Released as a double album in 1968, An Evening with Wild Man Fischer was given a positive review in Rolling Stone magazine, where it was described as 'captur the total being of one strange member of the human community'. The Mothers of Invention, record producer Kim Fowley, radio DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, and Zappa's girl group the GTOs made guest appearances on some of the tracks.

Zappa later said: 'I thought from the first day I met him that someone should make an album about Wild Man Fischer.' He invited Fischer into a studio and recorded him singing about topics such as his mother, mental hospitals, fame, circles, and how he could move faster than a cat could see him. While performing onstage and outside at the Sunset Strip, he was noticed by Frank Zappa, bandleader for the Mothers of Invention. This led him to become an opening act for the Byrds, Bo Diddley, and Iron Butterfly. For a nickel or a dime, he would offer a 'new kind of song' to passersby as an a cappella performance. Problems playing this file? See media help.īy 1967, Fischer was on medication and acting as a street performer in Hollywood. According to Fischer, the hospital stays only exacerbated his condition. Fischer was still living at home at this time, and in 1965, was once again institutionalized for his behavior. Released one year later, he appeared at numerous talent shows and was discovered by R&B singer Solomon Burke, who gave him the nickname 'Wild Man' and brought him along on a tour. In 1963, he was committed to Camarillo State Hospital for threatening his mother with a knife, and he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and manic depression. He attended Fairfax High School but was expelled in 1962 for singing in class. When his mood worsened, he experienced auditory hallucinations and acted violently toward his family. From an early age, he experienced major mood swings typical of bipolar disorder, and developed a habit of singing Paul Anka songs at the top of his voice, which he called having 'the pep'. Larry Fischer was born on November 6, 1944, in Los Angeles, California. A documentary about Fischer's life, Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Wild Man Fischer, premiered at the South by Southwest festival in 2005. The label put out a trilogy of albums that ultimately became his last: Wildmania (1977), Pronounced Normal (1981), and Nothing Scary (1983) the latter two were produced by the comedy music duo Barnes & Barnes.

In 1975, Fischer helped jumpstart Rhino Records with the novelty single 'Go to Rhino Records'. His relationship with Zappa came to an abrupt end after Fischer threw a bottle that nearly hit Zappa's daughter Moon. At one point, Fischer was the opening act for the Byrds, Iron Butterfly, Solomon Burke, and Bo Diddley. In 1968, he recorded a double album, An Evening with Wild Man Fischer, that was produced by Frank Zappa for the Bizarre label. īorn in Los Angeles, Fischer was repeatedly sent to mental institutions as a teenager, where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Most of his life was spent homeless or institutionalized, and he later became regarded as 'the godfather of outsider music'. Lawrence Wayne ' Wild Man' Fischer (Novem– June 16, 2011) was an American street performer known for offering erratic, a cappella performances of 'new kinds of songs' for a dime on the beaches and the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.

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