Lawrence Wayne "Wild Man" Fischer (November 6, 1944 – June 16, 2011) was an American street performer known for offering erratic,

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

performances of "new kinds of songs" for a dime on the beaches of

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

and the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California, United States. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western bord ...

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

. Most of his life was spent homeless or institutionalized, and he later became regarded as "the godfather of

outsider music Outsider music (from "outsider art") is music created by self-taught or naïve musicians. The term is usually applied to musicians who have little or no traditional musical experience, who exhibit childlike qualities in their music, or who have ...

". Born in Los Angeles, Fischer was repeatedly sent to mental institutions as a teenager, where he was diagnosed with

paranoid schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, hearing voices), delusions, disorganized thinking and behavior, and flat or inappropriate affect. Symptoms develop gradually and typically begin ...

and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

. In 1968, he recorded a double album, '' An Evening with Wild Man Fischer'', that was produced by

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

for the Bizarre label. At one point, Fischer was the opening act for

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...

Iron Butterfly Iron Butterfly was an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are best known for the 1968 hit " In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal m ...

Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been called ...

, and

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

. His relationship with Zappa came to an abrupt end after Fischer threw a bottle that nearly hit Zappa's daughter

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

. In 1975, Fischer helped jumpstart

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

with the novelty single "Go to Rhino Records". 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. A documentary about Fischer's life, '' Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Wild Man Fischer'', premiered at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival in 2005.

Biography

Early life

Larry Fischer was born on November 6, 1944, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. From an early age, he experienced major

mood swing A mood swing is an extreme or sudden change of mood. Such changes can play a positive or a disruptive part in promoting problem solving and in producing flexible forward planning. When mood swings are severe, they may be categorized as part ...

s typical of bipolar disorder. When his mood worsened, he experienced

auditory hallucination An auditory hallucination, or paracusia, is a form of hallucination that involves perceiving sounds without auditory stimulus. While experiencing an auditory hallucination, the affected person hears a sound or sounds that did not come from the ...

s and acted violently toward his family. He attended Fairfax High School but was expelled in 1962 for singing in class. In 1963, he was committed to Camarillo State Hospital for threatening his mother with a knife, and he was diagnosed with

and

manic depression Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that each last from days to weeks, and in some cases months. If the elevated m ...

. Released one year later, he appeared at numerous talent shows and was discovered by R&B singer

, who gave him the nickname "Wild Man" and brought him along on a tour. Fischer was still living at home at this time, and in 1965, was once again institutionalized for his behavior. According to Fischer, the hospital stays only exacerbated his condition.

''An Evening with Wild Man Fischer''

By 1967, Fischer was on medication and acting as a street performer in Hollywood. For a nickel or a dime, he would offer a "new kind of song" to passersby as an a cappella performance. This led him to become an opening act for

, and

. While performing onstage and outside at the Sunset Strip, he was noticed by

, bandleader for

the Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as the Mothers) were an American rock music, rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an ...

. 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. The Mothers of Invention, record producer

Kim Fowley Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed the Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...

, radio DJ

Rodney Bingenheimer Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of ''Rodney on the ROQ'', a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ-FM from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he als ...

, and Zappa's girl group

the GTOs The GTOs (Girls Together Outrageously) were an all-girl group from the Los Angeles area, specifically the Sunset Strip scene. The group was active for two and a half years (1968–1970), followed by one reunion performance in 1974. Their only ...

made guest appearances on some of the tracks. Released as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

in 1968, '' An Evening with Wild Man Fischer'' was given a positive review in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine, where it was described as "captur ngthe total being of one strange member of the human community". On September 23, 1968, thanks to his connections with Zappa, Fischer appeared on ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to July 23, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by comed ...

'', singing "The Leaves Are Falling" and "Merry-Go-Round". During this period he also made contributions to the 1968 psychsploitation album "Bedlam" by The Crazy People. In December, Zappa arranged for him to perform at a Christmas show involving the Mothers, the GTOs, Easy Chair, and

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

. Fischer sang "Circles". Fischer was frustrated that the album failed to bring him the fame he expected. One day, he visited Zappa and threw a bottle that nearly hit Zappa's infant daughter

. This ended their relationship. After Frank's death in 1993, Gail Zappa inherited her husband's musical copyrights, and refused to reissue the album for as long as she lived feeling that the recording was "a poor example of Frank's work."

Rhino Records albums

In 1974, Larry appeared as a guest vocalist on noise band

Smegma Smegma (from Ancient Greek ) is shed skin cells, skin oils, and moisture that occurs in male and female mammalian genitalia. In males, smegma collects under the foreskin; in females, it collects around the clitoris and in the folds of the lab ...

