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Freak Out!

Freak Out! is the debut studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on June 27, 1966, by Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, it is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture and the nascent freak scene of Los Angeles. It was also one of the earliest double albums in rock music,[not verified in body] as well as the first two-record debut album. In the UK, the album was originally released as an edited single disc.

Freak Out!
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 27, 1966 (1966-06-27)
RecordedMarch 9–12, 1966
StudioTTG, Hollywood
Genre
Length60:55
LabelVerve
ProducerTom Wilson
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention chronology
Freak Out!
(1966)
Absolutely Free
(1967)
Singles from Freak Out!
  1. "How Could I Be Such a Fool? /
    Help, I'm a Rock
    (Third Movement:
    It Can't Happen Here)"

    Released: 1966
  2. "Trouble Comin' Every Day /
    Who Are the Brain Police?"

    Released: 1966
  3. "Motherly Love / I Ain't Got No Heart"
    Released: 1968 (Japan only)
Back cover
Featuring a "letter" from Suzy Creamcheese

The album was produced by Tom Wilson, who signed the Mothers, formerly a bar band called the Soul Giants. Zappa said many years later that Wilson signed the band to a record deal under the impression that they were a white blues band. The album features Zappa on vocals and guitar, along with lead vocalist/tambourine player Ray Collins, bass player/vocalist Roy Estrada, drummer/vocalist Jimmy Carl Black and guitar player Elliot Ingber (later of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, performing there under the pseudonym "Winged Eel Fingerling").[2][3]

The band's original repertoire consisted of rhythm and blues covers, but after Zappa joined the band, he encouraged them to play his own original material, and their name was changed to the Mothers. The musical content of Freak Out! ranges from rhythm and blues, doo-wop,[4] and standard blues-influenced rock to orchestral arrangements and avant-garde sound collages. Although the album was initially poorly received in the United States, it was a success in Europe. It gained a cult following in America, where it continued to sell in substantial quantities until it was discontinued in the early 1970s.

In 1999, the album was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and in 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it among the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2006, The MOFO Project/Object, an audio documentary on the making of the album, was released in honor of its 40th anniversary.

Background edit

In the early 1960s, Zappa met Ray Collins. Collins supported himself by working as a carpenter, and on weekends sang with a group called the Soul Giants. Collins got into a fight with their guitar player, who quit, leaving the band in need of a substitute, and Zappa filled in.[5][6] The Soul Giants' repertoire originally consisted of R&B covers. After Zappa joined the band he encouraged them to play his own original material and try to get a record contract.[7] While most of the band members liked the idea, then-leader and saxophone player Davy Coronado felt that performing original material would cost them bookings, and quit the band.[5][8] The Soul Giants became the Mothers and Zappa took over leadership of the band.[5]

The group moved to Los Angeles in early 1965 after Zappa got them a management contract with Herb Cohen. They gained steady work at clubs along the Sunset Strip. MGM staff producer Tom Wilson offered the band a record deal with the Verve Records division in early 1966. He had heard of their growing reputation but had seen them perform only one song, "Trouble Every Day", which concerned the Watts riots.[6] According to Zappa, this led Wilson to believe that they were a "white blues band".[5][8]

Recording edit

The first two songs recorded for the album were "Any Way the Wind Blows" and "Who Are the Brain Police?"[5][6] When Tom Wilson heard the latter, he realized that the Mothers were not merely a blues band. Zappa remembered "I could see through the window that he was scrambling toward the phone to call his boss—probably saying: 'Well, uh, not exactly a 'white blues band', but ... sort of.'"[5] In a 1968 article written for Hit Parader magazine, Zappa wrote that when Wilson heard these songs, "he was so impressed he got on the phone and called New York, and as a result I got a more or less unlimited budget to do this monstrosity."[6] Freak Out! is an early example of the concept album, a sardonic farce about rock music and America. "All the songs on it were about something", Zappa wrote in The Real Frank Zappa Book. "It wasn't as if we had a hit single and we needed to build some filler around it. Each tune had a function within an overall satirical concept."[5]

If you were to graphically analyze the different types of directions of all the songs in the Freak Out! album, there's a little something in there for everybody. At least one piece of material is slanted for every type of social orientation within our consumer group, which happens to be six to eighty. Because we got people that like what we do, from kids six years old screaming on us to play "Wowie Zowie". Like I meet executives doing this and that, and they say, "My kid's got the record, and 'Wowie Zowie''s their favorite song."[9]

The album was recorded at TTG Studios in Hollywood, California, between March 9 and March 12, 1966.[10] Some songs, such as "Motherly Love" and "I Ain't Got No Heart", had already been recorded in earlier versions prior to the Freak Out! sessions. These recordings, said to have been made around 1965,[10] were not officially released until 2004, when they appeared on the posthumous Zappa album Joe's Corsage. An early version of the song "Any Way the Wind Blows", recorded in 1963,[11] appears on another posthumous release, The Lost Episodes, and was originally written when Zappa considered divorcing first wife Kay Sherman.[11][12] In the liner notes for Freak Out!, Zappa wrote, "If I had never gotten divorced, this piece of trivial nonsense would never have been recorded."[12] "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" is an attack on the American school system[12] that musically quotes a Rolling Stones song, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", in its opening measures, and contains a guitar solo between the first and second verses that itself briefly quotes Richard Berry's 1959 song "Have Love, Will Travel".[13]

