Label: Zappa Records / UMe
Original release date: October 4, 1971
50th anniversary reissue date: December 17, 2021 (2xLP, 6xCD)
Producer: Frank Zappa
Running time: 86.41 min (2xLP)
Genre: RIO/ Avant-Prog
Rating: 8.5/10
“200 Motels” was one of the most ambitious, bizarre and provocative projects in the seemingly endless creative output of American music legend Frank Zappa. In Frank’s enormous discography it doesn’t usually hold a particularly lofty spot, since this orchestral project, which landed right between Zappa’s early avant-garde-psychedelic phase and the later jazz rock fusion one, contains no representative classics, with the possible exception of one or two tracks. Even though there’s a ton of goodies hiding on it, it somehow still gets overlooked next to Frank’s more notorious achievements, probably also because only a handful of “200 Motels” compositions were ever played at later live shows. Overlooked or not, “200 Motels”, like the lion’s share of Frank’s discography, has passed the test of time with flying colors, and most of the music and the messages in the lyrics are still very relevant today.
“200 Motels” was the basis for the surrealist musical film of the same name, which, despite all its psychedelic surrealism, wasn’t made under the influence of any psychoactive substances, since Zappa had always despised them from the bottom of his soul. Worth noting: the film also starred one of the two surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr (playing Frank’s double), and the late drumming icon Keith Moon of The Who. The project was the fruit of a collaboration between Frank’s backing band The Mothers of Invention, which had already changed quite a bit since its early days, and Britain’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Zappa, one of the greatest musical and socio-cultural figures of the second half of the 20th century, whom our century could badly use had he not left us forever too soon in 1993, since his unique blend of musical and social satire is more relevant than ever in an age of triumphant vulgar populism, political correctness and fake news, wrote all the music and, together with Tony Palmer, directed and wrote the film “200 Motels”.
The track order on the album differs a bit from the one in the film, and some of the mixes differ from the film versions too. Zappa played most of the guitar passages, bass lines and drums, and took care of the orchestral arrangements and the production. Interestingly, on “200 Motels” he never once steps up to the mic as a singer or goes into the satirical narration that’s so common on his non-instrumental albums.
“200 Motels” contains a (quasi-)concept about the crazy adventures of a rock band on tour, which was already presented in its original form on the live album “Filmore East – June 1971” (1971). The rock band in question is of course The Mothers of Invention, who, during a visit to the town of Centerville, all go nuts, each in their own way, and start staging all kinds of antics and absurdities. Bassist Jeff Simmons, fed up with it all, loses his nerve and quits the band after a heavy dose of cannabis sets him hallucinating assorted bizarre visions. His departure happened in real life too, before the filming and the recording of the music for “200 Motels”. Simmons later, after his first and only solo effort, ‘received’ absolution from Zappa and worked with him again as a rhythm guitarist on the albums “Waka/Jawaka” (1972, RockLine review) and “Roxy & Elsewhere” (1974). The song “Lucile Has Messed My Mind Up”, which was included on Simmons’ self-titled album, was written under a pseudonym and ‘lent’ out by Zappa personally. Later it came out in a reggae version on Frank’s conceptual masterpiece “Joe’s Garage” (1979). While “200 Motels” was being recorded, Simmons was replaced on bass by the actor Martin Lickert. “200 Motels” was also the only Zappa album to feature the now late English session guitarist James George Tomkins, better known by his stage name Big Jim Sullivan.
That concept was above all a satire of the music industry and a look at the dark side of rock tours, including drug abuse. Zappa, himself a passionate cigarette smoker, showed no mercy on the latter, as the late Little Feat guitarist and singer Lowell George found out in 1970, when he had to leave the band.
Of the Mothers of Invention members at the time who left a standout mark (mainly vocally) on “200 Motels”, there’s definitely original Mothers drummer Jimmy ‘the Indian of the group’ Carl Black, who came back for a short while on the hilarious Lonesome Cowboy Burt, this time in the singing role of the lonesome cowboy Burt, as well as Flo (Mark Volman) and Eddie (Howard Caylan). The latter two joined Frank in the early seventies, after getting a brief taste of fame in the late sixties with The Turtles and their biggest hit Happy Together. Both are brilliant in their vocal roles, especially Volman, who often poked fun at his hefty, short-sighted looks. Also a member of The Mothers of Invention at the time was the legendary, versatile British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who in his career, besides Zappa, worked with names like John Mayall, Jeff Beck, Journey, Jefferson Starship, David Bowie, Mick Ronson, Whitesnake, UFO and Keith Emerson, to name just a few.
The best, or most fun, tracks on “200 Motels” are mainly the rock ‘humor’ ones, of which at least two could be declared Zappa classics, while the mostly avant-garde orchestral compositions, reflecting Frank’s eternal love for the works of Igor Stravinsky and Edgar Varese, are, thanks to their complexity and frequent chaos, only for an ‘acquired taste’. Besides the already mentioned comic treat Lonesome Cowboy Burt, a country music parody on which Jimmy Carl Black shines as a redneck caricature – cowboy Burt – and its avant-garde sequel Redneck Eats (Jimmy’s vocal delivery is very reminiscent of Captain Beefheart, another of Frank’s notorious musical buddies), special mention goes to Mystery Roach, one of the few tracks on “200 Motels” with classic potential, though it ends just as things get most fun.
