Absolutely Free
Contents
Release info
Tracks
"Absolutely Free" (1st In A Series Of Underground Oratorios)
- Plastic People (3:42)
- The Duke Of Prunes (2:13)
- Amnesia Vivace (1:01)
- The Duke Regains His Chops (1:52)
- Call Any Vegetable (2:15)
- Invocation & Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin (7:00)
- Soft-Sell Conclusion (1:40)
"The M.O.I. American Pageant" (2nd In A Series Of Underground Oratorios)
- America Drinks (1:53)
- Status Back Baby (2:54)
- Uncle Bernie's Farm (2:10)
- Son Of Suzy Creamcheese (1:34)
- Brown Shoes Don't Make It (7:30)
- America Drinks & Goes Home (2:45)
Absolutely Free (1988)
(related single, inserted between Soft-Sell Conclusion and America Drinks)
- Big Leg Emma (02:31)
- Why Don'tcha Do Me Right? (02:37)
Players
Frank Zappa--guitar, vocals
Ray Collins--vocals, tambourine, PRUNE
Jim Fielder--guitar, piano
Don Preston--keyboards
Bunk Gardner--woodwinds
Roy Estrada--bass, vocals
Jimmy Carl Black--drums, vocals
Billy Mundi--drums, percussion
Background
...
Foreword to the "Absolutely Free Libretto"
all the words on the record
ABSOLUTELY FREE - THE COMPLETE LIBRETTO
ABSOLUTELY FREE - THE M. O. I. AMERICAN PAGEANT
both complete librettos to accompany the VERVE recording V/V6-5013 by THE MOTHERS of INVENTION.
words & music by FRANK ZAPPA
© 1967 FRANK ZAPPA MUSIC BMI, a subsidiary of Third Story Music BMI
FOREWORD
Music has always shown how people think and feel, according to John Tasker Howard. He is probably right. The music of the MOTHERS speaks of the feelings of what might be described as THE VAST MINORITY. The feelings of the people on the fringe of everything... the ones who don't care if they're IN or OUT... don't care if they're HIP, HEP, SWINGIN' or ZORCH. This is the audience the MOTHERS want to reach... those few who have the power within themselves to cause or motiviate social change but have never used it for one reason or another. If you are reading this and understand it (even if you have short hair and watch TV 18 hours a day), it is time that you realized WHO and WHAT YOU ARE. It is time you realized what the words to our songs mean.
This album was recorded the week before Thanksgiving, November 1966 in Los Angeles at the Sunset-Highland Studios of T.T.G. Inc., in a series of 4 sessions (about 25 studio hours). It was edited and re-mixed in New York City at the MGM Studios in 5 sessions (about 35 studio hours) the following week. The album was finally released around May 26, 1967... the reason for the delay? Partly because of this libretto. The original plan was to include within the album, the words in this brochure. The record company attempted to censor the words and a long involved discussion ensued. We were forced to manufacture this product.
The music itself took several years to compose (AMERICA DRINKS & GOES HOME was written in 1964... most of the other segments were written before or shortly after FREAK OUT!, our first album, was released in 1966). We hope that this material will help you to enjoy our work on a more personal level.
Thank you
Frank Zappa
for the MOTHERS of Invention
Zappa about the album:
"When it came time for us to do our second album, Absolutely Free, MGM proclaimed that we couldn't spend more than eleven thousand dollars on it. The recording schedules were ridiculous, making it impossible to perfect anything on the album. It was typical of the kind of bullshit we had to put up with until I got my own studio.
Gail and I moved to New York in 1967 to play in the Garrick Theater on Bleecker Street. The first place we stayed, before we could find an apartment, was the Hotel Van Rensselaer on Eleventh Street. We were living on a small room on one of the upper floors. I was working on the album cover illustration for Absolutely Free at a desk by the window. I remember the place being so dirty I couldn't keep the soot off the artwork."