Tom Wilson became more enthusiastic as the sessions continued. In the middle of the week of recording, Zappa told him, "I would like to rent $500 [equivalent to $4,700 in 2023] worth of percussion equipment for a session that starts at midnight on Friday and I want to bring all the freaks from Sunset Boulevard into the studio to do something special." Wilson agreed. The material was worked into "Cream Cheese", a "ballet in two tableaux"[12] that was eventually retitled "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet".[5] In a November 1967 radio interview (posthumously included as part of the 2006 MOFO album), Zappa is heard complaining that the version of "Monster Magnet" released on Freak Out! was in fact an unfinished piece; the percussion track was intended to serve as the foundation for an even more complex piece, but MGM refused to approve the studio time needed to record the intended overdubs that would have completed the composition, and so it was released (to Zappa's great dissatisfaction) in this unfinished form.[12][14] In addition to the Mothers, some tracks featured a "Mothers' Auxiliary"[12] that consisted of additional session players, including noted "Wrecking Crew" members Gene Estes, Carol Kaye and Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John), guitarist Neil Levang, and jazz-soul pianists Eugene DiNovi and Les McCann, with vocal contributions by Paul Butterfield, Kim Fowley, Jeannie Vassoir and future Mother Jim Sherwood. Several orchestral musicians, who were also mostly credited as members of the Auxiliary (including their contractor, Benjamin Barrett), also made contributions to several songs at certain sessions, chiefly in the form of backing tracks on those songs.[12]

Zappa later found out that when the material was recorded, Wilson had taken LSD. "I've tried to imagine what [Wilson] must have been thinking", Zappa recounted, "sitting in that control room, listening to all that weird shit coming out of the speakers, and being responsible for telling the engineer, Ami Hadani (who was not on acid), what to do."[5] By the time Freak Out! was edited and shaped into an album, Wilson had spent $25–35,000 of MGM's money (equivalent to $330,000 in 2023).[5][15] In Hit Parader magazine, Zappa wrote that "Wilson was sticking his neck out. He laid his job on the line by producing the album. MGM felt that they had spent too much money on the album."[6]

An early version of the album was done in April, with a different track order from the final sequence completed two months later:[16][17][10] for instance, "Wowie Zowie" (which would eventually begin side two of the finalized sequence instead, and was described by Zappa as "harmless", "cheerful" and apparently liked by Little Richard)[12] was the original planned lead-off track rather than "Hungry Freaks, Daddy", "Trouble Comin' Every Day" (which was inspired by the Watts Riots that took place the previous year)[12] was included on side one rather than side three, and "Who Are the Brain Police?" (acknowledged by Zappa himself as one of the scariest songs on the album)[12] took up the middle of side two rather than the middle of side one, with only "Help, I'm a Rock" (a song dedicated to Elvis Presley)[12] and "Cream Cheese" (later retitled "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet") taking up the same concluding places on the early sequence that they eventually would on the finalized sequence.[16][17] "Wowie Zowie" itself originally contained a musique concrète section between the bridge and third verse that would eventually be edited out of the song as it appeared on the finalized sequence,[17] while the third section of "Help, I'm a Rock", called "It Can't Happen Here", contained two additional lines consisting of the word "psychedelic" during the self-pleasure sequence and of the words "...since you first took the shots" immediately following the "we've been very interested in your development" line.[17][18] Tapes of the early sequence were eventually leaked to European collectors and bootlegged on vinyl as The Alternate Freak Out! in 2010,[16][17] with long-time Zappa associate Scott Parker later describing the early sequence's track order as having more conceptual "integrat[ion]" and "a greater amount of weirdness sprinkled throughout" than that of the finalized sequence during a 2011 podcast.[17]

The label eventually requested that the two lines in question be removed from the "It Can't Happen Here" section of "Help, I'm a Rock",[19] both of which had been interpreted by MGM executives to be drug references. However, the label either had no objections to, or else did not notice, a sped-up recording of Zappa shouting the word "fuck" after accidentally smashing his finger,[18] occurring at 11 minutes and 36 seconds into "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet". From the 1995 CD reissue of the album onwards, the formerly three-part "Help, I'm a Rock" was reindexed as two separate tracks, with only the first two parts ("Okay To Tap Dance" and "In Memoriam, Edgard Varèse"[20]) remaining under the "Help, I'm a Rock" title but with "It Can't Happen Here" becoming its own track, as "It Can't Happen Here" had been included by itself on the 1969 vinyl compilation Mothermania, where the two normally censored lines were also reinstated.[21][22]

MGM also told Zappa that the band would have to change their name, claiming that no DJ would play a record on the air by a group called "the Mothers".[5][23]

... at the time, it was, you know, if you were a good musician, you were a motherfucker, and Mothers was short for collection of motherfuckers. And actually, it was kind of presumptuous to name the band that, because we weren't that good musicians, we were ... But by bar-band standards in the area, we were light-years ahead of our competition, but in terms of real musicianship, I just suppose we were right down there in the swamp.[8]

— Frank Zappa

Release edit

Verve released Freak Out! on June 27, 1966.[24] The band's name was changed to the Mothers of Invention, a name Zappa chose in favor of MGM's original suggested name, "The Mothers Auxiliary".[25] The album's back cover included a "letter" from Zappa-created fictional character Suzy Creamcheese (who also appears on the album itself), which read:

These Mothers is crazy. You can tell by their clothes. One guy wears beads and they all smell bad. We were gonna get them for a dance after the basketball game but my best pal warned me you can never tell how many will show up ... sometimes the guy in the fur coat doesn't show up and sometimes he does show up only he brings a big bunch of crazy people with him and they dance all over the place. None of the kids at my school like these Mothers ... specially since my teacher told us what the words to their songs meant. Sincerely forever, Suzy Creamcheese, Salt Lake City, Utah.[26]

