Motherly Love. I like it. Simple, fun and kinda dumb. I prefer the earlier version as featured on Joe's Corsage.
"Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder" Zappa's doo-wop tunes have never struck me as parodies, really. That doesn't mean there aren't any humorous or tongue-in-cheek aspects to them, but that's simply Zappa's personality emerging. What I get from his doo-wop tunes is far more along the lines of reverence for the genre. It just gets a slight Zappa twist as it should. Anyway, this is a very good and fairly straightforward song. Probably the weirdest thing about it is context. Someone like Zappa doing a pretty orthodox doo-wop tune in mid 1966 wouldn't have been expected.
"Motherly Love" And we go from doo-wop to bubblegum pop, again done surprisingly straight . . . except for the kazoo maybe. This one works for me better in the context of the album than it does in isolation, where it seems even more slight. It's not a bad tune, but I don't think it's that remarkable, either.
I have basically ignored that "Joe's ______" series but love those clips from the Joe's Corsage disc you posted. I may have to pick that one up. How is the rest of that series? I find those early versions of the well known tracks a great listen.
I enjoy all of them, my favorites being Corsage and Xmasage. You'll enjoy those for sure, based on your comment. The Joe's Camouflage os also very good, features a line-up from 1975 that never played out. Oh. Joe's Menage is also quite good, 1975 (incomplete) live show, first official recordings that feature Norma Jean Bell.
Who Are the Brain Police Opens with a bent bass note that reminds me of Iron Man. The melody that follows at :19 is very funereal sounding and could be influenced from classical music funeral marches a la Chopin, Mahler, etc. The verse section is along the lines of a movie soundtrack with the stabbing piano chords...reminds me of the soundtrack to Psycho. The verse chords really don't establish a key and just float along. Very unsettling. The intro follows at :56 and is sort of a chorus . When the bridge comes in it is totally unsettling with a chaotic sound and as someone already stated similar to free jazz. When the verse returns the melody gets a little more narrative sounding. The intro returns now with a crazy sounding kazoo to end the song. A strange sounding song that to me is a sarcastic kick at commercialism but is open to interpretation to say the least. I always thought this was a sort of funeral like waltz.
Motherly Love has great strange harmonies in the chorus. I always thought it was one of the catchiest songs.
Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder That's definitely Frank on the intro and other spoken parts. Estrada's "pachuco narration" is much more exaggerated with the accent. Go Cry...has Frank's first jump into an obvious bit of humor. Even though it's a loving parody of doo-wop, I love that it doesn't conform to the rules. There are a lot of jumpy and irregular rhythms, it's almost messy..but in a completely deliberate way. Like, the band is trying to play doo-wop, but they're not quite there. It certainly evokes teenage clumsiness. I think it's pretty brilliant. Ray Collins delivers a nice vocal on this one. Frank also puts in a good performance vocally, totally hamming it up. Solid and enjoyable track, but a slight let down from the previous three. Motherly Love This one has a strong mid-60's pop sound, except for the kazoos. What was up with the use of kazoo on this album? It's interesting how prevalent they are on this album and then completely forgotten for the rest of the catalog. I'm sure they show up somewhere after Freak Out, I just don't recall it. The guitar sounds great in the chorus and Frank gets a little solo right before the fadeout. The lyrics are a little subversive, but ultimately the song is barely "ok" for me. It's just not very interesting outside of Frank's guitar. I just love the sound of it for some reason.
Hope this thread keeps momentum. To be honest my interest in Zappa really kicks in with Hot Rats but I do enjoy Where Only In It For The Money and Uncle Meat, so I may join in there.
Motherly Love Starts off with the chorus. I always thought this sounded a little like the refrain from the song Mother In Law by Ernie K. Doe. Cool post chorus part follows. The verse has a garage type boogie riff and melody that sounds like so many others that copied Satisfaction. A cool poke at garage rock type songs.
And to make up for my Review Of Hungry Freaks Daddy being cut...... Hungry Freaks, Daddy: We open the record with Hungry Freaks, Daddy, written as an attack on vapid American consumerism. The track is kicked off, built around a bass riff shaded by acidic guitar work (and I have no idea which parts are Frank and which ones are Elliott Ingber). While having the trappings of a psychedelic rock track, Zappa and co. throw in some idiosyncrasies such kazoos to accompany the chorus as well as marimbas adding a countermelody. In addition, great solo, and believe that’s Ingber, who would go onto play with The Fraternity Of Man and Captain Beefheart (more on him later). Good player and a solid addition to the Mothers. This is a great song overall and fantastic way to open the record and the Mothers’ (and Frank’s by extension) careers.
How Could I Be Such A Fool: How I could be such a fool to not review this song, another slice of doo wop, with Ray slaying it vocally, and musically very beautiful in the verses, the band once again wear their love of doo-wop on their sleeves, and of course they’d make a whole doo-wop record but that’s for another day. Towards the end the tune takes a dramatic turn, and really lets this song go out with a bang. This is an awesome, awesome song and one of my favorites on the album.
And here’s the version on Cruisin’ With Ruben And The Jets: I absolutely adore this version, amazing vocals from Ray, really tasty guitar licks, great bass line, probably my favorite version of this song.
Another version here, an early rehearsal recorded while the band were preparing to record the album. From the excellent Mystery Disc . . .
How Could I Be Such A Fool... great damn song. i really dig the horns coming in for the second verse. now that's just beautiful, yet at the same time there's something slightly grotesque about it all. neither the Ruben rerecording nor the 70s live versions are anywhere near as good, but the Mystery Disc one comes pretty close (thanks to Ray Collins). Definitely one of the highlights of the tamer half of the album.
Elaine's Theme from the computer game The Secret Of Monkey Island always sounded like it was inspired by 'How Could I Be Such A Fool' to me, see what you think. There's a good argument that 'Freak Out' is a classic break-up album, even though it's riddled with parody. There's something kind of pure and timelessly romantic (in the larger sense) about these small town tales of wronged teenage greasers crying into the heavens that Zappa conjures up in about half the songs here. I could certainly relate in my early 20s.
How Could I Be Such a Fool? The verses make this sound like another doo-wop song, but that chorus really changes it up. I love how this one doesn't sound sarcastic, but honest. Maybe it was still tongue-in-cheek, but it doesn't sound that way. Listen to Frank's voice when the second verse comes in. That's not his usual snark, it actually sounds like real emotion. Whether he meant it or not, it comes across that way on the record and it's a really enjoyable moment, just to hear Frank sing normally. The chorus is great in how it's such a drastic change from the verse. It's quite dark in a way. It's got that "pleading" quality, but also being a single chord hit over and over makes it more intense. The 2nd half of the chorus and the way it builds is gorgeous. It's a really dramatic song and so fantastic. Stands out in his catalog, surely.
