Time to get out those mildew laden copies of Uncle Meat
"It's the middle of the night And your mommy & your daddy are sleeping It's the middle of the night And your mommy & your daddy are sleeping SLEEPING MOM & DAD ARE SLEEPING SLEEPING IN A JAR . . . (the jar is under the bed)"
I was saddened to learn today of the death of Jimmy Carl Black (the Indian of the group). He was always one of my favorite Zappa sidemen, and one of the biggest reasons the Mothers were such a fun, hilarious group. I'll definitely be giving "200 Motels" and "We're Only In It For the Money" some spins tonight in his honor.
Here he is as Lonesome Cowboy Bert from "200 Motels":
And here he is more recently, performing "Trouble Everyday" with the Muffin Men, a gang of former Zappa sidemen who are keeping FZ's music alive:
The original uploader Farbror Sid is not sure what Zappa album this poster, by Dave McMacken, came with. Anybody? I've been looking around on the web for a while and I can't find this poster or any references to it. Maybe it's very rare in real life too. I seems it's a Mothers (of Invention?) jubilee and I'm counting six candles. Frankie himself says "established in 1964" and in 1969 he disbanded the original Mothers of Invention and formed the Mothers... Anybody?
The 70's were so weird. You could be a chubby middle-aged lady like Doris Roberts, and still get to judge a Disco contest, and say things like "I think they're full of ZEST! Very sexy!" You could have a last name like "Walmsley" and still be famous. And if you were Frank Zappa, you could give the worst dancers a 98, just because you're such a nice guy.