Because the text was printed in a typeface resembling typewriter lettering, some people thought that Suzy Creamcheese was real, and many listeners expected to see her in concert performances. Because of this, it was decided that "it would be best to bring along a Suzy Creamcheese replica who would demonstrate once and for all the veracity of such a beast."[27] Because the original voice of Suzy Creamcheese, Jeannie Vassoir, was unavailable, Pamela Zarubica took over the part.[27]

Early pressings of the album in the United States included a blurb for a "Freak Out Hot Spots!" map. Inside the gatefold jacket the small ad was aimed at people coming to visit Los Angeles and it listed several famous restaurants and clubs including Canter's and The Whisky a Go Go. The ad also claimed information concerning police arrests. It states: "Also shows where the heat has been busting frequently, with tips on safety in police terror situations". Those interested in the map were instructed to send $1.00 (US$9 in 2023 dollars[15]) to MGM Records c/o 1540 Broadway NY. NY. address. The map was only available for a limited time, since the blurb was not included on later pressings and the space was left blank.[22] It was eventually reprinted and included with The MOFO Project/Object, a four-disc audio documentary on the making of the album, released posthumously by the Zappa Family Trust in 2006.[28][29]

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [30]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [37]
The Great Rock Discography8/10[31]
MusicHound Rock4.5/5[32]
OndaRock9/10[33]
Q     [34]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide     [35]
Tom HullB[36]

Freak Out! reached No. 130 on the Billboard chart,[38] and was not a critical success when it was first released in the United States.[8] Many listeners were convinced that the album was drug-inspired,[5] and interpreted the album's title as slang for a bad LSD trip. The album made the Mothers of Invention immediate underground darlings with a strong counter-cultural following.[39] In The Real Frank Zappa Book, Zappa quotes a negative review of the album by Pete Johnson of the Los Angeles Times, who wrote:

I guess you might call it surrealistic paintings set to music. Not content to record just two sides of musical gibberish, the MOI devote four full sides to their type of "artistry". If anyone owns this album, perhaps he can tell me what in hell is going on ... The Mothers of Invention, a talented but warped quintet, have fathered an album poetically entitled Freak Out, which could be the greatest stimulus to the aspirin industry since the income tax.[40]

The album developed a major cult following in the United States by the time MGM/Verve had been merged into a division of PolyGram in 1972. At that time many MGM/Verve releases including Freak Out! were prematurely deleted in an attempt to keep the struggling company financially solvent. Zappa had already moved on to his own companies Bizarre Records and Straight Records, which were distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Freak Out! was initially more successful in Europe and quickly influenced many English rock musicians.[18] According to David Fricke, the album was a major influence on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[41] Paul McCartney regarded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as the Beatles' Freak Out! [42] Zappa criticized the Beatles, as he felt they were "only in it for the money".[43]

Freak Out! was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999,[44] ranked at number 243 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003,[45] and 246 in a 2012 revised list.[46] It was also featured in the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[47] The album was named as one of Classic Rock magazine's "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock".[48] It was voted number 315 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[49]

Track listing edit

All tracks are written by Frank Zappa except "Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder", by Zappa and Ray Collins

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Hungry Freaks, Daddy"3:32
2."I Ain't Got No Heart"2:34
3."Who Are the Brain Police?"3:25
4."Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder[4]"3:43
5."Motherly Love"2:50
6."How Could I Be Such a Fool"2:16
Total length:18:20
Side two
No.TitleLength
7."Wowie Zowie"2:55
8."You Didn't Try to Call Me"3:21
9."Any Way the Wind Blows"2:55
10."I'm Not Satisfied"2:41
11."You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here"3:41
Total length:15:33
Side three
No.TitleLength
12."Trouble Every Day"5:53
13."Help, I'm a Rock (Suite in Three Movements)
  • I. Okay to Tap Dance
  • II. In Memoriam, Edgard Varèse
  • III. It Can't Happen Here"
8:37
Total length:14:30
Side four
No.TitleLength
14."The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet in Two Tableaux)
  • I. Ritual Dance of the Child-Killer
  • II. Nullis Pretii (No Commercial Potential)"
12:22
Total length:12:22 60:55

On the 1995 and 2012 CD releases, "Help, I'm a Rock" is credited as two tracks: "Help, I'm a Rock" (4:43) and "It Can't Happen Here" (3:57). On the Side 3 label of original vinyl copies, "Trouble Every Day" is listed as "Trouble Comin' Every Day".

Personnel edit

The Mothers of Invention

The Mothers' Auxiliary

  • Gene Estes – percussion
  • Eugene Di Novi – piano
  • Neil Levang – guitar
  • John Rotella – clarinet, bass saxophone
  • Carol Kaye – 12-string guitar
  • Kurt Reher – cello
  • Raymond Kelley – cello
  • Paul Bergstrom – cello
  • Emmet Sargeant – cello
  • Joseph Saxon – cello
  • Edwin V. Beach – cello
  • Arthur Maebe – French horn
  • George Price – French horn
  • Roy Caton – trumpet
  • Virgil Evans – trumpet
  • David Wells – trombone
  • Motorhead Sherwood – noises
  • Kim Fowley – hypophone
  • Mac Rebennack – piano
  • Paul Butterfield – vocals
  • Les McCann – piano
  • Jeannie Vassoir – voice of Suzy Creamcheese

Production credits

  • Musical director, orchestrator, and arranger: Frank Zappa
  • Producer: Tom Wilson
  • Engineering director: Val Valentin
  • Engineers: Ami Hadani, Tom Wilson, Val Valentin
  • Assistants: Eugene Dinovi, Neil Levang, Vito, Ken Watson
  • Cover design: Jack Anesh
  • Hair stylist: Ray Collins

Charts edit

Album
Year Chart Position
1967 Billboard 200[38] 130

References edit

  1. ^ Lowe, Kelly Fisher (2007). The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 38, 219. ISBN 978-0-8032-6005-4.
  2. ^ "Elliot Ingber info". United Mutations. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  3. ^ "FZ Musicians & Collaborators H–L: Elliot Ingber (Winged Eel Fingerling)". Information Is Not Knowledge. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  4. ^ a b Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 14 – Big Rock Candy Mountain: Phil Spector & Frank Zappa review the '50s" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Zappa, Frank; Occhiogrosso, Peter (1989). The Real Frank Zappa Book. New York: Poseidon Press. pp. 65–80. ISBN 0-671-70572-5.
  6. ^ a b c d e Zappa, Frank (June 1968). "The Incredible History Of The Mothers". Hit Parader. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  7. ^ James, Billy (2002). Necessity Is ...: The Early Years of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. SAF Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-946719-51-8. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  8. ^ a b c d Zappa, Frank (March 1993). BBC Late Show. Interviewed by Nigel Leigh. UMRK, LA.
  9. ^ Eisen, Jonathan (1969). The Age of Rock: Sounds of the American Cultural Revolution. Random House Inc. ISBN 0-394-70535-1.
  10. ^ a b c "FZ chronology: 1965–1969: The Mothers of Invention". Information Is Not Knowledge. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  11. ^ a b The Lost Episodes. Liner notes. RCD 40573.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Zappa, Frank. Freak Out! Liner notes. V/V6-5005-2.
  13. ^ Dallas, Karl (June 1975). "What Did You Do In The Revolution, Dada?". Let It Rock. Avo Raup. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  14. ^ Frank Zappa (November 13, 1967). How We Made It Sound That Way (Radio appearance). Detroit, MI: WDET. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  15. ^ a b 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "NEW ZAPPA VINYL BOOTLEG - THE ALTERNATIVE FREAK OUT". United Mutations. October 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Parker, Scott (March 2011). . Podcast Garden. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  18. ^ a b c Zappa, Frank (April 5, 1994). "An Interview with Frank Zappa" (Interview). Interviewed by Matty Biberfield. New York City, NY: WRVR. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  19. ^ Shelton, Robert (December 25, 1966). "Son of Suzy Creamcheese". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  20. ^ García Albertos, Román. "Help, I'm A Rock". Information Is Not Knowledge. Globalia. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  21. ^ García Albertos, Román. "Mothermania". Information Is Not Knowledge. Globalia. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  22. ^ a b . The Zappa Patio. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
  23. ^ . Rolling Stone. 1988. Archived from the original on 2001-01-07. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  24. ^ Corcelli, John (2016). Frank Zappa FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Father of Invention. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-61713-674-0.
  25. ^ Zappa, Frank (May 30, 2004). ""Pretty Pat" (Interview excerpted on Joe's Corsage, VR 20041)". Retrieved 2007-02-07.
  26. ^ Zappa, Frank. Freak Out! Back cover. V/V6-5005-2.
  27. ^ a b Zappa, Frank. Interview. KBEY-FM, Kansas City, Missouri. October 22, 1971.
  28. ^ Zappa, Frank. The MOFO Project/Object. ZR 20004.
  29. ^ "Vinyl Vs. CDs: MoFo: The Making of Freak Out!". The Zappa Patio. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
  30. ^ Huey, Steve. "Review: Freak Out!". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  31. ^ Martin C. Strong (1998). The Great Rock Discography (1st ed.). Canongate Books. ISBN 978-0-86241-827-4.
  32. ^ Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-0-7876-1037-1.
  33. ^ "Frank Zappa - biografia, recensioni, streaming, discografia, foto".
  34. ^ "Review: Freak Out!". Q (August 1995): 150–151.
  35. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Frank Zappa". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). London: Fireside Books. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  36. ^ Tom Hull. "Grade List: frank zappa". Tom Hull - on the web. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  37. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  38. ^ a b "Chart & Awards for Freak Out!". AllMusic. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  39. ^ Zappa, Frank. Interview. Mixed Media, Detroit, MI November 13, 1967.
  40. ^ Johnson, Pete (1966-07-10). "Popular Record: Pass Aspirin, Please". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  41. ^ Fricke, David (2006). The MOFO Project/Object (Media notes). Frank Zappa. Zappa Records.
  42. ^ MacDonald, Ian (2007). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (3rd ed.). Chicago Review Press. p. 214n. ISBN 978-1-55652-733-3.
  43. ^ Fricke, David (2008). Lumpy Money (Media notes). Frank Zappa. Zappa Records.
  44. ^ . Grammy.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-22. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  45. ^ . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 12, 2004. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
  46. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  47. ^ Robert Dimery, ed. (2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
  48. ^ Classic Rock magazine, July 2010, Issue 146.
  49. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 129. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.

