The Mother of Oysters
TMOO is a 'psychedelic & disco rock quartet' created in 1967 and signed by Can't Be Serious Records in 1970.
Line-up: Barry Black (voice, guitar), Eric Lipton (lead guitar), Roger Clover (bass), John Bonhomme (drums).
On Barry Black:
"TMOO is a perfect example of an underrated rock artist (...) Of course, Barry Black, singer and leader of the band, has a truly pitiful voice and could have barely made it to the final step of a high school music contest in South Dakota. But what he lacks in talent he makes up for in eccentricity, thus coming on stage naked with a giant oyster shell at the top of his head has become, through the years, a common practice for him." (The South Brooklyn Herald Gazette, 1971)
"Tom Waits is the best living advertisement for alcohol and tobacco. He has been crafting amazing rock songs for more than 30 years despite the enormous amount of smoke and liquids that has been down his larynx. Of course he sounds like an iguana with a sour throat. But please also consider that some less fortunate people like Barry Black were actually born like that."
On Eric Lipton: "(...) Eric Lipton, for his part, plays the electric guitar like a one-armed baboon. Most of his solos consist, basically, of one single note. But dude, he can play that note." (Rolling Cobblestone Magazine, 1978)
Released on CBS Records:
- The Magical Oyster Tour (1971, #TMOO1/1)
- Dark Side of the Oyster (1973, #TMOO2/1)
- Sticky Oysters (1989 #TMOO3/1)
- The Man Who Sold the Oyster (1993, #TMOO4/1)