The Mother of Some of Us
By Stephen Halpert
The Mothers of Invention are gone. Their legacy includes a highly stylized and severe parody of the entire rock phenomenon, ranging from those innocent early years of the mid-fifties (when blue suede shoes and nonsense lyrics kept Alan Freed alive) to the realistic and personal efforts of present day Monterey and Woodstock. A definite sense of bitter irony prevails throughout their music which is oft times patronizing and possibly embarrassing to the pseudo-rock fan, who through no fault of his own feels a close allegiance to the more synthetic aspects of this culture. This is not to imply the The Mothers music is meant to be destructive or that as a group they purposely intended to degrade the purer efforts of groups like The Stones or The Beatles, but rather to declare war against all that fruitgum, monkey bullshit which not only attaches itself to any or all art forms, but to the basic values of our society as well. "You're Probably Wondering Why I‘m Here"; then,"is a direct challenge not to rock music, but to all those plastic groupies clustering amongst the bushes trying to swallow a little raw meat.
Unlike most other rock groups, The Mothers reached beyond the typical rock experience for musical arrangement. A typical Frank Zappa composition may parody Stravinsky, Bo Diddley, Ravel and Guy Lombardo in a single sweep. The lyrics, totally apart from the melody, could be knocking anything from the effect of gelatin upon a Max Rafferty hangnail, to the cause of pimples in creating sexual repression. Quite simply, Frank Zappa is a genius, the lonesco of rock music. He must be credited with having founded the Music of the Absurd school. Despite his bandolero mustache and bolshevik appearance, Frank Zappa is a serious modern composer, social satirist and competent promoter. Through his use of shock treatment, sexual innuendo and stringent satire, ranging from the thought of smoking pot on the White House lawn, "It Can’t Happen Here" to the predicted violence in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Convention, "Concentration Moon," Zappa was the prime mover behind the ultimate success of The Mothers. The only other group which comes close to resembling The Mothers is The Fugs. Their brand of' music, however, is strictly of the 1950's, Ed Sanders unable to break from the old, primitive sounds of such groups as The Coasters, and ideas popular in America during the era of the Beat Generation. Though The Fugs album, The Belle of Avenue A was amusing, it cannot be compared to such Mother’s efforts as We’re Only In iIt For The Money, Freak Out, and Lumpy Gravy. In these albums The Mothers fused innovative, serious arrangement with social message, the result always startling, brave and unique.
This intelligence and creative eXperience caused many individuals within the mass media to look at Frank Zappa as some sort of spokesman for rock music. Though still in his twenties, Zappa is considered by such sources as The New York Review of‘Books to be the elder statesman of rock. This was unfortunate because many of the people within rock felt the analogy to be unfair and felt that Zappa was taking advantage of a situation. By frequently trying to explain what he and The Mothers were about, he unwittingly gave the impression that many of the rock groups lacked originality and talent. Also by trying to speak for and explain the more philosophical aspects of this music Zappa was one of the first to engender within the mass media the current sense of social revolution just now being expressed by The Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Steppenwolf and even subtly by The Beatles in "Maxwell’s Silver Hammer." In other words, it was The Mothers who laid the foundation for free expression now so prevalent. Though The Stones earlier expressed this sense of dismay in "I Can’t Get No Satisfaction," it took quite a bit of development to achieve the attitudes. expressed in Beggars Banquet. The same logic applies to the Airplane growing from the ’don't you want'somebody to love,’ idiom to their present album Volunteers; or Steppenwolf progressing from "The Pusher," to The Monster; or The Beatles growth from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to “Revolution No. 9" or again "Maxwell." The Mothers, however, expressed the very same emotions and demands for social change and justice as far back as their album Freak Out in such songs as "There's Trouble Coming Every Day" and "Plastic People." Though they have progressed musically and stylistically over the last few years, their sensitivity and understanding to the times gave foundations and dimension to many of the more popular groups of today.
Their demise was fairly evident by the tone and conversations included in their last full album Uncle Meat. Here we see a group facing internal strife caused by lack of money, as well as a failure to communicate their particular brand of new music to an audience demanding put downs and general slapstick amusement. The Mothers demise was partially caused by the ultra sophistication of their sounds as well as by the more obvious need of Frank Zappa to move into a more serious musical orientation. His recent album Hot Rats is more akin to Ornette Coleman than to any contemporary rock group. The move to more serious music was defeating for Zappa in any rock connotation, but is merely another step in establishing for this man the sense of musical genius which he so richly deserves.
Though The Mothers are gone, their significance and depth will always remain and one day Frank Zappa will be accorded the recognition and rewards he deserves. I only hope he continues to make records and speak out against a world gone mad.