R.I.P Isaac "Ike" Willis, 1955-2026

Sadly, singer/guitarist Ike Willis – a longtime Frank Zappa collaborator – has passed away at 70. He'll be greatly missed.

Remembering producer Tom Wilson on his birthday

Remembering important but unjustly overlooked producer Tom Wilson with a discussion of his work, some Sun Ra outtakes from 1956 and more. 

Writes Irwin Chusid...

Tom Wilson was a legendary record producer in the '50s and '60s. He produced four Dylan albums, and the first Simon & Garfunkel, which was a commercial failure. So Wilson added a rock backing track to the duo's acoustic recording "Sounds of Silence," and helped invent folk-rock. 

He signed and produced the first two albums by the Mothers of Invention and the Velvet Underground. A decade earlier, after graduating  Harvard in 1955, he founded Transition Records and produced the first albums by Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, and Donald Byrd. He later produced Nico's first, and co-produced the Soft Machine's debut. In 1978, at age 47, he died of a heart attack. 

In 1967 and '68 the charismatic Wilson hosted a free-form radio program called "The Music Factory," sponsored by MGM-Verve. The debut episode of that series, gone from radio since 1967, will be aired on my WFMU program... listen here: http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/68065 

More info about Wilson at ProducerTomWilson.com. 

Listen to a Tom Wilson Jazz Sampler put together by Marshall Crenshaw who, despite setbacks due to the pandemic of 2020 and the passing of director Sacha Jenkins last May, is continuing work on his Tom Wilson documentary – right here. Watch a discussion of Tom Wilson's work with Richie Unterberger, an Rock's Back Pages interview with Marshall Crenshaw talking about his Tom Wilson research, followed by some Transition-era Sun Ra studio outtakes and a couple of 1967 clips from Tom Wilson's short-lived radio show The Music Factory. Read the Tom Wilson feature "The Man Who Put Electricity Into Dylan" by Michael Watts (Melody Maker, January 31, 1976) right here. 

Remembering singer/songwriter Essra Mohawk on her birthday

Remembering Essra Mohawk – who sang the Schoolhouse Rock classic "Interjections!" – with a few interviews and more. 

R.I.P. Chicago keyboardist/composer Barry Goldberg, 1942-2025

Sadly, Chicago blues rock keyboardist Barry Goldberg who penned "I've Got To Use My Imagination" and backed Dylan at Newport '65 has passed away at 83.

Happy Birthday Paul Humphrey!

Celebrating the birthday of funky drummer Paul Humphrey with a couple of gems from Frank Zappa and Quincy Jones. 

R.I.P. guitarist Alice Stuart, 1942-2023

Sadly, singer/songwriter and folk-blues guitarist Alice Stuart passed away on Monday at the age of 81. She'll be greatly missed.

LINKS
Guitar Player Alice Stuart talks about playing with Albert King and Frank Zappa

Before They Were Famous: Frank Zappa

A pre-Mothers Frank Zappa contributed "Grunion Run" to The Persuaders led by pal Paul Buff from whom he got "Studio Z" in '64.

"Grunion Run" aka "El Gruñón" by Los Persuaders apparently got some radio play in Mexico back in 1964. 

Steve Howe talks about Yes, Jethro Tull, Nice, Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd

Yes guitar great Steve Howe talks about conflicts within Yes, a missed chance to join Pink Floyd in a wide-ranging recent chat. 

One For The Weekend: Beefheart & Zappa

Comic books were a great source of inspiration for Captain Beefheart as this collaboration with Frank Zappa circa 1964 shows. 

R.I.P. percussionist extraordinaire Emil Richards, 1932-2019

Sadly, Wrecking Crew session musician Emil Richards – who snapped his fingers on The Addams Family TV theme – has passed away. He'll be greatly missed. 

LINKS
Hollywood Reporter Emil Richards, Legendary Percussionist and L.A. Session player, Dies at 87

Watch Frank Zappa on What's My Line?

Happy Birthday Emil Richards!

Master percussionist Emil Richards has played on nearly 2000 film and television soundtracks. 

Happy Birthday Captain Beefheart!

Check out the informative Captain Beefheart documentary voiced by John Peel below. 

Happy 80th birthday Emil Richards!