Released: 1973
Tracks: Camarillo Brillo, I’m the Slime; Dirty Love; Fifty-Fifty; Zomby Woof; Dinah-Moe Humm; Montana
Best track: Montana
Track to skip: none
Absolute and total change from the last album. Hell, that’s Zappa for ya! You can listen to two albums from within a year of each other and they have no resemblance what so ever. Well, besides being Zappa that is. It’s commonly believed that this was Zappa’s ‘sell out’ album after the previous two jazz albums. Those weren’t very popular, and this was. Most audiences couldn’t understand those, but they could certainly understand this one. This isn’t simplistic by any means, it’s just not big band jazz. This is a commercial album, probably as commercial of one as Zappa ever made. I don’t think he deliberately tried to ‘sell out’, I think he just wanted to switch directions
again, like he does every two or three albums.
This thing is so damn good though. All of these songs are good (yeah dammit, I *like* Dinah-Moe Humm!) and the playing is excellent. This band was the first formation of a truly great band: Ruth Underwood on percussion, George Duke on keys and Tom Fowler on bass were the cornerstones of the great mid-70’s FZ group, with mainstays Sal Marquez on trumpet and Ian Underwood on woodwinds, and newbies Ralph Humphrey on drums, often-employed Bruce Fowler on trombone and jazz fusion violinist Jean-Luc Ponty finishing out the group. And of course we can’t forget the incredible contributions of Tina Turner and the Ike-ettes who do backing vocals on a lot of these songs (uncredited, because Ike refused to let them be. Jerk)
The playing on here is fantastic. I just got through the super workout of the middle section of 50-50. WOW! Ponty does a great solo and then Frank comes in with one of his own. Zomby Woof is still one of my fave FZ compositions, as is I’m the Slime. So much good stuff on here! I do think it’s very annoying that many people in the 70’s latched on to Dinah-Moe Humm like they did, but it’s still an amusing song. Its existence is entirely justified by the Ike-ettes singing. Speaking of them, how about Montana? Jeez, that middle section is THE middle section of all time. I absolutely love Montana. It’s totally a highlight of Zappa’s composing. The middle section is so damn ridiculous sounding! My mind gets fried every time I listen to it. And then they just go back into the song like nothing happened! You have to hear it to know what I’m talking about. This is a damn great album and one that I listen to a ton. A great first-Zappa purchase.
Rating: 94
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