The Mothers of Invention | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The Mothers of Invention were led by composer, guitarist, singer, and bandleader Frank Zappa, a singular musical figure during a performing and recording career that lasted from the 1960s to the 90s. His disparate influences included doo wop music and avant-garde classical music; although the Mothers were called a rock & roll band for much of their years together, Zappa used them to create a hybrid style that bordered on jazz and complicated, modern serious music. As if his music were not challenging enough, he overlay it with highly satirical and sometimes abstractly humorous lyrics and song titles that marked him as coming out of a provocative literary tradition that included Beat poets like Allen Ginsberg and edgy comedians like Lenny Bruce. Nominally, he was a popular musician, but his recordings rarely earned significant airplay or sales, yet he was able to gain control of his recorded work and issue it successfully through his own labels while also touring internationally, in part because of the respect he earned from a dedicated cult of fans and many serious musicians, and also because he was an articulate spokesman who promoted himself into a media star through extensive interviews he considered to be a part of his creative effort just like his music. The band came together in 1964 when Zappa moved from Cucamonga, California to Los Angeles, and joined a band called the Soul Giants that featured his friend, singer Ray Collins, along with bass player Roy Estrada and drummer Jimmy Carl Black. In short order, he induced the group to play his original compositions instead of covers, and to change their name to the Mothers (reportedly on Mothers Day, May 10, 1965). In Los Angeles, the Mothers were able to obtain a manager, Herb Cohen, and audition successfully to appear in popular nightclubs such as the Whiskey Go-Go by the fall of 1965. There they were seen by record executive Tom Wilson, who signed them to the Verve Records subsidiary of MGM Records on March 1, 1966. (Verve required that the suggestive name "The Mothers" be modified to "The Mothers of Invention.") The contract called for the group to submit five albums in two years, and they immediately went into the studio to record the first of those albums, Freak Out! By this time, Elliot Ingber had joined the group on guitar, making it a quintet. An excess of material and Zappas agreement to accept a reduced publishing royalty led to the highly unusual decision to release it as a double-LP, an unprecedented indulgence for a debut act that was practically unheard, much less for an established one. (Bob Dylans Blonde on Blonde appeared during the same period, but it was his seventh album.) Freak Out! was released on June 27, 1966. It was not an immediate success commercially, but eventually entered the Billboard more than six months later. During the summer of 1966, Zappa hired drummer Denny Bruce and keyboardist Don Preston, making the Mothers of Invention a septet, but by November 1966, when the Mothers of Invention went back into the studio to record their second album, Absolutely Free, Bruce had been replaced by Billy Mundi; Ingber had been replaced by Jim Fielder; and Zappa had hired two horn players, Bunk Gardner on wind instruments and Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood on saxophone, bringing the band up to a nine-piece unit. The album was recorded in four days and released in June 1967. It entered the charts in July and reached the Top 50. The Mothers of Invention moved to New York City in November 1966 for a booking at a Greenwich Village club called the Balloon Farm that began on Thanksgiving Day and ran through New Years Day, 1967. After a two-week stint in Montreal, they returned to California, where Fielder left the group in February. In March, Zappa began recording his first solo album, Lumpy Gravy, having signed to Capitol Records under the impression that he was not signed as an individual to Verve, a position Verve would dispute. Later that month, the Mothers of Invention returned to New York City for another extended engagement at the Garrick Theater in Greenwich Village that ran during Easter week and was sufficiently successful that Herb Cohen booked the theater for the summer. That run began on May 24, 1967, and ran off and on through September 5. During this period, Ian Underwood joined the band, playing saxophone and piano. In August, the group began recording its third album, Were Only in It for the Money. In September 1967, the Mothers of Invention toured Europe for the first time, playing in the U.K., Sweden, and Denmark. On October 1, Verve failed to exercise its option to extend the bands contract, although they still owed the label three more LPs. They finished recording Were Only in It for the Money in October, but its release was held up because of legal concerns about its proposed cover photograph, an elaborate parody of the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was finally resolved by putting the picture on the inside of the fold-out LP sleeve. Were Only in It for the Money was released on March 4, 1968, and it reached the Top 30. Another legal dispute was resolved when Verve purchased the tapes of Lumpy Gravy from Capitol. Zappa then finished recording this orchestral work, and Verve released it under his name (and that of "the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra and Chorus") on May 13, 1968; it spent five weeks in the charts. Although the Mothers of Invention still owed one more LP to Verve, Zappa already was thinking ahead. In the fall of 1967, he began recording Uncle Meat, the soundtrack for a proposed film, with work continuing through February 1968. During this period, Billy Mundi left the band and was replaced on drums by Arthur Dyer Tripp III. In March, Zappa and Herb Cohen announced that they were setting up their own record label, Bizarre Records, to be distributed by the Reprise Records subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records. The label was intended to record not only the Mothers of Invention, but also acts Zappa discovered. Early in the summer, Ray Collins quit the Mothers of Invention, who continued to tour. Their performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London on October 25, 1968, was released in 1991 as the album Ahead of Their Time. That month, Bizarre was formally launched with the release of the single "The Circle," by Los Angeles street singer Wild Man Fischer. In November, guitarist Lowell George joined the Mothers of Invention. In December, Verve released the bands final album on its contract, Cruisin with Ruben & the Jets, on which Zappa for once played it straight, leading the group through a set of apparently sincere doo wop and R&B; material. The LP spent 12 weeks in the charts. (Zappa was then free of Verve, although his disputes with the company were not over. Verve put out a compilation, Mothermania: The Best of the Mothers, in March 1969, and it spent nine weeks in the charts.) The ambitious double-LP Uncle Meat, the fifth Mothers of Invention album, was released by Bizarre on April 21, 1969. It reached the Top 50. (The movie it was supposed to accompany did not appear until a home video release in 1989.) In May, Bizarre released Pretties for You, the debut album by Alice Cooper, the only act discovered by the label that would go on to substantial success (after switching to Warner Bros. Records proper, that is).The same month, Lowell George left the band; later, he and Roy Estrada would form Little Feat. Zappa began working on a second solo album, Hot Rats, in July 1969. On August 19, the Mothers of Invention gave their final performance in their original form, playing on Canadian TV at the end of a tour. One week later, Zappa announced that he was breaking up the band, although, as it turned out, this did not mean that he would not use the name "the Mothers of Invention" for groups he led in the future. Hot Rats, the second album to be credited to Frank Zappa, was released on October 10, 1969. It spent