- Danny Weis
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Guitarist Danny Weis (born September 28, 1948 in Huntington Park, California) is best known as a founding member of both Iron Butterfly and Rhinoceros, as well as co-writer of Rhinoceros's only charting single, "Apricot Brandy". Though he left Iron Butterfly after only one album due to internal tensions,[1] his work was an influence in the band for most of their history, since his replacement Erik Brann made a conscious effort to imitate his playing. Weis later recounted "Erik Braunn replaced me in Iron Butterfly, and if I remember correctly, he bought a lot of my equipment, some of my clothes, they tried to clone me basically..."[1]
Weis appeared on Iron Butterfly's first two singles, "Don't Look Down On Me" and "Possession", and their debut LP Heavy. In addition, the later album Live included a performance of "You Can't Win", a song from Heavy for which Weis wrote the music.
After leaving Iron Butterfly, Weis became a founding member of Rhinoceros and played on all three of their albums. "Apricot Brandy", an instrumental he wrote with Rhinoceros keyboardist Michael Fonfara, reached #46 on the Billboard Hot 100[2][3] and has been used as background music on a number of TV shows.[1]
After Rhinoceros disbanded in 1970, Weis briefly served as a member of The Rascals.[1] He then reunited with several fellow members of Rhinoceros to form the band Blackstone, which broke up after one unsuccessful album.[4]
In 1979 Danny appeared as the Band Leader and Guitarist of "The Rose Band" in the movie The Rose with Bette Midler.[5]
In December 2006, Weis's debut solo album, an instrumental smooth jazz effort titled Sweet Spot, was released on Marshmellow Records.[6][7]
Weis lives in Toronto where he works as a freelance musician, frequently playing with R&B band The Lincolns.
References
- ^ a b c d 2001 June 2001 Interview with Danny Weis, Official Rhinocerous web site.
- ^ Joynson, Vernon (1995). Fuzz, Acid, & Flowers. London: Borderline Books.
- ^ Rhinoceros on the singles charts, AllMusicGuide.
- ^ Blackstone biography, AllMusicGuide.
- ^ Full Cast and Crew for The Rose, IMDb. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
- ^ Sweet Spot info, Premiere Jazz.
- ^ Sweet Spot review, AllMusicGuide.
Categories:- Living people
- 1948 births
- People from Los Angeles County, California
- American rock guitarists
- Iron Butterfly members
- American rock guitarist stubs
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