Ant-Bee, also known as Billy James, was born on November 11, 1960 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Billy James, an author of rock biographies and a musician in his
own right, reassembled great musicians from the psychedelic era in his
own Ant-Bee project. Featuring contributions from The Mothers of
Invention, the Alice Cooper Group, and members from Captain Beefheart's
Magic Band, Ant-Bee has recorded several albums of material that bring
together the styles of several branches of late-60s experimental rock
music.
After graduating from Berklee College of Music, Ant-Bee began in 1987 in
Los Angeles as a venue for James to showcase his musical affinity to
the psychedelic and experimental music of the late 1960s. Signing to
Voxx/Bomp! Records in 1988, Ant-Bee released Pure Electric Honey, which
featured guest appearances by former members of The Mothers of Invention
and Captain Beefheart. Sounding like a cross between the Smile-era of
The Beach Boys, early Pink Floyd, and late-period Beatles, the record
became well known in the underground scene in Europe. Assembling a live
band, Ant-Bee performed in the Los Angeles area in 1990 to much success.
While the band recorded a couple of videos, the next recorded material
Ant-bee would release was a German EP, 1992s With My Favorite "Mothers"
and other Bizarre Muzik Reassembling the original Mothers of Invention
for the first time in over 20 years, James and company performed
material that was both humorous and spaced-out. James recorded with The
Mothers of Invention once again on the second Ant-Bee record With My
Favorite Vegetables & Other Bizarre Muzik (1994), which received
strong press and sold quite well. Three years in the making, Lunar Muzik
(1997), explored both the pop and experimental side of the psychedelic
spectrum and was bolstered by strong production and appearances from
Daevid Allen of Soft Machine and Gong and Harvey Bainbridge of Hawkwind
and the original Alice Cooper Group.
Billy James helped to gather together the impressive array of guest
artists on the album Midnight Daydream from Bruce Cameron. Interviews
with Billy are featured in the DVD documentaries From Straight To
Bizarre - Zappa, Beefheart, Alice Cooper and LA's Lunatic Fringe and
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - In The 1960s.