Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Just Another Band From L.A.
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Artist: Frank Zappa & The Mothers of InventionEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Live, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1995-05-02
Music Label: Zappa Records
Soundtracks:
- Billy The Mountain
- Call Any Vegetable
- Eddie, Are You Kidding?
- Magdalena
- Dog Breath
Music reviews of Just Another Band From L.A.
Music Review: Well done, but still...
Rating: 4 Stars
One thing that seems to permeate most of the records made under the name "The Mothers" is a sloppiness mixed with real virtuosity. Every line-up FZ had, Mothers and otherwise, were made up of some of the best players you'll find anywhere, but all the Mothers' records had a certain something, lacking elsewhere.
Looking at this as a time-piece, it becomes a better record, because there are many references to the Los Angeles area in the early 1970's, and unless you know this, it is just a jumble of obscure, arcane references that make very little sense. A lot of younger listeners may not have seen the Tonight Show when Johnny Carson was host, but the main Tonight Show motif is played many times throughout the twenty something minute "Billy The Mountain," and so forth ("...let me write this down, sort of take a few notes here; 'Daa-da-da daa-daahh...'"). I get the way they do some things that can be annoying, like refering to a narcotics crack-down, and as Jim Pons names city after city, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman make these screechy noises with their voices, it's just grating on the ears. It makes dogs in the room act funny, but as anti-drug as Zappa was, he has said it should be treated as a health problem, not a police battle. So, to see the police waste time, effort, and money chasing down drug users instead of going after real criminals, this is as annoying as the noise "Flo and Eddie" made in the reference. There are so many layers to Zappa and The Mothers' work, it would be pointless to get into all them here.
The second half of the program starts off with a revamped "Call Any Vegetable," in some ways better than the original, in some ways, not as good, but my own personal favorite cut on the disc. This is an ideal performance of this type. It's broken down into a bunch of mini-songs linked together, with a vamp toward the end, a vehicle for Volman and Kaylan, "Flo & Eddie" to some, to goof, and make the audience laugh. So off-the-wall, but so funny, as with most of what they do. This cuts into "Eddie, Are You Kidding?," another song geared to the southern California area, so many outsiders just won't get what's going on in this number, incidentally, the only radio-friendly track included; I actually heard it on the radio one night, it surprised me.
"Magdalena," oh, my. What can I say? A little concentrated listening will show it doesn't glorify the behavior depicted here, but unless you don't know this, you'll feel dirty upon listening. It is a depiction of seedy, abhorrent behavior, and if anything brings this performance down, it's the prolonged monologue at the end, but seeing it as a dramatic reading, knowing it's just portrayal, helps. If you want good taste, look elsewhere. This cuts into "Dog Breath(don't you just love his titles?)," a relic from "Uncle Meat." Don't even try to compare the two versions, it's apples and oranges. One is an Avant Garde experiment in sound, and the other is raw, outdoor rock, circa 1971. It bends your ear, unless you appreciate, or are in the mood for this stuff.
Many people don't like this record, but it is what was going on back then. But, Zappa had moved on to other things at the time of "L.A.'s" release (1972). The cartoon drawing on the front has Zappa's foot with a cast on it, an obvious reference to the injuries sustained in the attack he suffered at the Rainbow Theatre in London the previous December, causing the band to break up. This phase of the band was plagued with problems. Jeff Simmons quits the band right before "200 Motels" is to begin shooting, the replacement quits, the replacement's replacement moves on to other things, Jim Pons from The Turtles rejoins Flo and Eddie in the ranks of The Mothers, Don Preston returns, and all the band's equipment is destroyed in a fire which leveled the venue they were playing that particular night; they play the next gig, trying to sort out all the problems that go with new equipment, and some idiot throws Frank Zappa into the orchestra pit, nearly killing him. Maybe it's good this line-up broke up. It was seemingly cursed from the beginning.
Description of Just Another Band From L.A.
Japanese exclusive reissue of 1972 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve.Classic Rock CDs
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