Herb Cohen - Revision history

Spider of Destiny: /* Manager of Frank Zappa */

2026-05-24T13:28:31Z

Manager of Frank Zappa

Spider of Destiny: /* Manager of Frank Zappa */

2026-05-24T13:27:53Z

Manager of Frank Zappa

Spider of Destiny at 13:27, 24 May 2026

2026-05-24T13:27:09Z

Duncan at 13:48, 20 October 2021

2021-10-20T13:48:02Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 00:27, 28 September 2021

2021-09-28T00:27:59Z

Duncan at 13:30, 28 August 2021

2021-08-28T13:30:25Z

Duncan: Work in progress

2021-08-28T10:33:48Z

Work in progress

Duncan at 09:39, 28 August 2021

2021-08-28T09:39:07Z

Duncan: Image

2021-08-28T08:08:12Z

Image

Duncan: Tidying

2021-08-28T08:02:23Z

Tidying

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 Cohen is attributed the quote ''"What the h--- you gonna do with all those drums at 1:00 in the morning?"on the cover of "[[Freak Out!]]"'' under the heading ''"More Relevant Quotes"''. Zappa mentioned Herb Cohen in the sleeve of ''[[Freak Out!]]'' (1966), under the heading: ''"These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them"''. He provided ''"cash register noises"'' for ''[[Absolutely Free]]''.
-Cohen's relationship with Zappa imploded in 1976, when Zappa claimed that Cohen and his lawyer brother [[Martin Cohen|Martin]] were skimming off his earnings and helping themselves to holidays with the profits (which inspired the piece ''[[Mo 'n Herb's Vacation]]''). Zappa then sued Cohen and the distributor [[Warner Brothers]] for $10m. Cohen countersued, claiming that Zappa had bypassed their new label, [[DiscReet]], and taken his album ''[[Zoot Allures]]'' straight to Warners.
+Cohen's relationship with Zappa imploded in 1976, when Zappa claimed that Cohen and his lawyer brother [[Martin Cohen|Martin]] were skimming off his earnings and helping themselves to holidays with the profits (which inspired the piece ''[[Mo 'n Herb's Vacation]]''). Zappa then sued Cohen and the distributor [[Warner Brothers]] for $10m. Cohen countersued, claiming that Zappa had bypassed their new label, [[DiscReet Records]], and taken his album ''[[Zoot Allures]]'' straight to Warners.
 ==Conceptual Continuity==

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 Cohen persuaded record producer [[Tom Wilson]] to see them perform thus securing their first record deal. He was the joint owner of the [[Straight Records|Straight]], [[Bizarre Records|Bizarre]], and [[DiscReet Records|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa.
-Cohen is attributed the quote ''"What the h--- you gonna do with all those drums at 1:00 in the morning?"on the cover of "[[Freak Out!]]"'' under the heading ''"More Relevant Quotes"''. Zappa mentioned Sandy Schwanekamp in the sleeve of ''[[Freak Out!]]'' (1966), under the heading: ''"These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them"''. He provided ''"cash register noises"'' for ''[[Absolutely Free]]''.
+Cohen is attributed the quote ''"What the h--- you gonna do with all those drums at 1:00 in the morning?"on the cover of "[[Freak Out!]]"'' under the heading ''"More Relevant Quotes"''. Zappa mentioned Herb Cohen in the sleeve of ''[[Freak Out!]]'' (1966), under the heading: ''"These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them"''. He provided ''"cash register noises"'' for ''[[Absolutely Free]]''.
 Cohen's relationship with Zappa imploded in 1976, when Zappa claimed that Cohen and his lawyer brother [[Martin Cohen|Martin]] were skimming off his earnings and helping themselves to holidays with the profits (which inspired the piece ''[[Mo 'n Herb's Vacation]]''). Zappa then sued Cohen and the distributor [[Warner Brothers]] for $10m. Cohen countersued, claiming that Zappa had bypassed their new label, [[DiscReet]], and taken his album ''[[Zoot Allures]]'' straight to Warners.

