(LOOTPRESS) – Today marks what would have been the 82nd birthday of American composer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Frank Zappa, who rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the leader of California rock band, The Mothers of Invention.
Commemorating the occasion will be the first in a series of feature articles leading up to the new year intended to serve as a touchstone of where to begin with the vast and polarizing output of the iconoclastic artist, starting with his earliest official releases.
Frank Zappa was known for his compositional fecundity, producing over 60 albums over the course of his 27 year career. Artistically restless and determined to question, alter, and outright disregard musical boundaries, Zappa’s work spanned multiple genres, regularly utilizing elements of rock and roll, jazz, rhythm & blues, avant-garde, and classical music – often in tandem with one another – in the manifestation of his unique musical vision.
Zappa’s music, along with his life, was characterized by a disdain for conformity and the status quo. In the interest of combating societal and artistic complacency, Zappa regularly gravitated to forms of expression which could be considered bizarre, uncouth, and oftentimes obscene.
These elements, along with the disparate coalescence of styles and advanced musical complexity which color Zappa’s music, have made it difficult for many listeners to grasp the material over the years. A hulking discography (62 albums released during Zappa’s lifetime, 57 released posthumously) of stylistically conflicting projects only stands to contribute to the inevitable indecision incurred by those looking to figure just where to start with such an unconventional artist.
In truth, where one chooses to start with Zappa should be contingent upon personal taste. The catalog can be divided into endless categories, including rock-based, orchestral/instrumental, rock/instrumental, doo-wop/r&b, electronic, and more. For those looking for a more personalized experience, some independent research is recommended.
As such, the following should be regarded as a loose representation of Zappa’s artistic output from 1966-1969, and more as the input of a single writer than as any sort of definitive ranking. Also, the work discussed is featured in an order which is completely arbitrary and again, is not intended to serve as any sort of quality ranking.
– “Let’s Make The Water Turn Black”
1968’s We’re Only in it for the Money represents – for many – a zenith in Zappa’s discography. Featuring an early Mothers of Invention lineup more closely akin to your average bar band than the seasoned virtuosos with whom Zappa would surround himself later in his career, there’s an endearing quality to the sloshy, haphazard stylings of this lineup.
The satire and absurdity so frequently associated with the songwriter were different animals at this stage as well, and the subversive, cartoon-esque characteristics of material from this time can make it downright unsettling to hear for some. “Let’s Make the Water Turn Black” encapsulates these early elements in a concise, toe-tapping ditty based on memories of Zappa’s childhood and – purportedly – the then-ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation.
Subversive lyrical and thematic elements notwithstanding, “Let’s Make the Water Turn Black” display’s Zappa’s occasionally reluctant capacity for crafting profoundly engaging pop melodies. Beginning as a simple number exploring childhood nostalgia, the song takes a turn in its final moments and leaves listeners hanging on an ominous appeal to “wait until the fire turns green.”
– “Mom & Dad”
A disdain for those deemed “safe” and “responsible” by the powers that be was an element which was highly prevalent throughout the Zappa discography – particularly in his earlier work. “Mom & Dad” is a downbeat drudge which takes aim at neglectful parents, abuse of power, and general lack of understanding and interest in understanding the cultural and societal shifts underway at the height of 60s hippie culture.
The topical commentary, while not unusual for this stage in Zappa’s career, would stand in stark contrast to later releases which lyrically tended to lend more attention to absurdist elements and wordplay than to topics of genuine societal interest. Later, when queried about the shift from lyrical themes such as those represented throughout works such as “Mom & Dad” and “Trouble Every Day,” Zappa alluded to the barrage of politically charged tunes which came in their wake and reasoned that his voice was no longer needed in that arena.
– “Peaches en Regalia”
The opening number of Zappa’s landmark 1969 (mostly) instrumental jazz fusion album Hot Rats represented a transition of sorts for the composer. Gone were the juvenile allusions and haphazard bar-band musicianship, and in their place could be found densely layered, multi-tracked orchestration that much more closely resembled a film score than a rock record.
Assisted by the indispensable Ian Underwood – the only Mothers of Invention member present for the production of the album – “Peaches en Regalia” has been called “the ultimate insider credential for a jazz composer,” and was frequently utilized by Zappa during his lifetime as both an opening and closing number for his live performances.
The tune served as a calling card of sorts for the composer, and harkened back to what was generally perceived as his most accessible – and by proxy, most consistently lauded – project, the parent album, Hot Rats.
