I titled this "discussion thread" rather than "appreciation thread" because I'm not sure if I fully appreciate this album yet. This is reputedly one of Zappa's seminal works, but I'm not sure if I fully understand it. Certainly it's satirical and witty and critical and damn hilarious at times, but I'm not sure if the music itself can be considered "great". It kinda sounds like, in satirizing the counterculture of the late sixties, he decided to simply immitate the sound of the dead, the doors etc.. without bothering to make great music. I'm also not sure if the copy I have is the ideal copy since I heard there's a remix that brings some of the background arrangements more to the front and undoes some of the censoring that occured in the original version (this copy I listened to was rented from the library).

Damn Jack. Looks like it's just you and I.

I'm not sure that the point was to make "great music" but to make "appropriate music" that fit the storylines of the songs.
The object was to simultaneously lampoon the "hippies" and the "establishment".

Take the song "Flower Punk" for example. This was a take-off on a song (Hey Joe) that was a staple of every hippie bar band of that period. Btw, he warped the Leaves/Byrds/Love version of the tune and not the superbly rearranged Hendrix version. When I say warped, it's really a classic example of Zappa's use of mixed meter (Mother People is another good example). He took a straight 4/4 tune and comically recomposed the rhythm into 4 bars of 2 followed by 4 bars of 3. This is not something your average hippie band would even think of no less play properly. Thanks to the trained drummer (L.A. Philharmonic) Billy Mundi, this was easily accomplished. Pretty clever if you ask me.

And the lyrics they speak for themselves:
Hey punk, where you goin? with that flower in your hand? (all lines sung 2x)
Well, I'm goin' up to frisco to join a psychedelic band.

Hey punk, where you goin' with that button on your shirt?
I'm goin' to the love-in to sit & play my bongos in the dirt.

Hey punk, where you goin' with that hair on your head?
I'm goin' to the dance to get some action, then i'm goin' home to bed.

Hey punk, where you goin' with those beads around your neck?
I'm goin' to the shrink so he can help me be a nervous wreck.

When he goes after the "establishment" on Mom & Dad, once again the music is just there to set the tone for the song's story.

Mama, Mama
Your child was killed in the park today
Shot by the cops as she quietly lay
By the side of the creeps she knew . . .
They killed her too.

If you're looking for the more musically adventurous Zappa of that day, jump over to Lumpy Gravy which was recorded close to the same time period.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm
[Edited 11/4/04 12:14pm]

"takes music from the dead, doors etc...

"let's not forget that the doors were still around at the time, actually the doors first album was released in 1967, We're only in it for the money (1968) was an attempt to satirize the Beatles and the hippies. Zappa used lots of experimentation on the album. Just wait for a while... the album will grow on you.... but you had best have the Ryko version or the original lp...

That's what's always stopped from really liking his music ,
his need no satirize everything
I know he was a really good musician and composer , but damn , why couldn't
he make serious songs !
[Edited 11/3/04 23:27pm]

This is my second favourite Zappa album ever.

The music is perfect for the sentiment.

To Dewrede, who says Zappa's never made any serious songs, check out cuts like Watermelon In Easter Hay from Joe's Garage if you think he's never genuine with feeling in his music.

I'm starting to like it more. However, I'm still uncertain about which mix is the best. The one I have is dated '96 i think.

jacktheimprovident said:

Original Vinyl - 1968 - Verve (V6-5045)
Depending on the pressing chronology, you'll either have a "slightly censored" or "very censored" lyrics version.

CD - 1986 - Ryko (40024) - Included Lumpy Gravy. Digitally re-recorded bass & drums and restored lyrics

CD/Vinyl - 1995 - Ryko (RCD 10503/ARYK 10503) - Digitally remastered from original 2 track Verve master.

There's also the version from The Old Masters Box on Barking Pumpkin.
(at this point i'm totally confused)

This Zappa-head has a pretty detailed analysis of what i'd like to call..."The WOIIFTM Permutations":
http://home.westbrabant.n...orship.htm

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Finally, an interesting musical topic!

Whilst not my favourate Zappa album, 'We're Only In It For the Money' is great, and the song "Flower Punk" is a devastatingly hilarious parody of 'Hey Joe' and the whole hippie myth. Zappa sees hippiedom for what it was, commercial exploitation of comfortably off young white Americans (mostly), with little or no experience of 'real life'. Wanting peace and love is laudable, but life in general don't work like that.

I really see WOIIFTM as phase one (or two) of 'Lumpy Gravy', and I generally play the two back to back. Phaze Three by the way is the incredible 'Civilisation Phaze III', Zappa's final masterpiece. You can only really get this through mail order from the official FZ website, though. Not for the faint-hearted, tho. One of my favourate bits on 'Lumpy Gravy' or 'Money' (can't remember which one) is Eric Clapton's speaking part, 'God, I see God!' Too witty.

To digress (and why not?) I find it interesting that neither of the two greatest creative rock-related artists of the late'60s (imo), Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix were hippies. Zappa was an eccentric genius composer, sort of the Duke Ellington of rock, who thrived on ambivalence, while Hendrix was a mixed-up ex-marine who, had he lived, would perhaps have become a fully-fledged composer and might have played an orchestra like he played his guitar ...

And finally, on the wonderful 'Sgt Pepper' parody cover of 'Money', I sometimes feel a slight pang of sadness when I see Hendrix cradling the (collaged) little girl in his arms. Jimi, what might have been ...

Miles said:

That's Clapton during Nasal Retentive Calliope Music on WOIIFTM.
(classic)

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Miles said:

Wilson and Alroy's Record Reviews (a site which I really dig) says that Zappa had six distinct musical personalities: psychedelic satirist, potty-mouthed reactionary, history minded obsessive, serious avant-guarde composer, fusion bandleader, just plain rocker. Is this an accurate description of his work? If so, those last three personalities (and psychedelic satirist) sound most interesting to me: which albums best showcase "fusion bandleader" and "serious avant-guarde composer"?

jacktheimprovident said:

Fusion bandleader: The Grand Wazoo, Lather and Hot Rats
Serious Avante Garde Composer: The Yellow Shark or LSO
Just Plain Rocker: Chunga's Revenge or Zoot Allures

theAudience said:

I just recently listened to a little bit of the '86 version, and i'm very ambivalent. The '86 version is a little more clear and is somewhat more catchy, but the bass is somewhat too obvious and inappropriately funky and I think overall it kinda loses the surreal quality of the original mix, but once again I can't decide which version I really like better.

help i'm a rock, help i'm a rock, help i'm a rock...

smokeverbs said:

MADGE, I WANT YOUR BODY!
HARRY, GET BACK!
MADGE, IT'S NOT MERELY PHYSICAL!
HARRY, YOU'RE A BEAST!

*
Don't come in me, in me
Don't come in me, in me
Don't come in me, in me
Don't come in me, in me

MADGE, I . . . MADGE . . . I COULDN'T HELP IT . . .I . . . DOGGONE IT!

~~"Harry, You're A Beast"~~

*(Depending on your version, you may or may not get this stanza)

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm