# Elliot Ingber

Elliot Ingber (August 24, 1941 – January 21, 2025) was an American guitarist, best known as a member of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, when he was known as Winged Eel Fingerling.

## Biography

Ingber grew up in Los Angeles, where he attended Fairfax High School alongside such musicians and later music business figures as Phil Spector, Lou Adler, Bruce Johnston and Sandy Nelson. He played guitar in local bands including Kip Tyler and the Flips, and The Gamblers.
In 1966, he joined Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention and appeared on their debut album Freak Out!. He was fired from the band by Zappa following an incident onstage (according to drummer Jimmy Carl Black) when he tripped on LSD and was unaware that his amplifier was not switched on. After that he co-founded Fraternity of Man, which released two albums. With singer Lawrence "Stash" Wagner, Ingber wrote the track "Don't Bogart Me", later used (as "Don't Bogart That Joint") on the soundtrack of Easy Rider.
He then joined Captain Beefheart's Magic Band under the stage name Winged Eel Fingerling, given to him by Beefheart. In the sleeve notes to The Spotlight Kid (1972), Beefheart likens Ingber to "a chrome black eyebrow / rolled out real long" and also "a paper brow magnifying glass / fried brown, edge scorched, yoked / like a squeak from a speaker / behind forehead of the time." In 1995, Ingber reformed Fraternity of Man with Lawrence "Stash" Wagner, the original vocalist and co-author of "Don't Bogart that Joint", to record and release a third album released under the Malibu Records label.
Ingber later abandoned music and worked as a postman in Los Angeles. He died on January 21, 2025, at the age of 83.

## Discography

| Year | Artist | Release title | Label |
| 1960 | The Gamblers | "Moon Dawg" | World Pacific |
| 1962 | Hollywood Gamblers | "Moon Katt" | Don Records |
| 1963 | Dee D. Hope | "California Surfer" | Jolum |
| 1963 | Bobby James (a/k/a Bobby Jameson) | "Let's Surf" b/w "Take This Lollipop" | Jolum |
| 1966 | The Mothers of Invention | Freak Out! | Verve |
| 1968 | Fraternity of Man | Fraternity of Man | ABC Records |
| 1969 | Michaelle | Saturn Rings | |
| 1969 | Fraternity of Man | Get it On! | |
| 1969 | Canned Heat | Hallelujah | |
| 1969 | The Mothers of Invention | Mothermania | Verve |
| 1972 | Shakey Jake Harris | The Devil's Harmonica | Polydor |
| 1972 | Captain Beefheart | The Spotlight Kid | Reprise |
| 1974 | Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band | Bluejeans & Moonbeams | Mercury |
| 1978 | Juicy Groove | First Taste | Payola Records |
| 1978 | The Grandmothers | Grandmothers | Line records |
| 1981 | Little Feat | "Teenage Nervous Breakdown" on Hoy-Hoy! | Warner Brothers |
| 1982 | The Grandmothers | Lookin' Up Granny's Dress | Rhino |
| 1983 | The Grandmothers | Fan Club Talk | Panda |
| 1992 | Frank Zappa | You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 | Ryko |
| 1993 | Lowell George & The Factory | Lightning-rod Man | Edsel Records |
| 1993 | The Grandmothers | A Mother of an Anthology | One Way Records |
| 1995 | Fraternity of Man | X | San Francisco Sound |
| 1996 | Various Artists | Cowabunga! The Surf Box | Rhino |
| 1996 | Frank Zappa | The Lost Episodes | Ryko |
| 1998 | Frank Zappa | Mystery Disc | Ryko |
| 1999 | Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band | Grow Fins | Revenant Records |
| 2000 | Little Feat | "Juliet" on Hotcakes & Outtakes | |
| 2001 | Elliot Ingber | The The The The | |
| 2006 | Frank Zappa | The MOFO Project/Object | Zappa Records |