Who are the Brain Police - I really like the rocking Flo & Eddie version as heard on Carnegie Hall. Their powerful vocals along with a FZ solo was new to me with this release.
Acoording to Frank, the song that made Tom Wilson realized he hand't signed a regular white blues band. This songs really stands out and could be considered the first "really weird" track by the Mothers. Extremely distorted guitars, eerie vocals and atmosphere. A marvelous number.
...The Big Note (book) is on my “want list”. Anyone here pick it up yet? Would be cool to add little excerpts from it for each song in this thread as we go along. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1554201462/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
“Who Are The Brain Police” is a total mind fu#%! ...those poor unsuspecting hippies on “L” when they heard this for the first time.
Yes, best FZ book out there. I hope it gets on your Have List soon! Here is one little piece of info about this track as noted by Charles in the book . . "Neil LeVang (best know for playing with Lawrence Welk) plays Fender Stratocatser through a fuzztone."
Brain police Frank starts slipping in the trippers. He's eased the listeners in and now he starts to take their minds apart. It a classic Frank thing to do. Great track
YES! It's excellent. The amount of research done and love for the music is extraordinary. I highly recommend it. I've been a Zappa fan for 23 years and I learn something new in nearly every chapter.
Who Are the Brain Police? YEAH! That riff...that's f'n doom metal right there. I love how the bass is doing the trippy thing, but the main riff is a harmonized vocal. This isn't happy psychedelic music, this is scary. While the verses don't approach the sheer creepiness of the main riff, they're still plenty psychedelic. Great use of vocal effects throughout the song. Another great freak-out at 1:27...I'm gonna die...nice subtle guitar solo during this freak-out section. Brain Police really gives a preview of the madness that happens on Side 4. This song is a wholly original work in the history of rock music. Love it, another great one!
Alright, things are getting weird. I love this track. Very cool, creepy music and more great vocals from Frank and Ray. The basic track recording included on disc 2 of MOFO is also a great listen. This track was the b-side of the Trouble Every Day single . . .
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Brain Police was one of the first tracks recorded for the album. I know Zappa was a drug free guy but I would imagine everyone hearing this back in the day were convinced he was gorked out of his mind on something. It really is a strange and creepy ( in a good way) track.
Jeez — this is like stumbling upon the Holy Grail! Amazing undertaking @Musicman1998. I'll try to chip in as I love a Frank Friday listening sesh.
After two mostly convential (for Frank anyway) tracks, we plunge headfirst into freakout territory. This is a creepy little masterpiece and on a lot of albums this would have been the highlight. However, Freak Out! has even more to offer. The song manages to be creepy and funny at the same time (does it really need to be said that it is weird?). The 1987 remix and the original mix are VERY different in this case, even more so than for the previous two tracks. I really dig the repeating bent bassnote.
I could never understand why people would automatically make that assumption. I just never equated creativity with being high.
Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulders: And now a Zappa/Ray Collins tune, an Affectionate Parody Of The Doo-Wop Music that Frank (and Ray) loved so much, inspired when Ray was thinking of his ex-wife and he and Frank just started off into this song while at Studio Z in the early sixties. The track begins with a strum of the guitar and Ray narrates his ex-lover coming back to him and he basically tells her “piss off, go make on someone else miserable.” While more biting lyrically than what you’d expect from a typical doo-wop tune, the band does a fantastic job nailing the vibe, fantastic piano playing on here and the group does some stellar vocal as libs, this is a stellar song overall and a great addition to the album.
Excellent track. I enjoy all of the music Frank and Ray made together. My only complaint is that I wish Ray worked with Frank for longer than he did. Here's another, earlier, studio version of the song from the excellent JOE'S CORSAGE collection.
Nice work here ..... I always thought FZ did the spoken intro ... i would have bet my left nut on that .... oh well, lucky I didn't Very cool take on a doo-wop, almost a precursor to the Cruisin' album. I love the way they decided to turn it into an f u song instead of a poor me song.
