Editing Frank Zappa (section)

===Formation===
By April 1965, [[Ray Collins (musician)|Ray Collins]], one of Zappa's friends during the early Studio Z days, was the singer of an R&B band called the Soul Giants, based in [[Pomona, California]]. That month, he asked Zappa to take over as guitarist in the Soul Giants, following a fight between Collins and the group's original guitarist.<ref name="Rolling Stone Book"/> Zappa accepted, and soon assumed leadership and the role as co-lead singer (even though he never considered himself a singer, then or later<ref name="HighTimes1980"/>). He convinced the other members that they should play his music to increase the chances of getting a record contract.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|65–66}} The band - comprising Zappa, Collins, [[Roy Estrada]], and [[Jimmy Carl Black]] - debuted at the Broadside Club and was renamed the Mothers since this gig took place on May 10, 1965{{snd}}[[Mother's Day (United States)|Mother's Day]].<ref name="slaven03"/>{{rp|42}} They increased their bookings after beginning an association with manager [[Herb Cohen]], and gradually gained attention on the burgeoning Los Angeles [[underground music]] scene.<ref name="walley80"/>{{rp|58}} In early 1966, they were spotted by leading record producer [[Tom Wilson (record producer)|Tom Wilson]] when playing "Trouble Every Day", a song about the [[Watts riots]].<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|103}} Wilson had earned acclaim as the producer for [[Bob Dylan]] and [[Simon & Garfunkel]], and was one of the few African-Americans working as a major label pop music producer at this time. Wilson signed the Mothers to the [[Verve Records|Verve]] division of [[MGM Records|MGM]], which had built up a strong reputation for its releases of modern jazz recordings in the 1940s and 1950s, but was attempting to diversify into pop and rock audiences. Verve insisted that the band officially rename themselves [[the Mothers of Invention]] as ''Mother'' was short for ''[[motherfucker]]''—a term that, apart from its profane meanings, can denote a skilled musician.<ref>{{cite news | author=<!-- not stated --> | title = BBC Late Show: Frank Zappa interview with Nigel Leigh | medium = TV Show | publisher = [[BBC]] | location = [[UMRK]], Los Angeles, California |date=11 March 1993}}</ref> Under Zappa's leadership, the Mothers' lineup would be ever-changing during their time together, with members including Collins, Estrada, Black, [[Elliot Ingber]], brothers [[Bunk Gardner|Bunk]] and [[Buzz Gardner]], [[Don Preston]], [[Billy Mundi]], [[Jim Fielder]], [[Jim Sherwood|Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood]], [[Ian Underwood]], [[Art Tripp]], and [[Lowell George]].