Search - Frank Zappa :: Joe's Corsage

If you are a fan

COMPUTERJAZZMAN | Cliffside Park, New Jersey United States | 11/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"of Frank Zappa, especially EARLY Mothers Of Invention music, then you have to get this CD. It is a series of demo tapes made in 1964-65, before they recorded and released Freak Out!. Interestingly enough, the other guitar player on the first few cuts is Henry Vestine, who had been hired to play guitar with the Mothers but quit 'cause he didn't like the music, he went on to become the guitar player in Canned Heat (and was replaced by Elliot Ingber). The other musicians are Ray Collins (vocals), Roy Estrada (bass), and Jimmy Carl Black (drums). These are early versions of songs that became standards for the Mothers (Motherly Love, Plastic People, I Ain't Got No Heart, How Could I Be Such A Fool?, Anyway The Wind Blows, Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder), and also included is a version of Marvin Gaye's "Hitch Hike" (sung by Ray Collins, and the oldie "My Babe". There is also a song called "I'm So Happy I Could Cry", which is the song "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" with different lyrics, and also some tape of Frank Zappa being interviewed. I love this CD, unfortunately it is only 35 minutes long, wish it could have had more stuff on it."

Early Mothers as a very cool garage band

Andreas C G | Huntington Beach, CA United States | 12/22/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This release is of interest to Zappa fans because it documents the Mothers at an early stage of their development. At this stage the Mothers sound like a garage band from the period (a good one), without the avant-guarde elements that characterized their music by the time of their first album. What is, however, already in place, is the satirical lyrical content



These are demos recorded in 1964 & and 1965. It's mostly songs that would appear on "Freak Out", "Cruising with Ruben and the Jets", or "Absolutely Free". There's also a couple of "standards" cover songs that might have been typical for the day ("Hitchhike" by Marvin Gaye). Most of the songs that would appear on their early albums are in recognizable forms. The sound of these songs is quite different from the later LP versions. They are rougher in a good way. Part of the roughness may be because they are demos, and partly because of the production, which gives the guitar a louder more abrasive sound, and is less reverb-soaked that was the norm in the mid-late 1960's production.



"Plastic People" is played basically to the tune of "Louie Louie" (facetiously so), and is similar to the live version found on one of the "You Can't Do That Onstage Anymore" volumes. It demonstrates how the song is a mutant cousin of the earlier bar-band standard. "Wedding Dress Song/Handsome Cabin Boy" are sea shanties that have previously appeared in different form on Lost Episodes, but this version is more rock-oriented. Perhaps the most interesting "Conceptual Continuity Clue" for hardcore Zappa freaks is ""I'm So Happy I Could Cry", which is an early version of "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" / closing theme of "Lumpy Gravy", but with different lyrics, sung by Frank Zappa (a fairly standard love long).



The album also includes outtakes of an interview from a later period, in which Zappa discusses his musical influences and the formation of the Mothers band.



In short, this release wouldn't make much sense as someone's introduction to Zappa's music, but fans will appreciate this look into an earlier stage of Zappa's musical development, and it is an enjoyable album. It is very short, but it is what it is, and it's pretty good.

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