The first parodic doo-wop by The Mothers (on record, I mean). I've loved this song since day one. Ray shines on vocals, though his lead segments are brief (something that happens throughout most of the album).
There's a live version on the MoFO release that unfortunately cuts abruptly. It features many lyrics variations (the content gets more naughty, as you could imagine ).
To be honest, I always had a hard time with it. I guess because it was copied and spliced in from another song where it really belonged. Seems lazy to me.
A doo-wop classic. Hotcha! I believe Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder is the first time we hear Frank's famous "pachuco" accent, featured in the spoken bits throughout the song. On the live version on the MOFO 4 disc set he substitutes "Go ahead and cry. Go ahead and let the tears fall down from your eye. Let them fall on your dress. Who cares if it makes a mess?" with "Let them fall on your crotch. You know how I love to watch." In terms of conceptual continuity we are treated for the first of countless times to references of cars and upholstery. Roy's falsetto and Ray's lead vocals are a treat as always. In the liner notes Frank writes that the song " - is very greasy. You should not listen to it. You should wear it on your hair."
Freak Out is actually my least favorite Zappa album, though that doesn't mean that I don't like it. I do like it. I just like all the other albums more. "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" Such an odd beginning to Zappa as it's far more "Louie Louie" than what typical Zappa would become, and the melody (at least the more prominent line of it if not the harmony part) is so monotone, and then "sing-songy monotone" on the B sections (which we could arguably consider a pre-chorus and chorus). Of course, Zappa would never lose his ties to the literal "Louie Louie" or to early rock & roll by way of early R&B and doo-wop in general, and that in combo with the monotone melody could be seen as starting things by rising out of the primeval ooze in a fashion. Also, the fact that the harmony vocal part isn't monotone makes things subtly outside, which is a promising sign --the same thing goes for the subtly weird elements of the arrangement, including the vibraphone and kazoo. The facts that the second iteration of both the A and B sections are mostly a guitar solo and the lead guitar is so buried in the mix are weird, too. I wish I were better able to contextualize what this song and album would have seemed like upon release. Unfortunately I was only three years old at the time and it would be a few more years until I'd discover Zappa--but only a few. So, for me, not a great beginning to Zappa's oeuvre, but there are interesting elements.
"I Ain't Got No Heart" To my ear very much in the same vein as "Hungry Freaks, Daddy", with some of the same problems, but a couple things here make this track resonate with me more. I really like the more grandiose arrangement with all of the horns etc. It's an odd fit for the tune, but that oddness works for me. I particularly love the pedal tones on the B sections. Also, the brief freak -out near the end is wonderfully bizarre in context, which is amplified by the brevity and the way it goes back to the grandiose arrangement right afterwards. The contrasts are what click.
Go Cry.... It's a great doo-wop number that manages to lampoon and pay tribute to that genre at the same time. Also, it comes at exactly the right place in the tracklist, functioning as a brief. less cynical, less "weird" breather by being the most straight-forward piece on the album (along with Any Way The Wind Blows).
"Who Are the Brain Police?" Here's where things start to get really interesting, as I'm sure many have said. We've gotten into extended discussions here about whether Frank Zappa can be considered a jazz musician (in addition to being classified other ways, too). I've always heard "Who Are the Brain Police" as essentially a jazz tune that Zappa runs through a hallucinogenic-emulating meat grinder so to speak. With the above in mind, the intro is in the vein of, say, "So What" and "Moanin", before it transitions into a pseudo-Latin/cool bop waltz head. The alternate, solo sections, in contrast, are free jazz style (and in a manner that's remarkably prescient of Weasels Ripped My Flesh). I particularly love how outside the harmonies are when they sing the title phrase.
Motherly Love: And now some Motherly Free, which has been observed as imitating sixties proto-bubblegum Group Paul Revere & The Raiders. The track begins with a fairly polished riff, Ingber and Zappa’s guitars ringing throughout the sound, while Jimmy and Roy lock into a tight pocket, Frank singing tongue in cheekily about swaying the ladies to his and the Mothers’ side. As far as the song itself, it’s a very tongue in cheek take on sixites pop but very well crafted, some strong hooks in the track, and the band is tight as ever. Overall a solid tune that does an effective job as an album track.
What's the story with the "Pachuco" accent? I am used to and kind of like it now but my first impression was, "why is he speaking with a hispanic accent, I don't get it". I guess it is just another layer of the parody.
"Who Are The Brain Police?" The first real show of Zappa's genius although preceding it with "Ain't Got No Heart" although the sudden reappearance of this album's hook leads to questions about sequencing.
Motherly Love is one of the weaker tracks IMO. It just feels clunky and nondescript and that's all i have to say about it (except that the 1965 demo actually namedrops the band members).
"Motherly Love", a self-promotion number, ain't it? A nice 60's rock number (you can even dance to it) with a misleading title, for there's nothing motherly really hapenning nudge nudge wink wink. The ever-present kazoos add the neccesary tongue-in-cheek touch. Once again, Frank dominates the vocal department. I feel Ray was somewhat underused in this album.
This is a cool little song and was directed at the groupies, and not so subtly. Frank would write songs for and about groupies all through his career and this was the first shot fired. Sure this song isn't technical or orchestral, but it is a succinct little ditty aimed at encouraging the girls to enjoy some motherly love .... how Gail felt about all this is beyond my comprehension
Gail was not part of Frank's life yet. But of course, she was alright with the groupies scene. Otherwise, Frank would have got a divorce for the second time.