The 500 - #297 - We're Only In It For The Money - The Mothers

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #297

Album Title: We're Only In It For The Money

Artist: The Mothers

Genre: Experimental Rock, Acid Rock, Satire

Recorded: Three studios in Los Angeles, California & New York City

Released: March, 1968

My age at release: 3

How familiar was I with it before this week: A Little

Is it on the 2020 list? No

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist:  Who Needs The Peace Corps?

My first record collection belonged to the London Public Library. I was fourteen when I moved to the Southwestern Ontario city and discovered that the Central Branch of the municipal library system had an entire section dedicated to vinyl records and eight comfortable listening booths available for free.

Where my earnest foray into music and comedy began.

The library's collection was impressive, and many contemporary rock bands were represented. More surprisingly, there was an extensive comedy section. Already a fan of Monty Python, Steve Martin, SCTV and Saturday Night Live, it was among these stacks that I first heard records from legends such as Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Gilda Radner and The Goon Show.

Four of my favourite comedy discoveries at the library

It was also among these stacks that I first saw a Frank Zappa record. It was Act I of his three-part rock opera Joe's Garage and, initially, I mistook it for a comedy album. I wasn't entirely wrong; there are numerous absurd and humourous elements throughout it, including provocative and titillating song titles such as: Catholic Girls, Crew Slut, Wet T-Shirt Nite, and Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? The album cover features Zappa holding a mop with his face completely painted black -- which I found weird and intriguing. Through the social lens of today, it was an unfortunate portrayal.

Joe's Garage album cover

Zappa was a provocateur and outrageous. Those familiar with Zappa's career know he has no history of racism and that, in the context of 1970s’ society, he was just being silly.  Additionally, some claim, weakly, it is not "blackface", but engine grease (ostensibly from Joe's Garage) smeared on his visage. Moreover, his lips are not painted and he is not mugging comically to the camera like the Minstrel performers of the 19th and early 20th century. Granted, it doesn't help that the "Joe" character in the rock opera is voiced by Ike Willis, a black guitarist and singer in Zappa's band.

Two white performers in blackface for a Minstrel Show

Regardless, hearing Joe's Garage for the first time on those library-owned headphones was an overwhelming and wonderfully confounding experience for my teenage brain. Instinctively, I knew I had stumbled onto something special. It was as if the universe had provided me with a puzzle that I needed to solve. I had so many questions, the most pressing of which was: "Who is Frank Zappa"?

The unconventional Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 21, 1940, to Sicilian immigrants. When he was 12, the family moved to southern California and he joined the high school band as a drummer. It was during this time that he became passionate about music and sound. His earliest influences ranged from black rhythm and blues guitar rock and doo-wop to modern composers that included Igor Stravinski and Anton Webern. He was also fascinated with avant-garde composers, particularly Edgard Varese, who created dissonant sound experiments.

Edgard Varese, known for dissonant sound experiments

Varese's influence, which emphasized timbre (tone quality) and rhythm above melody, is evident in many of Zappa's compositions. In fact, in 1963, long before the release of his first record, Freak Out! (#246 on The 500), the 22-year-old Zappa appeared on the television variety program, The Steve Allen Show, to demonstrate how he composed using a pair of drumsticks, a bass violin bow and a bicycle. You can see the video here.

The magic wrought by drumsticks, violin bow and bicycle wheel demonstrated by Zappa on the Steve Allen Show, 1963

In 1964, Zappa replaced the guitarist in an established R&B band called The Soul Giants and the group rebranded themselves as The Mothers of Invention. Zappa became bandleader and co-singer. The group built an audience playing in Los Angeles’ underground scene and Zappa's predilection for sonic experimentation began to infiltrate the band's sound. In 1966, their first record, Freak Out!, was released. The Mothers were backed by an orchestra of 20 additional musicians, including cellists and a full brass section.

Album cover for Freak Out! (1966)

We're Only In It For The Money, was the third release by The Mothers. Featuring 18 musicians, it is a concept record that satirizes left and right wing politics, describing both sides as "prisoners of the same narrow-minded, superficial phoniness". The themes work as well in today's political climate as they must have in 1968. The thin-skinned, perpetually stoned hippies of Zappa's era have been replaced by overly-woke, endlessly offended hipsters of today.

1960s hippies have somewhat morphed into 2020 hipsters

The right wing targets of Zappa's sardonic ire – insincere corporations and police officers who unreasonably resort to acts of hyper-violence – fit well into a criticism of the social milieu of the sixties or these twenties.

Police arresting protesters in San Francisco (1968)

The cover lampoons The Beatles who had just released their magnum opus, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Zappa felt that the British band's embrace of peace, love and harmony was less sincere than it appeared. He believed The Beatles were more a corporate product than a band and that Sgt. Pepper was more about money than about social change.

Sgt. Pepper & We're Only In It Covers side by side

After Zappa conceived the cheeky parody photograph, he reached out to Beatle Paul McCartney to request permission to lampoon their iconic cover. McCartney declined, suggesting  it was "an issue for business managers" -- ostensibly supporting  Zappa's contention.  Thus, when the first edition of We’re Only In It For The Money was released by the production company, Capitol Records, it nervously put the parody cover on the inner sleeve. An alternative cover was requested  by Capitol and Zappa opted for an image of himself and three of The Mothers looking intentionally bland, dressed in women's frocks.

First version of the album cover for We're Only In It For The Money

Back in 1980, when I was filled with teenage anxiety and was uncertain about my place in the world, I kept my appreciation of Zappa a secret. It wouldn't be until the autumn of 1981 that I would become more public about my Zappa fandom. That was when I met two unabashed Zappa fanatics -- pals Paul and Steve (both of whom have been featured in previous posts). They had, to my envy, attended a Frank Zappa concert at the local hockey arena the previous November. I knew about the show, but chose not to attend it. It's a regret I still have today and, since Zappa's premature death from prostate cancer in 1993, it is a missed opportunity I can no longer rectify.