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-[[Image:Cohen-FZ-TW.jpeg|right|thumb|400px|Herb Cohen Frank Zappa Tom Wilson]]
+[[Image:Cohen-FZ-TW.jpeg|right|thumb|400px|Herb Cohen, Frank Zappa and Tom Wilson]]
-'''Herb'''ert '''Cohen''' (December 30, 1932 – March 16, 2010) was the manager of Frank Zappa and The Mothers from 1965 to 1976 having been introduced to them by their erstwhile manager [[Mark Cheka]].  Cohen persuaded record producer [[Tom Wilson]] to see them perform thus securing their first record deal. He was the joint owner of the [[Straight Records|Straight]], [[Bizarre Records|Bizarre]], and [[DiscReet Records|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa.
+'''Herb'''ert '''Cohen''' (December 30, 1932 – March 16, 2010) was the manager of Frank Zappa and The Mothers from 1965 to 1976 having been introduced to them by their erstwhile manager [[Mark Cheka]].  He co-owned the [[Bizarre Records|Bizarre]]/[[Straight Records|Straight]] & [[DiscReet Records|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa. He was married with his wife Dee and had a daughter, [[Lisa Cohen]], who appeared on the cover of ''[[We're Only In It For The Money]]''.
-Cohen was the nephew of LA gangster [[wikipedia:Mickey Cohen|Mickey Cohen]] and was himself seen as an abrasive character:<blockquote> “Herbie was a lot scarier than people would think. They'd think he was a kind of pudgy Jewish guy, but he was absolutely terrifying in conflict. I mean, he had a box of hand grenades in the trunk of his car."<ref name="JY">[[Farewell Aldebaran|Jerry Yester]] quoted in “Lowside Of The Road: A Life Of Tom Waits" by Barney Hoskyns. (Faber/ Broadway, 2009)</ref></blockquote> Cohen's relationship with Zappa imploded in 1976, when Zappa claimed that Cohen and his lawyer brother [[Martin Cohen|Martin]] were skimming off his earnings and helping themselves to holidays with the profits which inspired  the piece [[Mo 'n Herb's Vacation]]. Zappa then sued Cohen and the distributor Warner Bros for $10m. Cohen countersued, claiming that Zappa had bypassed their new label, DiscReet, and taken his album [[Zoot Allures]] straight to Warners.
+==Biography==
+Born in 1932 in New York, Cohen, after a brief spell in the military, moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s.  In 1955 he, with [[wikipedia:Victor Maymudes|Victor Maymudes]], opened The Unicorn on Sunset Strip, next to where the [[Whisky a Go-Go]] would appear later. It was the first coffee bar in LA and presented  live music and poetry readings.
 <blockquote>
-"Herbie Cohen had booked Lenny Bruce in the Unicorn, which was this big coffeehouse up on the Sunset Strip. It was next door to where the Whiskey is now. It was pretty big and it was painted black inside. It was supposed to be really hip, like it had pictures of nude women, but upside down. Sailors used to come in there on weekends and start fights and stuff. But he booked Lenny Bruce in there. And Lenny Bruce's audience was the hippest, meanest audience that I think was of all time in show business. And Herbie also at that time had the hippest waitresses. They were mean as snakes, these women were. And they had all been married at one time to one famous jazz musician or another who had fallen from grace in one way or another. So they were extremely hip. These waitresses would go by you and give you these terrible chilling looks with little eyes of stone." <ref>[[Farewell Aldebaran|Judy Henske]] - "Only a Henske: The Judy Henske Story" by Paul Zollo. (SongTalk, 1991)</ref>
