The Holy Modal Rounders

Fiddle and banjo player Peter Stampfel and country-blues guitarist Steve Weber[2] were introduced to each other by Greenwich Village figure Antonia (also known as Antonia Stampfel or Antonia Duren).[7] Stampfel and Antonia were dating at the time and she would receive many cowriting credits to the band's songs.[8][3][5] According to Peter Stampfel, he and Weber began performing together as an act in May 1963, not long after being introduced.[3]

Music critic Richie Unterberger remarked that the duo intended to "update old-time folk music with a contemporary spirit."[1] He expanded that "they twisted weathered folk standards with wobbly vocals, exuberantly strange arrangements, and interpretations that were liberal, to say the least."[9] John Sebastian, of the Lovin' Spoonful, noted that the duo stood out in Greenwich Village because they "played [old-time folk music] in an irreverent way [and] with a sense of humor."[10] Stampfel himself described his approach to music at the time: "I got the idea in 1963: What if Charlie Poole, and Charley Patton, and Uncle Dave Macon and all those guys were magically transported from the late 1920s to 1963? And then they were exposed to contemporary rock 'n' roll. What did they do? And that sounded way, way, way more interesting than" faithfully imitating folk music.[2]

The duo released their first album, The Holy Modal Rounders in 1964. Most notably, it contained a version of "Hesitation Blues", the lyrics of which included the first use of the term psychedelic (here pronounced "psycho-delic") in popular music.[11] Shortly after the release of their second album The Holy Modal Rounders 2 in 1965, the duo joined The Fugs for a short time.[12] Their 1965 recordings with the Fugs are on the band's debut studio album The Village Fugs and compilation albums Virgin Fugs and Fugs 4, Rounders Score. Weber's cult classic "Boobs a Lot" was included on The Village Fugs and the Rounders recorded their own version of the song on the 1971 album Good Taste Is Timeless.

After leaving the Fugs in 1965, the duo worked separately before re-forming in June 1967 with drummer Sam Shepard and keyboardist Lee Crabtree to record their third album Indian War Whoop.[13][12] Mark Deming of AllMusic noted the album was "a thoroughly bizarre listening experience" with "neo-psychedelic fiddle-and-guitar freakouts and free-form (and often radically altered) interpretations of traditional folk tunes."[14] Their fourth album The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders was recorded in 1968 for Elektra Records and included "Bird Song" (essentially Ray Price's "You Done Me Wrong" with altered lyrics), which was featured in Dennis Hopper's film Easy Rider.[12] It featured a similar combination of traditional music and psychedelia to Indian War Whoop.[15] Stampfel expressed dissatisfaction with Indian War Whoop and The Moray Eels because the band were using excessive amounts of amphetamines and Weber refused to rehearse before recordings.[6][9] He also noted that "[Indian War Whoop] and two gigs were all Weber and I did together between July '65 and the Elektra album."[9]

After The Moray Eels, a number of musicians passed through their lineup, including Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.[1] The band's fifth album Good Taste Is Timeless was released by Metromedia in 1971 and included additional band members Robin Remailly, John Wesley Annas, and Michael McCarty. In the same year, the band relocated to Boston.[13] Stampfel stayed in New York City but played with the band on occasion.[6] In 1972, they recorded their sixth album Alleged in Their Own Time with Remailly and Luke Faust; [6] the album would not be released until 1975. After the album's recording, Weber relocated The Holy Modal Rounders to Portland, Oregon, again without Stampfel.[5][2]

In 1975, Stampfel (without Weber) formed the short-lived Unholy Modal Rounders with Kirby Pines, Charlie Messing, Jeff Berman, and Paul Presti. The group was part of the collaborative and critically-acclaimed 1976 album Have Moicy!, joining Michael Hurley and Jeffrey Frederick and the Clamtones.

Stampfel and Weber released Last Round as the Holy Modal Rounders in 1978 and Going Nowhere Fast as Stampfel & Weber in 1981. A promotional tour followed the release of Going Nowhere Fast [6] before they ceased collaboration until 1996.

Weber's touring incarnation of the Rounders continued to be active in Portland until 1995, when Weber returned to his native Pennsylvania after years of substance abuse issues.[5] This touring band included members of the aforementioned Clamtones, who would performed with Jeff Frederick as the Clamtones and with Weber as the Holy Modal Rounders.[13] A live album, Steve Weber and the Holy Modal Rounders, B.C., from a 1976 radio show was released by Frederick Productions/Red Newt Records in 2006.[16] This is the only commercial album featuring Weber and the full Portland band in its heyday.

During the band's time in Portland, Stampfel formed The Bottle Caps in New York, releasing Peter Stampfel and the Bottlecaps (1986), The People's Republic of Rock n' Roll (1989), and You Must Remember This (1994). He also won a Grammy Award in 1998 for writing part of the liner notes for the CD reissue of the Anthology of American Folk Music.[17]

Stampfel and Weber reunited in 1996 at the Bottom Line, which began a series of reunions for the duo.[5] They then released Too Much Fun under the Rounders name in 1999.

In 2006, the documentary film The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose[10] was released, directed by Paul Lovelace and produced by Sam Douglas.[2] The films ends with Weber failing to show for a 40th anniversary show in 2003.[5] Weber explained that he felt deceived by the filmmakers and was disappointed at the lack of attention directed to the band's days in Portland.[5]

Weber died on February 7, 2020, aged 76, in Mount Clare, West Virginia.[5][18] Stampfel noted after Weber's death that he hadn't seen Weber since 2002 and they had last corresponded via email in 2003 when they were arranging the 40th anniversary show.[4]