As time has passed since the publication of The Real Frank Zappa Book, and more interviews of original band members have emerged whose individual recollections contradict was had been written (and often taken as factual history) — it further sheds light on the complexity of this band, and the need for an ongoing, objective, and scholarly view of the Mother’s history from those who were actually there (well beyond the usual pop culture biographies and rock critic hokum), the musicians themselves.
Don Preston: There were a number of reasons why the Mothers disbanded. One of them was that Zappa was paying us all a salary. Now this kinda sounds stupid to me. He couldn’t afford the (Mother’s) salary, but he kept hiring more and more musicians. So anyhow, when he had to pay nine people in the band, it’s gonna cost a lot of money. [...]
The other thing was that he used to get very angry when people would respond to the solos more than his compositions. So that was one of the things that was making him angry at the time. The other thing was that we sometimes during a concert would only play 3 or 4 songs. The rest would all be improvisation. That’s the way the band was working. And working real well that way. We could handle that responsibility and people loved it. It wasn’t just jazz but like all kinds of weird time changes, experimental types of music. So I think he wanted more kinds of control on the music.
Jim Pons: I had known Frank previous to my joining his band, so there was no formal audition. [...] He never discussed with me his ideas about his “new” group or what he was trying to do. He just offered me a job. I had plenty of reservations. I enjoyed and had always appreciated his music before, but it was extremely difficult and complicated stuff compared to what I was used to…. a lot to ask of someone who had taught himself to play just a few years before. It was very intimidating. And more so because my parts were always written out for me and I couldn’t read music. I had to take it to Ian Underwood who would play it for me on the piano until I learned it. [...]
He expected you to do your part as he wrote it..... unless you improvised something that made him laugh. If you could make him laugh he'd let you go as long as you wanted. In fact, that's what fueled Mark and Howard. Frank really, REALLY seemed to enjoy that part of it. But if you changed something he had written -- into something that didn't work -- it was NOT funny. And he could make you feel real bad about it. [...] It was very rare that he ever showed any sign of uncertainty about what he wanted. I was completely in awe and respectful of Frank's musical inspiration and vision, and I don't remember ever thinking that I could (or should) suggest anything that might dilute that vision.
Jimmy Carl Black: First of all; Frank was the BOSS. We didn't question any of his motives or decisions at the time. I, personally, didn't think about whether (the parody) would backfire or not. [...] I think that the old Mothers started that trend of rehearsing long hours. We went as long as the later bands did except we didn't get paid for it like they did. We did it because we thought we were the best band in the world. Maybe we weren't as popular as other bands, but certainly, musically, we were the best and most experimental band in the world. (Exception is Capt. Beefheart and the Magic Band). [...] [Frank] was not open to anything that was not from his head. There were no arguments about music because if you did, he would show you where the door was. Period. [...]
We all just got a phone call from him stating that he had decided to break up the band and your salary has ended as of last week. That is pretty cold in my opinion. The rest of the guys in the band were very pissed off as can be expected as we had just finished a very successful tour. I think that Frank should have made an announcement to the press about stopping the band and done a last farewell tour and then broke up the band. Anyway, that´s the way I would have done it after all the loyalty we had given him through the years of starving for his music.
Ed Seeman: I spent almost two years with Frank and the original Mothers of Invention. All that time Frank would say he never wanted only one band with one sound. He believed in having what he called a "repertory company" of different musicians that would evolve musically as he would always changing. He never even liked performing his hits because to him that was not progress. So it’s not because he couldn’t afford to pay nine musicians. He hired 15 members of the London Philharmonic to play one piece in Albert hall just to prove a point. To Zappa changing musicians was like changing creative tools to an artist.
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Originally Posted by pb2015
, some disgustingly cheap beer, probably a few shots of Jameson as well - and the subsequent journey just blew my mind. The same sort of thing happened upon hearing 'Roxy', 'Joe's Garage', and 'YCDOSTA Vol. 4' for the first time too. I remember thinking during "Eric Dolphy" that FZ was the greatest musician/composer that ever existed and that my search was finally over 
I dunno, its hard to convey in words, but those moments are like amazingly important historical events for me personally that are etched in stone in my feeble little mind, and will never be able to be recreated in those exact circumstances ever again. Been a HUGE fan of that album ever since and I have always felt that it is the cousin album to 'Meat'. I also adore the *sound* of that album as well, its just pleasant on the ear. "Oh No/Orange County" is still one of the most beautiful things he ever wrote imo.
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