Zappadan 6

I think yesterday's post went well so I'll try that format again, this time with Frank's very first album with the other nifty Mothers.

At the time of its release Freak Out was considered too weird to sell. Nonetheless a few people bought it and it made its way to Europe where it influenced many freaky things like a little record called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I refuse to speculate which song Ringo liked best.

The album contains a number of fine examples of doo-wop and early rock and roll. If that's all it contained it might have sold better but it also had a different kind of music. Music that could barely be called music. Music like this.



And like this.



See how that's hard to listen to. How it attacks everything you know about how music is supposed to sound. And the words. They reject the suburban American way of life and encourage the listener to imagine a different America. One where anything is possible and you don't need to go to college or wear brown shoes to get there.



The album also contains one of the best songs that Frank ever wrote. He was 21 years old and living in LA when the Watts riots happened and inspired him to write Trouble Every Day.



The song is just as relevant today as it was back in 1966.



cover by KC and The Moonlight Band