only six weeks in the charts at the time, but it would become one of Zappas best-loved collections, with the instrumental "Peaches en Regalia" a particular favorite. Although the Mothers of Invention no longer existed as a performing unit, Zappa possessed extensive tapes of them, live and in the studio, and using that material, he assembled a new album, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, released in February 1970; it made the Top 100. At the invitation of Zubin Mehta, conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Zappa assembled a new group of rock musicians dubbed the Mothers (no of Invention) for the performance, with the orchestra, of a work called 200 Motels at UCLA on May 15, 1970. Adding singers Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, formerly of the Turtles, Zappa launched a tour with this version of the Mothers in June 1970. (Also included were a returning Ian Underwood, keyboardist George Duke, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, and guitarist Jeff Simmons.) In August, Bizarre released another archival Mothers of Invention album, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, which charted. Chungas Revenge, released in October, was billed as a Zappa solo album, even though it featured the current lineup of the Mothers; it spent 14 weeks in the charts. After touring the U.S. that fall, the group went to Europe on December 1. From January 28 to February 5, 1971, they were in Pinewood Studios in the U.K. making a movie version of 200 Motels with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and co-stars Theodore Bikel, Ringo Starr, and Keith Moon of the Who. Zappa had planned a concert with the Royal Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall on February 8 as a money-saving tactic, since according to union rules, he could then pay them for the filming/recording session as if it were rehearsals for the concert. But this strategy backfired when the Royal Albert Hall canceled the concert, alleging that Zappas lyrics were too vulgar. He added to his expenses by suing the Royal Albert Hall, eventually losing in court. On June 5 and 6, 1971, the Mothers appeared during the closing week of the Fillmore East theater in New York City, recording their shows for a live album, Fillmore East, June 1971, quickly released on August 2. It became Zappas first album to reach the Top 40 since Were Only in It for the Money three years earlier. John Lennon and Yoko Ono had appeared as guests during the June 6 show, and they used their performance on their 1972 album Some Time in New York City. The Mothers gave a concert at the Pauley Pavilion at UCLA on August 7, 1971, and the show was recorded for the album Just Another Band from L.A., released in May 1972, which made the Top 100. They continued to tour into the fall. 200 Motels premiered in movie theaters on October 29, 1971, with a double-LP soundtrack album released by United Artists that made the Top 100. Meanwhile, the Mothers European tour was eventful, to say the least. On December 4, 1971, the group appeared at the Montreux Casino in Geneva, Switzerland, but their show stopped when a fan fired off a flare gun that set the venue on fire. (The incident was the inspiration for Deep Purples song "Smoke on the Water.") Six days later, as the Mothers were performing at the Rainbow Theatre in London on December 10, a deranged fan jumped on-stage and pushed Zappa into the orchestra pit. He suffered a broken ankle, among other injuries, and was forced to recuperate for months. This was the end both of the tour and of this edition of the Mothers. While convalescing at home in Los Angeles, Zappa organized a new big band to play jazz-fusion music; he dubbed it the Grand Wazoo Orchestra and recorded two albums with it. Waka/Jawaka, billed as a Zappa solo album, came out in July 1972 and spent seven weeks in the charts. The Grand Wazoo, credited to the Mothers, appeared in December and missed the charts. By September 10, Zappa felt well enough to play two weeks of dates with the group, now billed as the Mothers, starting at the Hollywood Bowl. He then cut the personnel down to ten pieces (the "Petit Wazoo" band) and toured from late October to mid-December. The start of 1973 marked a new and surprisingly popular phase in Zappas career. He assembled a new lineup of Mothers, made a batch of new recordings on which he himself sang lead vocals (his voice having dropped half an octave as a result of injuring his neck when he was thrown from the stage), and hit the road for the most extensive touring of his career. Inaugurating the new band in Fayetteville, NC, on February 23, he spent 183 days of 1973 on the road, including tours of the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Meanwhile, the Bizarre Records deal with Reprise/Warner had run out, and he launched a new label, also distributed by Warner, DiscReet Records, its first release being Over-Nite Sensation in September 1973. The album reached the Top 40, stayed in the charts nearly a year, and went gold. It was followed in April 1974 by a Zappa solo album, Apostrophe (‘). Much to Zappas surprise, radio stations began playing a track called "Dont Eat the Yellow Snow." A single edit of the song actually spent several weeks in the lower reaches of the Hot 100, and Apostrophe (‘) peaked at number ten for the week ending June 29, 1974, the highest chart position ever achieved by a Zappa album. The LP also went gold. Zappa continued to tour extensively in 1974. His next album, the double-LP live collection Roxy & Elsewhere, credited to "Zappa/Mothers," appeared in September 1974 and made the Top 30. Adding his old friend Captain Beefheart to the band, he played shows at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, TX, on May 20 and 21, 1975, that he recorded for the album Bongo Fury, credited to Frank Zappa/Captain Beefheart/The Mothers, released in October; it made the Top 100. Prior to that had come One Size Fits All, credited to Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, released in June; it made the Top 30. On September 17 and 18, 1975, two concerts of Zappas orchestral music were performed by a group dubbed the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra (in memory of Lumpy Gravy) and conducted by Michael Zearott at Royce Hall, UCLA. The shows were recorded, but the material was not released until May 1979 as Orchestral Favorites, which spent several weeks in the charts. Starting on September 27, 1975, Zappa launched another extended period of touring, staying in the U.S. through a New Years concert at the Forum in Los Angeles, then playing in Australia, Japan, and Europe, finishing on March 17, 1976. This ended another phase in his career. He split with his longtime manager Herb Cohen and disbanded his group, which, because of legal disputes with Cohen, would turn out to have been the last one called the Mothers or the Mothers of Invention. Hereafter, he would perform and record simply as Frank Zappa. (Zoot Allures, the last album to be credited to the Mothers, was released on Warner Bros. Records on October 29, 1976.) | ||
 | Album: 1 of 28 Title: Freak Out! Released: 1966-06-27 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:00:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Hungry Freaks, Daddy (03:27) 2 I Ain’t Got No Heart (02:33) 3 Who Are the Brain Police? (03:33) 4 Go Cry on Somebody Else’s Shoulder (03:41) 5 Motherly Love (02:45) 6 How Could I Be Such a Fool? (02:13) 7 Wowie Zowie (02:53) 8 You Didn’t Try to Call Me (03:18) 9 Any Way the Wind Blows (02:55) 10 I’m Not Satisfied (02:38) 11 You’re Probably Wondering Why I’m Here (03:38) 12 Trouble Every Day (05:50) 13 Help, I’m a Rock (04:43) 14 It Can’t Happen Here (03:56) 15 The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet (12:19) |
