Producer Tom Wilson actually stood by Mothers of Invention

Tom Wilson graduated from Harvard in 1954 and establish his own jazz record label, Transition, in 1955. Worked as a radio producer in the late 1950's. Became A&R director for Savoy Records(for whom he again recorded Sun Ra in 1961).

In the early 1960's before working as a producer for Columbia Records in 1963 he has produced first recordings by Bob Dylan.

Tom Wilson with Bob Dylan

He added a rythm section to Simon and Garfunkel's accoustic "The Sounds of Silence." and released it as a single. It went to number one and Wilson left Columbia and went toMGM/Verve where he would work with The Velvet Underground.

In 1966 David Anderle was a talent scout in LA and he encouraged Wilson to come from New York to see The Mothers. Wilson liked what he saw and signed them up toVerve Records and was credited as producer on the group's seminal introduction album Freak Out!. Wilson place his own career on the line to let them make an extravagant double-LP as their début release, all through which they were articulating the type of anarchic bohemian ‘filth’ that was anathema to Wilson himself (though in truth, obviously, Zappa himself was an obsessively active disciplinarian, extremely anti drugs and alcoholic excess). Zappa stated years later: ‘Tom Wilson was a great guy. He had vision, you know? And he actually stood by us...’ While creating the next Mothers album, Absolutely Free, Wilson was also supervising the Velvet Underground’s début album The Velvet Underground and Nico.

Tom Wilson is recognized as Producer on:

Freak Out!

Absolutely Free

We're Only In It For The Money

He appeared in Uncle Meat & Video From Hell.

Frank Zappa in Hit Parader magazine, 1967

Frank was hired by Wilson in 1966 to create in-studio arrangements for Eric Burdon & The Animals.

Zappa: “I get to the studio at 11 o’clock. I’m the only one there. Then Tom Wilson comes in. He asks, ‘Where are the Animals?’ I say, ‘Gee, I don’t know, Tom’.”

 Frank Zappa, MTV interview, 1986

“Tom Wilson signed me to MGM in 1965. He was such an ebullient spirit — charismatic, statuesque, and curiously empowering for those in his orbit. That he was Ivy as well as street smart (viz. Cecil Taylor) was a jaw dropper.”

Quote :

Wilson: “You know why I went independent? Because I got tired of making money for a millionaire who didn’t even bother to send me a Christmas card. I discovered if you are honest, you get a lot further. A guy’s not going to respect you if you don’t fight for what you think you are worth.”

Tom Wilson’s  discography:

1955

Herb Pomeroy
Jazz in a Stable
Transition TRLP 1

Johnny Windhurst
Jazz at Columbus Ave.
Transition TRLP 2

Russell Woollen
Flute Quartet
Transition TRLP C-1

Sam Gary
Sam Gary Sings
Transition TRLP F-1

Donald Byrd
Byrd’s Eye View
Transition TRLP 4

Pepper Adams
Quintet Introducing Curtis Fuller (alternate title: Salt and Pepper)
Transition TRLP 8 (unissued)

1956

Donald Byrd
Byrd Jazz (rec. 1955)
Transition TRLP 5

Lovey Powell and Brooks Morton
Lovelady, Upstairs at the Duplex
Transition TRLP M-1

Sun Ra
Jazz by Sun Ra (later titled Sun Song)
Transition TRLP 10
reissue: Delmark DL 411

Dave Coleman
(untitled sessions; reportedly erased except for one track)
Transition TRLP 12 (unissued)

Russell Woollen
Quartet for Flute and Strings
Transition TRLP 15

Jay Migliori
Jazz Down Beat (provisional title)
Transition TRLP 18 (unissued)

Cecil Taylor (w/Steve Lacy, Buell Neidlinger, Dennis Charles)
Jazz Advance
Transition TRLP 19

Doug Watkins
Watkins at Large
Transition TRLP 20

Dartmouth Indian Chiefs
Chiefly Jazz
Transition TRLP 23

Fran Thorne
Piano Reflections
Transition TRLP 27

1957

Lucky Thompson
Lucky Strikes!
Transition TRLP 21

Sun Ra and the Arkestra
Sound of Joy (rec. 1956)
Delmark  DS 414

Donald Byrd
Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill (rec. 1956)
Transition TRLP 17

