Billy Mundi
Drummer Billy Mundi, born Antonio Salas, September 25th, 1942 in San Francisco, died on March 29th, 2014.
Mundi joined The Mothers 26 August 1966, during the recording of Freak Out!, and can be heard on:
- Absolutely Free
- We're Only In It For The Money
- Uncle Meat
- Burnt Weeny Sandwich
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5
- Mystery Disc
- 'Tis The Season To Be Jelly.
He can be seen in the Zappa movies Uncle Meat and Video From Hell.
Mundi left after the release of We're Only In It For The Money (to be replaced by Art Tripp) and joined Rhinoceros.
"He [Jac Holzman from Elektra Records] offered Billy Mundi a huge amount of money, a place to live, the whole package—we'll make you a star, you'll work with these top-grade musicians instead of those comedy guys, we'll make a supergroup and call it Rhinoceros. And where the fuck is Rhinoceros now? But I don't blame Billy for taking the job, because at that time we were so poor he was living in the Albert Hotel and he couldn't get enough to eat—he used to come in and tell us how he'd quell his appetite by drinking the hot water in the shower in the Albert Hotel, which could be a life endangering experience. When somebody comes up to you and says, you're going to get something to eat, and not only that, you'll be in a super-group called Rhinoceros, I couldn't even advise him to stick around."/blockquote>
— Frank Zappa, December 1989.