| Freak Out! : Allmusic album Review : One of the most ambitious debuts in rock history, Freak Out! was a seminal concept album that somehow foreshadowed both art rock and punk at the same time. Its four LP sides deconstruct rock conventions right and left, eventually pushing into territory inspired by avant-garde classical composers. Yet the album is sequenced in an accessibly logical progression; the first half is dedicated to catchy, satirical pop/rock songs that question assumptions about pop music, setting the tone for the radical new directions of the second half. Opening with the nonconformist call to arms "Hungry Freaks, Daddy," Freak Out! quickly posits the Mothers of Invention as the antithesis of teen-idol bands, often with sneering mockeries of the teen-romance songs that had long been rocks commercial stock-in-trade. Despite his genuine emotional alienation and dissatisfaction with pop conventions, though, Frank Zappa was actually a skilled pop composer; even with the raw performances and his stinging guitar work, theres a subtle sophistication apparent in his unorthodox arrangements and tight, unpredictable melodicism. After returning to social criticism on the first song of the second half, the perceptive Watts riot protest "Trouble Every Day," Zappa exchanges pop song structure for experiments with musique concrète, amelodic dissonance, shifting time signatures, and studio effects. Its the first salvo in his career-long project of synthesizing popular and art music, high and low culture; while these pieces can meander, they virtually explode the limits of what can appear on a rock album, and effectively illustrate Freak Out!s underlying principles: acceptance of differences and free individual expression. Zappa would spend much of his career developing and exploring ideas -- both musical and conceptual -- first put forth here; while his myriad directions often produced more sophisticated work, Freak Out! contains at least the rudiments of almost everything that followed, and few of Zappas records can match its excitement over its own sense of possibility. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 28 Title: Absolutely Free Released: 1967-06-26 Tracks: 15 Duration: 43:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Plastic People (03:42) 2 The Duke of Prunes (02:13) 3 Amnesia Vivace (01:01) 4 The Duke Regains His Chops (01:52) 5 Call Any Vegetable (02:15) 6 Invocation and Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin (07:00) 7 Soft‐Sell Conclusion (01:40) 8 Big Leg Emma (02:31) 9 Why Don’tcha Do Me Right? (02:37) 10 America Drinks (01:53) 11 Status Back Baby (02:54) 12 Uncle Bernie’s Farm (02:10) 13 Son of Suzy Creamcheese (01:34) 14 Brown Shoes Don’t Make It (07:30) 15 America Drinks & Goes Home (02:45) |
| Absolutely Free : Allmusic album Review : Frank Zappas liner notes for Freak Out! name-checked an enormous breadth of musical and intellectual influences, and he seemingly attempts to cover them all on the second Mothers of Invention album, Absolutely Free. Leaping from style to style without warning, the album has a freewheeling, almost schizophrenic quality, encompassing everything from complex mutations of "Louie, Louie" to jazz improvisations and quotes from Stravinskys Petrushka. Its made possible not only by expanded instrumentation, but also Zappas experiments with tape manipulation and abrupt editing, culminating in an orchestrated mini-rock opera ("Brown Shoes Dont Make It") whose musical style shifts every few lines, often in accordance with the lyrical content. In general, the lyrics here are more given over to absurdity and non sequiturs, with the sense that theyre often part of some private framework of satirical symbols. But elsewhere, Zappas satire also grows more explicitly social, ranting against commercial consumer culture and related themes of artificiality and conformity. By turns hilarious, inscrutable, and virtuosically complex, Absolutely Free is more difficult to make sense of than Freak Out!, partly because it lacks that albums careful pacing and conceptual focus. But even if it isnt quite fully realized, Absolutely Free is still a fabulously inventive record, bursting at the seams with ideas that would coalesce into a masterpiece with Zappas next project. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 28 Title: We’re Only in It for the Money Released: 1968-01 Tracks: 19 Duration: 39:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Are You Hung Up? (01:24) 2 Who Needs the Peace Corps? (02:34) 3 Concentration Moon (02:22) 4 Mom & Dad (02:16) 5 Telephone Conversation (00:48) 6 Bow Tie Daddy (00:33) 7 Harry, You’re a Beast (01:21) 8 What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (01:03) 9 Absolutely Free (03:24) 10 Flower Punk (03:03) 11 Hot Poop (00:26) 12 Nasal Retentive Calliope Music (02:02) 13 Let’s Make the Water Turn Black (02:01) 14 The Idiot Bastard Son (03:18) 15 Lonely Little Girl (01:09) 16 Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance (01:32) 17 What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (reprise) (01:02) 18 Mother People (02:26) 19 The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny (06:25) |
| We’re Only in It for the Money : Allmusic album Review : From the beginning, Frank Zappa cultivated a role as voice of the freaks -- imaginative outsiders who didnt fit comfortably into any group. Were Only in It for the Money is the ultimate expression of that sensibility, a satirical masterpiece that simultaneously skewered the hippies and the straights as prisoners of the same narrow-minded, superficial phoniness. Zappas barbs were vicious and perceptive, and not just humorously so: his seemingly paranoid vision of authoritarian violence against the counterculture was borne out two years later by the Kent State killings. Like Freak Out, Were Only in It for the Money essentially devotes its first half to satire, and its second half to presenting alternatives. Despite some specific references, the first-half suite is still wickedly funny, since its targets remain immediately recognizable. The second half shows where his sympathies lie, with character sketches of Zappas real-life freak acquaintances, a carefree utopia in "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance," and the strident, unironic protest "Mother People." Regardless of how dark the subject matter, theres a pervasively surreal, whimsical flavor to the music, sort of like Sgt. Pepper as a creepy nightmare. Some of the instruments and most of the vocals have been manipulated to produce odd textures and cartoonish voices; most songs are abbreviated, segue into others through edited snippets of music and dialogue, or are broken into fragments by more snippets, consistently interrupting the albums continuity. Compositionally, though, the music reveals itself as exceptionally strong, and Zappas politics and satirical instinct have rarely been so focused and relevant, making Were Only in It for the Money quite probably his greatest achievement. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 28 Title: Cruising With Ruben & The Jets Released: 1968-11 Tracks: 13 Duration: 41:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Cheap Thrills (02:39) 2 Love of My Life (03:08) 3 How Could I Be Such a Fool (03:34) 4 Deseri (02:08) 5 I’m Not Satisfied (04:08) 6 Jelly Roll Gum Drop (02:24) 7 Anything (03:05) 8 Later That Night (03:00) 9 You Didn’t Try to Call Me (03:57) 10 Fountain of Love (03:22) 11 “No. No. No.” (02:15) 12 Anyway the Wind Blows (03:01) 13 Stuff Up the Cracks (04:36) |
| Cruising With Ruben & The Jets : Allmusic album Review : Frank Zappa loved 50s doo wop music. He grew up with it, collected it, and it was the first kind of pop music he wrote ("Memories of El Monte," recorded by the Penguins in 1962). Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, the Mothers of Inventions fourth LP, is a collection of such music, all Zappa originals (some co-written with MOI singer Ray Collins). To the unexperienced, songs like "Cheap Thrills," "Deseri," and "Jelly Roll Gum Drop" may sound like an average doo wop song. A closer look reveals unusual chord sequences, Stravinsky quotes, and hilariously moronic lyrics -- all wrapped in four-way harmony vocals and linear piano triplets. A handful of songs from the groups 1966 debut, Freak Out, were rearranged ("How Could I Be Such a Fool" and "Anyway the Wind Blows" give the weirdest results), and old material predating the Mothers was recycled ("Fountain of Love"). "Love of My Life" and "You Didnt Try to Call Me" became live staples. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 28 Title: Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention Released: 1969 Tracks: 5 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Peaches en Regalia (?) 2 Willie the Pimp (?) 3 Son of Mr. Green Genes (?) 4 Little House I Used to Live In (?) 5 Valarie (?) |