External links edit

freak, this, article, about, mothers, invention, album, other, uses, freak, disambiguation, wowie, zowie, redirects, here, pavement, album, wowee, zowee, debut, studio, album, american, rock, band, mothers, invention, released, june, 1966, verve, records, ofte. This article is about the Mothers of Invention album For other uses see Freak out disambiguation Wowie Zowie redirects here For the Pavement album see Wowee Zowee Freak Out is the debut studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention released on June 27 1966 by Verve Records Often cited as one of rock music s first concept albums it is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa s perception of American pop culture and the nascent freak scene of Los Angeles It was also one of the earliest double albums in rock music not verified in body as well as the first two record debut album In the UK the album was originally released as an edited single disc Freak Out Studio album by the Mothers of InventionReleasedJune 27 1966 1966 06 27 RecordedMarch 9 12 1966StudioTTG HollywoodGenreExperimental rock 1 Length60 55LabelVerveProducerTom WilsonFrank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention chronologyFreak Out 1966 Absolutely Free 1967 Singles from Freak Out How Could I Be Such a Fool Help I m a Rock Third Movement It Can t Happen Here Released 1966 Trouble Comin Every Day Who Are the Brain Police Released 1966 Motherly Love I Ain t Got No Heart Released 1968 Japan only Back coverFeaturing a letter from Suzy Creamcheese The album was produced by Tom Wilson who signed the Mothers formerly a bar band called the Soul Giants Zappa said many years later that Wilson signed the band to a record deal under the impression that they were a white blues band The album features Zappa on vocals and guitar along with lead vocalist tambourine player Ray Collins bass player vocalist Roy Estrada drummer vocalist Jimmy Carl Black and guitar player Elliot Ingber later of Captain Beefheart s Magic Band performing there under the pseudonym Winged Eel Fingerling 2 3 The band s original repertoire consisted of rhythm and blues covers but after Zappa joined the band he encouraged them to play his own original material and their name was changed to the Mothers The musical content of Freak Out ranges from rhythm and blues doo wop 4 and standard blues influenced rock to orchestral arrangements and avant garde sound collages Although the album was initially poorly received in the United States it was a success in Europe It gained a cult following in America where it continued to sell in substantial quantities until it was discontinued in the early 1970s In 1999 the album was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2003 Rolling Stone ranked it among the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time In 2006 The MOFO Project Object an audio documentary on the making of the album was released in honor of its 40th anniversary Contents 1 Background 2 Recording 3 Release 4 Reception 5 Track listing 6 Personnel 7 Charts 8 References 9 External linksBackground editIn the early 1960s Zappa met Ray Collins Collins supported himself by working as a carpenter and on weekends sang with a group called the Soul Giants Collins got into a fight with their guitar player who quit leaving the band in need of a substitute and Zappa filled in 5 6 The Soul Giants repertoire originally consisted of R amp B covers After Zappa joined the band he encouraged them to play his own original material and try to get a record contract 7 While most of the band members liked the idea then leader and saxophone player Davy Coronado felt that performing original material would cost them bookings and quit the band 5 8 The Soul Giants became the Mothers and Zappa took over leadership of the band 5 The group moved to Los Angeles in early 1965 after Zappa got them a management contract with Herb Cohen They gained steady work at clubs along the Sunset Strip MGM staff producer Tom Wilson offered the band a record deal with the Verve Records division in early 1966 He had heard of their growing reputation but had seen them perform only one song Trouble Every Day which concerned the Watts riots 6 According to Zappa this led Wilson to believe that they were a white blues band 5 8 Recording edit nbsp Hungry Freaks Daddy sample source source The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet sample source source Problems playing these files See media help The first two songs recorded for the album were Any Way the Wind Blows and Who Are the Brain Police 5 6 When Tom Wilson heard the latter he realized that the Mothers were not merely a blues band Zappa remembered I could see through the window that he was scrambling toward the phone to call his boss probably saying Well uh not exactly a white blues band but sort of 5 In a 1968 article written for Hit Parader magazine Zappa wrote that when Wilson heard these songs he was so impressed he got on the phone and called New York and as a result I got a more or less unlimited budget to do this monstrosity 6 Freak Out is an early example of the concept album a sardonic farce about rock music and America All the songs on it were about something Zappa wrote in The Real Frank Zappa Book It wasn t as if we had a hit single and we needed to build some filler around it Each tune had a function within an overall satirical concept 5 If you were to graphically analyze the different types of directions of all the songs in the Freak Out album there s a little something in there for everybody At least one piece of material is slanted for every type of social orientation within our consumer group which happens to be six to eighty Because we got people that like what we do from kids six years old screaming on us to play Wowie Zowie Like I meet executives doing this and that and they say My kid s got the record and Wowie Zowie s their favorite song 9 The album was recorded at TTG Studios in Hollywood California between March 9 and March 12 1966 10 Some songs such as Motherly Love and I Ain t Got No Heart had already been recorded in earlier versions prior to the Freak Out sessions These recordings said to have been made around 1965 10 were not officially released until 2004 when they appeared on the posthumous Zappa album Joe s Corsage An early