Jimmy Carl Black (February 1, 1938 – November 1, 2008), born James Carl Inkanish, Jr., was a drummer and vocalist for The Mothers of Invention.Born in El Paso, Texas, Black was of Cheyenne heritage. His trademark line was "Hi Boys and Girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black, and I'm the Indian of the group." The line can be heard several times on the Mothers of Invention album We're Only in It for the Money (for example, on the tracks "Are You Hung Up?" and "Concentration Moon"). He has been credited on some Mothers albums as playing "drums, vocals, and poverty".In the seventies he toured with Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band and with Geronimo Black, the band he founded with Mothers wind player Bunk Gardner. In the eighties Jimmy and Bunk and Don Preston performed under the name "The Grandmothers" along with a bunch of other ex-Zappa musicians, but the band soon disbanded. Then Jimmy moved to Austin, Texas, where he met English singer Arthur Brown. The duo recorded an album of classic R&B songs, Black, Brown and Blue, and performed live together.
In 1993 Jimmy moved to Europe, where he reformed The Grandmothers with original members Don and Bunk and with Dutch bass player Ener Bladezipper (stagename of René Mesritz) and Italian guitar player Sandro Olivia.
In 1993 Jimmy moved to Europe, where he reformed The Grandmothers with original members Don and Bunk and with Dutch bass player Ener Bladezipper (stagename of René Mesritz) and Italian guitar player Sandro Olivia.