Katerinas Magic World

An Evening with Wild Man Fischer is a 1968 double LP album by Wild Man Fischer released on Frank Zappa's Bizarre record label. The copyright is owned by the estate of Frank Zappa, but his widow Gail Zappa has chosen to not release it on CD, to the ire of the small but dedicated Wild Man Fischer fan club. Original vinyl copies have been sold for high amounts on the internet.
a mentally disturbed street singer discovered by frank zappa. he recorded a double album for zappa's bizarre label, some of it with zappa and the mothers of invention, the rest of it solo, giving full vent to nonmetrical original material. he recorded again for the rhino label in 1977. an acquired taste to be sure, fischer may surface again. ~ cub koda

a certified paranoid schizophrenic and acid casualty, larry "wild man" fischer was one of pop music's most unlikely and most disquieting cult figures. born in los angeles in 1945, little is known of fischer's formative years; by the mid-'60s, he had become a fixture along l.a.'s famed sunset strip, where he embraced the burgeoning hippie culture in full. jobless and homeless, fischer's stock-in-trade was to harangue passers-by for small change, rewarding their charity with an impromptu musical performance sung in his crazed vocal style; his behavior produced his 1968 debut an evening with wild man fischer.

from the outset, consensus on fischer was split; some felt his music was a valid form of artistic expression, while others criticized zappa for taking advantage of his protege's clear lack of mental stablity. a collection of autobiographical monologues, free-form rants and experimental soundscapes, an evening with wild man fischer -- complete with a jacket bearing the ominous image of a maniacal fischer holding a knife to the throat of a cardboard cut-out woman -- won the singer a small but intense following; although he made several subsequent live appearances with zappa's band the mothers of invention, the two soon suffered an irrevocable falling-out, and fischer largely disappeared from sight for a number of years.

in the mid-'70s, fischer resurfaced, making a handful of club and television appearances which proved that his grasp on reality had grown even more tenuous in the intervening years. after cutting a single advertising the rhino records shop on westwood boulevard, he signed to the rhino label for a three-lp deal; wildmania appeared in 1977, and its primal intensity found support among members of the punk community. beginning with 1981's pronounced normal, he began working with the novelty duo barnes & barnes, who couched fischer's vocals in appropriately odd electronic backing tracks and sampled soundbites. nothing scary followed in 1984; upon its release, fischer visited the rhino shop and attempted to bully customers into purchasing his albums. he was ejected from the store, and his contract was not renewed; no other recording deal was forthcoming, and he again slipped into the ether. -- jason ankeny
Tracks
Disc 101. Merry-Go-Round (1:56)
02. New Kind of Songs for Sale (7:21)
03. I'm Not Shy Anymore (0:58)
04. Are You from Clovis (1:00)
05. The Madness and Ecstasy (7:49)
06. Which Way Did the Freaks Go (1:51)
07. I'm Working for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (1:21)
08. The Leaves Are Falling (0:56)
09. 85 Times (0:56)
10. Cops and Robbers (1:44)
11. Monkeys Versus Donkeys (2:03)
12. Start Life over Again (2:01)
13. The Mope (1:51)
14. Life Brand New (1:39)
15. Who Did It Johnny (1:48)
16. Think of Me When Your Clothes Are Off (1:01)
17. Taggy Lee (0:37)
18. Rhonda (0:59)
19. I Looked Around You (1:31)
20. Jennifer Jones (4:55)
Disc 2
01. The Taster (3:12)
02. The Story of the Taster (1:27)
03. The Rocket Rock (1:05)
04. The Rocket Rock Explanation and Dialog (0:49)
05. Dream Girl (3:16)
06. Dream Girl Explanation (0:52)
07. Serrano (Sorrento) Beach (1:37)
08. Succes Will Not Make Me Happy (1:49)
09. Wild Man on the Strip Again (7:22)
10. Why I Am Normal (2:43)
11. The Wild Man Fischer Story (5:35)
12. Balling Isn't Everything (1:17)
13. Ugly Beautiful Girl (1:14)
14. Larry and His Guitar (2:46)
15. Circle (2:54)