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7 unusual facts about The Mothers of Invention


An Evening with Wild Man Fischer

The Mothers of Invention - piano, bass & drums (on "The Taster (fancy version)")

Arkansas City, Kansas

Euclid James Sherwood, commonly known as Motorhead Sherwood, vocalist and saxophonist for The Mothers of Invention during the band's early years

Just Another Band from L.A.

Just Another Band from L.A. is a live album by The Mothers of Invention, released in 1972 (see 1972 in music).

Manfred Mann Chapter Three

Although intelligible at a time when artists like Davis himself were crossing over into the rock/funk field and American "jazz-rock" ensembles such as Blood, Sweat and Tears and The Mothers of Invention espoused brass sections and atonality, the formula was limited and the band expensive to maintain, so it was short-lived and disbanded after two albums.

Nose-picking

The 1968 Mothers of Invention song "Let's Make The Water Turn Black" tells a true story of an adolescent acquaintance of composer Frank Zappa who habitually saved his own extracted mucus on the pane of his bedroom window.

Ruben and the Jets

Led by Ruben Guevara, band members included, Ruben and the Jets released two albums, the first of which was produced by Frank Zappa, whose band The Mothers of Invention had previously released an album titled Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, for which Guevera had named his band.

Woodstock Revisited

In the years prior to The Woodstock Festival, musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, The Mothers of Invention, and Van Morrison all walked the town’s streets as residents.


Are You Hung Up?

"Are You Hung Up?" is the opening track on the 1968 album We're Only in It for the Money by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention.

Fraternity of Man

Its original members included three musicians from Lowell George's band The FactoryRichie Hayward later of Little Feat, Warren Klein, and Martin Kibbee – who joined Elliot Ingber from The Mothers of Invention and Larry Stash Wagner.

Leather Nun

Inspired by such groups and artists like John Lee Hooker, The Mothers of Invention, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, Rory Gallagher and Mick Ronson, The Leather Nun released their debut EP, Slow Death, in November 1979, featuring a recording of "Death Threats" from 1978 and three newly recorded tracks.

Mia Dyson

The following year (2006), Mia toured the USA and Canada, joined Frank Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention on stage at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and supported Ani Di Franco in New York's Central Park.

Straight Records

Frank Zappa, the Mothers of Invention, Wild Man Fischer, and Lenny Bruce certainly fit in at Bizarre, but all others ended up on Straight.

What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?

"What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" is a song written by Frank Zappa and released on the Mothers of Invention album We're Only in It for the Money in 1968. The song appears twice on the album: once on side one (track 8 on the CD version of the album), and once as a reprise on side two (track 17 on the CD).


see also

Cel-Ray

Cel-Ray was also mentioned in the Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention record albumI, "The Mothers at the Fillmore-1971. The character of Billy Rose (played by James Caan) in the 1975 film Funny Lady also habitually drank celery tonic, as an alternative to alcohol. Finally, it was used as a plot point joining assistant Harriet Smith and senator James Elton in the popular web series Emma Approved, written and directed by the makers of "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries".

Playground Psychotics

The album features recordings of Zappa and his band, the Mothers of Invention around the time of the film, 200 Motels.