Peter Stampfel

Peter Stampfel ranks among the earliest musicians to probe the overlap between folk traditions and psychedelic sounds. Recognition has centered chiefly on his role in creating the freewheeling acid-folk collective the Holy Modal Rounders, the initial release in a recording career that now stretches across six decades. Born in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, on October 29, 1938, he cultivated a childhood passion for music by tuning into radio programs featuring pop standards and country selections. While attending the University of Wisconsin he joined a circle of bohemian students who introduced him to bluegrass and old-time folk; the Anthology of American Folk Music, Vols. 1-3, compiled by Harry Smith, became both a favorite and a formative influence, later prompting him to supply fresh liner notes for its 1997 reissue that earned a Grammy award. He learned the fiddle and banjo, then left school after two years to roam and immerse himself in Beatnik life. By 1963 he had settled in New York City, where he encountered fellow devotee of eccentric folk music and poet Steve Weber, a guitarist. The pair formed a duo called the Holy Modal Rounders and performed obscure folk pieces alongside quirky originals delivered in a deliberately rough-hewn manner. Their performances drew notice within the New York folk community, leading to a contract with Prestige Records and the release of their debut album in 1964. That year Stampfel also joined the Fugs as an accompanist while contributing songs and vocals, among them the manic “New Amphetamine Shriek.” Over time the Rounders expanded into a full ensemble and embraced full-blown lysergic experimentation, securing major-label deals and achieving underground success with “Bird Song,” later included on the soundtrack of the popular film Easy Rider; the group at one point featured Sam Shepard on drums well before the playwright gained fame as an actor. Yet lineup instability persisted, and one of their notable triumphs occurred after Weber’s departure: Have Moicy!, the 1976 album Stampfel issued under the name Unholy Modal Rounders in partnership with Michael Hurley and Jeffrey Frederick. Although he and Weber resumed occasional work together, by the close of the 1970s Stampfel increasingly collaborated with others, most frequently Michael Hurley, and remained active on the New York club circuit when punk and new wave took hold during the 1980s. In 1986 he launched the folk-rock outfit Peter Stampfel & the Bottle Caps, which issued three albums, while also guesting on recordings by Yo La Tengo, They Might Be Giants, Bongwater, and Mark Bingham; he further performed and recorded with the Du-Tels, a venture alongside guitarist Gary Lucas. His first solo album, You Must Remember This, arrived in 1995 and presented fresh readings of standards from the 1930s and 1940s. Subsequent projects included ad hoc groups such as the Ether Frolic Mob on 2013’s The Sound of America, the Brooklyn & Lower Manhattan Banjo Squadron on 2014’s Better Than Expected, and the Brooklyn & Lower Manhattan Fiddle/Mandolin Swarm on 2016’s Holiday for Strings. Outside music he maintained a lengthy tenure as an editor at the science fiction publisher DAW Books.