Tuna Sandwich is the centerpiece of a suite made up of five segments, and it’s hard to pick the most goofy and absurd one. Worth noting that on the short avant-garde instrumental Dance of the Rock & Roll Interviewers, Zappa was already mocking (well-paid and trendy) American music journalists. Janet’s Big Dance Number and Lucy’s Seduction of a Bored Violinist & Postude are orchestral-avant-garde instrumental orgies which, despite the absence of lyrics, refer to two blonde ‘groupies’ from the film, who also appear on the “200 Motels” cover and poster. Dental Hygiene Dilemma, which sounds like the backing track to some psychedelic cartoon where a duck heads off to a brothel instead of going camping with his nephews, is a fine example of classic Zappa absurdity and surrealism. It also reflects Frank’s musical beginnings, when in the early sixties, before The Mothers of invention came along, he wrote music for C-grade movies and porn flicks. This musical segment really did show up in the “200 Motels” film, in the form of a short, absurd-grotesque cartoon.
Comedy rock fans will have a ball listening to the deliberately sugary-romantic and playful pop/rock’n’roll ditty Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, which pokes fun at all sorts of ‘sugar babies’ and their rich ‘daddies’. The numbers of both have shot up steeply in the more than five decades since this composition was written. A Nun Suit Painted On Some Old Boxes is a short avant-garde instrumental with an almost annoyingly high female operatic vocal. It’s worth mentioning mainly because it’s one of Frank’s early examples of satirical and critical treatment of organized religion.
Magic Fingers, which includes a mention of Jeff Beck, is a fun hard rocker that should still appeal to all fans of old-school hard rock and Jimmy Hendrix-style guitar moves. It’s often forgotten (usually because of their satirical nature) that in the first half of the seventies Zappa created quite a few excellent hard-rock-oriented works. The closing, pompous send-off Strictly Genteel comes off as the most fun of all the orchestral-rock experiments (this time even with elements of opera), meaning the pieces the orchestra took part in. Frank later reworked it into an instrumental version on the album “Orchestral Favorites” (1979).
After more than five decades and the test of time, “200 Motels” has finally found a more respectable place within Frank’s discography, though it’s not one of his monumental achievements and is far from an ideal starting point for anyone just getting to know his musical legacy. It’s a shame that tracks like Mystery Roach, Lonesome Cowboy Burt, Magic Fingers and Strictly Genteel didn’t get frequent live interpretations, since they undoubtedly rank among some of the most fun Zappa standards. “200 Motels” isn’t Frank’s best concept album (“Joe’s Garage” is in a league of its own there), nor is it his best orchestral experiment, but it’s probably his most entertaining soundtrack to a film. It’s beaten only by the unabridged, complete soundtrack to the film “Baby Snakes” from 1979, which came out in its long version only in 2012, and even then only digitally via iTunes.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list (2xLP version):
Side A
1. Semi-Fraudulent/Direct-From-Hollywood Overture (1:59)
2. Mystery Roach (2:32)
3. Dance Of The Rock & Roll Interviewers (0:48)
4. This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich (prologue) (0:55)
5. Tuna Fish Promenade (2:29)
6. Dance Of The Just Plain Folks (4:40)
7. This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich (reprise) (0:58)
8. The Sealed Tuna Bolero (1:40)
9. Lonesome Cowboy Burt (3:59)
Side B
1. Touring Can Make You Crazy (2:52)
2. Would You Like A Snack? (1:23)
3. Redneck Eats (3:02)
4. Centerville (2:31)
5. She Painted Up Her Face (1:41)
6. Janet’s Big Dance Number (1:18)
7. Half A Dozen Provocative Squats (1:57)
8. Mysterioso (0:48)
9. Shove It Right In (2:32)
10. Lucy’s Seduction of A Bored Violinist & Postlude (4:01)
Side C
1. I’m Stealing The Towels (2:14)
2. Dental Hygiene Dilemma (5:11)
3. Does This Kind of Life Look Interesting To You? (2:59)
4. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy (3:11)
5. Penis Dimension (4:37)
6. What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning (3:32)
Side D
1. A Nun Suit Painted On Some Old Boxes (1:08)
2. Magic Fingers (3:53)
3. Motorhead’s Midnight Ranch (1:28)
4. Dew On The Newts We Got (1:09)
5. The Lad Searches The Night For His Newts (0:41)
6. The Girl Wants To Fix Him Some Broth (1:10)
7. The Girl’s Dream (0:54)
8. Little Green Scratchy Sweaters & Courduroy Ponce (1:00)
9. Strictly Genteel (the finale) (11:10)
Lineup:
Frank Zappa – guitar, bass guitar, arrangements and orchestrations
Mothers of Invention:
Mark Volman – vocals
Howard Kaylan – vocals
Jimmy Carl Black – vocals on Lonesome Cowboy Burt
Jim Pons – voice (Bad Conscience)
Ian Underwood – keyboards, whistles
George Duke – keyboards, trombone
Martin Lickert – bass guitar
Aynsley Dunbar – drums
Guest contributors:
Ruth Underwood – orchestral percussion
Big Jim Sullivan – guitar, orchestrations
The Top Score Singers – choir
David Van Asch – choir conductor
Phyllis Bryn-Julson – soprano vocals on Mystery Roach and Janet’s Big Dance Number
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Elgar Howarth – orchestra conductor
Classical Guitar Ensemble
John Williams – guitar ensemble supervisor
Theodore Bikel – narration
