Jimmy Carl Black was always one of my favorite MOI bandmembers. Wish there were more of the Alumni doing these interviews. Would be great to heard Ian Underwood's stories.

~ Bunk Gardner looks younger now than he did in 1967.

Happy Mother's Day 2021

It started smelling pretty fucking rank man!

Whatever and however it went down, Jimmy Carl Black's comments were very gracious, and obviously reflected his love for Frank. We miss them both!

Hi I’m jimmy Carl Black and I’m the Indian of the group

Ya gotta remember, Frank was the composer, this was his thing, and the musician's are part of his tool box. It was the same thing with Ellington.

Jimmy Carl Black = Awesome band member, man

Zappa was and will be the Master in what he did. It is a pity that he is not among us.

I saw the Giraffe at the Fillmore east, and it was everything JCB said it was. I had heard about it, and all of a sudden they brought it out. Amazing...

I remember seeing frank zappa in concert with the chambers brothers on the same bill. What a show

Thanks!

Zappa's best Mothers, whatever he later said. You don't miss yr water till yr well runs dry.

Bunk looks younger here than he did in the 60's , how is that possible ?

"Not quite my tempo" - Frank Zappa

These pieces to camera are excellent. I'd like to buy the doc film.

Jimmie is a gem. They were all good. Frank outgrew them, maybe not all of them, but look what he accomplished. None of the rest can say the same and despite how great they were, FZ would not have been able to do what he did without change and he had a lot of it. We might not have Belew, Vai, Adrian, Bozzio, and many others if not for him. He was the brilliance and they all know it.

Even though it's now 2019 & this video is from 2012,the guys in the group still look great! Special shout out to Jimmy Carl Black,Indian of the group!!!

I can not listen to Jimmy Carl Black talk about Zappa without starting to laugh. :D

I recognized Jimmy Carl Black but why are the musicians not identified? Poorly done video.

Lonesome cowboy burt is quite possibly my favorite Zappa song.

Loved a lot of Zappa, but you could tell he'd be a Royal "Know it All" Pain in the Ass to work for !!!!

Jimmy rules

mothermania!

Frank Zappa Rules

Love JCB

JCB = What a party!

I thought the thumbnail image was Carol Kaye.

I'd like to know why John Leon Guarnera chose the name Bunk Gardner

Hi,I'm Jimmy Carl Black,and I'm the Indian of the group.

Saw Jimmy Black a few years ago in concert. Was good. After a few drinks me and a couple of folks started givin him a thumbs up. He shit himself. Wouldnt come out to "sign stuff". All those gigs at the Fillmore and he got freekt at a thumbs up! Still. Love JCB.

Actually, Jimmy Carl Black's last comment is not totally true. When Frank wanted the Mothers to appear in his film, Uncle Meat, which began filming on March 30 1970, he called them together to explain, but when they were told they would not be paid for their week's work, Jim, Bunk Gardner, Roy Estrada and Art Tripp stormed out. Similarly, when Frank needed the Mothers again to play at the Pauley Pavilion, they again refused to appear. They were still smarting over the sudden and cruel break-up of the Mothers, not mentioned in this segment of the film.

i'll have a hard time to be with frank zappa and his band musically.yeah sure i don't do booze and dope his one of his policies,check however to jam with him i don't know if i could make it or not.always will admire zappa and his music.

What is the source for The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet at the very beginning??

OK I might buy it, but is the whole thing without legends to tell who is speaking? I don’t recognize some of these guys. Ian? Bunk? Buzz? My thought is what would Frank have done with social media.

