John Smothers - Revision history

Spider of Destiny at 20:55, 12 July 2026

2026-07-12T20:55:39Z

Spider of Destiny: /* References to Smothers in Zappa's work */

2026-07-12T20:55:09Z

References to Smothers in Zappa's work

Spider of Destiny at 15:09, 4 July 2026

2026-07-04T15:09:18Z

Spider of Destiny at 15:08, 4 July 2026

2026-07-04T15:08:42Z

Spider of Destiny at 22:05, 1 June 2026

2026-06-01T22:05:31Z

Spider of Destiny at 16:49, 28 May 2026

2026-05-28T16:49:10Z

Spider of Destiny at 16:48, 28 May 2026

2026-05-28T16:48:43Z

Spider of Destiny at 11:39, 23 May 2026

2026-05-23T11:39:05Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 15:54, 19 October 2021

2021-10-19T15:54:21Z

Duncan at 08:11, 27 August 2021

2021-08-27T08:11:57Z

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 [[image:Smothers.jpeg|right|thumb|300px| Frank Zappa and John Smothers]]
-'''John Smothers''' (April 4, 1930  - April 27, 2019) was a former police officer <ref>https://www.united-mutations.com/s/john_smothers.htm</ref> and FZ's bodyguard or 'personal minder' from 1972 to 1984. He said that he used to be a bodyguard for [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Beatles]], [[Wikipedia:The Beach Boys|The Beach Boys]], Dean Martin, Sister Soul and The Temptations too. Smothers was an imposing and muscular figure who had a strange way of pronunciation and turning words and sentences into strange, unintentionally funny words and expressions, which amused Zappa. He appeared in ''[[Baby Snakes (The Film)|Baby Snakes]] (1979)''.
+'''John Smothers''' (April 4, 1930  - April 27, 2019) was a former police officer <ref>https://www.united-mutations.com/s/john_smothers.htm</ref> and FZ's bodyguard or 'personal minder' from 1972 to 1984. He said that he used to be a bodyguard for [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Beatles]], [[Wikipedia:The Beach Boys|The Beach Boys]], Dean Martin, Sister Soul and The Temptations too. Smothers was an imposing and muscular figure who, due to wearing false teeth, had a strange way of pronunciation and turning words and sentences into strange, unintentionally funny words and expressions, which amused Zappa. He appeared in ''[[Baby Snakes (The Film)|Baby Snakes]] (1979)''.
 <blockquote>''"...he was the bodyguard. Very funny. We'd do a rehearsal and John would start dancing. He was like a big bear."'' - [[Allan Zavod interview by Avo Raup]]</blockquote> Smothers also had a reputation as a practical joker. <ref>[[Den Simms]], [[Eric Buxton]] and [[Rob Samler]]'s interview ''[[They're Doing the Interview of the Century, Part 3]]'', September 1990)</ref>

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 ==References to Smothers in Zappa's work==
-Smothers' distinctive speech is referenced in the song ''[[Dong Work For Yuda]]'' from ''[[Joe's Garage Acts I, II & III|Joe's Garage]]'' (1979). Several lines from this song were actual things Smothers once said or mispronounced. The song also references his wife, Freckles, who is also mentioned in the song ''[[Won Ton On]]''.
+Smothers' distinctive speech is referenced in the song ''[[Dong Work For Yuda]]'' from ''[[Joe's Garage Acts I, II & III|Joe's Garage]]'' (1979), where [[Terry Bozzio]] imitates him as ''Bald-Headed John''.<ref>https://www.donlope.net/fz/notes/Joe's_Garage.html</ref> Several lines from this song were actual things Smothers once said or mispronounced. The song also references his wife, Freckles, who is also mentioned in the song ''[[Won Ton On]]''.
 Smothers is amongst the names thanked in the liner notes of ''[[The MOFO Project/Object (Fazedooh)|The MOFO Project/Object]]'' (2006) album.
 ==References==