 | Album: 6 of 28 Title: Mothermania: The Best of The Mothers Released: 1969-03-24 Tracks: 11 Duration: 41:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Brown Shoes Don’t Make It (07:27) 2 Mother People (01:41) 3 The Duke of Prunes (05:07) 4 Call Any Vegetable (04:22) 5 The Idiot Bastard Son (02:24) 6 It Can’t Happen Here (03:16) 7 You’re Probably Wondering Why I’m Here (03:38) 8 Who Are the Brain Police? (03:28) 9 Plastic People (03:42) 10 Hungry Freaks, Daddy (03:29) 11 America Drinks and Goes Home (02:43) |
 | Album: 7 of 28 Title: Uncle Meat Released: 1969-04 Tracks: 31 Duration: 2:00:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Uncle Meat: Main Title Theme (01:55) 2 The Voice of Cheese (00:26) 3 Nine Types of Industrial Pollution (06:00) 4 Zolar Czakl (00:54) 5 Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague (03:59) 6 The Legend of the Golden Arches (03:27) 7 Louie Louie (at the Royal Albert Hall in London) (02:19) 8 The Dog Breath Variations (01:48) 9 Sleeping in a Jar (00:50) 10 Our Bizarre Relationship (01:05) 11 The Uncle Meat Variations (04:46) 12 Electric Aunt Jemima (01:46) 13 Prelude to King Kong (03:38) 14 God Bless America (01:10) 15 A Pound for a Brown on the Bus (01:29) 16 Ian Underwood Whips It Out (05:05) 17 Mr. Green Genes (03:14) 18 We Can Shoot You (02:03) 19 “If We’d All Been Living in California…” (01:14) 20 The Air (02:57) 21 Project X (04:49) 22 Cruising for Burgers (02:17) 1 Uncle Meat Film Excerpt, Part I (37:34) 2 Tengo na minchia tanta (03:46) 3 Uncle Meat Film Excerpt, Part II (03:51) 4 King Kong Itself (as played by the Mothers in a studio) (00:49) 5 King Kong (its magnificence as interpreted by Dom DeWild) (01:21) 6 King Kong (as Motorhead explains it) (01:44) 7 King Kong (the Gardner Varieties) (06:17) 8 King Kong (as played by 3 deranged Good Humor Trucks) (00:34) 9 King Kong (07:23) |
| Uncle Meat : Allmusic album Review : Just three years into their recording career, the Mothers of Invention released their second double album, Uncle Meat, which began life as the largely instrumental soundtrack to an unfinished film. Its essentially a transitional work, but its a fascinating one, showcasing Frank Zappas ever-increasing compositional dexterity and the Mothers emerging instrumental prowess. It was potentially easy to overlook Zappas melodic gifts on albums past, but on Uncle Meat, he thrusts them firmly into the spotlight; what few lyrics there are, Zappa says in the liner notes, are in-jokes relevant only to the band. Thus, Uncle Meat became the point at which Zappa began to establish himself as a composer and he would return to many of these pieces repeatedly over the course of his career. Taken as a whole, Uncle Meat comes off as a hodgepodge, with centerpieces scattered between variations on previous pieces, short concert excerpts, less-realized experiments, doo wop tunes, and comedy bits; the programming often feels as random as the abrupt transitions and tape experiments held over from Zappas last few projects. But despite the absence of a conceptual framework, the unfocused sprawl of Uncle Meat is actually a big part of its appeal. Its exciting to hear one of the most creatively fertile minds in rock pushing restlessly into new territory, even if he isnt always quite sure where hes going. However, several tracks hint at the jazz-rock fusion soon to come, especially the extended album closer "King Kong"; its his first unequivocal success in that area, with its odd time signature helping turn it into a rhythmically kinetic blowing vehicle. Though some might miss the gleeful satire of Zappas previous work with the Mothers, Uncle Meats continued abundance of musical ideas places it among his most intriguing works. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 28 Title: Burnt Weeny Sandwich Released: 1970-02-09 Tracks: 9 Duration: 41:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 WPLJ (02:52) 2 Igor’s Boogie, Phase One (00:36) 3 Overture to a Holiday in Berlin (01:27) 4 Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich (04:32) 5 Igor’s Boogie, Phase Two (00:36) 6 Holiday in Berlin, Full‐Blown (06:24) 7 Aybe Sea (02:46) 8 Little House I Used to Live In (18:41) 9 Valarie (03:14) |
| Burnt Weeny Sandwich : Allmusic album Review : Burnt Weeny Sandwich is the first of two albums by the Mothers of Invention that Frank Zappa released in 1970, after he had disbanded the original lineup. While Weasels Ripped My Flesh focuses on complex material and improvised stage madness, this collection of studio and live recordings summarizes the leaders various interests and influences at the time. It opens and closes on 50s pop covers, "WPLJ" and "Valarie." "Aybe Sea" is a Zappafied sea shanty, while "Igors Boogie" is named after composer Igor Stravinsky, the closest thing to a hero Zappa ever worshipped. But the best material is represented by "Holiday in Berlin," a theme that would become central to the music of 200 Motels, and "The Little House I Used to Live In," including a virtuoso piano solo by Ian Underwood. Presented as an extended set of theme and variations, the latter does not reach the same heights as "King Kong." In many places, and with the two aforementioned exceptions in mind, Burnt Weeny Sandwich sounds like a set of outtakes from Uncle Meat, which already summarized to an extent the adventures of the early Mothers. It lacks some direction, but those allergic to the groups grunts and free-form playing will prefer it to the wacky Weasels Ripped My Flesh. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 28 Title: Weasels Ripped My Flesh Released: 1970-08-10 Tracks: 11 Duration: 39:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Didja Get Any Onya? (03:44) 2 Directly From My Heart to You (05:18) 3 Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask (03:35) 4 Toads of the Short Forest (04:47) 5 Get a Little (02:33) 6 The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue (06:51) 7 Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula (02:11) 8 My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama (03:36) 9 Oh No (01:45) 10 The Orange County Lumber Truck (03:20) 11 Weasels Ripped My Flesh (02:07) |
| Weasels Ripped My Flesh : Allmusic album Review : A fascinating collection of mostly instrumental live and studio material recorded by the original Mothers of Invention, complete with horn section, from 1967-1969, Weasels Ripped My Flesh segues unpredictably between arty experimentation and traditional song structures. Highlights of the former category include the classical avant-garde elements of "Didja Get Any Onya," which blends odd rhythmic accents and time signatures with dissonance and wordless vocal noises; these pop up again in "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask" and "Toads of the Short Forest." The latter and "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue" also show Frank Zappas willingness to embrace the avant-garde jazz of the period. Yet, interspersed are straightforward tunes like a cover of Little Richards "Directly From My Heart to You," with great violin from Don "Sugarcane" Harris; the stinging Zappa-sung rocker "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama," and "Oh No," a familiar Broadway-esque Zappa melody (it turned up on Lumpy Gravy) fitted with lyrics and sung by Ray Collins. Thus, Weasels can make for difficult, incoherent listening, especially at first. But there is a certain logic behind the bands accomplished genre-bending and Zappas gleefully abrupt veering between musical extremes; without pretension, Zappa blurs the normally sharp line between intellectual concept music and the visceral immediacy of rock and R&B. Zappas anything-goes approach and the distance between his extremes are what make Weasels Ripped My Flesh ultimately invigorating; they also even make the closing title track -- a minute and a half of squalling feedback, followed by applause -- perfectly logical in the albums context. