Don Preston

Donald Ward Preston, born 9/21/1932 in Flint, MI, into a family of musicians, studied music from an early age. At age 12, Don was thrown out of school for hypnotising several students and a nun (he was learning magic at the time). Preston: "The nuns used to beat my hands with a big ruler when I made mistakes playing the piano. Because of this weird treatment, I began to like strange and dissonant music." For his stint in the Army in Trieste, Italy, Don shared a room with Buzz Gardner. Preston played bass and keyboards in a number of jazz bands, before joining The Mothers in 1966.

As an off and on member of several Mothers line-ups, Don Preston provided piano, keyboards, synthesizer, and/or vocal for Absolutely Free, We're Only In It For The Money, Cruising With Ruben & The Jets, Uncle Meat, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Fillmore East, June 1971 Just Another Band From L.A., Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo, Roxy & Elsewhere, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 4, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6, Playground Psychotics, Ahead Of Their Time, The Lost Episodes , Mystery Disc, and Quaudiophiliac; also for the Beat The Boots series disks The Ark (BTB), Unmitigated Audacity (BTB), 'Tis The Season To Be Jelly (BTB), Electric Aunt Jemima (BTB), Swiss Cheese/Fire! (BTB), & Our Man In Nirvana (BTB). Don can be seen in the Zappa movies 200 Motels (The Film), Uncle Meat (The Film), Video From Hell and The True Story Of 200 Motels.

Don is a bandmember of The Grandmothers.