The Mothers of Invention

The Mothers of Invention
L-R: Billy Mundi, Jim Sherwood, Frank Zappa, Jimmy Carl Black, Don Preston, Roy Estrada
Background information
Also known as	The Soul Giants, Mothers, The Muthers, The Mothers, The Grandmothers, The Grande Mothers Re:Invented
Genres	Experimental rock, comedy rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, jazz fusion, hard rock
Years active	1964–1975
Labels	Verve, Reprise, Bizarre, DiscReet
Associated acts	Frank Zappa Canned Heat Little Feat The Turtles Flo & Eddie

The Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.

They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa (1940–1993), although other members have had the occasional writing credit.^[1] The band's first album, in 1966, was a double LP named Freak Out!,^[2] and they released four more albums in the following years. Zappa disbanded the original group in 1969, mainly because of financial issues, but also because he felt that there was no public interest in their music.^[1] After recording and releasing Hot Rats, Frank re-formed the group in 1970, with mostly new members and material. The new group came to be referred to as just "The Mothers" or "Frank Zappa & The Mothers" most of the time. In 1971, Zappa did an ambitious concept film/album project 200 Motels, but the group disbanded later that year after Zappa was attacked onstage during a London concert. During the coming years, Zappa released albums as "Zappa/Mothers" (Roxy & Elsewhere, 1974) or "Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention" (One Size Fits All, 1975) until he permanently dropped the "Mothers of Invention" moniker in 1976. There were plans to include former members of "The Mothers", Flo & Eddie, in the "Philly '76" live album, but this never came to fruition.

History

1960s

Initially, the group was named "The Soul Giants" and consisted of drummer Jimmy Carl Black, bass player Roy Estrada, saxophonist Davy Coronado, guitarist Ray Hunt, and vocalist Ray Collins. Some biographers report that Collins fought with Hunt in 1964 (according to Collins: "I never touched Hunt, I don't even remember shaking his hand"),^{[citation needed]} after which Hunt quit the group and Frank Zappa took his place as guitarist - quickly becoming the leader of the group, which changed its name to "The Mothers" on Sunday, May 10, 1964 (that year's Mother's Day). The band's name was allegedly an abbreviation for "motherfuckers", which was a term used to describe good musicians at the time.

During late 1965, record producer Tom Wilson made a brief visit to a tavern where the Mothers were playing and offered them a contract and an advance of US$2,500. Guitarist Henry Vestine, later of Canned Heat, was an early member of the group, but suddenly quit, on the day the contract was signed, allegedly after hearing Frank Zappa's "Who Are The Brain Police?", which was "too much for Henry".^[3] The Mothers and Wilson then spent several months and thousands of dollars recording and editing the band's first album, a double LP named Freak Out!,^[2] and at the insistence of their record company, MGM Records, the group changed their name again, this time to "The Mothers of Invention". Their debut was released in 1966, and the Mothers of Invention subsequently went on tour.

MGM recorded sales of Freak Out!, issued on MGM's Verve Records, amounted to a relatively poor 30,000 copies. The record label responded by cutting the band's budget for their next LP to US$11,000. The Mothers of Invention continued regardless, releasing Absolutely Free in 1967, We're Only in It for the Money in 1968 and Uncle Meat in 1969 under the leadership of Zappa. In 1969, Zappa disbanded the original Mothers of Invention. Estrada went on to form Little Feat with Lowell George, who had been in the Mothers for a few months in late 1968 and early 1969 but was reportedly fired by Zappa because of his drug use. In 1970, Zappa created a new incarnation of The Mothers which included Mothers' alumni Ian Underwood and Don Preston. This 'new' lineup also featured British-born drummer Aynsley Dunbar (ex-John Mayall's Bluesbreakers), multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood (keyboards, guitar, woodwind, vocals) and Ruth Underwood (marimba, vibes), who had joined the original Mothers for the recording of Uncle Meat in 1969. 1969 was also the year Zappa, fed up with MGM's interference, left MGM Records for Reprise Records where Zappa/Mothers recordings would bear the Bizarre Records imprint.

