Tip I’ll Give You a Break, Pt. 4/RIP, Jimmy Carl Black
posted by on November 6 at 13:08 PM
In honor of Jimmy Carl Black’s Nov. 1 passing at age 70, let’s examine the Mothers of Invention’s “The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet.” The last cut off the Mothers’ classic 1966 LP Freak Out!, “Monster Magnet” features the casually funky drumming of Mr. Black within a clamorous musique-concrète context.
“Monster Magnet” has been sampled by Z-Trip for his “Rock Star,” but he only used the line, “this is the voice of your consciousness” in that track. DJ Spooky also sampled “Monster Magnet” in his “Galactic Funk,” but neglected the beats for that proto-Funkadelic-like chant of “ah AH, ah AH.”
As far as I know, though, nobody’s sampled that rolling, martial funk rhythm the late Jimmy Carl lays down with utmost poise while Theremin squiggles and myriad vocal weirdnesses blossom over it. It’s a problematic one, but somebody—Madlib, maybe?—should pounce on it.
Linda & Ron's Dad may or may not have used it on the "Word To The Mothers" Cassette tape they released. Created entirely of Frank Zappa samples. Track one down.
That tape sounds awesome. Thanks, Grippo.