I'm as big a Zappa fan as any, my username can attest to that. However, one aspect of Frank's handling of the band seemed really shitty. Zappa joined The Soul Giants after a falling out with their original guitarist. From there, he took control of the band, insisting they play original music. He was a great musician and songwriter (for the niche scene they had) and without him nobody would've ever heard of The Soul Giants. He then changed the band name to The Mothers of Invention and started rolling with recording, touring, etc. etc. He put the band, and himself, on the map. All good. Zappa was the main attraction in the band and the band knew it. It was OK because the band was moving forward - although not becoming wildly successful as The Turtles... - but they were making records, making a name for themselves and making a living. In 1969, Zappa decided he wanted to do other projects not including The Mothers of Invention. There is audio of a conversation between he and JCB (included in the Meat Light boxed set) suggesting The Mothers going out on tour without Frank to continue earning a living. Frank said the audiences would show up because the band was great and had a name. Jimmy insisted that he was the main draw, and I agree with him. Anyway, the shitty deal was that Zappa joined an existing band, took it over and then disbanded them just about five years later. I saw The Grandmothers in a club performance a good while back. When the show was over, I spoke with Bunk Gardner. I asked if he missed Frank. Bunk was cordial. He said there were some things he did miss about Frank, but many reasons not to. He was very diplomatic in not wanting to completely shatter the image of my (or any real Zappa fan's) hero, so he kept it polite. I could sense the reason that any of the original Mothers would be angry with Zappa. It really never donned on me until then. It also made me ponder that, as much as the members of The Grandmothers may have held a grudge against Zappa, they also knew that they could really only draw enough audience to mount a tour by playing HIS music. And they played it well, by the way. Roy Estrada was part of the line-up and I got him to sing a tiny little bit of Oh, In The Sky. I try to show my real fandom by bringing arcane stuff up. Who the fuck cares about Dancin' Fool? Although that was long after the Mothers, you know what I mean... Billy Mundi was the drummer. I honestly thought his drumming was very rudimentary. Nothing special about it, but to have an authentic Mother up there was worth seeing. Rest in Peace, Jimmy Carl Black, Ray Collins, George Duke, Frank, any others who have passed, and thank you to everybody who was ever in The Mothers. You all changed the music world.

@7:11 are you shure that it wasn't a Telefunken U47 ? ? :)

Zappa era especial desde el principio, cuando "the mothers..." no estuvo a la altura de su talento, y creatividad, debió quedar en el camino, lamento el resentimiento de alguno de ellos.

They were actually there, so they would know better it's just that, I never remember Frank ripping anyone by name. If he got any dig in it was anonymous and if he named someone it was in humor but, maybe that's just the nature of things when you have that powerful a presence at the top and the others don't want it to end.

I recognized Jimmy Carl Black ...but can someone tell me who the other two members were

That doesn't surprise me about Frank at all, I had him down as a exceptionally good guitar player who would tackle notes that even the best will get wrong, guitarist make mistakes all the time,they hide it well live, I miss Frank Zappa I'd love to know what he thinks of his country and leader now 😳

I recognize Jimmy, but WHO are the other guys?? Is one of them Ian underwood?

Frank obviously kept the $$, and Jimmy Carl Black ended up working in a donut shop

I’d be nice if I knew who each person speaking was.

I myself have to make sure its correct a couple of artists whom worked in my stidio left about 7 aga people left because perfection youlll be surprised drives people up walls why work alone lol

I heard FZ name before but never knew him. Never heard his music and only recently interest took hold after finding PMRC testimony. so he is all new info for me. I heard the name of Moon Unit and at 1 point forgot the middle name. Oh well. I understand his feelings of his name and how it's regarded in the community. I decided to not naming my kids with common names and I used to have one. I didn't want my kids going through what I did as a result so we have different experience as a result of people not listening well or not spelling well or computers not programed well to understand human speech. Most have not figured out what my new name even means yet. Most, not all. So I can still have to explain 2 of my daughters names. It's simple... when they are born just list them as baby boy or baby girl and change it later. The hospital clerk freaked out and erased my kids names on the paper they sent to the State office.

Names of these guys?

I wonder if Jimmy Carl Black is the Indian of the group

Zappa proves that musical mistakes can work

Too bad the producer of this vid did not put names up under each musician featured

He says the band never made a mistake because they were so well rehearsed and Frank made ALL the mistakes….? Yeah right. Very objective dispassionate recollection. Yeah there are live recordings of the period that say different. It was hard music to play so mistakes were made….

Who is the man in the maroon shirt, trim white beard?

No mention of FZ paying them a salary whether the Mothers made a profit or not. In 1971 Frank was pushed off the stage by a fan and breaking his leg and back. He couldn't afford to pay the guys, that's the main reason the band broke up. Ray Collins however quit before this. JCB spent most of his life playing the old Zappa tunes. Motorhead was much the same. Their lives froze ca 1972-3. Don Preston seems to be the only one with any real originality. And even he still plays the old Zappa stuff. FZ by contrast was consistently and insistently original. BTW Roy Estrada is in prison, again, for child sex offences.

