Released May 26, 1967 Length 38:29
43:37 (reissue) Artist The Mothers of Invention Label Verve Records | Recorded November 15–18, 1966 Absolutely Free
#2 (1967) Lumpy Gravy
#3 (1967) Release date 26 May 1967 | |
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Studio Sunset-Highland Studios of TTG Producer Frank Zappa,
Tom Wilson Genres Rock music, Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock, Experimental rock, Symphonic rock, Avant-pop Similar We're Only in It for the Money, Freak Out!, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Uncle Meat | ||
Absolutely Free is the second studio album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, led by Frank Zappa, released in 1967. Absolutely Free is, again, a display of complex musical composition with political and social satire. The band had been augmented since Freak Out! by the addition of woodwinds player Bunk Gardner, keyboardist Don Preston, rhythm guitarist Jim Fielder and drummer Billy Mundi. Fielder quit the group before the album was released and his name was removed from the album credits.
Contents
- The mothers of invention absolutely free full album
- Reissues
- Music
- Track listing
- Personnel
- Songs
- References
This album's emphasis is on interconnected movements, as each side of the original vinyl LP comprises a mini-suite. It also features one of the most famous songs of Zappa's early career, "Brown Shoes Don't Make It", a track which has been described as a "condensed two-hour musical".
In the book Necessity Is..., former Mothers of Invention band member Ray Collins said that Absolutely Free is probably his favorite of the classic Mothers albums.
The mothers of invention absolutely free full album
Reissues
The CD reissue adds a single that the Mothers released at the time between side one and side two. It features the songs "Why Dontcha Do Me Right?" (titled "Why Don't You Do Me Right" on the 45) and "Big Leg Emma", both described as "an attempt to make dumb music to appeal to dumb teenagers". These were a rare Verve single.
The UK-67 release (Verve VLP/SVLP 9174) came in a laminated flip-back cover, with a Mike Raven poem at the reverse that was not on any other issue.
In 2007, the Lagunitas Brewing Company put out an India pale ale named Kill Ugly Radio, featuring the inside art from the album on the label, one in a series of beers planned to be released on the 40th anniversary of each of Zappa's studio albums.
Music
"Plastic People" begins with a mock introduction of the President of the United States, who (along with his wife) can only recite the opening notes to "Louie, Louie". "Louie, Louie" is often interpolated in Zappa's compositions (other examples appear in the Uncle Meat and Yellow Shark albums, among others), and when Zappa first began performing "Plastic People" around 1965, the words were set to the tune of "Louie, Louie".
The title of "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" was inspired by an event covered by Time reporter Hugh Sidey in 1966. The reporter correctly guessed something was wrong when the fastidiously dressed President Lyndon B. Johnson made the fashion faux pas of wearing brown shoes with a gray suit. LBJ flew to Vietnam for a surprise public relations visit later that day.
In the songs "America Drinks" and "America Drinks and Goes Home", Zappa combines a silly tune with nightclub sound effects to parody his experiences playing with drunken lounge music bands during the early 1960s. Other songs recorded soon after that used the same kinds of ideas include "On with the Show" by The Rolling Stones (released in 1967), "My Friend" by Jimi Hendrix (recorded in 1968, released in 1971) and "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" by The Beatles (recorded in 1967 and 1969, released in 1970).
Track listing
All tracks written by Frank Zappa.
Personnel
The Mothers of Invention
Additional musicians
Songs
1Plastic People3:42
2The Duke of Prunes2:12
3Amnesia Vivace1:01