The Jimmy Carl Black Story

Last updated
The Jimmy Carl Black Story
The Jimmy Carl Black Story.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 28, 2008 (2008-10-28)
Genre Jazz
Length133:16
Label Zonic Entertainment
Producer Jon Larsen
Jon Larsen chronology
Strange News from Mars
(2007)
The Jimmy Carl Black Story
(2008)
A Portrait of Jon Larsen
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]

The Jimmy Carl Black Story is an album by Norwegian guitarist Jon Larsen. [2] [3]

Contents

Review

The first CD is a Part One: «The Surrealistic Space Odyssey», one hour of music inspired by the life of Jimmy Carl Black. The musical landscape is a groove based R&B, laidback spacerock, zappaish jazz-rock, and even with some taste of Django, on this recording. Here is also the 20 minutes adventure of Capt. Zurcon and his crew on board the Spaceship BigEar III, on their way to the red planet Mars, and their problems with the sexually frustrated Martian (the Guacamole Queen), the mutant fromage, and a lurking whale (depicted on the cover). [4]

The second CD is a Part Two: «The Rockumentary», with a 70 minutes documentary about Jimmy Carl Black, the “Indian of the group”. We learn about the start at the reservation, where Black grew up in Texas with his racist father, The Soul Giants, Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, mafia connections, and the many years of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, but we also learn the moving storie from a long, and unusual life in music. Jimmy Carl Black is a born storyteller, an intriguing and unique supplement to the told story of rock music, with a view of life in the “Mothers” from the inside. The stories of Black have a measured, folk wisdom quality to what he remembers. A must have in any Zappa & the Mothers of Invention collection. [2] [4]

Track listing

Part One – The Surrealistic Space Odyssey

  1. En Route (3:14)
  2. Hi Boys and Girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black (4:17)
  3. An Early Glimpse of Planet Ruth (6:43)
  4. Spaceship Bigear III (9:12)
  5. Turn It On, Elliot (4:06)
  6. A Helping Hand from Unca Mickey (3:23)
  7. Opal, You Hot Little Bitch (3:15)
  8. Jimmy Carl Black's Dachs Reduction (7:20)
  9. Mayday from Space (2:43)
  10. First Encounter in Space with a Real Martian (6:02)
  11. Oh No, She's Trying to Rip My Spacesuit Open (4:23)
  12. A Creature Is Lurking in the Shadow (4:18)
  13. Jimmy-as-a-Ghost (3:40)

Part Two – The Rockumentary

  1. My Name is Jimmy Carl Black (3:17)
  2. The Atomic Gadget on Anthony/That Happened in Our Little Town (1:36)
  3. No Trumpets in Rock 'n' Roll/The Keys (3:06)
  4. California in 1964/In Walked Roy Estrada/The Soul Giants (8:42)
  5. Then We Went to Hawaii/LSD (2:18)
  6. Back to LA/Frenchy's a Go–Go/The Original Suzy Creamcheese (3:58)
  7. San Francisco and Fillmore West/Freak Out Comes Out/Turn It On, Elliot! (3:31)
  8. New York City/Absolutely Free/Off-Off Broadway at the Garrick Theater (6:10)
  9. Europe 1967/Barbarella and Roger Vadim/Zappa Food Poisoned in Italy (4:15)
  10. He Didn't Like Hippies/Jammin' with Jimi Hendrix (1:45)
  11. Miami Pop Festival/Freak Out at The Cast Away Hotel/Arthur Brown (4:05)
  12. Captain Beefheart/Dealing with Herbie/Linda Ronstadt (1:10)
  13. Back to California 1968/The Mothers' Second European Tour/Royal Festival Hall (2:35)
  14. Janis Joplin/Grace Slick/Jefferson Airplane (1:22)
  15. Donuts in Austin 1973/New Mexico/Big Sunny and The Little Boys/Bandidos (1:40)
  16. Albuquerque/Clearly Classical/The Blob Shaped LP (9:18)
  17. Zappa Music Again/The Austin Grandmothers 1988/Settlement with Frank (3:12)
  18. Eugene Chadbourne/Germany/Dreams on Longplay (2:48)
  19. Meeting Moni/Not on Sunday, Not in Bavaria (2:05)
  20. The Grandmothers 1998/Eating The Astoria/Leukemia (3:45)

Personnel

Credits

Related Research Articles

<i>Were Only in It for the Money</i> 1968 studio album by the Mothers of Invention

We're Only in It for the Money is the third album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on March 4, 1968, by Verve Records. As with the band's first two efforts, it is a concept album, and satirizes left- and right-wing politics, particularly the hippie subculture, as well as the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, and Uncle Meat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monterey International Pop Festival</span> Three-day concert in California in 1967

The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Who and Ravi Shankar, the first large-scale public performance of Janis Joplin and the introduction of Otis Redding to a mass American audience.

<i>Absolutely Free</i> Album by The Mothers of Invention

Absolutely Free is the second album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on May 26, 1967, by Verve Records. Much like their 1966 debut Freak Out!, the album is a display of complex musical composition with political and social satire.

