Photo: Chuck E. Weiss (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) | From Chuck Morris on Facebook, 7/21/21: A very sad day for me and a lot of us . My oldest friend since 1968 died yesterday in Los Angeles after a long illness. Chuck E. Weiss, musician, actor, music historian, and sometime comedian, has been my sidekick (and sometime room mate ) passed in a Los Angeles hospital. Chuck was leader of legendary underground band Chuck E. Weiss and the God Damm Liars, was part owner of the infamous Viper Room along with his friend Johnny Depp, taught a class on music history at Colorado University (one of the first of its kind),was the Chuck E. in Rickie Lee Jones’ classic hit “Chuck E’s in Love”, had 2 of his albums produced by buddy Tom Waits and, so important after years of drug abuse, became a leader of turning people around from the problems of drug and alcohol excess. His speeches at AA meetings in Los Angeles were legendary. Never getting the recognition he deserved in our music community for many, his persona and talent will live forever. His comedic talent came somewhere between Borat and Weird Al Yankovich.
He also saved my life while I was in the midst of my alcohol and drug abuse in the early ‘70s and was responsible for my continuous sobriety since 1988. His bio began with his great line, which in a nutshell, said all you had to know about his sick and satirical sense of humor, by saying that when he started his music career, “I always wanted to sing like a Blackman and do business like a Jew but always ended up doing business like a Blackman and sanging like a Jew”. Words similar to the satirical comedy of Sacha Baron Cohen and Weird Al years later. A unique character that always made us laugh performed legendary music shows weekly at his legendary Viper Room and even had funny parts in several tv sitcoms.
Hope his death will educate many who never realized what a unique character and musical talent he was and all of us who know him should continue that education. Never had a true friend and sidekick like Chuck E for most of both of our lives for 5 Decades together starting with his early years growing up in Denver with me and being part of my maturation in our crazy business of music.
RIP Chuck E. We will all miss you. Funeral and ceremony will be in Denver, Monday, July 26th at 1:45 at Fairmont Cemetery at which his and my parents were buried. Brother Whizzy Weiss will be arranging the details. There will never ever be another unique character like Chuckie giving the world such an impact on so many of us .honored to be a pall bearer asked by his brother. So happy I went to Los Angeles a while ago just to spend time with him.
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Read more at:
https://variety.com/2021/music/news/chuck-e-weiss-dead-musician-chuck-es-in-love-1235025050/
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