+"''Herbie Cohen had booked [[Lenny Bruce]] in the Unicorn, which was this big coffeehouse up on the Sunset Strip. It was next door to where the Whiskey is now. It was pretty big and it was painted black inside. It was supposed to be really hip, like it had pictures of nude women, but upside down. Sailors used to come in there on weekends and start fights and stuff. But he booked Lenny Bruce in there. And Lenny Bruce's audience was the hippest, meanest audience that I think was of all time in show business. And Herbie also at that time had the hippest waitresses. They were mean as snakes, these women were. And they had all been married at one time to one famous jazz musician or another who had fallen from grace in one way or another. So they were extremely hip. These waitresses would go by you and give you these terrible chilling looks with little eyes of stone."'' <ref>[[Farewell Aldebaran|Judy Henske]] - "Only a Henske: The Judy Henske Story" by Paul Zollo. (SongTalk, 1991)</ref>
 </blockquote>
 In 1957 Maymudes and Cohen opened the [[Cosmo Alley]]. By the early 1960s the Cosmo Alley and Herb Cohen ran into money troubles and Cohen left Los Angeles for a couple of years to avoid his debtors. Upon his return people felt he was even more aggressive:
 <blockquote>
-"He just kind of arrived back one day and he was a wild man. Mutt (brother Martin Cohen) by contrast was very gentle and soft spoken in comparison. He said he'd talk to Herbie, and Herbie did calm down a little."<ref name="JY"/></blockquote>
+''"He just kind of arrived back one day and he was a wild man. Mutt (brother Martin Cohen) by contrast was very gentle and soft spoken in comparison. He said he'd talk to Herbie, and Herbie did calm down a little."''<ref name="JY"/></blockquote>
-during the late 1950's and early 1960's. He managed a number of folk acts but is best known as the manager of [[Biography|Frank Zappa]] and the [[The Mothers|Mothers Of Invention]], as well as [[Screamin' Jay Hawkins]], [[George Duke]], [[Alice Cooper]], [[Tim Buckley]], [[Lenny Bruce]], & [[Theodore Bikel]].
+during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He managed a number of folk acts but is best known as the manager of [[Biography|Frank Zappa]] and the [[The Mothers|Mothers Of Invention]], as well as [[Screamin' Jay Hawkins]], [[George Duke]], [[Alice Cooper]], [[Tim Buckley]], [[Lenny Bruce]], & [[Theodore Bikel]].
-Cohen is attributed the quote "What the h--- you gonna do with all those drums at 1:00 in the morning?"on the cover of "[[Freak Out!]]" under the heading "More Relevant Quotes".
+Cohen is attributed the quote ''"What the h--- you gonna do with all those drums at 1:00 in the morning?"on the cover of "[[Freak Out!]]"'' under the heading ''"More Relevant Quotes"''. Zappa mentioned Sandy Schwanekamp in the sleeve of ''[[Freak Out!]]'' (1966), under the heading: ''"These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them"''. He provided ''"cash register noises"'' for ''[[Absolutely Free]]''.
-He co-owned the [[Bizarre Records|Bizarre]]/[[Straight Records|Straight]] & [[DiscReet Records|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa.
+* ''[[Uncle Meat Film Excerpt|Uncle Meat Film Excerpt Part I]]'' ("Herbie wouldn't give us an advance?")
+* ''[[Does This Kind Of Life Look Interesting To You?]]'' ("Night after night, dinners with Herb Cohen")
+* ''[[Be-Bop Tango|The Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen's Church)]]'' ("Herb Cohen, ladies and gentlemen!")
-He provided "cash register noises" for [[Absolutely Free]].
+* ''[[Dupree's Paradise]]'' ("And it won't do you any good to call Herb, either")
+* ''[[Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy]]'' ("It might seem strange to Herb and Dee")
-He was married with his wife Dee and had a daughter, [[Lisa Cohen]], who appeared on the cover of ''[[We're Only In It For The Money]]''.
+* The constellation ''"[[Herbycon]]"'' on the back cover of ''[[One Size Fits All]]'' is an obvious pun.
+* ''[[Mo 'n Herb's Vacation]]''
 ==Notes==

