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I'm sorry to report that Jimmy Carl Black died on Saturday 1st November at 11 p.m? after a long battle with cancer. Born in El Paso Texas, Jimmy? was a founder member of The Soul Giants, who, in 1964, when Frank Zappa joined, became?The ?Mothers of Invention. Jimmy??appeared in the frankly (!) incomprensible and scurrilous movie "200 Motels"?with Zappa, Keith Moon and Ringo Starr . where?Jimmy ?played (and sang the song)? Lonesome Cowboy Burt.?? Jimmy's Cheyenne? heritage?gave him his?famous line? "Hi boys and girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black, and I'm the Indian of the group."? On ?some Mothers albums he's ?credited as? playing "drums, vocals, and poverty.....".?? I recall at a Muffin Men gig at The Pier Jimmy pointing at a huge?backdrop of Zappa hanging up behind him and saying to the audience ?"Wer'e Only In It For The Mooney, yeah? Well, I sure as hell ?never saw?none ?of it!". - but he did have a smile on his face....... Jimmy left the band in 1969 to?form his own band, Geronimo Black,?and ?later collaborated with former members of The Mothers Of Invention, going?out as??The Grandmothers. He also played in a band with Arthur Brown for a while, and from 1992 with the premier Zappa tribute band, The Muffin Men,?from 1992. A spin off from the this band was The Jimmy Carl Black Band, with Mick Pini on guitar, Roddie Gilliard from The Muffin Men on bass, on Jimmy on drums and vocals.? The Jimmy Carl Black Band played an awesome gig at The Bullfrog Blues Club on South Parade Pier a couple of years ago. ? Many of you will remember some of the great gigs?Jimmy ?did with The Muffin Men on South Parade Pier, and a couple of?excellent ?gigs with The Country Joe Band around the country,?including??an incredibly powerful ?Cropredy Festival appearance in 1985.? My abiding memory of the Country Joe/Muffin Men gigs will always be?a triple header we did in Falmouth -?Country Joe Band,? The Muffin Men, and The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown.??The defining moment?was?seeing ?Joe, Jimmy & Arthur - three psychedelic warriors of the sixties ?-?sharing ?a nice of pot of tea?with Ralph McTell...... Jimmy was always very happy just hanging? out? just chatting with the audience at his gigs-? he was no prima donna! Another fond memory is Jimmy and Lord Gnome? standing at the ticket desk at The Pier for? a Muffin Men gig, ?and as the punters came in? they were performing an impromptu version of Wild Man Fisher's crazed ditty "Merry Go Round"? ......?? ? Steely Dan's Walter Becker asked at the 2001 Rock?& ?Roll Hall Of Fame??if?anyone if they remembered who the original Mothers of Invention drummer was. Becker has unsuccessfully lobbied the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on?many ?occasions ?to include Jimmy as a founding member of the Mothers of Invention. I now live in Ireland, as most of you know, and a couple of years ago I went to see The Muffin Men at The Roisin Dubh in Galway. I found Jimmy in the bar working his way across the top shelf whiskies. "Not drinking the?Guinness, then Jim?" "Hell no. John... I didn't know Frank had been t' Ireland? but he musta been- why else would he have written 'Let's Make The Water Turn Black'? I've been doin' that all Godammn day!" Jimmy Carl Black was diagnosed with lung cancer in August, 2008, and when he passed away on November 1st, he was 70 years of age - a true Grandmother. According to his website jimmycarlblack.com:?"Jimmy says hi to everybody and he doesn't want anybody to? be sad".? But at times like this is hard not to be... rest in peace, Jimmy, and say "hi" to Frank. ? John Roberts Steely Dan's Walter Becker asked at the 2001 Rock?& ?Roll Hall Of Fame??if?anyone if they remembered who the original Mothers of Invention drummer was. Becker has unsuccessfully lobbied the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on?many ?occasions ?to include Jimmy as a founding member of the Mothers of Invention. I now live in Ireland, as most of you know, and a couple of years ago I went to see The Muffin Men at The Roisin Dubh in Galway. I found Jimmy in the bar working his way across the top shelf whiskies. "Not drinking the?Guinness, then Jim?" "Hell no. John... I didn't know Frank had been t' Ireland? but he musta been- why else would he have written 'Let's Make The Water Turn Black'? I've been doin' that all Godammn day!" Jimmy Carl Black was diagnosed with lung cancer in August, 2008, and when he passed away on November 1st, he was 70 years of age - a true Grandmother. According to his website jimmycarlblack.com:?"Jimmy says hi to everybody and he doesn't want anybody to? be sad".? But at times like this is hard not to be... rest in peace, Jimmy, and say "hi" to Frank. ? John Roberts Jimmy Carl Black was diagnosed with lung cancer in August, 2008, and when he passed away on November 1st, he was 70 years of age - a true Grandmother. According to his website jimmycarlblack.com:?"Jimmy says hi to everybody and he doesn't want anybody to? be sad".? But at times like this is hard not to be... rest in peace, Jimmy, and say "hi" to Frank. ? John Roberts