Born in Pennsylvania, his family moved to Lancaster in the mid 1950s where he befriended neighbour Frank Zappa. He was guitarist with the Mothers of Invention on the 1975 Bongo Fury tour and was also part of Geronimo Black founded by Jimmy Carl Black.

Captain Beefheart asked him to join the Magic Band for their European and US tour of 1975. He stayed until 1977 when he was sacked.

He worked with Zappa again in the fall of 1978.