Steve Weber, the guitarist of the Holy Modal Rounders, a cult psychedelic folk group that influenced generations of underground musicians, died on Feb. 7 at his home in Mount Clare, West Virginia. He was 76.
His death was announced by the Davis Funeral Home in nearby Clarksburg, which did not give a cause.
The Holy Modal Rounders emerged in New York in 1963 as a duo, with Weber on guitar and Peter Stampfel on fiddle and banjo. Like countless others swept up in the folk revival of the time, they were inspired by traditional folk songs. But while most of their peers approached old material with reverence, Weber and Stampfel stood out with their spontaneity and almost boyish mischief.
Their antics did not endear the band to folk purists, although Weber was noted for his mastery of traditional guitar styles.
In 1965, they played on the first album by the Fugs, whose leaders, poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, relished the anarchic and puerile side of rock but had only the most rudimentary skills playing instruments. Weber wrote one of the group's most popular numbers, "Boobs a Lot."
Steven P. Weber was born in Philadelphia on June 22, 1943, and grew up with his mother in Buckingham, Pennsylvania.