Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Zappa, Frank
Label: Rykodisc Records
Release: 1976
Length: 41:32
Rating: 4.5/5
On “Zoot Allures” Frank made quite a few relatively radical moves that left a decisive mark on most of his output from the second half of the 70s. First, after ten years together and after winning a lawsuit against his former manager Herb Cohen, he (temporarily) cut ties with his longtime label DiscReet Records and jumped ship to Warner Bros. The deal, struck purely so he could get rid of Cohen, was short-lived, since the only Frank album ever released on Warner Bros was “Zoot Allures”. Frank soon went back to his old, independent label, but he felt the consequences of working with the label giant, which messed with him one way or another and tried to meddle in his work in petty ways, right up to the end of the 70s, when he fulfilled all the obligations written into the contract (mainly by blocking the release of the four-record project “Läther” (1996), whose individual “spin-off” products were the albums “Studio Tan” (1978), “Sleep Dirt” (1979) and “Orchestral Favourites” (1979)).
The second major move was that, apart from saxophonist/flutist and singer Napoleon Murphy Brock and percussionist Ruth Underwood, he replaced the entire backing band and finally buried the legendary name The Mothers Of Invention. He started building the new lineup mainly around drumming wizard and innovator Terry Bozzio (later UK, Missing Persons, Jeff Beck), who made his debut to the music world on the live album “Bongo Fury” (1975). The other members he kept swapping out, more or less constantly, until the end of the decade. Still, on “Zoot Alures” a touch of nostalgia was supplied by a legendary returnee, the much-loved bassist/singer Roy Estrada, a member of the original The Mothers Of Invention (the only one who left the band of his own accord at the end of the 60s, when Frank kicked most of the members out) and by prestigious guest Captain Beefheart, who plays harmonica on “Find Her Finer”. For him it was the last collaboration with Frank, since the buddy-buddy relationship between the two froze solid for several years afterward. And although we can see him posing on the album’s “fashion model” cover, the legendary British multi-instrumentalist Eddie Jobson (ex-Curved Air, Roxy Music, later UK, Jethro Tull) doesn’t play a single second on “Zoot Allures”. The androgynous maestro Jobson was a huge catch, one Frank knew how to appreciate properly (which his spot on the cover also proves), but he only appeared as an active studio musician on “Studio Tan” (1978), which was also his only studio collaboration with Frank. “Zoot Allures” is also an important milestone when it comes to Frank’s early experiments with synthesizers.
The odd album title was of course neither the first nor the last in Frank’s extremely colorful career. It’s a corrupted form of the French phrase “Zut alors”, which colloquially means something like “darn it” or “holy moly”. Musically, it’s one of Frank’s most accessible records, which is by no means meant for the masses (just like, lo and behold, 99% of his discography), but can easily draw in even those musically savvy heads who aren’t among his devoted fans. At its core is, as always, the usual, unique and unpredictable Zappa comedy rock with unconventional structures and rhythmic shifts, but the usual avant-garde and jazz improvisation elements are reduced almost to a minimum this time, while most tracks put the emphasis on hard rock. This (transitional) trend of stressing melodic hard rock passages, mainly through his brilliant guitar acrobatics, was something Frank had begun establishing on the previous releases in the 73-75 period, and on “Zoot Allures” it reached its peak. “Zoot Allures” was originally conceived as a double album, but for unknown reasons Frank decided to rearrange everything from scratch and shorten the tracks.
The album holds quite a few Zappa classics (“Black Napkins”, “The Torture Never Stops”, the title track, “Disco Boy”) that found their way into his live shows as regular fixtures. The hard rock burlesque “Wind Up Workin’ On a Gass Station” is first-rate social provocation, by no means meant to poke fun at everyone who earns an honest living at a gas station, but is instead dedicated, through clever metaphors, to everyone who personifies stupidity on this planet. Playful, grotesquely high falsetto vocal harmonies led by a prankster of a chorus sit on top of a tipsy guitar riff and massive drum swings with constant cymbal runs. A thoroughly entertaining little number with an extremely simple structure, one that easily wins over even those who don’t have much ear for the usual Zappa experimental acrobatics but are open to his trademark social-satire humor.
The excellent instrumental “Black Napkins” puts Frank’s classic guitar soloing front and center, which, as is so typical of him, sounds incredibly nonchalant, like he couldn’t care less while playing, yet it radiates exceptional technical perfectionism and an incredible feel for soft, melodic string picking. In the background is a series of wry vocal harmonies that add even more spice to the whole thing.
On “The Torture Never Stops” Frank hit one of the peaks of his naughty, bathroom humor, which on release didn’t just scare the people at Warner Bros and the usual guardians of American public morals, but also many an unsuspecting fan who happened not to know what the master was capable of. An otherwise excellent creation, built on elements of easygoing jazz (with extensive use of Frank’s keyboards, especially synthesizers) and with a surreal lyric, it gets sliced up now and then by piercing sounds of a woman having an orgasm. That’s funny the first time and maybe the second, but after many listens the thing starts to really wear on you. If this wailing had been at least a bit shorter, in my opinion it wouldn’t have weakened an otherwise excellent composition, which in its live version is undoubtedly among Frank’s classics. I sincerely hope the recorded moaning doesn’t come from the Zappa couple’s bedroom, or isn’t the cries of delight of the former beauty, now highly respected Mrs. Gail Zappa, who still takes such lovely care of preserving Frank’s legacy and is responsible for all his posthumous releases. Frank had a habit of occasionally recording his unsuspecting acquaintances and collaborators in secret and putting some of it on his compositions (especially in the 60s), so it wouldn’t be surprising if in this case too he had secretly stuck a recorder under the bed.
