Jim Sherwood of Zappa’s Mothers dies

Jim Sherwood, a saxophone player known for his work with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, has died at the age of 69.

The multi-instrumentalist, who shared Zappa’s love of the avant-garde and the nonsensical, worked on all Mothers albums, including the classics “Freak Out!” and “We’re Only in It for the Money.”

Sherwood died Dec. 25 of undisclosed causes.

Although Sherwood can be heard on the early Mothers records, he started out as a their roadie and didn’t join the band full-time until 1968. Sherwood also contributed vocals, vocal effects and the onstage comedy bits expected of all members.

In the 1950s, Sherwood attended high school with Zappa in California’s Inland Empire. Sherman played in several rock ‘n’ roll bands with the guitarist before the Mothers of Invention came to fame in L.A. in the mid-1060s.

After the Mothers disbanded, he performed on Zappa’s debut solo album, “Lumpy Gravy,” and continued to work off and on with the guitarist/composer until Zappa’s death in 1993.

The woodwind player also appeared in Zappa’s movie “200 Motels,” about the insanity of touring as a rock band, and the semi-documentary “Uncle Meat.”

The Mothers nicknamed Sherwood “Motorhead,” based on his love of working on cars. He also was dubbed “Larry Fanoga.”

Sherwood played sax with Reuben and the Jets, a Zappa-produced group that grew out of a doo-wop concept album. Later credits include the Mothers veterans band the Grandmothers and other projects with (ex-Mother) keyboardist Don Preston.

Donovan, Small Faces entering Rock Hall

Donovan and the Small Faces made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, putting a bit of psychedelic seasoning on the class of 2012.

Producer/engineer Glyn Johns, who worked with the heaviest of the British psychedelic rock bands, also is to be honored April 14 in Cleveland.

Beastie Boys, Guns N’ Roses, Laura Nyro and Red Hot Chili Peppers filled out the list of Rock Hall inductees. Faces (with Rod Stewart) share the honor with the band’s earlier incarnation, the Small Faces.

The early influencer nod went to bluesman Freddy King, the only black artist to be honored this year. Songwriter/TV rock producer Don Kirshner (“The Monkees”) is to be memorialized in the non-performer slot.

Rock producers Johns and Tom Dowd, and New Orleans studio owner Cosimo Matassa are to receive awards for musical excellence.

Donovan, a nominee last year, was among the first recording artists to chart with psychedelic songs. He also was among the first long-haired British pop stars busted for drugs. The artist (pictured, top) was closely associated with the hippie movement and flower pop.

Donovan’s psychedelic singles include “Sunshine Superman,” “Mellow Yellow,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man” and “Barabajagal (Love Is Hot).”

The album “Sunshine Superman” was among the first rock works to feature the sitar. Donovan also flirted with jazz and Indian music, making for a heady musical brew that remains underappreciated among casual music fans.

The Small Faces first scored with the heavily flanged psychedelic single “Itchycoo Park,” a global smash in 1967 despite a BBC ban for its druggie lyrics.

A year later came the classic LP “Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake,” an early concept album. Side 2 was devoted to an odd psychedelic fairy tale. Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane did the band’s heavy lifting until Marriott quit to form Humble Pie.

Then came the Faces, with three original members joined by up-and-coming vocalist Rod Stewart and guitarist Ron Wood. The Faces’ sound shifted to inebriated good-time rock n’ roll. This line-up enjoyed a short but brilliant career, cut short by the demands of Stewart’s solo success and Wood’s wooing by the Rolling Stones.

Producer/engineer Tom Dowd was mostly known for his work on the classic Atlantic R&B recordings, but he also dabbled in psychedelia with acts like Cream, Wishbone Ash and Chicago. Dowd was one of the first engineers to take stereo seriously and to employ multitracking. He died a decade ago after a long run with Criterion Studios in Miami.

Producer/engineer Glyn Johns boasts a sterling resume when it comes to psychedelic music. His credits include the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Small Faces, the Who, Led Zeppelin and Family. He’s best known for his work with the Stones. Johns remains active, recently working with Ryan Adams.

