The Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1966 to 1969.
Throughout, their output was primarily directed by composer and guitarist, Frank Zappa (1940–1993). Their albums combined a broad span of genres, and utilised diverse instrumentation. Their lyrics were generally humorous, with frequent style-parodies of contemporary pop music (with doo-wop love ballads endlessly lampooned), bountiful surreal imagery, cartoonish vocals and oblique, satirical protest songs. Their diversity and insincerity makes their classification difficult, but Zappa’s increasingly ambitious and avant-garde compositions towards the end of the 1960s share many features of free jazz and 20th century classical music.
Zappa disbanded the original Mothers of Invention line-up in 1970 to create music under his own name, but shortly reformed an entirely new band sometimes known as ‘The Mothers’.
The new incarnation had a strong vaudeville style and were much bawdier than before, with new vocalists Flo & Eddie, previously of the Turtles, taking the lead. After Zappa was pushed offstage in the Rainbow Theatre in 1971, he broke up this second band and concentrated on a jazzier style with a short-lived big band called the Grand Wazoo, but returned with a third lineup of the Mothers in 1973. This reformed group retained musical similarities to the previous group and the chamber music of the late 60s Mothers, but with a tighter, funkier sound; George Duke’s soulful vocals being perhaps the most memorable addition. Whilst members of the new Mothers frequently appeared on albums credited solely to Zappa, three albums, Overnite Sensation, Roxy & Elsewhere and One Size Fits All display the name Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention.