Wild Man Fischer was a genuine crazy street person. Institutionalized at 16 for allegedly pulling a knife on his mom. Diagnosed as a bipolar schizophrenic shortly thereafter. Legend has it he walked away from a mental institution and nobody bothered to track him down.
In 1968 he was living on the Sunset Strip performing his original songs for passers by at 10 cents a pop. Frank Zappa was looking to expand the roster of his Bizarre Records label and signed the guy. The resulting album is presented below.
An Evening With Wild Man Fischer (Bizarre 1968)
This is a two record set that consists of 36 'songs.' Some of them are merely crazy street person rants. Some of them could be considered actual tunes. Supposedly, he was institutionalized after pulling a knife on his mom. He's saying he's sorry on the cover.
I picked this up at End of an Ear in Austin, TX. They didn't know how much this was actually worth. The Goldmine Record Guide prices this one at $100 in mint condition, Mine was under $10. The copy I have is far from mint in the cover department, but the record is extremely clean. Most of them are. Nobody ever played this one over and over.
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