Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention We're Only In It For The Money CD

Full performer name: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention.
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, piano); Jimmy Carl Black (vocals, trumpet, drums); Roy Estrada (vocals, electric bass); Billy Mundi (vocals, drums); Ian Underwood (woodwinds, piano); Bunk Gardner (woodwinds); Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood (soprano & baritone saxophones); Suzy Creamcheese, Dick Barber.
Additional personnel includes: Gary Kellgren (vocals); Eric Clapton.
Recorded between August and October, 1967.
Originally released on Verve.
Personnel: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); Bunk Gardner (vocals, woodwinds, wind); Jimmy Carl Black (vocals, trumpet, drums, percussion); Roy Estrada (vocals, electric bass); Billy Mundi (vocals, drums); Dick Barber, Pamela Zarubica (vocals); Eric Clapton (spoken vocals); Ian Underwood (woodwinds, piano, keyboards, wind); Euclid James Sherwood, Motorhead Sherwood (soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone); Don Preston (keyboards).
Audio Remixer: Dick Kunc.
Recording information: Apostolic Studios, New York, NY (08/1967-10/1967); Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA (08/1967-10/1967); Mayfair Studios, New York, NY (08/1967-10/1967).
Author: Edgard Varèse.
Editors: Dick Kunc; Frank Zappa.
Photographers: Jerry Schatzberg; Jerrold Schatzber.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Don Preston ; Spider; Jimmy Carl Black.
Arranger: Frank Zappa.
From the beginning, Frank Zappa cultivated a role as voice of the freaks -- imaginative outsiders who didn't fit comfortably into any group. We're Only in It for the Money is the ultimate expression of that sensibility, a satirical masterpiece that simultaneously skewered the hippies and the straights as prisoners of the same narrow-minded, superficial phoniness. Zappa's barbs were vicious and perceptive, and not just humorously so: his seemingly paranoid vision of authoritarian violence against the counterculture was borne out two years later by the Kent State killings. Like Freak Out, We're Only in It for the Money essentially devotes its first half to satire, and its second half to presenting alternatives. Despite some specific references, the first-half suite is still wickedly funny, since its targets remain immediately recognizable. The second half shows where his sympathies lie, with character sketches of Zappa's real-life freak acquaintances, a carefree utopia in "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance," and the strident, unironic protest "Mother People." Regardless of how dark the subject matter, there's a pervasively surreal, whimsical flavor to the music, sort of like Sgt. Pepper as a creepy nightmare. Some of the instruments and most of the vocals have been manipulated to produce odd textures and cartoonish voices; most songs are abbreviated, segue into others through edited snippets of music and dialogue, or are broken into fragments by more snippets, consistently interrupting the album's continuity. Compositionally, though, the music reveals itself as exceptionally strong, and Zappa's politics and satirical instinct have rarely been so focused and relevant, making We're Only in It for the Money quite probably his greatest achievement. [Rykodisc's 1987 reissue restored passages censored on the LP, but included re-recorded rhythm tracks and sounded quite different. Their 1995 re-reissue contained both the original music and content edits.] ~ Steve Huey
The early Zappa albums were treasured by the few and totally misunderstood by the majority. The brilliant SGT. PEPPER satire of the cover should have garnered extra sales, but no. Zappa's scathing wit homed in on modern middle-class America and West Coast hippies. The album offered 19 vignettes incorporating avant garde, doo-wop, some relatively conventional pop music and a lot of hilarious dialogue that was so hip it has never dated. Zappa made us confront the obvious, and the results were alarming. These issues are best demonstrated on "What's The Ugliest Part OSpin (01/04, p.48) - "...It predicted future Zappa endeavors, building a groove-fracturing spazz-rock tradition..."
Q (8/99) - Included in Q Magazine's "Best Psychedelic Albums of All Time."
Q (8/95, pp.150-151) - 5 Stars - Indispensable - "...a brilliant lampoon of flower-power so scathingly accurated he manages to prophesy the Kent State killings two years before they happened. Segues restlessly between pop, rock, doo-wop and musique concrete, all undercut by a vicious spoofing humour..."
Mojo (Publisher) (7/95, p.102) - "...the card-carrying classic. Zappa's scabrous disembowelling of the hippy dream pitches caustic lyrics over contemporary folk-rock and pop styles....the album works brilliantly as a whole..."