Various Artists
Jazz in Transition
Transition TRLP 30

Paul Chambers
Chambers Music: A Delegation from the East
Jazz West JWLP 7

1958

Louis Smith
Here Comes Louis Smith
Blue Note BLP 1584

Booker Little 4 and Max Roach
The Defiant Ones
United Artists UAS 5034

Benny Golson & the Philadelphians
Benny Golson & the Philadelphians
United Artists UAL 4020

1959

Brock Peters
At The Village Gate
United Artists  UAL 3062

Cecil Taylor featuring John Coltrane
Stereo Drive (mono: Hard Driving Jazz, reissued under Coltrane’s name in 1963 asColtrane Time on Colpix)
United Artists  UAL 4014

Cecil Taylor Trio and Quintet
Love For Sale
United Artists  UAL 4046

Curtis Fuller
Sliding Easy
United Artists UAL 4041

Randy Weston
Live at the Five Spot
United Artists UAL 4066

Art Farmer
Brass Shout
United Artists UAL 4079

John McFarland
Provocatif
United Artists UAL 5043

1960

Booker Ervin Quintet
Cookin’
Savoy MG 12154

1961

Bill Barron
The Tenor Stylings of Bill Barron
Savoy  MG 12160

Barbara Long
The Voice of Barbara Long
Savoy MG 12161

Bill Barron
Modern Windows
Savoy  MG 12163

Sun Ra
The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra
Savoy  MG 12169

The Bill Hardman Quintet
Saying Something
Savoy  MG 12170

Booker Ervin
Down in the Dumps
Savoy  SJL 1119

1962

Herbie Mann
St. Thomas
United Artists Jazz UAJS 15022

Various (arr. & cond. Benny Golson)
Pop + Jazz = Swing
Audio Fidelity AFLP 1978

Perry Robinson
Funk Dumpling
Savoy MG 12177

Various Artists
Sit-In Songs: Songs of the Freedom Riders
Dauntless Records DM 4301

1963

Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
Columbia CS 8786

Various Artists
Introducing The Sweet Chariot (The Sensational New Pop Gospel Club with “Soul”)
Columbia CL 2061

Various Artists
Shoutin’, Wailin’, Hard Drivin’ Pop Gospel (Recorded Live at the Sweet Chariot)
Columbia 8862

The Herman Stevens Singers
Everybody’s Shoutin’ Gospel (Recorded Live at the Sweet Chariot)
Epic 26062

Teri Thornton
Sings ‘Open Highway’
Columbia 8894

1964

Bob Dylan
The Times They Are a-Changin’
Columbia CS 8905

Bob Dylan
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Columbia CS 8993

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
The First Hurrah!
Columbia CL 2165 (CS 8965)

The Pilgrims
Just Arrived!
Columbia 9033

Simon & Garfunkel
Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
Columbia CS 9049

Pete Seeger
In Concert – I Can See A New Day
Columbia CS 9057

Eddie Harris
Cool Sax, Warm Heart
Columbia 8968

Eddie Harris
Here Comes the Judge
Columbia 9681

Eddie Harris
Cool Sax from Hollywood to Broadway
Columbia CL 2295 / CS 9095

1965

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
Recorded Live in Ireland
Columbia CL 2265 (CS 9065)

Bob Dylan
Bringing It All Back Home
Columbia CS 9128

Bob Dylan
Highway 61 Revisited
Columbia CS 9189
Wilson produced only the track “Like a Rolling Stone”

Walt Dickerson Quartet (w/Sun Ra)
Impressions of a Patch of Blue
MGM Records SE 4358

Herbie Mann
Latin Mann (Afro to Bossa to Blues)
Columbia CS 9188

Dion and the Wanderers
shelved sessions
Columbia CS 9773
(five tracks released in 1968 on Wonder Where I’m Bound)