's album ''Sing Popular Songs''. In 1975, he recorded

' first release, a novelty single entitled "Go to Rhino Records". At the time, Rhino Records was only a record shop in Los Angeles. According to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'': "Demand for he singleproved so great that it catapulted the store's owners into the record-producing business." Two years later he recorded their very first LP, ''Wildmania''. In the 1980s, Fischer worked with the comedy music duo Barnes and Barnes (

Bill Mumy Charles William Mumy Jr. (; born February 1, 1954) is an American actor, writer, producer, and musician. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor whose work included television appearances on ''Bewitched'', ''I Dream of Jeannie'', ''T ...

and Robert Haimer) to produce two more albums for Rhino, ''Pronounced Normal'' (1981) and ''Nothing Scary'' (1984). In 1986, Barnes and Barnes also wrote and produced "It's a Hard Business", a duet featuring Fischer and

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccin ...

. The song was the result of a telephone friendship they began due to mutual acquaintances. In 1988, a judge awarded Fischer royalties on his song "Merry-Go-Round" (from the videocassette release of the movie '' Medium Cool''), but the attorney representing Fischer did not know how to contact him. Fischer was still homeless, living in motels and on the streets while panhandling at places like

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...

and

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

. He performed at the 1988 San Diego Comic Con with Bill Mumy's group as his backing band. In 1998, ''Date with the Devils Daughter'', an album by

Robert Williams Robert, Rob, Robbie, Bob or Bobby Williams may refer to: Architecture * Train %26 Williams#Robert Edmund Williams, Robert Edmund Williams (1874–1960), Canadian-American architect * Robert Williams (architect) (1848–1918), Welsh architect a ...

(a drummer formerly with

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

) includes "Hello Robert", which consists of messages that Fischer left on Williams's phone. In 1999, Rhino released ''The Fischer King'', a two-CD package comprising 100 tracks and a 20-page booklet, which sold out within weeks. The limited-edition album comprises his entire Rhino catalog, including all three of the Rhino albums plus singles, unreleased material, interviews done for this release, and his duet with Clooney. It releases almost everything Fischer ever recorded, except '' An Evening with Wild Man Fischer'', for which the Zappa family still held the rights.

Final years and death

Fischer was mentioned in

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...

's 1990 novel, ''Vineland'', as well as in his 2009 novel, ''Inherent Vice.'' In the early 2000s, Fischer was filmed as the subject of a full-length

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, '' Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Wild Man Fischer'', which premiered at

in March 2005. Co-director Josh Rubin called the four years making the film "the most arduous, trying time of my life" due to Fischer's erratic behavior. It included an appearance from

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US ...

who called him: "as pure a rock and roll icon as you can find. He's mainlined into the creative subconscious." In 2004, Fischer was the subject of a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

(''The Legend of Wild Man Fischer'' by Dennis Eichhorn), and in October, appeared on ABC-TV's late-night talk/comedy show, ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

''. In 2003, Fischer had a six-month-long

paranoid Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of con ...

episode, convinced somebody was trying to kill him, and he started living on the streets again. He called Bill Mumy up to 20 times a day, hanging up each time, until Mumy finally had to change his phone number. Fischer eventually moved in with his aunt Josephine, but three weeks later she was diagnosed with terminal cancer (this happened during the filming of ''Derailroaded''). Fischer and his family consented to move him into an assisted-living mental institution in

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

. The medications he was prescribed helped him control his behavior, but it also eliminated his creative drive, or "pep". Fischer made his final performance on August 16, 2006, at the Trunk Space in Phoenix, Arizona. The last seven years of Fischer's life were spent peacefully but uneventfully. On June 16, 2011, he died of heart failure at the

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as UCLA Medical Center, RRMC or Ronald Reagan) is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United S ...

in Los Angeles, at the age of 66.

Discography

Studio albums * 1969: '' An Evening with Wild Man Fischer'' (

Bizarre Records Bizarre Records, self-identified simply as Bizarre, was a production company and record label formed for artists discovered by rock musician Frank Zappa and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen. History Bizarre was originally formed as a prod ...

) * 1977: ''Wildmania'' (Rhino Records) * 1981: ''Pronounced Normal'' (Rhino Records) * 1983: ''Nothing Scary'' (Rhino Records) * 2018: ''Deep State'' (CDBaby) EP * May 1968: ''Laminas'' Compilations * 1981: ''The First One ...(First-1)'' (A.T.C. Records) * 1999: ''The Fischer King'' (Rhino Records) Singles * 1968: "The Circle" / "Merry Go Round" (

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

) * 1975: "Go To Rhino Records" (

) * 1981: "Don't Be A Singer" / "I Got A Camera" /" Do The Salvo" (Rhino Records) * 1981: "Larry Comes Alive" (A.T.C. Records)

Filmography

* 2005: '' Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Wild Man Fischer''

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Wild Man 1944 births 2011 deaths American street performers American outsider musicians People with bipolar disorder People with schizophrenia American rock musicians Freak scene musicians Freak scene American rock guitarists American acoustic guitarists Guitarists from Los Angeles Singers from Los Angeles American homeless people American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from California American outsider artists