Jeff Simmons

The longtime bassist for Frank Zappa’s Moms of Invention, Jeff Simmons also issued a rare solo LP for Zappa’s Right imprint, the 1970 cult classic Lucille Offers Messed My Brain Up. Given birth to and elevated in Seattle, Simmons 1st earned regional notoriety because the vocalist/guitarist for Indian Puddin’ & Tube, a favorite Pacific Northwest psychedelic music group that in 1967 authorized with maker Matthew Katz’s SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA Audio label. Katz — the infamously unethical supervisor of Moby Grape, It’s a lovely Day, along with other luminaries from the SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA psych picture — organized his contracts in order that different lineups could show up under confirmed group’s name anytime and anywhere he preferred, and he eventually bestowed the Indian Puddin’ & Tube moniker on the rival Seattle take action previously referred to as the Western Coast GAS. Remaining without legal recourse, Simmons and his bandmates (guitarist Peter Larson, bassist Phil Kirby, and drummer Albert Malosky) came back to Seattle and rechristened themselves Easy Seat, issuing their one-sided, self-titled debut LP around the Vanco label in 1968. After another name switch, this time around to Ethiopia, the group opened up for the Moms of Invention in Seattle and later on appeared alongside Crazy Guy Fischer, Alice Cooper, as well as the GTOs at Bizarre Information’ famous “Gala Pre-Xmas Bash” at Santa Monica’s Shrine Exhibition Hall in early Dec of 1968. Zappa immediately after persuaded Ethiopia to relocate to LA, pairing the group with suppliers Jerry Yester and Val Zanofsky. When nothing at all concrete emerged from your classes, the group dissolved but Zappa quickly provided Simmons his personal two-record cope with Straight. The very first, a mainly instrumental soundtrack for an obscure biker film entitled Naked Angels, includes a group of acid-fuzz acoustic guitar jams. It had been immediately accompanied by Lucille Offers Messed My Brain Up, a far more conventionally song-oriented psychedelic opus made by Zappa beneath the alias LaMarr Bruister. The recording generated little interest beyond Zappa cultists, nevertheless, and Simmons was set up as bassist for the Moms of Invention’s past due 1970 LP Chunga’s Revenge. He still left the group during creation on Zappa’s feature film task 200 Motels, but afterwards came back towards the fold for albums including Waka/Jawaka and Roxy & Somewhere else. With the 1980s Simmons came back to Seattle, fronting some local acts like the Backtrackers and Cocktails for women. He also had written an unpublished memoir, I Joined up with the Moms of Invention…for the FBI, and in 2005 released Blue Universe, his first new solo materials in 35 years.