The Frank Zappa Review
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Hi guys, I got in contact with Jimmy by e-mail and he is a very nice
guy! Being my inquisitive self I asked him some questions
about him and Frank Zappa and he gave me an online interview. Here
is what our man Jimmy had to say, by the way watch
out for The Grandmothers they are touring Europe in June!
I hope you like this little informal interview.
Jimmy Carl Black in philosophical pose.
He was the original drummer in The Mothers
Of Invention, you know when Zappa made all
his best albums!
Key For Interview
DR = Daniel Rose (Me!)
JCB = Jimmy Carl Black
DR : Hey Jimmy, so when were you born eh?
JCB: February 1st 1938, so i'm 62 years old.
DR: Where were you born?
JCB: I was born in El Paso, Texas.
DR: Okay Jimmy which was Frank Zappa's best band?
JCB: The original Mothers Of Invention which was the only real
band he ever had. The rest of the line ups he had were
hired musicians.
DR: So what I really want to know is did Frank Zappa take drugs?
JCB: No. He drank a lot of coffee and smoked a lot of cigarettes which are legal drugs.
DR: Which is your favourite Frank Zappa album?
JCB: My favourite album was Cruisin With Ruben And The Jets. I liked the way Ray Collins sang that doowop music.
DR: So do I he has a great voice. What was your greatest memory from your time with The Mothers?
JCB: That would be hard to say since there were so many great times with those guys through the years.
DR: What was was your worst memory of being with The Mothers?
JCB: When Frank told us that he was going to disband the band with no notice at all. That is real cold, don't you think.
DR: What was Frank Zappa like as a person? Was he funny?
JCB: Hell he was just a guy as far as I concerned. He was
very demanding as far as the music was concerned. He wasn't
an extremely freindly guy. He was always too serious, like a man on
a mission and I guess he was.
DR: Did you spend much time with Frank when you weren't working?
JCB: I didn't hang out with him between shows and neither did
the rest of the band. We very seldom got invited to his house
which didn't bother me much since I wanted to hang with my family when
I wasn't on the road.
DR: Was Frank Zappa dictatorial and totally uncompromising?
JCB: He wanted things exactly how he wanted them to be. Now I
don't know if that is dictatorial or not. You can draw your
own conclusions on that.
DR: So Jimmy tell me about your plans for the this year?
JCB: The Grandmothers Tour starts on the 2nd June and ends on
26th June in Germany.We start the tour of the USA on 7th
August and end on the 14th October. It is a 60 city tour promoting
our new CD Eating The Astoria which was recorded live
at The Astoria Theatre in London in March 1998. There were a
lot of overdubs done so it is more or less a studio CD.
DR: Do you play any old stuff from The Mothers Of Invention?
JCB: Yes we play a lot of old favourites from The original Mothers Of Invention records like Brown Shoes, Call Any Vegetable, Hungry Freaks, Big Leh Emma and more plus a lot of our original songs as well from our new CD.
DR: Okay where can fans of yours go to find out more about you and your future projects?
JCB: My website is www.jimmycarlblack.com and I do have a little online record shop going. For more info please write me and I will respond okay. Thanks for being fans and music lovers. It is the best drug yet MUSIC!
DR: Thanks Jimmy that was fun.
JCB: I'll talk to you later.
And that folks concludes my brief but very interesting interview
with ex-Mother Of Invention Jimmy Carl Black.
I hope you enjoyed it, good night and i'll see you soon.