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 '''John Smothers''' (April 4, 1930  - April 27, 2019) was a former police officer <ref>https://www.united-mutations.com/s/john_smothers.htm</ref> and FZ's bodyguard or 'personal minder' from 1972 to 1984. He said that he used to be a bodyguard for [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Beatles]], [[Wikipedia:The Beach Boys|The Beach Boys]], Dean Martin, Sister Soul and The Temptations too. Smothers was an imposing and muscular figure who had a strange way of pronunciation and turning words and sentences into strange, unintentionally funny words and expressions, which amused Zappa. He appeared in ''[[Baby Snakes (The Film)|Baby Snakes]] (1979)''.
-<blockquote>''"...he was the bodyguard. Very funny. We'd do a rehearsal and John would start dancing. He was like a big bear."'' - [[Allan Zavod interview by Avo Raup]]</blockquote> Smothers also had a reputation as a practical joker. <ref>[[Den Simms]], Eric Buxton and Rob Samler's interview ''[[They're Doing the Interview of the Century, Part 3]]'', September 1990)</ref>
+<blockquote>''"...he was the bodyguard. Very funny. We'd do a rehearsal and John would start dancing. He was like a big bear."'' - [[Allan Zavod interview by Avo Raup]]</blockquote> Smothers also had a reputation as a practical joker. <ref>[[Den Simms]], [[Eric Buxton]] and [[Rob Samler]]'s interview ''[[They're Doing the Interview of the Century, Part 3]]'', September 1990)</ref>
 ==Bodyguarding career with Zappa==

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:08, 4 July 2026
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	[[Category:Supporting Cast\|Smothers]]		[[Category:Supporting Cast\|Smothers]]
	[[Category:Police Officers\|Smothers]]		[[Category:Police Officers\|Smothers]]
		+	[[Category:The MOFO Project/Object (The List)\|Smothers]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[image:Smothers.jpeg|right|thumb|300px| Frank Zappa and John Smothers]]
-'''John Smothers''' (April 4, 1930  - April 27, 2019) was a former police officer <ref>https://www.united-mutations.com/s/john_smothers.htm</ref> and FZ's bodyguard or 'personal minder' from 1972 to 1984. Zappa hired him after the [[The Rainbow Theatre Incident|1971 incident in the Rainbow Theatre in London]] when Zappa was pushed from stage, causing him to be hospitalized for several months.
+'''John Smothers''' (April 4, 1930  - April 27, 2019) was a former police officer <ref>https://www.united-mutations.com/s/john_smothers.htm</ref> and FZ's bodyguard or 'personal minder' from 1972 to 1984. He said that he used to be a bodyguard for [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Beatles]], [[Wikipedia:The Beach Boys|The Beach Boys]], Dean Martin, Sister Soul and The Temptations too. Smothers was an imposing and muscular figure who had a strange way of pronunciation and turning words and sentences into strange, unintentionally funny words and expressions, which amused Zappa. He appeared in ''[[Baby Snakes (The Film)|Baby Snakes]] (1979)''.
-Smothers was an imposing and muscular figure. He appeared in ''[[Baby Snakes (The Film)|Baby Snakes]] (1979)''.  He said that he used to be a bodyguard for [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Beatles]], [[Wikipedia:The Beach Boys|The Beach Boys]], Dean Martin, Sister Soul and The Temptations too.
+<blockquote>''"...he was the bodyguard. Very funny. We'd do a rehearsal and John would start dancing. He was like a big bear."'' - [[Allan Zavod interview by Avo Raup]]</blockquote> Smothers also had a reputation as a practical joker. <ref>[[Den Simms]], Eric Buxton and Rob Samler's interview ''[[They're Doing the Interview of the Century, Part 3]]'', September 1990)</ref>
-<blockquote>''"...he was the bodyguard. Very funny. We'd do a rehearsal and John would start dancing. He was like a big bear."'' - [[Allan Zavod interview by Avo Raup]]</blockquote>
+==Bodyguarding career with Zappa==
-Smothers' distinctive speech was referenced in the song ''[[Dong Work For Yuda]]'' from ''[[Joe's Garage Acts I, II & III|Joe's Garage]]'' (1979),  As is his wife, known as '''Freckles''',  who is also mentioned in the song ''[[Won Ton On]]''.
+Zappa hired Smothers after the [[The Rainbow Theatre Incident|1971 incident in the Rainbow Theatre in London]] when Zappa was pushed from stage, causing him to be hospitalized for several months.
-Smothers was amongst the names listed in the liner notes of ''[[The MOFO Project/Object (Fazedooh)|The MOFO Project/Object]]'' (2006) album.
+'''Den Simms''': ''How did your association with Smothers come about? Was he just somebody that you hired?''
-After he died, [[Arthur Barrow]] commented:
+'''Frank Zappa''': ''"[[Marty Perellis]] knows Smothers from Baltimore. Perellis is also from Baltimore. (...) I had three bodyguards before Smothers. (...) Then, along came Smothers. At first, at the beginning of the tour, he thought I was crazy. He tried to go home. He tried to get out of the job. But, he stayed with me for ten or eleven years."'' - [[Den Simms]], Eric Buxton and Rob Samler's interview ''[[They're Doing the Interview of the Century, Part 3]]'', September 1990.
 <blockquote>''"Good bye to bald-headed John. He was great. He referred to the new guys in the band as "Puppies" - a good call, really. When we got to a sound check for a show, he would first make Frank's coffee, then go outside to bust the illegal T-shirt guys, confiscate the shirts and distribute to the band. He had some kind of expandable police baton (sap?) that he would use to scare off anyone that looked threatening near the front of the stage. All he had to do was whip it out with a mean look, and that usually got the message across. I never saw him rough anyone up, but he probably would have if needed. He was basically good natured. I also recall him saying once when we in NY or London, "He's in a bad mood - [[Gail Zappa|Gail]] is coming to town."''</blockquote>
 [[Category:Supporting Cast|Smothers]]
 [[Category:Police Officers|Smothers]]

