Jesse Kaye

Jesse Kaye 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 also mentioned in "The Real Frank Zappa Book" (1989).

Old-time producer or recording engineer for MGM Records and Verve. Used to do lots of soundtrack albums. Worked, amongst others, on the soundtrack of "The Wizard of Oz" (1956). Worked with Shirley Bassey, Rosemary Clooney, Billy Eckstine, Connie Francis, Harry James (1959), Michel Legrand (1968), Sam the Sham, Lalo Schifrin, Hank Williams, ...

Tried to "palm" a ten-dollar bill to FZ during the recording of "Freak Out!" so burgers could be bought from the joint downstairs. FZ botched the hand-off, revealing Kaye for the genuine nice guy that he was, despite the hard-bitten, cigar-smoking exterior he portrayed. FZ said in "The Real Frank Zappa Book" it was a "stingy old guy"; he had to make sure nobody ran up any extra overtime costs by going beyond the 3 hours allotted for each session. FZ also stated, that if it were not for Kaye's kindness, the Freak Out! album might not have existed.

Could he be related to Carol Kaye, also name-checked on the cover of "Freak Out!" under the heading "Mothers' Auxiliary"? Probably not.