"We Keep Changing Personnel Though"
Mike Cole:
Would you like to describe the other members of your little, uh, uh, band?
FZ:
Well, we got a Mexican. We have a fat Irish, uh, fellow, who used to be a bartender and a carpenter. Plays tambourine, sings now. The Mexican, we call him "Cuñao," otherwise, that's translated loosely as "brother-in-law." Cuñao plays the bass. He's marvelous.
Ah, let's see. Oh, and— We keep changing personnel though. You gotta understand that our band is constantly in flux, because most of 'em can't stand to play in the band. They really hate what they're doing. They hate to work for me and they don't like their manager at all. So we keep firing people all the time—we fired a couple of guys last week. And we keep putting new ones in.
And so constantly the band keeps changing sounds, 'cause we never know—excuse me, I'm about to burp and I'm trying not to do it on the radio—band keeps changing sounds and we never really know what we're gonna sound like, 'cause we don't know what kind of instruments are gonna be playing. You see? That's why we had two drummers, in case one of 'em quits.
Mike Cole:
Hah hah.
FZ:
You know, it really keeps you safe.
But of course, the real reason is because one plays the regular drumset and the other one plays the timpani. He used to be— Billy, the guy who plays the timpani—this is in all seriousness, folks, and, Mike, this would— Hey, this should really interest you, because I know you're aesthetically oriented—that he used to play timpani for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra! And that was— I don't know, uh, probably— I don't know whether it was under the baton of Zubin Mehta at that time or whoever it was but, Billy used to play the timpani down there. And we're really happy to have him with us. He also used to play drums for Skip Battin & The Batmen, ah hah hah hah! Oh, wonderful, but we won't go into that.
Mike Cole:
[...]
FZ:
What d'you wanna know? My— Oh, that's not the rest of the guys in the band. Who else we have? We have a Cherokee Indian who plays the other drums. And then we have this guy who appeared on the first night of our engagement wearing, uh, a beaded version of a doctor's hat, you know, with the reflector around his head, and some, uh, luminous rags soaked in kerosene, which we ignited during the middle of the second set. Hah. He didn't appear tonight.
Mike Cole:
Hah hah. Wonderful.
FZ:
That was the first teen-age immolation, right there on the stage of the Whisky à Go-Go. Then we got in a lot of trouble with the fire marshal over that. But it's one of the most unusual things in this business. Most bands get busted for possession, and here we are getting busted for burning our piano player.
Mike Cole:
Hah hah.
FZ:
But listen, when that hits Variety, perhaps then we'll be stars. Who knows? We're trying real hard! But— But it takes more than just trying hard to be a star. It takes a lot of phone calls and getting up early in the morning. And lot of greasing. Lot of interviews, a lot of lies. A lot of, you know, nonsense, that's what it is. It's baloney. It's really baloney, Mike. That's true.
Mike Cole:
Ah. What about the— It looks like a new member that's in your band had a suit on and I— It, it seems kind of a shock to see a, a member of The Mothers with a suit on.
FZ:
Well, Mike—pardon me, Mike.
Mike Cole:
All right.
FZ:
Folks out there might think I'm drinking something really terrible, but it's milk! With ice cream in it! It's not bad at all.
Ah, the man with the suit—his name is Del Kacher—oops, I shouldn't have said that! Oh, golly, he'll really be upset. No. He wants everybody to know that he's playing with the band. But he's an excellent guitarist, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. He has so much technique it would just stun your mind. He sounds like Les Paul and Mary Ford together. Minus the tape recorder. He's really a monster. But unfortunately his taste in clothes is disgusting.
Mike Cole:
Hah hah.
Recordings on which this song has appeared
Note
- From an interview on Santa Barbara radio, September 1966