Lonesome Cowboy Burt...

Music should be full of soulmate twin flame not so toxci negative just the purpose of creating different sounds different beats different temples different music different types it just doesn't make sense of toxic angry and negative support

the real truth revealed...

Amazing how uninformed some of these comments are. The genius who makes reference to Zappa being pushed off the stage in London in ‘71 should have known that the only holdover Mothers from the late’60s group by then were Don Preston and Ian Underwood. And if you want to spout off then check your spelling (other comments). Frank would expect you all to do so.

Why Why did he pose for PR as every Character under The Sun? Including freaking Fonzie ??? Why ??? Love his Music since 1969. Thanks WWW I see Frank as Ballerina......WTF!

Hey, at least he never beat folk up...only possessed their creative minds.

Piggy from Florida?

Look, any band needs a megalomaniac leader to do great things. FZ, George Clinton, Jon Anderson. They pushed their musicians to the breaking point, getting things out of them that they didn’t even know they had. No control freak at the helm, then enjoy being mediocre.

Jimmy Carl Black after Frank died was BITTER for years.... Jimmy Carl Black died in 2008... These interviews are probably close to when Jimmy and Motorhead passed away and even Ray Collins passed away... Frank died too long ago which wow did that suck in 1993 I'm still not over it 30 years later ... Ian Bunk Art Don Roy is in prison there's those members like Elliott Ingber like who gives a shit ...

It was ALWAYS Frank’s band from the very beginning. What’s this about Frank wanting to control the band. Could be a perceived betrayal of the hippie, communal idea, which it never was

At 1:29 "(Frank's) the ONLY ONE who made any misteaks" 🤡

“We in the band never made any mistakes and Frank made all the mistakes”. Really......? Doubt it. Sounds like a biased comment with bitter intent. The truth was probably mixed as it usually is. Bitterness at his perfectionism (fair) and maybe that they missed out on the later gravy train. Be honest

Great Interviews. See kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r8-CZKdm3smYZ4k.html for the Grandmothers Farewell Tour, Manchester, 2018. These guys are rock legends. DON PRESTON - with the Mothers of Invention, 1966- 1974 (piano, keyboard synthesizers) BUNK GARDNER - with the Mothers of Invention, 1966-1969 (tenor sax, soprano sax, flute) ED MANN - with FRANK ZAPPA, 1978 to 1988 ( mallet percussion), played on 30+ Zappa albums) This gig was 3 dates in to a 21 date/11 country European Farewell tour. Don and Bunk were both 85 years old, so that is one hell of an itinerary!. Ed Mann was a junior at 64. Amazing! I have met Jimmy a few times at gigs with the Muffinmen, including possibly his last gig at Leeds, He always said that Frank promised to make him rich and famous but he only ended up being famous. A great guy, I also met him in the chippy before a Stockport gig, well you have to eat!! Ruben

Mistakes? There's no life without mistakes. I wouldn't work in a group that wasn't congenial. We "play" music; it's not brain surgery. These guys talk about a side of Zappa that I don't like at all.

Sigh

those who've had their careers handed to them and maintained for them are intolerant of the pros they're lucky enough to have working for them. kinda makes you sick. glad its getting told tho most of these posthumous intervs are redundant puff pieces.

Bitch, bitch, bitch. Yes, I can understand if it's not fun getting shit for playing bum notes. And I can understand the anger when you're not allowed to make mistakes and the boss is. But that's just it: he was the boss. He wrote the music and paid The Mothers to perform it, so he had every right to expect the quality of performance that he was paying for. If I was the boss, I'd fire anyone who didn't do their job properly, wouldn't you? Friendship needs to take a sidestep sometimes when you have a business to run.

hello from Massachusetts/taxachusetts- I'm Elizabeth Warren- and I'm the real Indian of the group- very high cheek-bones 1/1028 - you do the math- I am too busy forgiving student loans- ($70,000$ per year to study Philosophy etc) Frank Z. would agree- You's get what you deserve in life!

shameful way frank treated them kinda like the way captain treated his band, greed turns you an asshole

His music got less interesting as time went on !

Frank said he didnt want to be remembered after he was gone....I think he will get his way.....I've forgotten him already!

As with all bands - when Zappa fired the original musicians the music went downhill. I have never forgiven Zappa for his obnoxious ego. Apostrophe and those that followed were idiotic records for children.