version of the song Any Way the Wind Blows recorded in 1963 11 appears on another posthumous release The Lost Episodes and was originally written when Zappa considered divorcing first wife Kay Sherman 11 12 In the liner notes for Freak Out Zappa wrote If I had never gotten divorced this piece of trivial nonsense would never have been recorded 12 Hungry Freaks Daddy is an attack on the American school system 12 that musically quotes a Rolling Stones song I Can t Get No Satisfaction in its opening measures and contains a guitar solo between the first and second verses that itself briefly quotes Richard Berry s 1959 song Have Love Will Travel 13 Tom Wilson became more enthusiastic as the sessions continued In the middle of the week of recording Zappa told him I would like to rent 500 equivalent to 4 700 in 2023 worth of percussion equipment for a session that starts at midnight on Friday and I want to bring all the freaks from Sunset Boulevard into the studio to do something special Wilson agreed The material was worked into Cream Cheese a ballet in two tableaux 12 that was eventually retitled The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet 5 In a November 1967 radio interview posthumously included as part of the 2006 MOFO album Zappa is heard complaining that the version of Monster Magnet released on Freak Out was in fact an unfinished piece the percussion track was intended to serve as the foundation for an even more complex piece but MGM refused to approve the studio time needed to record the intended overdubs that would have completed the composition and so it was released to Zappa s great dissatisfaction in this unfinished form 12 14 In addition to the Mothers some tracks featured a Mothers Auxiliary 12 that consisted of additional session players including noted Wrecking Crew members Gene Estes Carol Kaye and Mac Rebennack aka Dr John guitarist Neil Levang and jazz soul pianists Eugene DiNovi and Les McCann with vocal contributions by Paul Butterfield Kim Fowley Jeannie Vassoir and future Mother Jim Sherwood Several orchestral musicians who were also mostly credited as members of the Auxiliary including their contractor Benjamin Barrett also made contributions to several songs at certain sessions chiefly in the form of backing tracks on those songs 12 Zappa later found out that when the material was recorded Wilson had taken LSD I ve tried to imagine what Wilson must have been thinking Zappa recounted sitting in that control room listening to all that weird shit coming out of the speakers and being responsible for telling the engineer Ami Hadani who was not on acid what to do 5 By the time Freak Out was edited and shaped into an album Wilson had spent 25 35 000 of MGM s money equivalent to 330 000 in 2023 5 15 In Hit Parader magazine Zappa wrote that Wilson was sticking his neck out He laid his job on the line by producing the album MGM felt that they had spent too much money on the album 6 An early version of the album was done in April with a different track order from the final sequence completed two months later 16 17 10 for instance Wowie Zowie which would eventually begin side two of the finalized sequence instead and was described by Zappa as harmless cheerful and apparently liked by Little Richard 12 was the original planned lead off track rather than Hungry Freaks Daddy Trouble Comin Every Day which was inspired by the Watts Riots that took place the previous year 12 was included on side one rather than side three and Who Are the Brain Police acknowledged by Zappa himself as one of the scariest songs on the album 12 took up the middle of side two rather than the middle of side one with only Help I m a Rock a song dedicated to Elvis Presley 12 and Cream Cheese later retitled The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet taking up the same concluding places on the early sequence that they eventually would on the finalized sequence 16 17 Wowie Zowie itself originally contained a musique concrete section between the bridge and third verse that would eventually be edited out of the song as it appeared on the finalized sequence 17 while the third section of Help I m a Rock called It Can t Happen Here contained two additional lines consisting of the word psychedelic during the self pleasure sequence and of the words since you first took the shots immediately following the we ve been very interested in your development line 17 18 Tapes of the early sequence were eventually leaked to European collectors and bootlegged on vinyl as The Alternate Freak Out in 2010 16 17 with long time Zappa associate Scott Parker later describing the early sequence s track order as having more conceptual integrat ion and a greater amount of weirdness sprinkled throughout than that of the finalized sequence during a 2011 podcast 17 The label eventually requested that the two lines in question be removed from the It Can t Happen Here section of Help I m a Rock 19 both of which had been interpreted by MGM executives to be drug references However the label either had no objections to or else did not notice a sped up recording of Zappa shouting the word fuck after accidentally smashing his finger 18 occurring at 11 minutes and 36 seconds into The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet From the 1995 CD reissue of the album onwards the formerly three part Help I m a Rock was reindexed as two separate tracks with only the first two parts Okay To Tap Dance and In Memoriam Edgard Varese 20 remaining under the Help I m a Rock title but with It Can t Happen Here becoming its own track as It Can t Happen Here had been included by itself on the 1969 vinyl compilation Mothermania where the two normally censored lines were also reinstated 21 22 MGM also told Zappa that the band would have to change their name claiming that no DJ would play a record on the air by a group called the Mothers 5 23 at the time it was you know if you were a good musician you were a motherfucker and Mothers was short for collection of motherfuckers And actually it was kind of presumptuous to name the band that because we weren t that good musicians we were But by bar band standards in the area we were light years ahead of our competition but in terms of real musicianship I just suppose we were right down there in the swamp 8 Frank ZappaRelease