“Ms. Pinky” is another bathroom comedy, this time about a female doll, a sex toy. This social grotesque at the expense of fake morals in a seemingly orderly marriage also took the first steps toward the later “porn” battles of the 80s, with Tipper Gore and American housewives banding together into an order of self-appointed guardians of American public morals. They hit their peak with the hearing before the US Congress and the album “Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention” (1985). Its musical structure is interesting mainly for the cheekily escalating rhythmic ornaments, spaced-out guitar effects and of course the grotesque yet brilliant lyric, which Frank delivers in his mocking way. Terry Bozzio proved he was already an exceptional drummer back then, impressing above all with his melodic oscillations around the drum kit. No wonder he’s still one of the most popular and most sought-after former Zappa collaborators today.
The blues-rock-leaning “Find Her Finer” is a fun burlesque, lyrically aimed at Frank’s favorite satirical theme: (un)successful relationships between the sexes and the clichés that come with them. Another piece with a fairly simple structure, featuring Frank’s deliberately grimacing and biting vocal approach, Beefheart’s harmonica, a “cowboy”-style swaying rhythm and backing vocals in the background. Next comes the excellent instrumental “Friendly Little Finger”, a real treat for everyone who likes Frank’s more avant-garde rock experiments best (this album only offers a taste of those). After an intro with Oriental-sounding passages on the marimba, Frank’s orgasmic guitar solo kicks in, running wild up and down the scales, already foreshadowing the future mentor of one of the leading guitar heroes of the 80s.
After the “funereal” ending of the previous track comes the spirited hard rocker “Wonderful Wino”, which Frank wrote with former collaborator Jeff Simmons, a former member of The Mothers Of Invetnion who later set off on a short-lived solo path. One of the heavier things of Frank’s career, it rides on a punchy guitar riff, melodic and creative drum transitions, saxophone and Frank’s singing, which this time is more of a recital with allusions to some bizarre events from the late 60s.
Next up is the title classic “Zoot Allures”, which will delight most of all those who especially cherish Frank’s jazz rock fusion era, since it’s an excellent blend of jazz and rock elements through elegant keyboard passages, great bass and guitar improvisations and outstanding drum transitions. This superb treat perhaps shows off in the best possible way the exceptional instrumental perfectionism of this incarnation of Frank’s band, since (very unusually) it contains no comic interludes whatsoever.
The closing boogie-woogie burlesque “Disco Boy” is likewise a Zappa classic, and at the same time a superb satire of the disco boom of the day, though aimed less at the music itself than at disco culture and the over-the-top showing off of disco devotees. Although in such cases Frank often used elements of the very genre at the center of his satire, here it’s not a disco-rock fusion but a burlesque boogie rocker that even the likes of Status Quo might have enjoyed without the burlesque elements. Over a classic swaying boogie rhythm in the intro runs a witty riff, which in the chorus, with its obligatory clownish backing vocals, takes on much more creative rhythmic finesse. Yet another of those Frank creations that can easily win over a wider audience, and of which he made many more than most people usually realize.
As one of Frank’s most accessible records, “Zoot Allures” is a great fit for anyone who doesn’t dare face his more experimental albums and for those who don’t know where to start discovering him, mostly hard rock and classic rock fans. The pronounced hard rock note and the predominantly melodic structures of most of its tracks also brought it a notable response outside the usual circle of loyal Zappa followers when it came out. Far from topping any charts, of course, but it’s still among Frank’s more commercially interesting works. Of course, the master didn’t stick with the hard rock forms for long, since on the next releases he (again) started to drift back toward more experimental ideas, avant-garde, prog rock and good old jazz rock fusion. “Zoot Allures” isn’t without its flaws (it could easily have done without those bedroom recordings), but it’s still a remarkably well-balanced piece of work that delivers plenty of fun moments of unique Zappa comedy rock.
Lineup
Frank Zappa – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, vocals, backing vocals
Terry Bozzio – drums, backing vocals
Davey Moiré – vocals (1), backing vocals, engineer
Andre Lewis – organ, backing vocals
Roy Estrada – bass guitar, backing vocals
Napoleon Murphy Brock – saxophone, backing vocals
Ruth Underwood – synthesizer, marimba
Captain Beefheart – harmonica (5)
Ruben Ladron de Guevara – backing vocals (5)
Dave Parlato – bass guitar (8)
Lu Ann Neil – harp (8)
Sparky Parker – backing vocals (9)
Production
Frank Zappa
Track list
1. Wind Up Workin’ In A Gass Station
2. Black Napkins
3. The Torture Never Stops
4. Ms. Pinky
5. Find Her Finer
6. Friendly Little Finger
7. Wonderful Wino
8. Zoot Allures
9. Disco Boy
