tom wilson

Tom Wilson was the (executive) producer for the first Mothers Of Invention records:

1 the mothers of invention: freak out!
    (1966, 2lp, usa, verve)

2 the mothers of invention: absolutely free
    (1967, lp,usa, verve)
3 the mothers of invention: we're only in it for the money
   (1967, lp, usa, verve)

6 the mothers of invention: mothermania
   (1969, lp, usa, verve)

zappa_06.jpg (26926 bytes)

 

random notes

On September 6th, 1978:
Tom Wilson, who produced such artists as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, and Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, died of a heart attack. He was 47.

     From: GRusso2787@aol.com
I think you have at least two Tom Wilsons in your discography.  Since he died in 1978, it was physically impossible that he could be involved in so many of the post-1978 releases that you have.  Obviously, some of them are reissues of previous material, but perhaps a disclaimer could be placed on that page.

     From: Patrick Neve (splat@darkwing.uoregon.edu)
Here it is, long overdue.  The following entries are all atrributable to the name Tom Wilson, but as Greg says there must be more than one.
Any corrections towards identifying and separating them would be most appreciated and duly noted.

     From: dsteinber@heenan.ca
Just a short note to let you know that I played drums on an album by Stiv Bators in 1981 called "Disconnected". It was not produced by the Zappa/Tom Wilson. It was produced by another Tom Wilson who did a lot of L.A. punk stuff (including "Offspring").   I hope that's helpful.

     From: Richard Zvonar (zvonar@zvonar.com)
After quite an amazing string of successes, Wilson formed Rasputin as an independent production company and signed a stable of artists. ILL WIND connected with him through the William Morris Agency in fall of 1967.  He made a lot of promises about working with us on our arrangements in advance of the studio sessions and talked about adding orchestrations to some tunes, but when we finally got into the studio it was a rather bare-bones production job. We didn't even have a written contract until about the fourth day of sessions, and then we were pressured into signing without properly reading it, after a long day of recording.

Wilson also had a management company, with a partner named Mark Joseph. Since we already had a manager (the lead guitarist's brother) we ended up with two managers splitting their commission and working at cross-purposes. The album was scheduled for release in the spring, and we were supposed to do a promotional tour to be arranged by Wilson's aptly named "Reluctant Management" company. We cancelled some June gigs which were already booked and turned down others for the period of the tour, but at the 11th hour the tour was cancelled. We were left with no work for about six weeks. Our bass player quit during this period, and we reorganized and started to work again in a few weeks. We also started recording in our own funky four-track studio, with the hopes of waiting out the contract with Wilson and finding another deal. Unfortunately, the contract gave him the option to extend the contract for another year, and when he found out that we were recording new material he renewed the contract. The group disbanded immediately.  I believe Wilson had a total of seven acts under contract during 1968. With the exception of Fraternity of Man, none of them survived their debut albums.

1968 Ill Wind- Flashes 

1968 The Bagatelle- 11PM Saturday

1968 The Fraternity of Man

These three records were released and advertised as a "package" representing the debut of Wilson's independent production company, Rasputin. I have a full-page ad from Billboard July 13, 1968, with the text "Out of the void steps Rasputin...leading the way with 3 extraordinary albums."

 

Discography:

Filmography:

 

Additional Informants:

Bill (billf_haha@patriot.net)

Richard Zvonar (zvonar@zvonar.com)  

 

 
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