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 28 Title: Pop History, Vol. 7 Released: 1971 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:22:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Help I’m a Rock (08:37) 2 I’m Not Satisfied (02:37) 3 Motherly Love (02:45) 4 Plastic People (03:40) 5 The Idiot Bastard Son (03:27) 6 Brown Shoes Don’t Make It (07:26) 7 The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny (06:30) 8 Anything (03:00) 9 You Didn’t Try to Call Me (03:53) 1 Duke of Prunes (05:09) 2 Hungry Freaks Daddy (03:28) 3 Uncle Bernie’s Farm (02:09) 4 Who Are the Brain Police (03:22) 5 Who Need the Peace Corps (02:34) 6 Absolutely Free (03:26) 7 Status Back Baby (02:52) 8 Invacation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin (06:57) 9 Go Cry on Somebody Else’s Shoulder (03:31) 10 Flower Punk (03:57) 11 America Drinks & Goes Home (02:43) |
 | Album: 11 of 28 Title: Pop History Released: 1971 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:23:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Duke of Prunes (05:09) 2 Absolutely Free (03:26) 3 Status Back Baby (02:52) 4 America Drinks & Goes Home (02:43) 5 Invacation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin (06:57) 6 Flower Punk (03:57) 7 You Didn’t Try to Call Me (03:53) 8 I’m Not Satisfied (02:37) 9 The Idiot Bastard Son (03:27) 10 The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny (06:30) 1 The Murder Mystery (08:35) 2 I’m Set Free (04:05) 3 Lady Godiva’s Operation (04:52) 4 Winter Song (03:15) 5 Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (05:15) 6 The Gift (08:15) 7 Some Kind of Love (03:35) 8 Eulogy to Lenny Bruce (03:45) |
 | Album: 12 of 28 Title: Fillmore East, June 1971 Released: 1971-08 Tracks: 11 Duration: 42:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Little House I Used to Live In (04:42) 2 The Mud Shark (05:22) 3 What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are? (04:17) 4 Bwana Dik (02:21) 5 Latex Solar Beef (02:38) 6 Willie the Pimp, Part One (04:03) 7 Do You Like My New Car? (07:08) 8 Happy Together (02:57) 9 Lonesome Electric Turkey (02:32) 10 Peaches en Regalia (03:22) 11 Tears Began to Fall (02:46) |
| Fillmore East, June 1971 : Allmusic album Review : As an enduring work, Fillmore East: June 1971 is a mixed bag, but it does represent the peak of the Flo & Eddie edition of the Mothers. Most of the songs are essentially comedy routines set to music, often dealing with the life of a touring rock musician and, of course, the various opportunities for sexual adventure therein; in one scenario, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan reprise their Turtles hit "Happy Together" in exchange for sexual favors. The humor is often glib and juvenile, marking the beginnings of Frank Zappas tactic of making complex music more accessible with half-sardonic arena-frontman antics and crowd-pleasing dirty jokes. Whether one considers the results funny and parodic or crass and pandering, the band is undeniably good, especially as showcased on "Little House I Used to Live In," "Willie the Pimp, Pt. 1," and "Peaches en Regalia." | ||
 | Album: 13 of 28 Title: Just Another Band From L.A. Released: 1972-03 Tracks: 5 Duration: 45:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Billy the Mountain (24:47) 2 Call Any Vegetable (07:22) 3 Eddie, Are You Kidding? (03:09) 4 Magdalena (06:24) 5 Dog Breath (03:37) |
| Just Another Band From L.A. : Allmusic album Review : Just Another Band From L.A. was recorded live at the Pauley Pavillion, UCLA (Los Angeles), on August 7, 1971. Released in early 1972, it is the last album to document the Mothers of Invention lineup that included singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (aka Flo & Eddie). (The other bandmembers on this particular recording are: Ian Underwood, Aynsley Dunbar, Don Preston, and Jim Pons.) A previous LP, Fillmore East, June 1971, focused on material related to life on the road that had to be dropped from the movie and album 200 Motels. This second live record presents different material, plus two old favorites completely rearranged for this version of the band: "Call Any Vegetable" and "Dog Breath." Side one of the LP was entirely comprised of "Billy the Mountain," a continuous 25-minute story-song. The piece, filled with silly (some would say childish) stage antics and simple rock riffs, foretells "The Adventures of Greggary Peccary" and follows a logic similar to the "Sofa" suite. But the inclusion in its plot of dozens of very space-and-time-specific references (to towns, TV personalities, government officials, and businesses) made it age very quickly. Fans of the Flo & Eddie period will love the improvised storyline developments. Others should approach with caution, even though this one has much better sound quality than Fillmore East, June 1971. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 28 Title: The Grand Wazoo Released: 1972-11 Tracks: 5 Duration: 37:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 For Calvin (and His Next Two Hitch‐Hikers) (06:06) 2 The Grand Wazoo (13:20) 3 Cletus Awreetus‐Awrightus (02:57) 4 Eat That Question (06:42) 5 Blessed Relief (08:00) |
| The Grand Wazoo : Allmusic album Review : Like its immediate predecessor, Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo was a largely instrumental jazz rock album recorded during Frank Zappas convalescence from injuries sustained after being pushed off a concert stage. While Zappa contributes some guitar solos and occasional vocals, the focus is more on his skills as a composer and arranger. Most of the five selections supposedly form a musical representation of a story told in the liner notes about two warring musical factions, but the bottom line is that, overall, the compositions here are more memorably melodic and consistently engaging than Waka/Jawaka. The instrumentation is somewhat unique in the Zappa catalog as well, with the band more of a chamber jazz orchestra than a compact rock unit; over 20 musicians and vocalists contribute to the record. While Hot Rats is still the peak of Zappas jazz-rock fusion efforts, The Grand Wazoo comes close, and its essential for anyone interested in Zappas instrumental works. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 28 Title: Mother’s Day Released: 1973 Tracks: 22 Duration: 1:21:33 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Fountain of Love (02:52) 2 Brown Shoes Don’t Make It (07:19) 3 Concentration Moon (02:25) 4 Nasal Retentive Calliope Music (02:00) 5 Let’s Make the Water Turn Black (01:43) 6 Stuff Up the Cracks (04:24) 7 America Drinks (01:51) 8 Cheap Thrills (02:18) 9 You’re Probably Wondering Why I’m Here (03:36) 10 The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny (06:14) 11 No No No (02:25) 12 Plastic People (03:39) 1 Are You Hung Up (01:22) 2 Help I’m a Rock (suite in three movements) : Okay to Tap Dance / In Memoriam, Edgar Varese’ / It Can’t Happen Here (08:29) 3 Bow Tie Daddy (01:21) 4 Harry, You’re a Beast (01:21) 5 What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body (01:00) 6 Invocation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin (06:49) 7 Later That Night (03:04) 8 The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet (unfinished ballet in two tableaus): Ritual Dance of the Child Killers / Nullis Pretii (12:17) 9 Wowie Zowie (02:45) 10 Call Any Vegetable (02:19) |
 | Album: 16 of 28 Title: Over‐Nite Sensation Released: 1973-01 Tracks: 7 Duration: 34:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Camarillo Brillo (03:59) 2 I’m the Slime (03:34) 3 Dirty Love (02:58) 4 Fifty‐Fifty (06:09) 5 Zomby Woof (05:10) 6 Dinah‐Moe Humm (06:02) 7 Montana (06:34) |
