John Weider (born April 21, 1947) is a British rock musician who is equally proficient on guitar, bass, and violin. He is best known as the bass player for the British band Family from 1969 to 1971. April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... The acoustic archtop guitar, used in Jazz music, features steel strings. ... Bass may refer to: Look up bass in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A violin The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... This is about the British rock band Family. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ...

Early years

Before joining Family, Weider had already accumulated a formidable list of credits despite being only 22 when he joined to replace Ric Grech after Grech defected to Blind Faith. He played with the legendary Steve Marriott as a teenager in a pre-Small Faces band called Steve Marriott and the Moments. He then went on to replace Mick Green as lead guitarist in Johnny Kidd and the Pirates - no small feat, as Green was regarded as one of the first British guitar heroes in rock and roll, Pete Townshend being one of the many guitar players singing his praises. (Green had been known for his raunchy playing.) Weider, though, amply filled the bill for Johnny Kidd. Richard Roman Grech, November 1, 1946 – March 17, 1990. ... The cover of the bands only album, Blind Faith The alternate cover of the bands only album, Blind Faith Blind Faith was a band formed in late 1968 when Eric Clapton (ex-Cream) and Steve Winwood (ex-Traffic) were at a loose end following the demise of their... Steve Marriott (January 30, 1947 in Bow, London – April 20, 1991 in Essex) was a British rock and roll singer, songwriter and guitarist who also worked as a juvenile actor in his youth; he appeared in an early London stage production of Oliver! with Ian Carmichael, and featured in two... The Small Faces were a British rock and roll band of the 1960s, led by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane with Kenny Jones and original organist Jimmy Winston. ... Mick Green (born Michael Greenbaum) is a British rock and roll guitarist. ... Johnny Kidd and the Pirates were a rock and roll group from the UK who performed in the late 1950s and 1960s. ... Pete Townshend on the cover of Guitar World. ...

In 1966, Eric Burdon, frontman for the Animals, put together a new Animals backing group when the original members departed (Eric Burdon and the New Animals, sometimes called Eric Burdon and the Animals), and he recruited Weider to play guitar. The first album for the new ensemble was the 1967 LP Winds of Change, in which Burdon abandoned the old blues sound of the Animals and went psychedelic. Weider stayed with the group through 1968, recording The Twain Shall Meet and Love Is, the latter being a soul-based psychedelic rock album that also included future Police guitarist Andy Summers. By 1969, though, Weider was in California playing in an obscure group called Stonehenge when Ric Grech abruptly left Family during that band's first, disastrous U.S. tour and the band needed a new bassist immediately. 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Eric Victor Burdon (born May 11, 1941, Walker-on-Tyne, Northumberland) was the lead singer of The Animals and later of War. ... The US edition of The Animals self-titled debut album. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Andy Summers, 1996 Andy Summers was born Andrew James Summers on December 31, 1942 in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq. ...

Family

Weider was the perfect replacement for Grech in Family. Like Grech, he was a bassist, but also like Grech, he was a fine violinist as well, and many ofFmaily's songs had incorporated violin in their arrangements. Weider joined midway through the tour, which ended prematurely owing to lead singer Roger Chapman's visa problems, but Weider made his presence felt pretty quickly. The single "No Mule's Fool," Family's first single with Weider on board, took the band into a country-rock direction, with Weider providing a strong bass line and a lovely violin solo in the middle eight. Roger Chapman on the cover of his 1996 album Kiss My Soul Roger Chapman (Roger Maxwell Chapman) is a British singer (born on 8 April 1942, in Leicester, England). ...

Weider appears on Family's two 1970 albums, A Song For Me and Anyway, released ten months apart. Weider's standout moments on A Song For Me features a tense bass line on the opening cut "Drowned In Wine," a fine country fiddle solo on "Song For Sinking Lovers," and some horrifying violin passages on the title song that sound like ghosts swooping out of a haunted house. The half-live, half-studio Anyway features his heavy violin playing on a live recording of "Strange Band" and a lovely waltz on the same instrument on the studio instrumental "Normans." Also in this period was the April 1970 single "Today," co-written by Weider, Chapman, and John "Charlie" Whitney, and featuring luscious slide guitar lines from Weider that suggested the slide playing George Harrison would later become known for. For other uses, see April (disambiguation). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Richard John Whitney (born June 24, 1944) John Charlie Whitney is a British rock guitarist and a former member of both Family and Streetwalkers. ... George Harrison, MBE (24 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was a popular British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer, and film producer, best known as a member of The Beatles. ...

After Family

Weider left Family in the summer of 1971. Though he had replaced Ric Grech as Family's bassist, he was primarily a guitarist and wanted to get away from the bass for awhile. He joined Stud, a group that coincidentally featured guitarist-bassist Jim Cregan, who would become Family's final bass player in 1972. After Stud broke up Weider did some session work and released his homonyously titled debut solo album in 1976. His more recent albums (listed below) are more in a New Age vein than in a folk, rock, or country style. Jim Cregan is a British rock guitarist and bassist who has played with Family, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, and Rod Stewart. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ...

Other John Weider albums

• Inervals In Sunlight (1987)
• Essence (1989)
• Ancients Weep (1990)