Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention - Absolutely Free
Out of the original Mothers' albums, this was never my favorite, but I've grown to really appreciate it lately. Zappa recorded this as The Beach Boys worked on Smile, and The Beatles worked on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It came out before the latter, due to a long delay. He wanted to publish a libretto of all the lyrics, but this was too expensive, so it was released 6 months after the recording.
Side one is a suite about "plastic people" and "vegetables" -- Zappa's terms for the hollow citizens of America. He thought Americans were too apathetic about how their country works, and satirized their fake lifestyles to "wake" them up. The track "Plastic People," is based on "Louie, Louie," turning that contemporary standard inside out. Along with jokes about human vegetables is "The Duke of Prunes," a beautiful instrumental he wrote years before. Here it has lyrics with absurd euphemisms, making fun of the sexual lyrics in many pop songs. Zappa was a deeply humane guy who thought people didn't understand love, and ridiculed our equation of sexual attraction with deeper affection. This was the subject of "Oh No," his answer to the Beatles's "All You Need is Love."
Side two is a suite about our culture in particular, bookended by "America Drinks" and "America Drinks and Goes Home." Zappa felt the reprise on Sgt. Pepper was a copy of this, and it seemed to influence Their Satanic Majesties' Request by The Rolling Stones. The Stones's album also ends with a mock lounge song, called "On with the Show." Its first side is bookended by two songs, as well: "Sing this All Together" and "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)." The mock lounge idea is something the Beatles also explored on "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)."
Zappa's music, here, is arguably more interesting. He attacks a favorite subject on "Status Back Baby," a parody of the Beach Boys's "Be True to Your School." This segues into "Uncle Bernie's Farm," which talks about violent children's toys. The idea is to question what kind of adults want to make toy guns and bombs for kids, and what behavior this encourages. "Son of Suzy Creamcheese" brings back a character from the previous album, Freak Out! Suzy is a teenage runaway, wasting her life on drugs instead of making a better society. It sounds like a million 60s pop hits, hilariously copying the sound of the times. Zappa was very skilled at mimicking musical cliches, but with lyrics showing how ugly the sentiments in most pop songs are. This was essentially what Freak Out! is about.
After this comes one of Zappa's boldest songs, and one which surprisingly escaped censorship: "Brown Shoes Don't Make It." This was inspired by an article on Lyndon Johnson, who committed the faux pas of wearing brown shoes with a black suit. A journalist took this lapse as evidence the Vietnam War was going badly, and Johnson was disorganized from the stress. Zappa refers to this fashion standard in multiple songs as a sign of our misguided values--that we care more about ideal presentation than being better people. In this song he describes politicians who enjoy sex with children, while presenting themselves as good people based on trivial social standards. He also makes fun of people blindly going to jobs which don't help them, and the silly distractions we too easily live for. One of my favorite lines is a kid singing, "TV dinner by the pool / I'm so glad I finished school," in a hilariously upbeat way. The whole thing is a tough listen, emotionally. Zappa isn't afraid to criticize our sexual repression and how ignored desire presents itself.*
There are so many ideas to pick apart here, especially for just one side of a rock record. It puts many so-called "concept albums" to shame. Zappa also quotes from Stravinsky and Holst, showing his classical aspirations, which would develop on later albums like Lumpy Gravy, Uncle Meat, 200 Motels, or London Symphony Orchestra.
When Absolutely Free was released on CD in the 80s, Zappa added two songs to the middle of the album: "Big Leg Emma" and "Why Don'tcha Do Me Right?" These were a non-album single released around the same time. Both are parodies of the garage rock popular in the mid-60s, and I'm guessing Zappa hoped they would be a hit. The first song is about a shallow guy who can't stand his girlfriend once she gains weight or her face breaks out, though he's incapable of seeing his own character flaws. The second song is about another shallow guy who is so desperate for an idealized woman who doesn't respect him. Sex and marriage are more important than liking himself. It ends with a reference to "Wild Thing," a song Zappa loved and loved to make fun of. You can easily mistake these songs for being sincere, they imitate pop music so naturally. The harpsichord on the latter is a hilarious touch, too.
As with Wagner before him, Zappa writes challenging music with its own interesting narratives. This is something he'd explore further on We're Only in it for the Money, 200 Motels, and Civilization: Phase III, to name a few examples.
A fun piece of trivia: Carol Kaye, the session musician, plays on this LP. She also played bass on "California Girls" and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and Smile albums, among other things. She found the lyrics too controversial and refused to play on some of the Zappa cuts (I'm guessing "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"). "Brown Shoes" also features Don Ellis, very talented jazz musician who helped revive big band music in the 60s. His album Electric Bath is wonderful, not to mention his cover of "Hey Jude."
*Be a plumber, he's a bummer
He's a bummer every summer
Be a loyal plastic robot for a world that doesn't care
Smile at every ugly
Shine on your shoes and cut your hair
Be a jerk and go to work
Be a jerk and go to work
Be a jerk and go to work
Be a jerk and go to work
Do your job and do it right
Life's a ball, TV tonight
Do you love it, do you hate it?
There it is the way you made it
A world of secret hungers
Perverting the men who make your laws
Every desire is hidden away
In a drawer in a desk
By a naugahyde chair
On a rug where they walk and drool
Past the girls in the office
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