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:48, 20 October 2021
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	'''Herb'''ert '''Cohen''' (December 30, 1932 – March 16, 2010) was the manager of Frank Zappa and The Mothers from 1965 to 1976 having been introduced to them by their erstwhile manager [[Mark Cheka]]. Cohen persuaded record producer [[Tom Wilson]] to see them perform thus securing their first record deal. He was the joint owner of the [[Straight Records\|Straight]], [[Bizarre Records\|Bizarre]], and [[DiscReet Records\|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa.		'''Herb'''ert '''Cohen''' (December 30, 1932 – March 16, 2010) was the manager of Frank Zappa and The Mothers from 1965 to 1976 having been introduced to them by their erstwhile manager [[Mark Cheka]]. Cohen persuaded record producer [[Tom Wilson]] to see them perform thus securing their first record deal. He was the joint owner of the [[Straight Records\|Straight]], [[Bizarre Records\|Bizarre]], and [[DiscReet Records\|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa.

−	Cohen was seen as an abrasive character:<blockquote> “Herbie was a lot scarier than people would think. They'd think he was a kind of pudgy Jewish guy, but he was absolutely terrifying in conflict. I mean, he had a box of hand grenades in the trunk of his car."<ref name="JY">[[Farewell Aldebaran\|Jerry Yester]] quoted in “Lowside Of The Road: A Life Of Tom Waits" by Barney Hoskyns. (Faber/ Broadway, 2009)</ref></blockquote> Cohen's relationship with Zappa imploded in 1976, when Zappa claimed that Cohen and his lawyer brother [[Martin Cohen\|Martin]] were skimming off his earnings and helping themselves to holidays with the profits which inspired the piece [[Mo 'n Herb's Vacation]]. Zappa then sued Cohen and the distributor Warner Bros for $10m. Cohen countersued, claiming that Zappa had bypassed their new label, DiscReet, and taken his album [[Zoot Allures]] straight to Warners.	+	Cohen was the nephew of LA gangster [[wikipedia:Mickey Cohen\|Mickey Cohen]] and was himself seen as an abrasive character:<blockquote> “Herbie was a lot scarier than people would think. They'd think he was a kind of pudgy Jewish guy, but he was absolutely terrifying in conflict. I mean, he had a box of hand grenades in the trunk of his car."<ref name="JY">[[Farewell Aldebaran\|Jerry Yester]] quoted in “Lowside Of The Road: A Life Of Tom Waits" by Barney Hoskyns. (Faber/ Broadway, 2009)</ref></blockquote> Cohen's relationship with Zappa imploded in 1976, when Zappa claimed that Cohen and his lawyer brother [[Martin Cohen\|Martin]] were skimming off his earnings and helping themselves to holidays with the profits which inspired the piece [[Mo 'n Herb's Vacation]]. Zappa then sued Cohen and the distributor Warner Bros for $10m. Cohen countersued, claiming that Zappa had bypassed their new label, DiscReet, and taken his album [[Zoot Allures]] straight to Warners.

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:27, 28 September 2021
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	He was married with his wife Dee and had a daughter, [[Lisa Cohen]], who appeared on the cover of ''[[We're Only In It For The Money]]''.		He was married with his wife Dee and had a daughter, [[Lisa Cohen]], who appeared on the cover of ''[[We're Only In It For The Money]]''.
		+
		+	[[File:Herb Cohen Money.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Herb on the cover of ''We're Only In It For The Money'']]

	Conceptual Continuity:		Conceptual Continuity:

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 Cohen is attributed the quote "What the h--- you gonna do with all those drums at 1:00 in the morning?"on the cover of "[[Freak Out!]]" under the heading "More Relevant Quotes".
-Herb Cohen ran coffee bars and folk clubs such as The Unicorn and [[Cosmo Alley]] during the late 1950's and early 1960's. He managed a number of folk acts but is best known as the manager of [[Biography|Frank Zappa]] and the [[The Mothers|Mothers Of Invention]], as well as [[Screamin' Jay Hawkins]], [[George Duke]], [[Alice Cooper]], [[Tim Buckley]], [[Lenny Bruce]], & [[Theodore Bikel]].
 He co-owned the [[Bizarre Records|Bizarre]]/[[Straight Records|Straight]] & [[DiscReet Records|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa.

