Jason Cropper

Jason Cropper
Born	June 27, 1971 (1971-06-27)
Origin	Oakland, California
Genres	Rock
Occupations	Singer, guitarist, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, drums
Labels	Geffen
Associated acts	Weezer, 22 Jacks, Chopper One

Jason Cropper (born June 27, 1971 in Oakland, California) is a musician best known as an original member of the band Weezer.

Biography

Early years

Cropper claimed to have picked up the guitar at age 16. His mother reports that he first "rocked" to a small 45 rpm record in his bedroom where he played "Let's Go To The Hop" by Danny and the Juniors. He was about two years old, and he loved it. He used to spend hours, as a very young child, listening to "Tommy" by The Who. He has never openly admitted what the first record he bought was, but his first "cool" album was Jimi Hendrix. He was a fan of various genres, like psychedelic, grunge, and punk. He was in various bands in his twenties before joining bands that contained the core members of what would become Weezer.

With Weezer

Cropper was the original guitarist for Weezer, and as such was present at the band's first official band practice on February 14, 1992. He recorded on the band's first three official demo tapes that were done previous to their signing to Geffen Records.

However, in 1993, during the recording of Weezer (aka The Blue Album), Cropper left the band and was then replaced by guitarist Brian Bell. Cropper signed a non-disclosure agreement, and to this day has never publicly spoken about his reasons for leaving the band. Despite having recorded guitar and backing vocals for all songs, his tracks were said to have been replaced by the band's vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Rivers Cuomo, with the occasional backing vocal replaced by Bell.

Cropper has a co-writing credit on Weezer's "My Name Is Jonas", having written the song's acoustic guitar intro. The song "Jamie", featured on the 1994 DGC Rarities, Vol. 1 compilation, was recorded in 1993 and features Cropper on guitar and backing vocals. Prior to the expanded deluxe edition of The Blue Album in 2004, this was the only Weezer track released to feature Cropper on guitar and backing vocals.

Cropper has remained good friends with the other members of Weezer, recently known to have attended Rivers Cuomo's wedding in 2006.

Post-Weezer

Jason and his then wife, Amy Wellner Cropper, formed the band Chopper One after Cropper left Weezer. The pair (along with drummer Tyrone Rio) released the single "Free Lunch" in 1995, followed by the album Now Playing in 1997.

In Jan of 1994, their first of three children was born, a daughter they named Kiefer Rain Cropper. Their son, Jake Hudson Cropper, was born in 1999, and their third child, a daughter, Devon Jade Cropper (also a gifted musical talent-singing), was born in 2001. The couple divorced in 2004-2005, but live near one another as they co-parent their three children.^{[citation needed]}

In 1996, Jason played guitar on Uncle Bob, an alt-rock album from 22 Jacks, which featured members of Wax, The Ramones, Adolescents and Agent Orange.

2000s

theme song Andy Richter Controls the Universe (2002–2003) As of early 2006 Cropper has shown signs of returning to music as he has been posting songs on his MySpace page. He has also begun recording and producing bands. He is currently working with Atlanta based rock band Buffalo Alice. He produced that band's second album "Mitchell" (2007) and has writing credits on at least one song, and is credited as playing guitar and singing on several songs. He has signed on to co-write and produce a third album for the band, and is currently listed as bass player on the bands website.

External links

• Jason Cropper on Myspace
• Punk named Josh video (no longer available)
• yahoo profile with Punk named Josh video (no longer available)