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 Smothers' distinctive speech was referenced in the song ''[[Dong Work For Yuda]]'' from ''[[Joe's Garage Acts I, II & III|Joe's Garage]]'' (1979),  As is his wife, known as '''Freckles''',  who is also mentioned in the song '[[Won Ton On]].
-Smothers was amongst the names listed in the liner notes of ''[[The MOFO Project/Object]]'' (2006) album.
+Smothers was amongst the names listed in the liner notes of ''[[The MOFO Project/Object (Fazedooh)|The MOFO Project/Object]]'' (2006) album.
 After he died [[Arthur Barrow]] commented:

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[image:Smothers.jpeg|right|thumb|300px| Frank Zappa and John Smothers]]
-'''John Smothers''' (April 4, 1930  - April 27, 2019) was FZ's bodyguard or 'personal minder' from 1972 to 1984. Zappa hired him after the [[71/12/10 London UK Rainbow Theatre|1971 incident in the Rainbow Theatre in London]] when a deranged man in the audience, [[Trevor Charles Howell]], pushed Zappa from stage, causing him to be hospitalized for several months.
+'''John Smothers''' (April 4, 1930  - April 27, 2019) was FZ's bodyguard or 'personal minder' from 1972 to 1984. Zappa hired him after the [[The Rainbow Theatre Incident|1971 incident in the Rainbow Theatre in London]] when Zappa was pushed from stage, causing him to be hospitalized for several months.
-Smothers was an imposing and muscular figure. He appeared as himself in ''[[Baby Snakes (The Film)|Baby Snakes]] (1979)'' and is also interviewed. He said that he used to be a bodyguard for [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Beatles]], [[Wikipedia:The Beach Boys|The Beach Boys]], Dean Martin, Sister Soul and The Temptations too.
+Smothers was an imposing and muscular figure. He appeared in ''[[Baby Snakes (The Film)|Baby Snakes]] (1979)''.  He said that he used to be a bodyguard for [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Beatles]], [[Wikipedia:The Beach Boys|The Beach Boys]], Dean Martin, Sister Soul and The Temptations too.
 <blockquote>"...he was the bodyguard. Very funny. We'd do a rehearsal and John would start dancing. He was like a big bear." - [[Allan Zavod interview by Avo Raup]]</blockquote>