Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood

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Jim Motorhead Sherwood performing in 1968 during a BBC recording with Zappa and the Mothers.

(Euclid James) Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood, a.k.a. Larry Fanoga (Arkansas City, KS, May 8, 1942 - December 25, 2011) was an American singer, saxofonist, dancer and tambourine player. He was a member of The Mothers during the late 1960s.

Biography

Sherwood met Frank Zappa in high school in 1956. As he explained himself: "Frank used to sit out on the front lawn at the high school...when I was a Freshman and he was [a] Sophomore...and play guitar most of the time. I found out later on that Bobby Zappa was in one of my classes. Bobby found out that I collected Blues records and he introduced me to Frank."

Sherwood joined The Blackouts. He stayed with Zappa in Studio Z for about six months, before joining The Mothers, first as a roadie for the Garrick Theater, eventually as a musician. Sherwood provided soprano & baritone sax, tambourine, 'snorks', and/or vocals for Freak Out!, We're Only In It For The Money, Lumpy Gravy, Cruising With Ruben & The Jets, Uncle Meat, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, You Are What You Is, Thing-Fish, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 4, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5, Ahead Of Their Time, Civilization Phaze III, Läther, and Mystery Disc (playing guitar). He can also be heard on the Beat The Boots series disks The Ark, 'Tis The Season To Be Jelly, Electric Aunt Jemima, and Our Man In Nirvana.

His performances can be seen in the Zappa movies 200 Motels, Uncle Meat, The Amazing Mr. Bickford, Video From Hell and The True Story Of 200 Motels.

Quote

"Motorhead Sherwood was the hit of the evening - he did this weird dance called 'The Bug', where he pretended that some creature was tickling the fuck out of him, and he rolled around on the floor, trying to pull it off. When he 'got it off', he threw it at girls in the audience, hoping that they would flop around on the floor too. A few of them did." - Frank Zappa, about a performance by The Blackouts in the 1950s, quoted in The Real Frank Zappa Book.

See also