Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Zappa, Frank
Label: Rykodisc Records
Released: 1975
Length: 42:55
Rating: 5/5
“One Size Fits All” was the last Frank album on which his backing band played under the legendary name The Mothers Of Invention. Most of his backing bands carried that name right from the start of his career, though most of Frank’s fans agree that the only true The Mothers Of Invetnion were the very first ones, i.e. the lineup from the second half of the 60s. The musicians on this album had the honor of going down in history as the last ones he still considered worthy successors to his original band.
The final version of the Mothers brought together a bunch of standouts Frank had already worked with in the past, both in the studio and on stage. Among them were keyboardist George Duke, by then easily the most respected member of the lineup, bassist Tom Fowler, saxophonist, flutist and singer Napoleon Murphy Brock, and percussionist Ruth Underwood. Of course, this time around there was once again a drummer swap. “One Size Fits All” marked the studio debut of the legendary drummer Chester Thompson, who later made a name for himself with jazz fusion legends Weather Report, as the live drummer for prog rock legends Genesis, and also as Phil Collins’ live drummer.
Among the guests this time, it’s worth singling out Frank’s old friend, the eccentric Captain Beefheart, who plays harmonica on one of the tracks, and the legendary blues guitarist and singer Johnny “Guitar” Watson, who shows off his vocal chops on two numbers. Frank’s musical path, especially his role as a composer, was shaped most of all by classical music, or rather by the figures and work of avant-garde composers like Edgar Varèse, Igor Stravinsky and Anton Webern. Still, as a guitarist he repeatedly named Watson as one of the players who influenced his playing style the most.
“One Size Fits All” is the final chapter of Frank’s avant-garde hard rock trilogy (admittedly a very sweeping label), which he kicked off with the excellent albums “Over-Nite Sensation” (1973) and “Apostrophe(‘)” (1974). “One Size Fits All” has some of the best lyrics of his whole career. They run the gamut from biting social satire, which this time focuses less on politics and more on the apathy and stupidity of the masses, all the way to your classic bathroom humor in the closing part of “Sofa”.
The album opens with the excellent “Inca Roads”, one of Frank’s most complex yet also best-known pieces. This wonderful creation boasts an incredibly unusual rhythmic structure and an unconventional use of falsetto vocals from Napoleon Murphy Brock. Frank keeps him company in the background with his avant-garde vocal improvisations. After the opening funky rhythms comes a switch into a jazz fusion-leaning section, where Frank’s excellent guitar solo kicks in. Eventually a very pleasant motif arrives, with multi-part vocal harmonies and plenty of comic touches on the vibraphone. Those have always been indispensable to Frank’s musical burlesques, and this album is no exception. As you’d expect, there’s also no shortage of space effects on the keyboards and vocal improvisations warped by effects. The lyrics tell of aliens who land somewhere in Peru millennia ago and found the first civilizations there. It’s a satire of the books that were popular at the time by the Swiss science fiction theorist and writer Erich Von Daniken, with his famous hypotheses about extraterrestrial visits in ancient history and their influence on the rise of the first human civilizations.
The tragicomedy “Can’t Afford No Shoes”, a grooving hybrid of hard rock and blues, is a much more straightforward piece. Here too there’s no shortage of playful vocal harmonies, except that the emphasis falls more on juicy, blues-spiced guitar and piano passages. Rhythmically, it’s one of the heavier numbers of Frank’s career, with a sharp riff over a double bass line. Its lyrics have become painfully relevant again these days, since it’s a satire about economic recession and depression and about people who can’t even afford shoes.
“Sofa No. 1” is a romantic-but-playful jazz rock fusion instrumental with extensive use of xylophone and piano, one that could easily sit on any of Frank’s jazz rock fusion albums. Here too it’s a distinctive showcase of instrumental perfection and an incredible ear for crafting mischievous melodies.
“Po-Jama People” is a social satire of societal indifference and public apathy, marked above all by Frank’s phenomenal, blues-spiced solo and Duke’s juicy piano passages. Frank also brings in his trademark sarcastic, grimacing vocal approach, whose main purpose was usually to poke fun at one kind or another of human foolishness. It’s without a doubt one of the bigger gems among his lesser-known pieces.
