The Mothers

The name of several different Zappa bands (and even more permutations of those different bands), loosely defined by the 3 syntactual derivations below. The name reportedly means "motherfucker" as applied to a musician's slang term for any musician who could really play well; i.e. "That cat's a motherfucker!".

The Muthers

A pick-up band that FZ employed to play bar gigs in the SoCal desert.

The Mothers

Once the Soul Giants started playing FZ's compositions, they needed a more appropriate name. The Blackouts was used, as was Captain Glasspack & The Magic Mufflers. They eventually settled (on May, 10, "Mothers Day" 1964, legend has it) on The Mothers. There were some personnel changes before they recorded their first album:

1) The Soul Giants/Mothers = Jimmy Carl Black: drums / Ray Collins: vocals / Roy Estrada: bass / Frank Zappa: guitar.

2) Add Alice Stuart: guitar, vocals to the above.

3) Replace Stuart with Henry Vestine: guitar.

4) Replace Vestine with Steve Mann: guitar / Collins with Jim Guercio: guitar, vocals.

5) Replace Guercio with Collins / Mann with Elliott Ingber: guitar.

6) Add Denny Bruce: drums.

7) Subtract Bruce.

On March 1, 1966 The Mothers signed a two-year, five-album record deal with verve/mgm. mgm had the band change their name to the mothers of invention and they started recording their first album.

The Mothers Of Invention

The Mothers OF Invention (#1) that recorded Freak Out! = Jimmy Carl Black: drums / Ray Collins: vocals / Roy Estrada: bass / [[Elliot Ingber: guitar / [[Frank Zappa: guitar /

2) Add Billy Mundi: drums.

3) Replace Ingber with Jim Fielder: guitar / add Don Preston: keyboards and Bunk Gardner: horns. This band began recording Absolutely Free.

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