Buzzy Linhart (born March 3, 1943) is an American rock performer and musician.
Born William Linhart in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he began honing his craft playing percussion for symphony at the age of seven, switching to vibraphone at ten. (It is not known specifically when he actually acquired his nickname of "Buzzy.") At fourteen he entered the Cleveland Music School Settlement which was a world renowned conservatory of music. Because of this training he led bands all through school and at the age of 18 entered the U.S. Navy School of Music as a percussionist. In 1963, he moved to New York City and became friends and roommates with John Sebastian. He also became a protege to the senior guitarist and folk singer Fred Neil. One of his first bands, with fellow musicians Steve De Naut, Serge Katzen, and Max Ochs, was the Seventh Sons, who released one influential raga-rock LP for ESP Records. Buzzy eventually released a series of solo albums from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s starting with his Philips debut buzzy (the title with a small "b") in 1969.
His prowess on the vibraphone found him performing as a session musician on recordings by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Richie Havens, Carly Simon, Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys, and even Jimi Hendrix (on the Cry of Love album).
Perhaps Linhart's biggest claim to fame was his joint authorship and composition of "(You Got To Have) Friends," a collaboration with Mark "Moogy" Klingman, which became singer Bette Midler's de facto theme song. This was the end of his major label career, but although he never achieved commercial success, Linhart has continued to write, record, sing and compose music to this day. He also achieved some notoriety from his appearance in the opening sequence of the cult movie The Groove Tube, as a hippie hitchhiker. He was also a regular on the 1976 television show "Cos", starring Bill Cosby[1].