– “Oh No”
First appearing on 1967’s Lumpy Gravy then again on 1970’s Weasels Ripped My Flesh, “Oh No” is another number informed by the societal and cultural uprising of the 60s. Notably, “Oh No” presents a sharp critique of the “all you need is love” approach to life in general, with the opening sections positing,
“Oh no, I don’t believe it. You say that you think you know the meaning of love. You say love is all we need, you say with your love you can change all of the fools, all of the hate – I think you’re probably out to lunch” – the closing lyric is believed to have been a reference to jazz musician Eric Dolphy’s 1964 LP Out to Lunch! Dolphy is also alluded to in the title of the Weasels Ripped My Flesh track “The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbeque,” as well as on the list of names included with the Freak Out! album of people who “Contributed Materially in Many Ways to Make Our Music What it is.”
Celebrated future-Mothers percussionist Ruth Underwood referenced the song as indicative of Zappa’s compositional genius in the 2020 Alex Winter documentary, Zappa. Beyond the lyrics, Underwood noted the apparent parallels between a piece such as “Oh No” and works of the celebrated composers she had been studying during her conservatory training.
– “Mr. Green Genes”
Zappa made a point of subverting expectations throughout his career, but perhaps never more so than with the early Mothers material. Absurdist lyrical themes were par for the course for the iconoclast, and this trudging, minor-key rumination on the virtues of produce is no exception. Soon after the release of the original song on 1969’s Uncle Meat, the song was reworked at a livelier tempo as an instrumental for Zappa’s Hot Rats album in the form of “Son of Mr. Green Genes.”
Despite the prevailing popularity of the instrument reworking of the song, the plodding original found on the Uncle Meat album illuminates an emotional resonance in the Dm – G movement of the melody which transcends that which can convey through language, which is especially convenient given the songs lyrical themes of consuming vegetables, shoes, socks, and garbage trucks, among other things.
– “Who Are the Brain Police?”
The third track on the introductory Mothers album Freak Out!, “Who Are the Brain Police?” is downright unnerving with its droning bass, echoed vocal passages, sloshed waltz time and lyrical references to melting chrome and plastic.
Zappa himself even admitted to having been startled by the emergence of the track in a 1988 interview.
“At five o’clock in the morning someone kept singing this in my mind and made me write it down,” he explained. . I will admit to being frightened when I finally played it out loud and sang the words.”
Consistent with the overarching themes of the song and its parent album, the tune’s second half sees a chaotic instrumental shift featuring wild dissonance, rhythmic dissolution, and a kazoo solo, among other things. The song is said to have been a critique of the far-reaching control exercised by entities such as religious organizations.
– “My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama”
As far as straight-ahead rock tunes indicative of the prevailing trends of the era, “My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama” is a fairly accurate representation in the scheme of the output of Mothers of Invention.
This isn’t to take away from the fact that the song features tenor, baritone, and alto saxophone, along with flugelhorn and a wildly dissonant Don Preston keyboard solo – all starkly contrasting elements to popular musical trends of the day – but the melody is fairly catchy and the lyrics tackle the common theme of a teenager attempting to navigate the obstacle of adult interference in his pursuit of the girl of his interest.
In typical Zappa fashion, however, the song was made completely unmarketable by the inclusion of the desired assassination of one of said parents by a musical instrument as part of the primary lyric and song title. Despite the song having been re-released under the less offensive moniker “My Guitar,” it never attained proper commercial success.
8- “Willie the Pimp”
The only Hot Rats number to feature vocals, “Willie the Pimp” features an appearance from early Zappa collaborator and musical innovator in his own right, Captain Beefheart – Zappa produced Beefheart’s groundbreaking experimental opus Trout Mask Replica released just a few months prior.
Notably, the title Hot Rats is pulled from a recurring lyric in “Willie the Pimp,” which also features an early hero of Zappa’s, Don “Sugarcane” Harris on violin.
Having appeared on Zappa’s radar as a result of his work in the r&b duo Don & Dewey, Harris would incur various personal issues involving substance abuse throughout his career. Bandleader Johnny Otis – an early success in the r&b/rock & roll fields and another entry in the aforementioned Freak Out! list – who worked on Hot Rats was asked about Harris by Zappa.
When it was discovered that Harris was incarcerated at the time, Zappa bailed the musician out and brought him to the studio to contribute the signature “nagging” violin riff to “Willie the Pimp.”
The extended tune was further augmented by an array of overdubs by Zappa and Ian Underwood, including numerous sound effects and a vicious, sprawling guitar solo by Zappa himself.
The following entry into this ongoing series – A Beginner’s Guide to Frank Zappa: Early Years Part 2 (1970-1972) will follow soon.
Additional LOOTPRESS pop culture coverage can be found here.