| Over‐Nite Sensation : Allmusic album Review : Love it or hate it, Over-Nite Sensation was a watershed album for Frank Zappa, the point where his post-60s aesthetic was truly established; it became his second gold album, and most of these songs became staples of his live shows for years to come. Whereas the Flo and Eddie years were dominated by rambling, off-color comedy routines, Over-Nite Sensation tightened up the song structures and tucked sexual and social humor into melodic, technically accomplished heavy guitar rock with jazzy chord changes and funky rhythms; meanwhile, Zappas growling new post-accident voice takes over the storytelling. While the music is some of Zappas most accessible, the apparent callousness and/or stunning sexual explicitness of "Camarillo Brillo," "Dirty Love," and especially "Dinah-Moe Humm" leave him on shaky aesthetic ground. Zappa often protested that the charges of misogyny leveled at such material missed out on the implicit satire of male stupidity, and also confirmed intellectuals self-conscious reticence about indulging in dumb fun; however, the glee in his voice as he spins his adolescent fantasies can undermine his point. Indeed, that enjoyment, also evident in the silly wordplay, suggests that Zappa is throwing his juvenile crassness in the face of critical expectation, asserting his right to follow his muse even if it leads him into blatant stupidity (ironic or otherwise). One can read this motif into the absurd shaggy-dog story of a dental floss rancher in "Montana," the albums indisputable highlight, which features amazing, uncredited vocal backing from Tina Turner and the Ikettes. As with much of Zappas best 70s and 80s material, Over-Nite Sensation could be perceived as ideologically problematic (if you havent got the constitution for FZs humor), but musically, its terrific. | ||
 | Album: 17 of 28 Title: Roxy & Elsewhere Released: 1974-09-10 Tracks: 10 Duration: 1:08:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Penguin in Bondage (06:47) 2 Pygmy Twylyte (02:13) 3 Dummy Up (06:03) 4 Village of the Sun (04:17) 5 Echidna’s Arf (of You) (03:53) 6 Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? (09:40) 7 Cheepnis (06:33) 8 Son of Orange County (05:53) 9 More Trouble Every Day (06:00) 10 Be‐Bop Tango (of the Old Jazzmen’s Church) (16:40) |
| Roxy & Elsewhere : Allmusic album Review : After his affair with jazz fusion (Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, both released in 1972), Frank Zappa came back in late 1973 with an album of simple rock songs, Over-Nite Sensation. But the temptation for more challenging material was not long to resurface and, after a transitional LP (Apostrophe, early 1974), he unleashed a double LP (reissued on one CD) of his most complex music, creating a bridge between his comedy rock stylings and Canterbury-style progressive rock. Three-quarters of the album was recorded live at the Roxy in Hollywood and extensively overdubbed in the studio later. Only three tracks ("Dummy Up," "Son of Orange County," and "More Trouble Every Day"), taken from other concerts, are 100 percent live. The band is comprised of George Duke (keyboards), Tom Fowler (bass), Ruth Underwood (percussion), Bruce Fowler (trombone), Walt Fowler (trumpet), Napoleon Murphy Brock (vocals), and Chester Thompson (drums) -- drummer Ralph Humphrey, keyboardist Don Preston, and guitarist Jeff Simmons appear on the non-Roxy material. The sequence "Echidnas Arf (Of You)"/"Dont You Ever Wash That Thing?" stands as Zappas most difficult rock music and provides quite a showcase for Underwood. Other highlights include "Penguin in Bondage" and "Cheepnis," a horror movie tribute. All the pieces were premiere recordings, except for "More Trouble Every Day" and "Son of Orange County," a revamped, slowed down "Orange County Lumber Truck"/"Oh No." Compared to the mans previous live recordings (Fillmore East: June 1971, Just Another Band from L.A.), this one sounds fantastic, finally providing an accurate image of the musicians virtuosity. For fans of Zappas intricate material like "RDNZL," "The Black Page," or "Inca Roads," this album is a must-have. | ||
 | Album: 18 of 28 Title: 2 Originals of the Mothers of Invention Released: 1975 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:20:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 WPLJ (02:52) 2 Igor’s Boogie, Phase One (00:36) 3 Overture to a Holiday in Berlin (01:27) 4 Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich (04:32) 5 Igor’s Boogie, Phase Two (00:36) 6 Holiday in Berlin, Full‐Blown (06:24) 7 Aybe Sea (02:46) 8 Little House I Used to Live In (18:41) 9 Valarie (03:14) 1 Didja Get Any Onya? (03:44) 2 Directly From My Heart to You (05:16) 3 Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask (03:35) 4 Toads of the Short Forest (04:48) 5 Get a Little (02:31) 6 The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue (06:52) 7 Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula (02:12) 8 My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama (03:32) 9 Oh No (01:45) 10 The Orange County Lumber Truck (03:21) 11 Weasels Ripped My Flesh (02:07) |
 | Album: 19 of 28 Title: Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention Released: 1975 Tracks: 22 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Why Don’t You Do Me Right (?) 2 Who Needs the Peace Corps (?) 3 Concentration Moon (?) 4 Mom & Dad (?) 5 Bow Tie Daddy (?) 6 Harry, You’re a Beast (?) 7 What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (?) 8 Absolutely Free (?) 9 Cheap Thrills (?) 10 Excerpt From Lumpy Gravy (?) 11 Wowie Zowie (?) 12 Flower Punk (?) 13 Later That Night (?) 14 Let’s Make the Water Turn Black (?) 15 Lonely Little Girl (?) 16 Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance (?) 17 What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (reprise) (?) 18 America Drinks (?) 19 Status Back Baby (?) 20 Uncle Bernie’s Farm (?) 21 Son of Suzy Cream Cheese (?) 22 Big Leg Emma (?) |
 | Album: 20 of 28 Title: One Size Fits All Released: 1975-06-25 Tracks: 9 Duration: 43:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Inca Roads (08:47) 2 Can’t Afford No Shoes (02:41) 3 Sofa No. 1 (02:41) 4 Po‐Jama People (07:45) 5 Florentine Pogen (05:29) 6 Evelyn, a Modified Dog (01:07) 7 San Ber’dino (05:59) 8 Andy (06:06) 9 Sofa No. 2 (02:47) |
| One Size Fits All : Allmusic album Review : Released soon after the live Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All contained more of the material premiered during the 1973-1974 tour, but this time largely re-recorded in the studio. The band remains the same: George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Chester Thompson, Tom Fowler, and Ruth Underwood. Johnny "Guitar" Watson overdubbed some vocals and Captain Beefheart (credited as Bloodshot Rollin Red) played some harmonica ("when present," state the liner notes). The previous album focused on complex music suites. This one is more song-oriented, alternating goofy rock songs with more challenging numbers in an attempt to find a juste milieu between Over-Nite Sensation and Roxy & Elsewhere. "Inca Roads," "Florentine Pogen," "Andy," and "Sofa" all became classic tracks and live favorites. These are as close to progressive rock (a demented, clownish kind) Zappa ever got. The obscurity of their subjects, especially the flying saucer topic of "Inca Roads," seem to spoof prog rock clichés. The high-flying compositions are offset by "Cant Afford No Shoes," "Po-Jama People," and "San Berdino," more down-to-earth songs. Together with Zoot Allures, One Size Fits All can be considered as one of the easiest points of entry into Zappas discography. The album artwork features a big maroon sofa, a conceptual continuity clue arching back to a then-undocumented live suite (from which "Sofa" was salvaged) and a sky map with dozens of bogus stars and constellations labeled with inside jokes in place of names. An essential third-period Zappa album. | ||
