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The Mothers of Invention (also known as the Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band called the Soul Giants, the band's first lineup included Ray Collins, David Coronado, Ray Hunt, Roy Estrada, and Jimmy Carl Black. Frank Zappa was asked to take over as the guitarist following a fight between Collins and Coronado, the band's original saxophonist/leader. Zappa insisted that they perform his original material, and on Mother's Day in 1965, changed their name to the Mothers. Record executives demanded that the name be changed, and so "out of necessity", Zappa later said, "we became the Mothers of Invention". After early struggles, the Mothers earned substantial popular commercial success. The band first became popular playing in California's underground music scene in the late 1960s. With Zappa at the helm, it was signed to jazz label Verve Records as part of the label's diversification plans. Verve released the Mothers of Invention's début double album Freak Out! in 1966, featuring a lineup including Zappa, Collins, Black, Estrada and Elliot Ingber. Don Preston joined the band soon after. Under Zappa's leadership and a changing lineup, the band released a series of critically acclaimed albums, including Absolutely Free, We're Only in It for the Money, and Uncle Meat, before being disbanded by Zappa in 1969. In 1970, he formed a new version of the Mothers that included Ian Underwood, Jeff Simmons, George Duke, Aynsley Dunbar and singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (formerly of the Turtles, but who for contractual reasons were credited in this band as the Phlorescent Leech & Eddie). Later adding another ex-Turtle, bassist Jim Pons, this lineup endured through 1971, when Zappa was injured by an audience member during a concert appearance. Zappa focused on big-band and orchestral music while recovering from his injuries, and in 1973 formed the Mothers' final lineup, which included drummer Ralph Humphrey, trumpeter Sal Marquez, keyboardist/vocalist George Duke, trombonist Bruce Fowler, bassist Tom Fowler, percussionist Ruth Underwood and keyboardist/saxophonist Ian Underwood. The final album using the Mothers as a backing band, Bongo Fury (1975), featured guitarist Denny Walley and drummer Terry Bozzio, who continued to play for Zappa on non-Mothers releases.
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Albums by Frank Zappa & the MothersSort:By AlbumA - Z
The Roxy Performances [2018]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Cosmik Debris | 8:05 |
Pygmy Twylyte | 9:08 |
Montana | 7:49 |
Inca Roads | 8:27 |
Halloween 77 [2017]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Dirty Love | 2:32 |
Zappatite: Frank Zappa's Tastiest Tracks [2016]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Dirty Love | 2:58 |
Mudshark: Live [2015]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Magdalena | 5:36 |
The Muffin Man Goes to College [2015]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Montana | 12:10 |
Providence College, Rhode Island, April 26, 1975 [2014]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Montana | 12:09 |
Signature Box [2010]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Scumbag | 4:27 |
A Token of His Extreme [2008]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Pygmy Twylyte |
The Torture Never Stops [2008]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Montana | 3:48 |
Electric Aunt Jemima [1992]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
A Pound for a Brown on the Bus | 8:36 |
Our Man in Nirvana [1992]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
A Pound for a Brown on the Bus | 8:27 |
Playground Psychotics [1992]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Well [Live] | 4:43 |
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 [1992]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Dirty Love | 2:39 |
Tis the Season to Be Jelly [1991]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Baby Love |
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 [1988]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Pygmy Twylyte | 8:22 |
Montana (Whipping Floss) | 10:15 |
Bongo Fury [1975]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Cucamonga | 2:24 |
Roxy & Elsewhere [1974]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Pygmy Twylyte | 2:13 |
Over-Nite Sensation [1973]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Dirty Love | 2:58 |
Montana | 6:38 |
Just Another Band from L.A. [1972]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Magdalena | 6:24 |
Some Time in New York City [1972]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Scumbag | |
Scumbag [Live] | 4:27 |
Fillmore East: June 1971 [1971]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Little House I Used to Live In | 4:41 |
Willie the Pimp | 4:03 |
Happy Together | 2:57 |
Imagine [1971]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Well...(Baby Please Don't Go) | 4:07 |
Imagine: The Ultimate Collection [1971]
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Well… (Baby Please Don't Go) | |
Well... (Baby Please Don't Go) |
Berlin 1978
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Little House I Used to Live In | 15:21 |
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Song | Duration |
---|---|
The Little House I Used to Live In | 18:46 |
Live Montreal 1971
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Magdalena |
Unknown Album
Song | Duration |
---|---|
Montana | 6:35 |
Pygmy Twylyte | 2:13 |
Scum Bag | |
Dirty Love | 2:58 |
Eddie, Are You Kidding? | 3:10 |
Penguin in Bondage | 6:48 |
Cheepnis | 6:33 |
Village of the Sun | 4:17 |
Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? | 9:40 |
Big Leg Emma | |
I'm the Slime | 3:34 |
Bwana Dik | 2:21 |
Here Comes the Gear, Lads [Live] | 1:00 |
Lonesome Electric Turkey | 2:32 |
Latex Solar Beef | 2:38 |
Intro to Music for Low Budget Orchestra | 1:39 |
Motel Room [Live] | 0:29 |
Little House I Used to Live In | 4:41 |
Zomby Woof | 5:10 |
Fifty-Fifty | 6:09 |
Amigo Bronco | 3:47 |
Dummy Up | 6:02 |
Tears Began to Fall | 2:45 |
The Mud Shark | 5:22 |
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