel School (Class of '62) and Pittsfield High School (1966). Services on Oct. 29, were private. Mick was interred next to his beloved parents. A tribute concert is in the planning. The time, date, and place will be announced as soon as they are finalized.

A Musical Odyssey

Mick's 60-plus-year career as rock-pop musician—drummer, guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer—took him all over the world in thousands of performances ranging from a crowd of "half-a-million strong" at Woodstock in 1969 to small, smoke-filled clubs that hosted live, original music up and down the East Coast and West.

 It was an odyssey that led to his ascendancy to the top level of the rock world. As one fan commented, "He became Pittsfield's music hero, our only A-lister."

If it can be said of anyone "He lived life to the fullest," it was Mick Valenti. He always had a laugh, pursued fun and joy, and through his sweet and infectious personality, he could lift the spirits of a room. If you met Mick, however brief the encounter, you were never to forget him and always to appreciate him.

 Mick, who inherited his talents from his harmonica playing dad and his music-loving mom, formed an a cappella singing group in 1961 with friends in Pittsfield.

Watching the appearance of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, Feb. 9, 1964 led to the purchase of a set of drums and the formation of his first band, The Victors, in 1964. His talents, honed by constant practice, soon caught the attention of the area's hottest dance band, The Quarrymen. Eager to sign the hot-shot 15-year-old, the band welcomed Mick, who soon became the group's driving force.

In 1966, Mick took over leadership of The Quarrymen, and the group began expanding their circuit. In 1967, Mick took the band to Hartford, where they made their home base at the Americana Hotel.

That led to gigs for the renamed band—now The Quarry—in New York City, and a change in agencies, signing with The Redfield Agency, whose stable included Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tom Jones, and The Four Seasons.

Fame at Woodstock and Texas

During this time, Mick developed his skills as a guitarist and came into his own as a songwriter. The Quarry based themselves in McAfee, N.J. and became a staple at such NYC clubs as The Zodiac and The Electric Circus.

The next big turn came when promoter Mike Lang signed The Quarry to become the house band at the famed Woodstock festival in Bethel, NY. This put The Quarry, and Mick, on the map.

From The Mick Valenti Story by Gordon Bond:

The crowds that would grow to clog the New York Thruway had started to gather, and work crews were still setting up on the grounds. … When they realized that a band was there [The Quarry], the entertainment -starved masses pressed them into playing. The Quarry became the first act to actually perform for that "much storied gathering of the tribes."

Lang said later that Woodstock wouldn't have unfolded safely without The Quarry there to perform for the overflowing crowds.

From Woodstock, the band's next big event was at the Texas international Pops Festival at the end of August 1969, appearing with Led Zeppelin, Santana, Ten Years After, and other headliners. From Texas, The Quarry journeyed West to San Francisco, sharing rehearsal and living space with the Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage.

The band flew back East in fall 1969, engaging on a tour of small theaters, culminating with a performance in December at Bill Graham's Fillmore East theater in Manhattan. In January and February, The Quarry opened the Cerebrum Club in Caracas, Venezuela. The Quarry became the first U.S. rock act to play South America. Second act in at the Cerebrum: Jethro Tull.

A New Direction

Back in the U.S., Mick left The Quarry to found a power trio he named Quick Fox in 1971. With the new role of guitarist, singer, songwriter, and front man, Quick Fox became one of the East Coast's most prolific musical acts. The band toured nonstop, playing clubs, theaters, and colleges circuit.

Mick supplemented Quick Fox gigs with two musical excursions, playing the role of John Lennon in the mid 80s in one of the first Beatles tribute bands, Starting Over, based in Indianapolis, IN. Later that decade, Mick starred in an Elvis Presley tribute act, "The Legend of Elvis." He also entered into a musical partnership with jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal.

 In the early 1990s, Mick got into the blues. He started the band Blue Rose, that toured through the 1990s.

 Mick once estimated his stage appearances at 6,000-plus.

 Home Again

By the mid-2000s, Mick returned to Pittsfield, to his childhood home. There, he established a musical complex of rehearsal space and recording facilities. He continued with live gigs, recording, and also worked with his brother, Dan, on various commercial musical projects.

His final musical venture came with Beatlesque, playing the music he loved his entire life, with Mick once more serving in the John Lennon role.

Mick possessed a great sense of humor and fun, always made himself available to other musicians with lessons, advice, and simple jam sessions. As one fan put it, "Mick was a one-off in a world of knock-offs."

 As anyone who knew him will attest, Mick Valenti was utterly unique as a person and a personality, engaged, especially in the later years of his life, in bringing the beneficence of light and joy into every aspect of living.

Mick leaves his beloved brother, Dan, and Dan's wife Lisa, of Dalton, MA; his partner, Leigh Crosier, of North Adams, with whom he made his home; various cousins, nieces, and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Mick’s name to the Berkshire Humane Society.