 | Album: 21 of 28 Title: Bongo Fury Released: 1975-10-02 Tracks: 9 Duration: 41:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Debra Kadabra (03:54) 2 Carolina Hard‐Core Ecstasy (05:59) 3 Sam With the Showing Scalp Flat Top (03:21) 4 Poofter’s Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead (02:32) 5 200 Years Old (04:32) 6 Cucamonga (02:24) 7 Advance Romance (11:17) 8 Man With the Woman Head (01:28) 9 Muffin Man (05:33) |
| Bongo Fury : Allmusic album Review : Bongo Fury captures Captain Beefheart aka Don Van Vliet with Frank Zappa during their brief reunion for a series of shows in the spring of 1975. This album is a pastiche of both live performances -- taken from two evenings at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, TX -- and studio recordings that were almost a year-and-a-half old. This is the last album to feature the highly technical jazz fusion of Mothers of Invention, whose roots can be traced back to 1973 circa Over-Nite Sensation. The live portions are highlighted by the latest addition to the band -- frenetic percussionist extraordinaire Terry "Ted" Bozzio, who would stay with Zappa for a majority of the 70s. Most Zappa enthusiasts either love or hate Bongo Fury. Much of the disparity has to do with the lack of the extended fusion-based instrumentals that had graced their predecessors One Size Fits All and Roxy & Elsewhere as much as it does with the inclusion of Captain Beefheart. Conversely, those consumers whose passions tend toward both Zappa and Captain Beefheart consider this disc as a mutual zenith. Either way, there is a little something for every element. The album plunges directly into the ballsy rocker "Debra Kadabra." Although the track is credited solely to Zappa, the schizophrenic animation given by Van Vliet is an inspired combination of singing and spoken word -- as might be delivered by an amphetamine-drenched preacher. Zappa and the Mothers give the multi-tempo song a full-throttled workout, which is met headlong with "Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy." This track comes from Zappas long tradition of "tales from the road" involving various encounters with female enthusiasts. The song also includes some fiery fretwork from Zappa during the waning moments. Additional stellar guitar work can be found on "Advance Romance," as the best elements of this particular band occur here. The track grooves with a force similar to that of "Florentine Pogen" from One Size Fits All and contains a memorable Napoleon Murphy Brock vocal. The song also features the most extended instrumental interaction on Bongo Fury, running at over 11 minutes. Likewise, the two Captain Beefheart penned spoken-word selections, "Sam With the Showing Scalp Flat Top" and "Man With a Woman Head," are key entries into his anthology of surrealistic prose. | ||
 | Album: 22 of 28 Title: ’Tis the Season to Be Jelly Released: 1988 Tracks: 11 Duration: 37:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 You Didn’t Try to Call Me (03:12) 2 Petroushka (00:52) 3 Bristol Stomp (00:45) 4 Baby Love (00:47) 5 Big Leg Emma (02:09) 6 No Matter What You Do (Tchaikovsky’s 6th) (02:41) 7 Blue Suede Shoes (00:53) 8 Hound Dog (00:14) 9 Gee (01:52) 10 King Kong (14:18) 11 It Can’t Happen Here (09:18) |
 | Album: 23 of 28 Title: The Ark Released: 1991-07-16 Tracks: 6 Duration: 51:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Big Leg Emma (04:32) 2 Some Ballet Music (07:14) 3 Status Back Baby (05:54) 4 Valarie (03:53) 5 My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama (06:49) 6 Uncle Meat / King Kong (medley) (23:26) |
 | Album: 24 of 28 Title: Playground Psychotics Released: 1992-11 Tracks: 57 Duration: 2:12:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Here Comes the Gear, Lads (01:00) 2 The Living Garbage Truck (01:20) 3 A Typical Sound Check (01:18) 4 This Is Neat (00:23) 5 The Motel Lobby (01:21) 6 Getting Stewed (00:55) 7 The Motel Room (00:29) 8 Dont Take Me Down (01:11) 9 The Dressing Room (00:24) 10 Learning Penis Dimension (02:02) 11 You There, With the Hard On (00:24) 12 Zanti Serenade (02:40) 13 Divan (01:46) 14 Sleeping in a Jar (01:30) 15 Dont Eat There (02:26) 16 Brixton Still Live (02:59) 17 Super Grease (01:39) 18 Wonderful Wino (04:52) 19 Sharleena (04:23) 20 Cruisin for Burgers (02:53) 21 Diptheria Blues (06:19) 22 Well (04:43) 23 Say Please (00:57) 24 Aaawk (02:59) 25 Scum Bag (05:53) 26 A Small Eternity With Yoko Ono (06:05) 1 Beer Shampoo (01:39) 2 Champagne Lecture (04:29) 3 Childish Perversions (01:31) 4 Playground Psychotics (01:08) 5 The Mudshark Interview (02:39) 6 Theres No Lust in Jazz (00:55) 7 Botulism on the Hoof (00:47) 8 You Got Your Armies (00:10) 9 The Spew King (00:24) 10 Im Doomed (00:24) 11 Status Back Baby (02:49) 12 The London Cab Tape (01:24) 13 Concentration Moon, Part One (01:20) 14 The Sanzini Brothers (01:33) 15 Its a Good Thing We Get Paid to Do This (02:45) 16 Concentration Moon, Part Two (02:04) 17 Mom & Dad (03:09) 18 Intro to Music for Low Budget Orchestra (01:39) 19 Billy the Mountain (30:26) 20 Hes Watching Us (01:21) 21 If Youre Not a Professional Actor (00:22) 22 Hes Right (00:15) 23 Going for the Money (00:12) 24 Jeff Quits (01:33) 25 A Bunch of Adventures (00:55) 26 Martin Lickerts Story (00:39) 27 A Great Guy (00:30) 28 Bad Acting (00:10) 29 The Worst Reviews (00:20) 30 A Version of Himself (01:02) 31 I Could Be a Star Now (00:36) |
 | Album: 25 of 28 Title: Ahead of Their Time Released: 1993-03-23 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:07:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Prologue (03:07) 2 Progress? (04:44) 3 Like It or Not (02:21) 4 The Jimmy Carl Black Philosophy Lesson (02:01) 5 Holding the Group Back (02:00) 6 Holiday in Berlin (00:57) 7 The Rejected Mexican Pope Leaves the Stage (02:55) 8 Undaunted, the Band Plays On (04:34) 9 Agency Man (03:17) 10 Epilogue (01:52) 11 King Kong (08:13) 12 Help, I’m a Rock (01:38) 13 Transylvania Boogie (03:07) 14 Pound for a Brown (06:50) 15 Sleeping in a Jar (02:24) 16 Let’s Make the Water Turn Black (01:51) 17 Harry, You’re a Beast (00:53) 18 The Orange County Lumber Truck, Part I (00:46) 19 Oh No (03:22) 20 The Orange County Lumber Truck, Part II (10:36) |
| Ahead of Their Time : Allmusic album Review : The date is October 28, 1968. The Mothers of Invention are playing the Royal Festival Hall in London. Frank Zappa has booked 14 musicians from the BBC Symphony Orchestra to accompany them during the first part of the show. He had been writing chamber music pieces in the hotel rooms he visited and wanted to try them out. He strung them together by devising a psychodrama he called "Progress?" This was meant (and indeed turned out) to be a one-time performance, so he made sure to record it. He released the whole thing as Ahead of Their Time 25 years later. The first half of the disc is comprised of the "play." A faction of the Mothers want to play conservative concert music. Don Preston advocates progress with his avant-gardist electronics. He and pianist Ian Underwood battle it out while other frivolous characters (played by members of the Mothers) intervene. It must have been a lot of fun to watch (and it was filmed; parts of it appeared in the movie Uncle Meat), but some of the more visual scenes translate poorly on record. More important is the music itself, which definitely points toward the score to 200 Motels -- it even includes "Holiday in Berlin," which will eventually become a central theme of the film music. The second half of the CD presents the rock part of that nights concert. All instrumental and very focused, it presents Zappas best tunes from 1967-1968, including the complete sequence that includes "Lets Make the Water Turn Black," "Harry Youre a Beast," "The Orange County Lumber Truck," and "Oh No." The sound quality is far from perfect, but this is a crucial document that fans of the 60s Mothers will enjoy. | ||