1970s-2000s

Frank Zappa performing with the Mothers Of Invention, December 1971, Hamburg, Germany

George Duke (keyboards, trombone, vocals) first performed with Zappa in 1970 on 200 Motels and subsequently became a key member of Zappa's mid-70s touring bands. New Mothers members included Bob Harris (keyboards, vocals), vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman (aka "The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie", former members of '60s pop group The Turtles), Jim Pons (also ex-the Turtles, bass), and Jeff Simmons (bass, rhythm guitar). The "new" Mothers (with drummer John Guerin) first played on the 1970 album Chunga's Revenge although it is credited solely to Zappa, followed by Zappa's ambitious concept film/album project 200 Motels, which also featured Jimmy Carl Black, folk singer Theodore Bikel, drummer Keith Moon of The Who and former Beatle Ringo Starr. Now credited as "The Mothers", Zappa and the group recorded two acclaimed live albums, Fillmore East - June 1971 and Just Another Band From L.A., but Zappa again disbanded the band in late 1971 after an attacker had pushed him offstage into an orchestra pit at a concert in London, resulting in serious injuries that kept him off the road for more than a year.

Although Zappa had always released, and would continue to release, albums explicitly as a solo artist (Lumpy Gravy, 1967; Hot Rats, 1969; Chunga's Revenge, 1970; Apostrophe ('), 1974), various line ups of the Mothers followed in the 70s, the band now clearly a mere vehicle for Frank Zappa. Albums were variously released as Zappa/Mothers (Roxy & Elsewhere, 1974) or Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (One Size Fits All, 1975) until Zappa permanently dropped the moniker in 1976, from the release of Zoot Allures (1976) onwards. Later releases by Zappa in CD format contain Mothers of Invention material from various line-ups (e.g., You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5, 1992) and is occasionally credited as such on the album cover art (Playground Psychotics, 1992; Ahead of Their Time, 1993). Since 1980, Jimmy Carl Black, Don Preston and Bunk Gardner, plus other former members of the Mothers of Invention, have occasionally performed and recorded under the name "The Grandmothers" or "The Grande Mothers Re:Invented", performing music by Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart as well as originals and blues standards. Preston and Gardner have been performing sporadically as "The Don and Bunk Show" since 1999. On November 1, 2008, original Mothers drummer, Jimmy Carl Black, died in Germany at the age of 70.

Discography

The Mothers of Invention (1964-1969)

• Freak Out! (1966)
• Absolutely Free (1967)
• We're Only in It for the Money (1968)
• Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1968)
• Mothermania (compilation, 1969)
• Uncle Meat (1969)
• Burnt Weeny Sandwich (compilation, 1970)
• Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970)
• The Grandmothers (1980), without Frank Zappa
• Ahead Of Their Time (1993)

The Mothers (1970-1972)

• Fillmore East - June 1971 (1971)
• 200 Motels (soundtrack) (1971)
• Just Another Band From L.A. (1972)
• Playground Psychotics (1992)

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1973-1975)

• Over-Nite Sensation (1973)
• Roxy & Elsewhere (1974)
• One Size Fits All (1975)

Videography

Frank Zappa portal

• 200 Motels (1971)
• Baby Snakes (1979)
• The Dub Room Special (1982)
• Video From Hell (1987)
• Uncle Meat (1987)
• The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels (1989)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Zappa, Frank; Occhiogrosso, Peter (1989). The Real Frank Zappa Book. Poseidon Press. ISBN 0-671-70572-5. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Zappa, Frank. Interview with Nigel Leigh for BBC Late Show. UMRK, LA. March, 1993.
3. ^ Uncredited, Biography of Jimmy Carl Black; www.jimmycarlblack.com.

External links

• The Mothers of Invention at Allmusic
• Jimmy Carl Black website
• "The Grande Mothers Re:Invented" - MySpace page
• The Mothers of Invention interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969).