The Mothers were the greatest rock band of all times

It really needed to be said

 

Now, here's a band that never made it onto the Ed Sullivan Show.

 

...but can't you picture them doing their only Verve single "Big Leg Emma/Why Don't You Do Me Right?".

"That Topo Gigio is one crazy mouse. And now - for the kids, here are the Mothers of Invention doing Big Leg Emma".

 

this thread delivers

 

I still can't believe Emma was the A side !

 

Hippy dreck.

 

Trolls were the greatest thread starters of all times.

 

Really! "Why Can't You Do Me Right" had far greater Hit Potential.

 

Were , but who is now ?

 

Fillmore East June 1971

doesn't get any better than that.

 

Maybe they was, maybe they wasn't but the 1988 Zappa touring band is certainly the 'Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life'.

 

Genius

 

I don't think so, Tim.

 

The Mothers may not have made it onto Ed Sullivan (a pity, really), but Frank did get to "perform" on The Steve Allen Show.

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql_3LS_B4q0&feature=related
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho37arU5-2g&feature=related
Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vip0H-I8pTg&feature=related

 

The Mothers were like Blakey's Messengers, and Mayall's Bluesbreakers - breeding ground for great musicians.

 

Bollocks. Everybody knows that Lothar and The Hand People are the greatest rock band of all time.

 

Better than the Band? Yes.

 

The Mothers (any incarnation) were too progressive to be called a rock group. And they were probably too prog too to be labelled a blues group at any times, though blues music had always been a huge influence on Frank Zappa. And classical... and... and...

Like I'd gladly proclaim that Gentle Giant was the greatest rock group of all times, but that can't really be so.

 

I don't think greatest band applies, but I will nominate them for most VERSATILE band. Frank wrote in multiple genres and styles, and threw jazz timings that would threaten Brubeck into the mix. Perhaps the greatest off beat band of all time.

 

Can't think of any household names who came out of the early Mothers of Invention.....BUT...

Hey...

Henry Vestine, guitarist, later joined Canned Heat !! Only pic I could find of Henry with The Mothers. Henry is in the center, Frank just above him on the left.

c. 1965





The latter Zappa bands sure had their share of household names though....

 

You & your hot-button issues

 

To paraphrase George Duke, Zappa was a genre unto himself.

The Mothers were an incredible band. Much better than any "rock" band had any right to be.

 

Well, the Mothers certainly had chops...

 

. . . and they were ugly as hell (I mean this with affection).