Ray Collins (musician)
Ray Collins | |
---|---|
Born | (1936-11-19)November 19, 1936 Pomona, California, United States |
Died | December 24, 2012(2012-12-24) (aged 76) Claremont, California, United States |
Genres | Rock, rock and roll, doo-wop, experimental rock |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, harmonica, tambourine |
Years active | 1957-2012 |
Formerly of | Frank Zappa, Mothers of Invention |
Ray Collins (November 19, 1936 – December 24, 2012) was an American musician. He is best known for being an original member of the Mothers of Invention.
Early life
Collins grew up in Pomona, California singing in his school choir, the son of a local police officer. He quit high school to get married.[1]
Career
Collins started his musical career singing falsetto backup vocals for various doo-wop groups in the Los Angeles area in the late 1950s and early 1960s,[1] including Little Julian Herrera and the Tigers.[citation needed] In 1963 Collins co-wrote "Memories of El Monte" with Frank Zappa. In 1964, Collins, drummer Jimmy Carl Black, bassist Roy Estrada, saxophonist Dave Coronado, and guitarist Ray Hunt formed The Soul Giants.[citation needed]
Hunt was eventually replaced by Zappa, and the group evolved into the Mothers of Invention.[1] Ray was the lead vocalist on most songs for their early albums, including Freak Out!, Absolutely Free, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets and Uncle Meat. He additionally provided harmonica on Freak Out!. In 1968 Ray quit The Mothers of Invention because of tension in the group, and was replaced by Lowell George, but continued to contribute to other Zappa projects through the mid-1970s.[1] After quitting the group and leaving behind his music career, Collins worked as a taxi driver for a few years. Collins appeared in a few of Zappa's albums released after Zappa's death.
Ray Collins description in Freak Out liner notes (1966)
Moved into my recording studio, joined forces with Ray, Jim and Roy, schemed and plotted for a year, working in beer joints, blah, blah, starved a lot, etc... played a lot of freaky music & stayed vastly unpopular (though notorious). OWE OUR EXISTENCE to Mark Cheka for his initial encouragement and sterling example (and to a whole bunch of other people who are going to be bugged because their names aren't listed in detail, with addresses and pertinent facts about what they like about the government & their other fetishes). Ray used to be a carpenter and a bartender and sing with Little Julian Herrera & The Tigers (note the falsetto part in 'I REMEMBER LINDA')... been singing R&B for ten to twelve years. Jim got fired from some idiot band in Kansas, forcing him to move to California. Lucky for us. Seems he just couldn't get turned on playing " Louie, Louie" all night... it must have hurt him deeply when they rejected him. Roy is an asthmatic Pachuco, good-natured excellent bass player, involved in the R&B scene here for about ten years. He is unbelievably tolerant. I don't understand it. Elliot digs the blues. He has a big dimple in his chin. We made him grow beard to cover it up. He just got out of the Army. Lucky for the Army. THEY ARE ALL MUSICIANS.
Personal life
Collins got married in 1953, Collins had a daughter who died in a plane crash at a young age.
Death
Collins resided in Claremont, California ending up living in a van in someone's back yard in Claremont, until he died of a heart attack on December 24, 2012, aged 76.[2][failed verification]
Discography
With Little Julian Herrera And The Tigers
- "I Remember Linda" / "True Fine Mama" (1957, 7", Starla Records, USA) - feat. Ray Collins on high falsetto backing
With Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
- Freak Out! (1966)
- Absolutely Free (1967)
- Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1968)
- Uncle Meat (1969)
- Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1970)
- Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970)
- Apostrophe (')
- 'Tis The Season To Be Jelly
- You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5
- The Lost Episodes
- Mystery Disc
- Joe's Corsage
References
- ^ a b c d Allen, David (May 30, 2009). "Please greet Ray Collins, Claremont's own Mother". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
- ^ Morris, Christopher, "Rocker Ray Collins dies at 73", Variety, December 25, 2012.