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:08, 28 August 2021
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−	[[Image:~~Herbcohen~~.~~jpg~~\|right\|thumb\|400px\|Herb Cohen]]	+	[[Image:Cohen-FZ-TW.jpeg\|right\|thumb\|400px\|Herb Cohen Frank Zappa Tom Wilson]]

−	'''Herb'''ert '''Cohen''' (December 30, 1932 – March 16, 2010) was the manager of Frank Zappa and The Mothers from 1965 to 1976 having been introduced to them by their erstwhile manager [[Mark Cheka]]. Cohen persuaded record producer [[Tom Wilson]] to see them perform thus securing their first record deal. He was the joint owner of the [[Straight Records\|Straight]], [[Bizarre Records\|Bizarra]], and [[DiscReet Records\|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa. Often seen as an abrasive character Cohen's relationship with Zappa imploded in 1977, when Zappa claimed that Cohen and his lawyer brother [[Martin ~~(Mutt)~~ Cohen\|~~Mutt~~] were skimming off his earnings and helping themselves to holidays with the profits which inspired the piece [[Mo 'n Herb's Vacation]] Zappa then sued Cohen and the distributor Warner Bros for $10m. Cohen countersued, claiming that Zappa had bypassed their new label, DiscReet, and taken his album [[Zoot Allures]] straight to Warners.	+	'''Herb'''ert '''Cohen''' (December 30, 1932 – March 16, 2010) was the manager of Frank Zappa and The Mothers from 1965 to 1976 having been introduced to them by their erstwhile manager [[Mark Cheka]]. Cohen persuaded record producer [[Tom Wilson]] to see them perform thus securing their first record deal. He was the joint owner of the [[Straight Records\|Straight]], [[Bizarre Records\|Bizarra]], and [[DiscReet Records\|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa. Often seen as an abrasive character Cohen's relationship with Zappa imploded in 1977, when Zappa claimed that Cohen and his lawyer brother [[Martin Cohen\|Martin]] were skimming off his earnings and helping themselves to holidays with the profits which inspired the piece [[Mo 'n Herb's Vacation]]. Zappa then sued Cohen and the distributor Warner Bros for $10m. Cohen countersued, claiming that Zappa had bypassed their new label, DiscReet, and taken his album [[Zoot Allures]] straight to Warners.

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-[[Image:Herbcohen.jpg|left|frame|Herb Cohen]][[Herb Cohen]] (born December 30, 1932, died March 16, 2010) is name-checked on the cover of "[[Freak Out!]]" (1966) under the heading "These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them". He is pictured in the collage on the "[[We're Only In It For The Money]]" (1968) cover (his daughter [[Lisa Cohen]] is also pictured in the collage).<ref>http://donlope.net/fz/notes/We%27re_Only_In_It_For_The_Money_Cover.html</ref> He is also referenced in "[[The Real Frank Zappa Book]]" (1989).
+[[Image:Herbcohen.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Herb Cohen]]
 Cohen is attributed the quote "What the h--- you gonna do with all those drums at 1:00 in the morning?"on the cover of "[[Freak Out!]]" under the heading "More Relevant Quotes".
-Herb Cohen ran coffee bars and folk clubs such as The Unicorn and [[Cosmo Alley]] during the late 1950's and early 1960's. He managed a number of folk acts but is best known as the manager of [[Biography|Frank Zappa]] and the [[The Mothers|Mothers Of Invention]], as well as [[Screamin' Jay Hawkins]], [[George Duke]], [[Alice Cooper]], [[Tim Buckley]], [[Lenny Bruce]], & [[Theodore Bikel]]. He co-owned the [[Bizarre Records|Bizarre]]/[[Straight Records|Straight]] & [[DiscReet Records|DiscReet]] record labels with Zappa.
+Herb Cohen ran coffee bars and folk clubs such as The Unicorn and [[Cosmo Alley]] during the late 1950's and early 1960's. He managed a number of folk acts but is best known as the manager of [[Biography|Frank Zappa]] and the [[The Mothers|Mothers Of Invention]], as well as [[Screamin' Jay Hawkins]], [[George Duke]], [[Alice Cooper]], [[Tim Buckley]], [[Lenny Bruce]], & [[Theodore Bikel]].
 After a ten year association Zappa dismissed him as manager in May 1976.