Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt, former guitarist for rock legends Iron Butterfly, has passed away at the age of 63. According to his longtime girlfriend, Tracey Hooper, Reinhardt was taken off life support after a struggle with “sclerosis of the liver and complications from that,” due to the terms of his living will.

“He had a love for music and when he couldn’t play guitar he was depressed,” Hooper told reporters. “His love of music was everything.”

Reinhardt, long a respected figure in the Southern rock community, joined Iron Butterfly shortly after they released their epic hit ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda’ and played on their 1970 album ‘Metamorphosis.’ He then joined forces with Iron Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman and original Deep Purple singer Rod Evans for the supergroup Captain Beyond, which released a trio of charting albums throughout the rest of the decade.

During the ’80s and ’90s, Reinhardt stayed busy on the reunion circuit with both bands, joining Iron Butterfly and Captain Beyond on periodic tours in the United States and Europe. Over the last decade, he joined up with bassist Richard Price in the group Blue Swamp. Describing Reinhardt as “a great friend and had a great sense of humor,” Price said “He’s truly in the top 10 of greatest Southern rock, psychedelic, blues-rock players. He’s up there with all the great rock players of his time.”

In the last years of his life, Reinhardt started Doss-Rhino with former Classics IV member Mack Doss, playing various Florida venues while working on his final album, credited to the band Rhino and the Posse, which included members of Dickey Betts’ Great Southern.

“He was so excited when he was writing songs for that album,” said Posse keyboardist Mike Kach. “It was amazing the amount of enthusiasm he had for his music and playing music. He was a really good friend with a big heart and great sense of humor and a very caring man. And he was a great storyteller. In the studio he would tell us all these great stories about the good ol’ days.”

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