1966

Pete Seeger
God Bless The Grass
Columbia CS 9232

The Roy Meriwether Trio
Soup & Onions
Columbia CS 9233

Steve Perry
Another Rainy Day
MGM Records E 4369

Freda Payne
How Do You Say I Don’t Love You Anymore
MGM Records E 4370

The Mothers of Invention
Freak Out!
Verve V6 5005-2X, V6 5005-2

Hugh Masekela
The Americanization Of Ooga Booga
MGM Records SE 4372

Connie Francis
Movie Greats of the ’60s
MGM SE 4382

The Animals
Animalization
MGM SE 4384

The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale
(artists: Sun Ra and The Blues Project)
Batman and Robin
Tifton 78002

The Blues Project
Projections
Verve/Folkways FT 3008

The Animals
Animalism
MGM Records SE 4414

Jim & Jean
Changes
Verve Folkways FTS 3001

Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela’s Next Album
MGM Records SE 4415

Steve Sanders
A Young Boy’s Prayer
MGM Records SE 4420

Eric Burdon & The Animals
Eric Is Here
MGM SE 4433

1967

The Velvet Underground and Nico
The Velvet Underground and Nico
Verve V 5008

The Mothers of Invention
Absolutely Free
Verve SVLP 9174, V6 5013

Eric Burdon & the Animals
Winds of Change
MGM SE 4484

Nico
Chelsea Girl
Verve V 5032

Benny Golson
Tune In, Turn On (To the Hippest Commercials of the Sixties)
Verve V 8710

1968

The Velvet Underground
White Light/White Heat
Verve V6 5046

Dion
Wonder Where I’m Bound
Columbia
includes five tracks from 1965 “Wanderers” session

The Mothers of Invention
We’re Only in It for the Money
Verve V6 5045X, V6 5045
(Wilson credited as executive producer)

Soft Machine
The Soft Machine, also reissued as Volume One
Probe CPLP 4500 X

The Beacon Street Union
The Eyes of the Beacon Street Union
MGM SE 4517
(Wilson credited for “Voice” only)

Ill Wind
Flashes
ABC Records ABCS 641

The Bagatelle
11 P.M. Saturday
ABC Records ABCS 646

The Fraternity Of Man
The Fraternity Of Man
ABC Records ABCS 647

Harumi
Harumi
Verve Forecast FTS 3030-2X

Fire
Fire
ABC Records ABCS 661

The Purpose
The Purpose of the Purpose is the Blues
ABC Records ABCS 662

Central Nervous System
I Could Have Danced All Night
Music Factory Records MFS 12003

Hugh Masekela
The Lasting Impression of Hugh Masekela
MGM Records  SE 4468

  

Eric Burdon & The Animals
The Twain Shall Meet
MGM SE 4537

1969

The Last Ritual
The Last Ritual
Capitol Records SKAO 206

Click
Click
ABC Records ABCS 677

Fear Itself
Fear Itself
Dot DLP 25942

The Serfs
The Early Bird Café
Capitol SKAO 207

Various Artists: Fraternity of Man; Ill Wind; Bagatelle; The Purpose; Fire
Tom’s Touch: A Collection of Tom Wilson Productions
Stateside LSSH 1501 (Netherlands)

1970

Country Joe And The Fish
C.J. Fish
Vanguard VSD 6555

Albino Gorilla
Detroit – 1984
Kama Sutra KSBS 2028

1972

Gotham
Pass The Butter
Natural Resources NR 104L

Earthquire
Earthquire
Natural Resources NR 106L

Road (with Noel Redding)
Road
Rare Earth SRE 3006

Two Friends
Two Friends
Natural Resources NR 101L

1974

John Mayall
The Latest Edition
Polydor PD 6030
co-produced with Eric the Norwegian

1975

Vernon Burch
I’ll Be Your Sunshine
United Artists Records UA LA342-G

1976

Tony Bird
Tony Bird
CBS 81183
co-produced with Larry Fallon for Namjac

1977

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
Bridges
Arista AB 4147
co-produced with Larry Fallon, Scott-Heron, and Jackson

Noel Pointer
Phantazia
Blue Note BN LA736-H
(Wilson credited as Mixer)

1978

Professor Longhair
Live On The Queen Mary
Harvest SW-11790
recorded in 1975