<i>Freak Out!</i> 1966 studio album by the Mothers of Invention

Freak Out! is the debut studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on June 27, 1966, by Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, it is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture and the nascent freak scene of Los Angeles. It was also one of the earliest double albums in rock music, as well as the first two-record debut album. In the UK, the album was originally released as an edited single disc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Carl Black</span> American drummer and vocalist (1938–2008)

James Inkanish, Jr., known professionally as Jimmy Carl Black, was an original member of the Mothers of Invention, providing drums and vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Kramer</span> British audio engineer and producer

Edwin H. Kramer is a South African-born recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Kinks, Kiss, John Mellencamp, and Carlos Santana, as well as records for other well-known artists in various genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Mothers of Invention</span> American rock band

The Mothers of Invention were an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows.

<i>Mothermania</i> 1969 compilation album by the Mothers of Invention

Mothermania (1969), subtitled The Best of the Mothers, is a compilation album by the Mothers of Invention. While the songs were previously released on Freak Out!, Absolutely Free and We're Only in It for the Money, it contains unique mixes or edits made specifically for this compilation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Preston</span> American jazz and rock keyboardist

Donald Ward Preston is an American jazz and rock keyboardist. He is best known for being a member of the original version of Frank Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention during the late 1960s. He continued to work with Zappa during the early 1970s following the band's spilt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Mars</span> American keyboard player

Tommy Mars is an American keyboard player known for his work with Frank Zappa.

"Third Stone from the Sun" is a mostly instrumental composition by American musician Jimi Hendrix. It incorporates several musical approaches, including jazz and psychedelic rock, with brief spoken passages. The title reflects Hendrix's interest in science fiction and is a reference to Earth in its position as the third planet away from the sun in the solar system.

Arthur Barrow is a multi-instrumental musician, best known for his stint as a bass guitar player for Frank Zappa in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Larsen</span> Norwegian musician, composer, and painter

Jon Larsen is a gypsy jazz guitarist, record producer, painter, and amateur scientific researcher. He is the founder of the group Hot Club de Norvège. In 2007 he received the Buddy Award for his lifelong contribution to jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Who Are the Brain Police?</span> 1966 single by The Mothers of Invention

"Who Are the Brain Police?" is a Frank Zappa song, performed by The Mothers of Invention, released on the Mothers' debut album, Freak Out!. It was released by Verve Records as a single in 1966. Zappa said the song had a religious theme, according to one source.

<i>The **** of the Mothers</i> The Mothers of Invention album

The **** of the Mothers is an out-of-print compilation album of early works by The Mothers of Invention, an American rock band. The album features a gatefold featuring some of the contemporary band members such as Ian Underwood, Art Tripp, and Motorhead Sherwood. This was the first of numerous repackaged "Best Of" LPs put out by MGM that were not authorized by Frank Zappa; Mothermania is the only one that Zappa worked on and approved.

<i>Down on Us</i> 1984 American film

Down on Us is a low budget 1984 movie about a US government plot to assassinate 1960s rock stars Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix, using an elite force of killers. It is sometimes known as Beyond the Doors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock and Roll Heaven</span> 1973 song co-written by Alan ODay

"Rock and Roll Heaven" is a song written by Alan O'Day and Johnny Stevenson, popularized by The Righteous Brothers. It is a paean to several deceased singers such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding, and has been rewritten a number of times to include other singers. The song was first recorded by the band Climax in 1973, but it failed to chart. It was then covered by The Righteous Brothers in 1974 and reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

<i>Strange News from Mars</i> 2007 studio album by Jon Larsen

Strange News from Mars is an album by Norwegian guitarist Jon Larsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Family Dog Denver</span> Former music venue in Denver, Colorado

The Family Dog Denver was a concert dance hall located at 1601 West Evans Avenue in Denver, Colorado. Opened from September 1967 to July 1968, it is regarded as a seminal music venue that launched Denver on its trajectory to its current status as a major concert destination by introducing never-before-seen acts like The Doors, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Buffalo Springfield, Janis Joplin, Chuck Berry, and many others. Many acts, like The Doors and Van Morrison, for example, had yet to become famous when they played The Dog, evidenced by the poster artists having to stylize the names of their leading songs into the poster art for the shows. The Family Dog is also seen as a cultural turning point in Denver from the conservative, western-minded sensibility of the early and mid-20th century to the current, liberal-minded climate. The venue's history, surrounding drama and ultimate impact had been largely unknown and unrealized until it was unearthed and detailed for the first time in the 2021 documentary The Tale of the Dog, produced and directed by Dan Obarski & Scott Montgomery and distributed by Cinedigm. As there are no useful photos, no video and little written history remaining of the Family Dog Denver, the film's oral history format told in first person by the people who were there serves as a definitive reference for “The Dog.”

References

  1. Dryden, Ken. "The Jimmy Carl Black Story". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Jon Larsen: The Jimmy Carl Black Story (Hot Club)". MWE3.com. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  3. "Jon Larsen (with Jimmy Carl Black) Jimmy-As-A-Ghost". Jazz.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-10. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  4. 1 2 "Jon Larsen: The Jimmy Carl Black Story". MusikkOnline.no. Retrieved 2012-12-01.