Danny Ben-Israel (1944 – 11 March 2019) was an

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

musician of the late 1960s and early 1970s, producing psychedelic progressive rock with socially concerned lyrics in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Early life

Ben-Israel was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

in 1944 and started his musical career while still in the

Israeli Defence Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

' Northern Command, alongside future pop stars Gadi Yagil and Koby Oshrat. He had a series of pop hits while still in the army.

Career

After leaving the army, he wrote and recorded for films and appeared in several musicals. He toured Europe in 1968 and settled briefly in Austria to record the LP ''Happy Birthday, Rock'n'Roll''. He returned to Tel Aviv in early 1969. He hooked up with guitarist Shlomo Mizrahi, leader of power trio Ha'Bama Ha'Hashmalit and recorded 1970's '' Bullshit 3'', one of the first Israeli psychedelic recordings. The album was harshly criticized by the local media and had little commercial success, but has gained a great reputation amongst collectors, being regarded as a "psychedelic masterpiece". Other notable albums include ''The Kathmandu Sessions'', recorded soon after ''Bullshit 3'' for a label that went bankrupt and finally issued decades later.

Death

Ben-Israel died on 11 March 2019, at the age of 75.

Select discography

* ''Happy Birthday, Rock'n'Roll'' * ''Bullshit 3'', World In Sound RFR 016LP * ''The Kathmandu Sessions'', Locust LOCUST 047CD * ''The Collection''

References

Musicians from Tel Aviv 20th-century Israeli male musicians 21st-century Israeli male musicians Date of birth missing 1944 births 2019 deaths Locust Music artists {{Israel-musician-stub