The charmingly mischievous “Florentine Pogen” is steeped in spirited hard rock guitar riffs, resolute bass lines and a witty percussion game led by the vibraphone. Lyrically, it’s a satirical portrait of a spoiled, rich, amoral city girl, who is later joined by Chester’s gorilla. Here too there are deliberately sky-high multi-part harmonies and plenty of avant-garde vocal improvisations. Frank is front and center here with his doggy “arf-arfs”.
The very short satire “Evelyn, a Modified Dog” continues Frank’s series of songs that carry his peculiar satirical fetish for dogs, which he often used as a metaphor for repressive authorities and general public dullness and mass-scale cluelessness.
“San Ber’dino”, where the notorious Captain Beefheart guests on harmonica, is another treat for everyone who loves unpredictable rhythmic experiments and Frank’s guitar artistry. The deliberately tipsy-sounding vocal harmonies and the cowboy-bouncy rhythm fit perfectly into the story of the pathetic romance between two hicks from the American South who meet at a local rodeo. The easiest way to describe its overall musical look would be a burlesque mix of hard rock, blues, country and funk.
Next comes the phenomenal “Andy”, which, alongside “Inca Roads”, is surely one of the two centerpieces of “One Size Fits All”. It contains a whole palette of the best elements of jazz fusion, classical, progressive rock, avant-garde and hard rock, the kind that only the unique brand of Frank’s genius knew how to knead together. In terms of musical structure, it’s definitely the most “serious” piece on the album. After the sleepy opening blues touches comes a switch into a spirited jazz-funk section, where excellent guitar and piano passages kick in along with hilariously fun games on the vibraphone. But the best part of the song arrives through a rhythmic build-up and then the entrance of a melancholic guitar riff laid over a spacey keyboard backing. Napoleon Murphy Brock’s outstanding vocal performance deserves praise too. Lyrically, it’s an excellent parody of the movie actor Andy Devine, who got famous for roles in black-and-white westerns where he usually played “tough” guys.
The closing “Sofa No. 2” is a rare example of bathroom humor, of which there’s usually a lot more on Frank’s albums (especially the later ones), but here he settled for just this biting specimen of classic Zappa satire. Half of the lyrics, which deal with sexual-recreational activities on an old couch, are sung in German, in a grotesque way, with a deliberately distorted operetta approach. That was undoubtedly done in the context of satirizing small-town provincialism and false morality hiding behind a mask of tidiness and discipline (so typical of most Germanic-speaking little countries). In other words, a theme that has become extremely relevant again after the tragic events in our northern neighborhood. Who but Frank could come up with the line “Ich bin der Dreck unter deinen Welzen”? Musically, the song itself is nothing special, as it mostly just repeats the central theme from “Sofa No. 1”, only this time with slightly different arrangements on piano and guitar. Frank would repeat his unusual approach to German in the future on the legendary album “Joe’s Garage” (1979).
“One Size Fits All” easily belongs in the elite circle of Frank’s best work. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Zappa devotee who wouldn’t put it among their ten favorite albums of Frank’s career. This was the period when the maestro reached new heights with every new album, diligently driving constant evolutionary progress in experimental music and conscientiously carrying on his role as a pioneer and guiding star in the unpredictable territory of avant-garde rock. At the same time, it was the period when he was practically constantly swapping out band members, since few of them could keep up with the maestro’s relentless and extremely demanding experimental needs. So it’s no surprise that of this excellent lineup, only Napoleon Murphy Brock and Frank’s longtime favorite Ruth Underwood stayed on until the next studio album. “One Size Fits All” is a wonderfully dazzling jewel of Frank’s unique musical genius, one that everyone who played on it can be proud of for a long time to come. And if you’d like to get acquainted with the live perfectionism of this incarnation of Frank’s band (73-75), I warmly recommend the double live album “You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2” (1988), which truly manages to capture the soul of this lineup.
Lineup
Frank Zappa – vocals, guitar
George Duke – keyboards, backing vocals
Ruth Underwood – marimba, vibraphone, percussion
Johnny “Guitar” Watson – backing vocals
James “Bird Legs” Youman – bass guitar
Chester Thompson – drums, sound effects, voices
Tom Fowler – bass guitar
Captain Beefheart – harmonica
Napoleon Murphy Brock – tenor saxophone, vocals, backing vocals, flute
Production
Frank Zappa
Track list
1. Inca Roads
2. Can’t Afford No Shoes
3. Sofa No. 1
4. Po-Jama People
5. Florentine Pogen
6. Evelyn, a Modified Dog
7. San Ber’dino
8. Andy
9. Sofa No. 2
