Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros emerged from a carefully orchestrated but ultimately flawed effort by Elektra Records to assemble a supergroup under the working title Project Supergroup. The label aimed to transform a roster of exceptional players into the defining act of the late 1960s, yet the resulting ensemble never matched the hype generated by the company’s promotional campaign. Even so, the group’s contributions to rock merit greater recognition than most historical accounts have granted. Adding to their difficulties, the band’s manager turned down an offer to perform at Woodstock several years after the lineup had stabilized.

The self-titled debut album stood out largely because producer Paul Rothchild, already known for his work with the Doors, guided the sessions. Rothchild and fellow producer Frazier Mohawk, who had earlier shaped Buffalo Springfield, conceived the project together. In autumn 1967 they auditioned roughly a dozen musicians, among them pianist Alan Gerber and guitarist Doug Hastings, previously of the Daily Flash and Buffalo Springfield. Two months later a larger audition of nearly two dozen players brought in vocalist John Finley, formerly of Jon & Lee & the Checkmates, and guitarist Danny Weis, late of Iron Butterfly. Before the year ended, keyboardist Michael Fonfara, another Jon & Lee & the Checkmates alumnus, and bassist Jerry “the Bear” Penrod, also from Iron Butterfly, completed the core.

Early in 1968 several members backed David Ackles on his first solo album. Roughly four months afterward the band, now officially called Rhinoceros, began recording its own debut; drummer Billy Mundi, ex-Mothers of Invention, had joined by then. Their first public performance took place that June at the Whiskey A Go-Go in West Hollywood. Three months later they appeared at New York’s Café Au-Go-Go. Between those coastal debuts the group toured with Taj Mahal and Love, and during a free Central Park concert attended by some 12,000 people they shared the bill with Wind in the Willows, Traffic, and Spooky Tooth. While based in New York they also performed alongside Muddy Waters, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and the Moody Blues.

Penrod departed in 1969; Steve Weis, Danny’s brother, took his place briefly before Peter Hodgson, Finley’s cousin and another Jon & Lee & the Checkmates veteran, replaced him. Subsequent tours found Rhinoceros on bills with the Grateful Dead, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Tommy James & the Shondells, and Johnny Winter. That summer Hastings exited and Larry Leishman, yet another Jon & Lee & the Checkmates graduate, came aboard. Managers Sid Bernstein and Billy Fields now oversaw the group; Fields notably rejected an invitation to Woodstock in favor of a booking at the Boston Tea Party. Gerber quit in protest over the decision, and Mundi soon followed, with Eddie “Duke” Edwards stepping in on drums.

In 1970 the band returned to New York to record and play the Fillmore East, where they appeared with Seals & Crofts and Procol Harum. Richard Crooks of Dr. John replaced Edwards shortly afterward, and by year’s end Malcolm Tomlinson succeeded Crooks. Canadian dates followed, yet Rhinoceros disbanded midway through 1971. Early the next year Hodgson, Weis, Finley, Leishman, and Fonfara regrouped as Blackstone Rangers; the ensemble later shortened its name to Blackstone before dissolving in 1973.