External links
- Ray Collins at IMDb
- v
- t
- e
- Frank Zappa
- Roy Estrada
- Jimmy Carl Black
- Ray Collins
- Steve Mann
- Alice Stuart
- Henry Vestine
- Jim Guercio
- Elliot Ingber
- Del Casher
- Denny Bruce
- Billy Mundi
- Bunk Gardner
- Van Dyke Parks
- Don Preston
- Jim Fielder
- Ian Underwood
- Sandy Hurvitz
- Jim Sherwood
- Art Tripp
- Lowell George
- Buzz Gardner
- Captain Beefheart
- Don "Sugarcane" Harris
- Aynsley Dunbar
- Mark Volman
- Howard Kaylan
- Jeff Simmons
- George Duke
- Martin Lickert
- Jim Pons
- Bob Harris
- Nigey Lennon
- Jim Gordon
- Earle Dumler
- Tony Duran
- Glenn Ferris
- Bruce Fowler
- Jerry Kessler
- Tom Malone
- Sal Marquez
- Joanne McNab
- Malcolm McNab
- Jay Migliori
- Charles Owens
- Dave Parlato
- Tom Rainey
- Ray Reed
- Ken Shroyer
- Ruth Underwood
- Gary Barone
- Ralph Humphrey
- Tom Fowler
- Jean-Luc Ponty
- Kin Vassy
- Ricky Lancelotti
- Napoleon Murphy Brock
- Chester Thompson
- Walt Fowler
- James Youmans
- Terry Bozzio
- Denny Walley
- Novi Novog
- André Lewis
- Norma Jean Bell
- Eddie Jobson
- Patrick O'Hearn
- Ray White
- Lady Bianca
- Ronnie Cuber
- Lou Marini
- Michael Brecker
- Randy Brecker
- Dave Samuels
- Adrian Belew
- Ed Mann
- Tommy Mars
- Peter Wolf
- Vinnie Colaiuta
- Arthur Barrow
- Ike Willis
- Warren Cuccurullo
- L. Shankar
- Dale Bozzio
- David Logeman
- Bob Harris (different person)
- Steve Vai
- Chad Wackerman
- Robert Martin
- Scott Thunes
- Allan Zavod
- Paul Carman
- Mike Keneally
- Kurt McGettrick
- Albert Wing
(1966–1993)
official releases
- Lumpy Gravy (Primordial)
- The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa
- Beat the Boots!
- Beat the Boots! II
Compilations |
---|
Birthday Bundle series |
---|
- "Trouble Comin' Every Day"
- "Who Are the Brain Police?"
- "WPLJ"
- "My Guitar"
- "Peaches en Regalia"
- "I'm the Slime"
- "Cosmik Debris"
- "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow"
- "Du Bist Mein Sofa"
- "Find Her Finer"
- "Disco Boy"
- "Dancin' Fool"
- "Bobby Brown"
- "Joe's Garage"
- "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted"
- "You Are What You Is"
- "Valley Girl"
- "Cocaine Decisions"
- "Stairway to Heaven"
compositions
- "Absolutely Free"
- "Advance Romance"
- "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary"
- "America Drinks & Goes Home"
- "Are You Hung Up?"
- "Billy the Mountain"
- "The Black Page"
- "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"
- "Camarillo Brillo"
- "Cheepnis"
- "Duodenum"
- "Father O'Blivion"
- "Help, I'm a Rock"
- "G-Spot Tornado"
- "I Have Been in You"
- "Inca Roads"
- "Jewish Princess"
- "Let's Make the Water Turn Black"
- "A Little Green Rosetta"
- "Memories of El Monte"
- "Montana"
- "Muffin Man"
- "Nanook Rubs It"
- "Plastic People"
- "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet"
- "Rollo"
- "Sleep Dirt"
- "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast"
- "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"
- "A Token of My Extreme"
- "The Torture Never Stops"
- "Uncle Remus"
- "Watermelon in Easter Hay"
- "Who Needs the Peace Corps?"
- "Willie the Pimp"
- "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station"
- 200 Motels
- Baby Snakes
- The Dub Room Special
- Does Humor Belong in Music?
- Video from Hell
- Uncle Meat
- The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
- The Amazing Mr. Bickford
- In popular culture
- Zappa Plays Zappa
- Pachygnatha zappa
- Phialella zappai
- Zappa confluentus
- 3834 Zappafrank
- Frankly a Cappella
- King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa
- Zappa's Universe
- Discography
- Musicians
- Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra
- Alice Cooper
- The GTOs
- Wild Man Fischer
- Ruben and the Jets
- Bobby Jameson
- Little Feat
- Flo & Eddie
- U.K
- Missing Persons
- The Turtles
- Bizarre Records
- Straight Records
- DiscReet Records
- Zappa Records
- Barking Pumpkin Records
- The Real Frank Zappa Book
- Studio Z
- Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
- Zappa
- Category