Roy Estrada
Roy Estrada (also known as "Roy Ralph Moleman Guacamole Guadalupe Hidalgo Estrada" and "Orejón"; born April 17, 1943) is an American former musician. He is best known for being the original bassist of both the Mothers of Invention and Little Feat. He was also later a member of Captain Beefheart's the Magic Band and occasionally still worked with Frank Zappa in Zappa's solo career following the Mothers' split.
Roy Estrada
Roy Ralph Moleman Guacamole Guadalupe Hidalgo Estrada and Orejón
April 17, 1943
Santa Ana, California, U.S.
Musician
- Bass guitar
- vocals
- guitarrón
- 1964–1994
- 2000–2012
- The Mothers of Invention
- Little Feat
- Captain Beefheart
- The Magic Band
Estrada is currently incarcerated in the Texas State Prison System. He was convicted for sex offenses, first having been convicted of child sex abuse in 1994 and serving six years' imprisonment, then pleading guilty to abuse of a young relative in 2012.[2] He will not be eligible for release until 2037, at which time he will be between 93 and 94 years old.
Session work[edit]
Estrada has also done session work by playing bass for a diverse range of artists, including Ry Cooder on his eponymous debut studio album, Ivan Ulz, Leo Kottke, Van Dyke Parks and Howdy Moon.
Grande Mothers[edit]
In 2002, two years after his release from jail, Estrada joined forces with fellow former Mothers Don Preston and Napoleon Murphy Brock, along with guitarist Ken Rosser and drummer and percussionist Christopher Garcia, to form "The Grande Mothers", the only Mothers of Invention/Frank Zappa alumni consistently performing the music of Zappa since 2002, with over 90 performances.
Since then they have performed at numerous concerts and festivals throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway and Switzerland. In 2005, guitarist Miroslav Tadić replaced Ken Rosser in the line-up. Robbie "Seahag" Mangano has been the guitarist for all of the European Grande Mothers' tours since 2009.
In 2003 Estrada was featured on the album Hamburger Midnight (taking its title from a George/Estrada co-composition on the first Little Feat studio album) on the record label Inkanish Records, on which he collaborated once again with Jimmy Carl Black.
Sex offender status[edit]
Estrada served six years in prison after he was convicted of committing lewd acts with a child in Orange County, California, in December 1994.[5] In January 2012, he pleaded guilty to a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a female family member younger than 14 which happened in March 2008. In the plea bargain agreement, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison and is not eligible for parole.[6]