My favourite FZ album, and the reason I grew to love DooWop over the years. Manages to parody the genre whilst showing obvious affecton for it at the same time. Just thinkiong of the album makes me smile, especially the soon to be reviewed Jelly Roll Gum Drop!!
Love Of My Life: Love Of My Life, Which includes a quotation of the Penguins’ hit Earth Angel. The song is kicked off by a simple but effective doo wop styled piano (or repetitive piano triplets), although I couldn’t tell you what’s Ian or Don. The rhythm section lays down a strong pulsing rhythm, seriously, what the **** was wrong with Roy or Jimmy and Art on this album? Seriously. And Roy and Frank do a great job backing Ray’s vocals, who perfectly captures the innocence of the old doo wop music. This is so un Zappa like its Zappa like if that makes sense. And doo wop was the most unhip thing in 1968, but Frank was like “f*** it”. God I love this song, just such a great retro pop song.
Impossible to tell due to the nature of the material in this album. Frank got obsessed with state-of-the-art recording techniques, and that's mainly why he decided to record all the bass and drum tracks again in 1984. If you ask me, there's nothing wrong with the original recordings, not at all. I love the sonic treatement the drums were given for this album (I think a lot of compression was used). A very well recorded album which didn't try to emulate the 50's studio techniques, of course. Frank says in an interview they were planning to make another album recorded in the old-fashioned way with a single room microphone (the bonus "Valerie" from Greasy Love Songs is an example of that, even though I'm not sure if they used only one mic, probably not). "Love of my Life", a Cucamonga-era number. Ray Collins, ladies and gentlemen, enough said. He sings beautiful lead vocals, as always, most of the background vocals, some of them using his talent for falsetto parts, and the reciting de rigueur, of course! Fine super fine doo-wop at its best.
It’s the best drum sound up to this point I think, because on the first two records and Money to a lesser degree, the drums are kind of buried.
I'd like to add that I love the live version found on Tinsel Town Rebellion with Ike Willis, Ray White and Bob Harris on high vocals.
I like this song. I like the album. It just isn't a favourite, and I don't really know what to say about it .... Sorry @Rne , I'm not ignoring the thread. I'm Loving it. Sorry Zoot, I have lots more to say, I'm just not sure it is on this album.
As much as I'd love to participate, I don't have a lot to add when it comes to early Zappa. Maybe a paragraph or two about the whole album but certainly not enough to do a track by track analysis! I've been enjoying reading what you guys say about it though. I'm sure this thread will get the boost it deserves when we start to discuss Hot Rats.
I don't have much to say about this album, as I have never owned it and only know certain tunes by their appearance on other albums. Not a big doo-wop fan in general, even when Zappafied.
In addition to Earth Angel, We Go Together (by the Moonglows) is also quoted . . . at the same time, Earth Angel panned left in the mix and We Go Together panned right (at the end of the song). Here's an early version on the Greasy Love Songs cd. Recorded sometime in between '62-'64, Studio Z.
I’m a serious student of FZ. My band from high school did eleven of his tunes, including “I’m Not Satisfied” and “How Could I Be Such A Fool?”, but not like the Ruben versions. I’m just not a fan of R&TJ. Sorry. In fact, I much prefer Gino Vannelli’s “Love Of My Life”. To me, that sounds more like the Zappa music I love. (And Gino is another great Italian!)
Deseri: Since we already covered How Could I Be Such A Fool during Freak Out!(recap: Cruisin is the definitive version), we will move onto Deseri, written by Ray and Paul Buff. This is pure doo wop/early sixties goodness, wonderful singing from Ray, and I really love the addition of flute that pops up at times, or a flute like sound at least. Also, a great surf rock like riff on either guitar or bass, and the falsetto kind of reminds me of Frankie Valli. This is possibly my favorite song on the album, or at least up there with my favorites, just such a great song that of released five years earlier I bet would have killed.
Got to agree. You get the impression to a degree that Zappa was again poking fun at the established, "serious" rock bands, by putting together this fun little album. Even making fun of himself and the band on the cover. Yes, 5 years earlier and the Mothers may have got "their cruddy music on the radio" lol
If I had to venture, His was probably the most fun record to record out of all the original Mothers records, even for those not normally as inclined to this kind of music since it was much more low stress than everything else of which Frank would have been uptight and perfectionistic about (but the results clearly spoke for themselves)
hahaha he wouldn't have wanted me .... back in the day I was probably proficient enough, but I don't read on a level needed for this stuff and I wanted a little green rosetta all the time lol
"Deseri", one of those songs I wouldn't pay attention to it it wasn't because of Ray's superb vocal work. Another lovely old-fashioned number (well, that's the concept of the album, isn't it?).