Passed over for induction were the Cure, Heart, the Spinners, Donna Summers, Rufus with Chaka Khan, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Eric B. & Rakim.

The 27th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is set for April 14 in Cleveland. The video will run on HBO in early May. A limited number of public tickets go on sale Dec. 17.

Psychedelic music is well represented in the Hall of Fame: Inductees include the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, the Yardbirds, the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Miles Davis, Traffic, Santana, Frank Zappa, the Doors and the Who.

‘Last DJ’ Jim Ladd in Deep with SiriusXM

Veteran rock DJ Jim Ladd is going underground — via satellite.

Ladd, recently fired by longtime employer KLOS in Los Angeles, has found a home at Deep Tracks, the satellite radio channel reminiscent of the free-form FM stations of the 1960s and ’70s.

(Update: Listen to Ladd’s show on Deep Tracks from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ET. Tom Petty’s show airs earlier on Thursdays as a result, at 5 p.m. ET.)

He celebrated the news by blasting the “stagnant, preprogrammed fodder that passes for radio today.”

Ladd, dubbed the “last DJ” by Tom Petty, was one of the few major-market rock radio hosts allowed to work without a playlist. He launches his nightly four-hour show in January, on SiriusXM Channel 27.

“I will be playing everything I want, from Pink Floyd to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, from the Doors to Moby Grape, freely and with no playlists,” Ladd said. “As I have always done throughout my career, I will be choosing all my own music (and) creating thematic sets.”

Ladd should prove a good fit for Deep Tracks, which focuses on lesser-known songs by top “underground” artists of the 1960s and ’70s, such as Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.

The station’s stated concept is to play songs that didn’t chart, B-sides and live tracks. SiriusXM neighbor Classic Vinyl (channel 26) plays the era’s FM hits.

Deep Tracks is the closest thing to a psychedelic station on the satellite service. The channel’s “The Blacklight” program — “the finest in psychedelic rock” — is similar to Ladd’s hourlong “Headsets” segments. The Grateful Dead also have a channel of their own.

Deep Tracks’ big-name DJs are Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, both of whom do weekly free-form shows. Dylan’s show is so popular that archived episodes of his “Theme Time Radio Hour” now run 24/7 on an Internet-only SiriusXM channel (805).

Ladd seems eager to burn his bridges with terrestrial broadcasting: “Traditional FM radio has turned its back on the very thing that made rock radio the magical experience it was intended to be,” he said in the SiriusXM announcement of the deal.

“SiriusXM is kicking down the doors of the stagnant, preprogrammed fodder that passes for radio today by encouraging me to do my free-form show so we can all share this experience live as it happens.”

KLOS’ firing of Ladd came in a wave of layoffs created by Cumulus Radio’s buyout of Citadel Broadcasting. He wasn’t allowed a farewell show, so a local AM station offered him a one-time 3-hour slot to communicate with his fans. Rockers Roger Waters, John Fogerty, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Slash and George Thorogood were among the well-wishers who phoned in.

Waters included Ladd in one of his concept albums and tours. Petty’s “The Last DJ” song was written about Ladd.

Ladd, who calls himself “The Lonesome L.A. Cowboy,” built his audience on the legendary L.A. station KMET. He wrote the tell-all book “Radio Waves: Life and Revolution on the FM Dial” (1992). A critic of the time greeted the release by saying that Ladd remains “trapped in a 1960s-1970s time warp.”

For his satellite show, Ladd plans regular interviews with rock stars as well as listener call-ins. The Deep Tracks host most affected by the Ladd signing would appear to be Meg Griffin.

Before the satellite deal was announced Dec. 2, Ladd reportedly was in talks with the city’s 100.3 The Sound.

SiriusXM chief Scott Greenstein said: “Jim Ladd is a classic rock radio icon who turned curating a list of songs into an art form. We are proud and excited to welcome his free-form style to SiriusXM.”

Original MTV VJs Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn also have shows on the satellite service.