Iron Butterfly guitarist Larry 'Rhino' Reinhardt dies

Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt, who played with Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond and a number of other troups, passed away on Monday (January 2) at the age of 63. Reinhardt had been admitted to a hospital last week with an infection and went into intensive care on New Year's Day where he was put on life support for a short time and then removed per his living will. No further details have been released.

Reinhardt got his musical start in the Bradenton/Sarasota area of Florida with a band called the Thunderbeats and, for a time, was a member of The Second Coming with Dickie Betts, Dale Betts, Barry Oakley, John Meeks and Reese Wynans.

In 1970, Reinhardt and Mike Pinera (Blues Image) replaced Erik Brann in Iron Butterfly and recorded the album Metamorphosis. The album was credited to Iron Butterfly with Pinera & Reino and reached number 16 on the Billboard Album chart.

A year later, Reinhardt and Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman formed Captain Beyond along with drummer Bobby Caldwell (Johnny Winter/Rick Derringer) and Rod Evans (Deep Purple). The group recorded the albums Captain Beyond and Sufficiently Breathless before splitting. They got back together with an altered lineup for a 1973 tour and again in 1976 and recorded the album Dawn Explosion.

Next up was his own group, The Ryno Band, which lasted until 1981, followed by a stint in Mad Dancer. He also performed in numerous reunions of Iron Butterfly over the years. His final album was the solo Rhino's Last Dance (2009) with another solo effort recorded in the mid-90's, Blue Swamp, scheduled for later this year.

A Facebook reader posted that he was told by Reinhardt's partner, Tracey Hooper, that there would be no service, per Larry's directive. A Celebration of Life ceremony would be held in the near future in Bradenton, FL.