Jimmy Carl Black

Jimmy Carl Black was an unusual figure in American rock music, as he achieved lasting fame primarily for a single ad-libbed line on the third album by the Mothers of Invention: "Hi boys and girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black and I'm the Indian of the group." Of course, there was more to it than just this line, as bandleader Frank Zappa exploited the eccentric character of this Cheyenne Indian musician, realizing that his personality would be fascinating to certain listeners and quite a departure from the usual rock stars of that day. Black also had roots as a Texan, hailing from a town on the border of that state and New Mexico. This birthplace was almost a symbolic indicator of how Black would straddle different musical geographies. Although famous for his avant-garde work with Zappa, he was really more of a roots musician and worked extensively in blues, Tex-Mex, and country-rock. He came from a generation of musicians for whom working in a rock & roll band meant playing for strippers, four or five sets per night with more than one version of "Wooly Bully." All this would change in 1964 when his band, the Soul Giants, auditioned a young man named Frank Zappa for lead guitarist. Zappa could smell change in the wind big time and eventually suggested the band quit doing covers and let him write some songs specifically for them. The idea was to create an image of the band as the ultimate set of freaks, to cash in on the peace-and-love hippie era while simultaneously making fun of it, and everything else that came to mind. Zappa also envisioned himself as an avant-garde composer creating works along the lines of Edgar Varese. It was all a tall order, but with the band's name changed to the Mothers of Invention and the 1965 release of the first double album in rock history,...