Billy Mundi obit

RIP Billy Mundi

 

He was not on the list.

It was reported today on Zappateers that original Mothers of Invention/Rhinocheros/Tim Buckley and 60s session drummer Billy Mundi passed away 29th March 2014. He was 71. After the 70s, Billy went away from the music scene, and kept a private life, but according to those who were still in touch with him, he was diabetic and he had a leg amputated for this, even though he was still playing on a special set. According to his profile page on Zappa's United-Mutations website, at one point, Billy was writing a book about his carreer, which was to be called "Sideman". Unfortunately, to my knowledge, it never came out.

If you like the swing/jazzier stuff on the early Mothers of Invention albums... well, that was Billy. I always prefeered the way Mundi handled the drums on "King Kong" than Tripp. He gave the song a jazzier feel, which made it sound more majestic

He plays on "Absolutely Free" (the left-panned drums), most of "We're Only In It For The Money" (the original non-overdubbed version) and on some of "Uncle Meat".

The drummer was best known as a member of The Mothers of Invention and Rhinoceros. He also worked as a session musician. He sometimes used the name Tony Schnasse.

A former Hells Angel, his career dates back to the late 1950s, when he majored in music at UCLA. After graduation, Mundi worked for three months as a timpanist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic before moving into studio work and a succession of local bands.[2] In the early 1960s he played in Skip Battin's group, Skip and The Flips, and worked as a session musician on Tim Buckley's debut album among others. Mundi was briefly a member of The Lamp of Childhood in mid-1966.

In 1966, he joined The Mothers of Invention during the recording of the album Freak Out!, and later provided drums for several subsequent Mothers albums. He also featured in the movie Uncle Meat. He was enticed away from the Mothers by Jac Holzman at Elektra Records to form a supergroup, Rhinoceros. According to Frank Zappa, Holzman "offered Billy Mundi a huge amount of money, a place to live, the whole package — we'll make you a star, you'll work with these top-grade musicians instead of those comedy guys... But I don't blame Billy for taking the job, because at that time we were so poor he was living in the Albert Hotel and he couldn't get enough to eat — he used to come in and tell us how he'd quell his appetite by drinking the hot water in the shower...".

Around 1970, Mundi moved to Woodstock, New York, where he worked with Geoff Muldaur and Maria Muldaur and as a session musician. He lived in California with his wife of 31 years, Patty.