 | Album: 26 of 28 Title: Carnegie Hall Released: 2011-10-11 Tracks: 34 Duration: 3:35:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 I Just Cant Work No Longer (02:32) 2 Working All the Live Long Day / Chain Gang (02:29) 3 Medley #1 (07:28) 4 Pieces of a Man (02:53) 5 Buffalo Soldier (04:33) 6 Medley #2 (02:36) 7 Medley #3 (03:14) 8 Hello (to FOH) / Ready!? (to the BAND) (01:03) 9 Call Any Vegetable (10:36) 10 Anyway The Wind Blows (04:00) 11 Magdalena (06:08) 12 Dog Breath (05:41) 1 Peaches En Regalia (04:24) 2 Tears Began To Fall (02:32) 3 Shove It Right In (06:32) 4 King Kong (30:25) 5 200 Motels Finale (03:41) 6 Who Are The Brain Police? (07:08) 1 Auspicious Occasion (02:45) 2 Once Upon a Time (05:40) 3 Sofa #1 (03:11) 4 Magic Pig (01:43) 5 Stick It Out (04:54) 6 Divan Ends Here (04:17) 7 Pound for a Brown (06:03) 8 Sleeping in a Jar (02:46) 9 Wonderful Wino (05:46) 10 Sharleena (04:51) 11 Cruising for Burgers (03:17) 1 Billy the Mountain, Part 1 (28:33) 2 Billy the Mountain, Part 2 (13:31) 3 Billy the Mountain, Part 3 (05:37) 4 The $600 Mud Shark Prelude (01:27) 5 The Mud Shark (13:35) |
 | Album: 27 of 28 Title: Roxy the Movie Released: 2015-10-30 Tracks: 11 Duration: 1:08:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 “Something Terrible Has Happened” / Cosmik Debris (01:19) 2 Cosmik Debris (09:54) 3 Penguin in Bondage (08:22) 4 T’Mershi Duween (01:56) 5 Dog / Meat (The Dog Breath Variations / Uncle Meat) (04:14) 6 RDNZL (04:51) 7 Echidna’s Arf (Of You) (03:54) 8 Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? (07:02) 9 Cheepnis‐Percussion (04:08) 10 Cheepnis (05:40) 11 Be‐Bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen’s Church) (17:32) |
 | Album: 28 of 28 Title: The Roxy Performances Released: 2018-02-02 Tracks: 84 Duration: 7:55:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Sunday Show 1 Start (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (04:59) 2 Cosmik Debris (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (11:33) 3 “We’re Makin’ a Movie” (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (03:16) 4 Pygmy Twylyte (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (09:08) 5 The Idiot Bastard Son (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (02:19) 6 Cheepnis (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (03:44) 7 Hollywood Perverts (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (01:07) 8 Penguin in Bondage (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (05:54) 9 T’Mershi Duween (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (01:56) 10 The Dog Breath Variations (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (01:44) 11 Uncle Meat (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (02:29) 12 RDNZL (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (05:14) 13 Montana (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (07:49) 14 Dupree’s Paradise (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (15:23) 1 Dickie’s Such an Asshole (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 1) (10:29) 2 Sunday Show 2 Start (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (04:08) 3 Inca Roads (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (08:27) 4 Village of the Sun (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (04:19) 5 Echidna’s Arf (Of You) (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (04:01) 6 Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (13:22) 7 Slime Intro (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (00:59) 8 I’m the Slime (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (03:34) 9 Big Swifty (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (09:01) 1 Tango #1 Intro (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (03:50) 2 Be‐bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen’s Church) (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (18:12) 3 Medley: King Kong / Chunga’s Revenge / Son of Mr. Green Genes (live / 12‐9‐73 / show 2) (09:46) 4 Monday Show 1 Start (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (05:31) 5 Montana (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (06:57) 6 Dupree’s Paradise (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (21:26) 7 Cosmik Intro (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (01:05) 8 Cosmik Debris (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (08:05) 1 Bondage Intro (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (01:52) 2 Penguin in Bondage (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (06:54) 3 T’Mershi Duween (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (01:52) 4 The Dog Breath Variations (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (01:48) 5 Uncle Meat (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (02:29) 6 RDNZL (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (04:59) 7 Audience Participation / RDNZL (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (03:08) 8 Pygmy Twylyte (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (04:05) 9 The Idiot Bastard Son (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (02:21) 10 Cheepnis (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (04:49) 11 Dickie’s Such an Asshole (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 1) (10:21) 12 Monday Show 2 Start (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (05:13) 13 Penguin in Bondage (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (06:33) 14 T’Mershi Duween (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (01:52) 15 The Dog Breath Variations (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (01:46) 16 Uncle Meat (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (02:28) 17 RDNZL (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (05:11) 1 Village of the Sun (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (04:05) 2 Echidna’s Arf (Of You) (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (03:54) 3 Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (06:56) 4 Cheepnis / Percussion (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (04:08) 5 “I Love Monster Movies” (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (02:10) 6 Cheepnis (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (03:35) 7 “Turn the Light Off” / Pamela’s Intro (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (03:59) 8 Pygmy Twylyte (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (07:23) 9 The Idiot Bastard Son (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (02:22) 10 Tango #2 Intro (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (02:01) 11 Be‐bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen’s Church) (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (22:08) 1 Dickie’s Such an Asshole (live / 12‐10‐73 / show 2) (15:39) 2 Big Swifty (12‐10‐73 / Roxy rehearsal) (02:50) 3 Village of the Sun (12‐10‐73 / Roxy rehearsal) (03:13) 4 Father O’Blivion (12‐10‐73 / Roxy rehearsal) (05:34) 5 Pygmy Twylyte (12‐10‐73 / Roxy rehearsal) (06:17) 6 That Arrogant Dick Nixon (12‐10‐73 / Roxy rehearsal) (02:19) 7 Kung‐Fu (12‐12‐73 / Bolic Studios) (04:50) 8 Kung‐Fu (12‐12‐73 / Bolic Studios / with Guitar Overdub) (01:17) 9 Tuning and Studio Chatter (12‐12‐73 / Bolic Studios) (03:38) 10 Echidna’s Arf (Of You) (12‐12‐73 / Bolic Studios) (01:22) 11 Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow (12‐12‐73 / Bolic Studios) (09:49) 12 Nanook Rubs It (12‐12‐73 / Bolic Studios) (05:41) 13 St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast (12‐12‐73 / Bolic Studios) (02:46) 14 Father O’Blivion (12‐12‐73 / Bolic Studios) (02:31) 15 Rollo (Be‐bop version) (12‐12‐73 / Bolic Studios) (02:36) 1 Saturday Show Start (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (02:20) 2 Pygmy Twylyte / Dummy Up (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (20:25) 3 Pygmy Twylyte, Part II (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (14:25) 4 Echidna’s Arf (Of You) (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (03:42) 5 Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (06:01) 6 Orgy, Orgy (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (03:39) 7 Penguin in Bondage (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (06:30) 8 T’Mershi Duween (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (01:53) 9 The Dog Breath Variations (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (01:45) 10 Uncle Meat / Show End (12‐8‐73 / sound check / film shoot) (04:01) |