editVerve released Freak Out on June 27 1966 24 The band s name was changed to the Mothers of Invention a name Zappa chose in favor of MGM s original suggested name The Mothers Auxiliary 25 The album s back cover included a letter from Zappa created fictional character Suzy Creamcheese who also appears on the album itself which read These Mothers is crazy You can tell by their clothes One guy wears beads and they all smell bad We were gonna get them for a dance after the basketball game but my best pal warned me you can never tell how many will show up sometimes the guy in the fur coat doesn t show up and sometimes he does show up only he brings a big bunch of crazy people with him and they dance all over the place None of the kids at my school like these Mothers specially since my teacher told us what the words to their songs meant Sincerely forever Suzy Creamcheese Salt Lake City Utah 26 Because the text was printed in a typeface resembling typewriter lettering some people thought that Suzy Creamcheese was real and many listeners expected to see her in concert performances Because of this it was decided that it would be best to bring along a Suzy Creamcheese replica who would demonstrate once and for all the veracity of such a beast 27 Because the original voice of Suzy Creamcheese Jeannie Vassoir was unavailable Pamela Zarubica took over the part 27 Early pressings of the album in the United States included a blurb for a Freak Out Hot Spots map Inside the gatefold jacket the small ad was aimed at people coming to visit Los Angeles and it listed several famous restaurants and clubs including Canter s and The Whisky a Go Go The ad also claimed information concerning police arrests It states Also shows where the heat has been busting frequently with tips on safety in police terror situations Those interested in the map were instructed to send 1 00 US 9 in 2023 dollars 15 to MGM Records c o 1540 Broadway NY NY address The map was only available for a limited time since the blurb was not included on later pressings and the space was left blank 22 It was eventually reprinted and included with The MOFO Project Object a four disc audio documentary on the making of the album released posthumously by the Zappa Family Trust in 2006 28 29 Reception editProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 30 Encyclopedia of Popular Music nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 37 The Great Rock Discography8 10 31 MusicHound Rock4 5 5 32 OndaRock9 10 33 Q nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 34 The Rolling Stone Album Guide nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 35 Tom HullB 36 Freak Out reached No 130 on the Billboard chart 38 and was not a critical success when it was first released in the United States 8 Many listeners were convinced that the album was drug inspired 5 and interpreted the album s title as slang for a bad LSD trip The album made the Mothers of Invention immediate underground darlings with a strong counter cultural following 39 In The Real Frank Zappa Book Zappa quotes a negative review of the album by Pete Johnson of the Los Angeles Times who wrote I guess you might call it surrealistic paintings set to music Not content to record just two sides of musical gibberish the MOI devote four full sides to their type of artistry If anyone owns this album perhaps he can tell me what in hell is going on The Mothers of Invention a talented but warped quintet have fathered an album poetically entitled Freak Out which could be the greatest stimulus to the aspirin industry since the income tax 40 The album developed a major cult following in the United States by the time MGM Verve had been merged into a division of PolyGram in 1972 At that time many MGM Verve releases including Freak Out were prematurely deleted in an attempt to keep the struggling company financially solvent Zappa had already moved on to his own companies Bizarre Records and Straight Records which were distributed by Warner Bros Records Freak Out was initially more successful in Europe and quickly influenced many English rock musicians 18 According to David Fricke the album was a major influence on the Beatles Sgt Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band 41 Paul McCartney regarded Sgt Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band as the Beatles Freak Out 42 Zappa criticized the Beatles as he felt they were only in it for the money 43 Freak Out was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999 44 ranked at number 243 on Rolling Stone magazine s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003 45 and 246 in a 2012 revised list 46 It was also featured in the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 47 The album was named as one of Classic Rock magazine s 50 Albums That Built Prog Rock 48 It was voted number 315 in the third edition of Colin Larkin s All Time Top 1000 Albums 2000 49 Track listing editAll tracks are written by Frank Zappa except Go Cry on Somebody Else s Shoulder by Zappa and Ray CollinsSide oneNo TitleLength1 Hungry Freaks Daddy 3 322 I Ain t Got No Heart 2 343 Who Are the Brain Police 3 254 Go Cry on Somebody Else s Shoulder 4 3 435 Motherly Love 2 506 How Could I Be Such a Fool 2 16Total length 18 20 Side twoNo TitleLength7 Wowie Zowie 2 558 You Didn t Try to Call Me 3 219 Any Way the Wind Blows 2 5510 I m Not Satisfied 2 4111 You re Probably Wondering Why I m Here 3 41Total length 15 33 Side threeNo TitleLength12 Trouble Every Day 5 5313 Help I m a Rock Suite in Three Movements I Okay to Tap Dance II In Memoriam Edgard Varese III It Can t Happen Here 8 37Total length 14 30 Side fourNo TitleLength14 The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet Unfinished Ballet in Two Tableaux I Ritual Dance of the Child Killer II Nullis Pretii No Commercial Potential 12 22Total length 12 22 60 55 On the 1995 and 2012 CD releases Help I m a Rock is credited as two tracks Help I m a Rock 4 43 and It Can t Happen Here 3 57 On the Side 3 label of original vinyl copies Trouble Every Day is listed as Trouble Comin Every Day Personnel editThe Mothers of Invention Frank Zappa guitar conductor vocals Jimmy Carl Black percussion drums vocals Ray Collins vocals harmonica cymbals sound effects tambourine finger cymbals bobby pin amp tweezers Roy Estrada bass amp guitarron boy soprano Elliot Ingber alternate lead amp rhythm guitar with clear white light The Mothers Auxiliary Gene Estes percussion Eugene Di Novi piano Neil Levang guitar John Rotella clarinet bass saxophone Carol Kaye 12 string guitar Kurt Reher cello Raymond Kelley cello Paul Bergstrom cello Emmet Sargeant cello Joseph Saxon cello Edwin V Beach cello Arthur Maebe French horn George Price French horn Roy Caton trumpet Virgil Evans trumpet David Wells trombone Motorhead Sherwood noises Kim Fowley hypophone Mac Rebennack piano Paul Butterfield vocals Les McCann piano Jeannie Vassoir voice of Suzy Creamcheese Production credits Musical director orchestrator and arranger Frank Zappa Producer Tom Wilson Engineering director Val Valentin Engineers Ami Hadani Tom Wilson Val Valentin Assistants Eugene Dinovi Neil Levang Vito Ken Watson Cover design Jack Anesh Hair stylist Ray CollinsCharts editAlbum Year Chart Position 1967 Billboard 200 38 130References edit Lowe Kelly Fisher 2007 The Words and Music of Frank Zappa U of Nebraska Press pp 38 219 ISBN 978 0 8032 6005 4 Elliot Ingber info United Mutations Retrieved 2007 02 22 FZ Musicians amp Collaborators H L Elliot Ingber Winged Eel Fingerling Information Is Not Knowledge Retrieved 2007 02 22 a b Gilliland John 1969 Show 14 Big Rock Candy Mountain Phil Spector amp Frank Zappa review the 50s audio Pop Chronicles University of North Texas Libraries a b c d e f g h i j k l Zappa Frank Occhiogrosso Peter 1989 The Real Frank Zappa Book New York Poseidon Press pp 65 80 ISBN 0 671 70572 5 a b c d e Zappa Frank June 1968 The Incredible History Of The Mothers Hit Parader Retrieved 2007 02 09 James Billy 2002 Necessity Is The Early Years of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention SAF Publishing p 23 ISBN 978 0 946719 51 8 Retrieved 2010 05 28 a b c d Zappa Frank March 1993 BBC Late Show Interviewed by Nigel Leigh UMRK LA Eisen Jonathan 1969 The Age of Rock Sounds of the American Cultural Revolution Random House Inc ISBN 0 394 70535 1 a b c FZ chronology 1965 1969 The Mothers of Invention Information Is Not Knowledge Retrieved 2007 02 08 a b The Lost Episodes Liner notes RCD 40573 a b c d e f g h i j k Zappa Frank Freak Out Liner notes V V6 5005 2 Dallas Karl June 1975 What Did You Do In The Revolution Dada Let It Rock Avo Raup Retrieved June 29 2019 Frank Zappa November 13 1967 How We Made It Sound That Way Radio appearance Detroit MI WDET Retrieved November 30 2017 a b 1634 1699 McCusker J J 1997 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States Addenda et Corrigenda PDF American Antiquarian Society 1700 1799 McCusker J J 1992 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States PDF American Antiquarian Society 1800 present Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Consumer Price Index estimate 1800 Retrieved February 29 2024 a b c NEW ZAPPA VINYL BOOTLEG THE ALTERNATIVE FREAK OUT United Mutations October 2010 Retrieved November 30 2017 a b c d e f Parker Scott March 2011 ZappaCast Episode 1 ZappaCast The Frank Zappa Podcast Podcast Garden Archived from the original on December 1 2017 Retrieved November 30 2017 a b c Zappa Frank April 5 1994 An Interview with Frank Zappa Interview Interviewed by Matty Biberfield New York City NY WRVR Retrieved November 30 2017 Shelton Robert December 25 1966 Son of Suzy Creamcheese The New York Times Retrieved 2007 02 09 Garcia Albertos Roman Help I m A Rock Information Is Not Knowledge Globalia Retrieved November 30 2017 Garcia Albertos Roman Mothermania Information Is Not Knowledge Globalia Retrieved November 30 2017 a b Vinyl Vs CDs Freak Out The Zappa Patio Archived from the original on 2012 11 27 Retrieved 2007 01 20 Interview Rolling Stone 1988 Archived from the original on 2001 01 07 Retrieved 2007 02 09 Corcelli John 2016 Frank Zappa FAQ All That s Left to Know About the Father of Invention Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 978 1 61713 674 0 Zappa Frank May 30 2004 Pretty Pat Interview excerpted on Joe s Corsage VR 20041 Retrieved 2007 02 07 Zappa Frank Freak Out Back cover V V6 5005 2 a b Zappa Frank Interview KBEY FM Kansas City Missouri October 22 1971 Zappa Frank The MOFO Project Object ZR 20004 Vinyl Vs CDs MoFo The Making of Freak Out The Zappa Patio Retrieved 2007 01 20 Huey Steve Review Freak Out AllMusic Retrieved 13 June 2009 Martin C Strong 1998 The Great Rock Discography 1st ed Canongate Books ISBN 978 0 86241 827 4 Gary Graff ed 1996 MusicHound Rock The Essential Album Guide 1st ed London Visible Ink Press ISBN 978 0 7876 1037 1 Frank Zappa biografia recensioni streaming discografia foto Review Freak Out Q August 1995 150 151 Sheffield Rob 2004 Frank Zappa In Brackett Nathan Hoard Christian eds The New Rolling Stone Album Guide 4th ed London Fireside Books ISBN 0 7432 0169 8 Retrieved October 24 2020 Tom Hull Grade List frank zappa Tom Hull on the web Retrieved October 24 2020 Larkin Colin 2007 Encyclopedia of Popular Music 5th ed Omnibus Press ISBN 978 0857125958 a b Chart amp Awards for Freak Out AllMusic Retrieved 2007 12 06 Zappa Frank Interview Mixed Media Detroit MI November 13 1967 Johnson Pete 1966 07 10 Popular Record Pass Aspirin Please Los Angeles Times Retrieved 20 November 2009 Fricke David 2006 The MOFO Project Object Media notes Frank Zappa Zappa Records MacDonald Ian 2007 Revolution in the Head The Beatles Records and the Sixties 3rd ed Chicago Review Press p 214n ISBN 978 1 55652 733 3 Fricke David 2008 Lumpy Money Media notes Frank Zappa Zappa Records GRAMMY Hall Of Fame Awards Grammy com Archived from the original on 2011 01 22 Retrieved 2007 03 20 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone Archived from the original on November 12 2004 Retrieved 2007 01 20 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone 2012 Retrieved September 16 2019 Robert Dimery ed 2006 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Universe ISBN 0 7893 1371 5 Classic Rock magazine July 2010 Issue 146 Larkin Colin 2006 All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd ed Virgin Books p 129 ISBN 0 7535 0493 6 External links editFreak Out full album at YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Freak Out amp oldid 1222908319, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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