The ''200 Motels'' soundtrack to
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
's film ''
200 Motels
''200 Motels'' is a 1971 surrealist musical film written and directed by Frank Zappa and Tony Palmer, and featuring music by Zappa. An international co-production of United States and the United Kingdom, the film stars the Mothers of Invention, T ...
'' was released by
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B.
History Genres
In 1959, ...
in 1971.
Like the film, the album covers a loose storyline about
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows.
Originally an R&B band ...
going crazy in the small town of Centerville and bassist Jeff quitting the group, as did his real life counterpart,
Jeff Simmons, who left the group before the film began shooting and was replaced by actor Martin Lickert for the film.
[
The album peaked at No. 59 on the ''Billboard'' 200, though reviewers deemed it a peripheral part of Zappa's catalog.][
]
Music and lyrics
The rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
songs "Mystery Roach", "Lonesome Cowboy Burt", "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy", "What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning" and "Magic Fingers", and the finale "Strictly Genteel", which mixes orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
l and rock elements, were noted as highlights of the album by reviewer Richie Unterberger.[ François Couture, a reviewer for ]Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, said that "Mystery Roach" contains multiple meanings, all of which have a connection to lyrical subject matter in Zappa's discography. These include the freshwater fish, as the Mothers of Invention live album ''Fillmore East - June 1971 Fillmore may refer to:
Places Canada
* Fillmore, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Fillmore No. 96, Saskatchewan
United States
* Fillmore, California
* Fillmore District, San Francisco, California
* Fillmore, Louisiana
* Fillmore, Illin ...
'' contained a song referring to the mud shark, a cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
cigarette butt, which causes the character Jeff to go crazy within the context of the film's storyline, and a combed roll hairstyle, which connects the song lyrically to "Jelly Roll Gumdrop", a song from ''Cruising with Ruben & the Jets
''Cruising with Ruben & the Jets'' is the fourth studio album by the Mothers of Invention, released under the alias Ruben and the Jets. Released on December 2, 1968 on Bizarre and Verve Records with distribution by MGM Records, it is a concept al ...
''.[ The version featured on the album is different from the version featured in the film, as it is missing small ]electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
solos by Zappa, and was not scripted as part of the film in its electric arrangement, having originally been written in three separate, unused acoustic blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
-oriented arrangements.[ The song was not performed live.][
"Dance of the Rock & Roll Interviewers" is an orchestral piece originally intended to be paired with "Touring Can Make You Crazy" as part of an early scene in which the band arrives in Centerville and is greeted by music journalists, but only part of the sequence, depicting a mannequin of Zappa being torn apart by the journalists, appeared in the final film, due to timing and budget restraints, and the "Touring Can Make You Crazy" sequence was not shot and does not appear in the film.] Regarding "Touring", Couture writes that "The long double-bass notes and the overall dark atmosphere and slow tempo suggest a tiring trip."[
The album features five segments which form the suite "This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich": a prologue, the "Tuna Fish Promenade", "Dance of the Just Plain Folks", a reprise of the main melody, and the conclusion "The Sealed Tuna Bolero". Only the final bolero was featured in the film. The "Tuna Sandwich" suite was scripted as being proceeded by the sequence and composition "Centerville". "Would You Like A Snack?" is a vocal version of Zappa's composition "Holiday in Berlin", which reappears throughout the album and film in different arrangements, including the "Semi-Fraudulent/Direct-From-Hollywood Overture".] The lyrics of "Would You Like A Snack?" are similar to the theater piece on Zappa's live album ''Ahead of Their Time
''Ahead of Their Time'' is a live album by The Mothers of Invention. It was recorded at the Royal Festival Hall, London, England, on October 25, 1968, and released in 1993 on CD by Barking Pumpkin. It was reissued on Rykodisc in 1995.
Performanc ...
''.[ Zappa earlier recorded an unrelated song of the same name, which features members of the Mothers of Invention and ]Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...
singer Grace Slick
Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, s ...
.[
"Redneck Eats" begins and ends with spoken dialogue featuring the character Lonesome Cowboy Burt (played by ]Jimmy Carl Black
James Carl Inkanish, Jr. (February 1, 1938 – November 1, 2008), known professionally as Jimmy Carl Black, was a drummer and vocalist for The Mothers of Invention.
Background and early career: 1960s–1990s
Born in El Paso, Texas, Black was o ...
) heckling the orchestra, which is performing an Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
and Edgard Varese Edgard may refer to the following:
*Edgard, Louisiana
*Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs
*Edgard Varèse
See also
*Eadgar (disambiguation)
*Edgar (disambiguation)
*Edgardo
Edgardo is an Italian-language form of the name Edgar. It may refer to:
* Edga ...
-influenced composition. "Janet's Big Dance Number" is about one of the film's two groupie
The term groupie is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is usu ...
characters and features "Slow piano chords ..played over sustained contrabass notes. The choir enters late in the piece, picking up the Stravinskian melody sketched by the chords." "Lucy's Seduction of a Bored Violinist", follows the other groupie character, and features "a soft melody, followed by a rhythm break and a tympany roll" and a faster reprise of the "Janet" melody. The album pairs "Lucy" with the film's "Postlude", which appears during the ending credits, and is played on a harpsichord.[
The second half of the album begins with the suite "Dental Hygiene Dilemma", which begins with "I'm Stealing The Towels", for which the corresponding film sequence was scripted and partially shot, before it was determined that the footage was unusable, and the sequence was cut. The main part of the suite, "Dental Hygiene Dilemma", appeared in the film as an animated cartoon by Charles Swenson, who later directed the film '']Down and Dirty Duck
''Down and Dirty Duck'', promoted under the abbreviated title ''Dirty Duck'', is a 1974 American adult animated comedy film written and directed by Charles Swenson and starring Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (Flo & Eddie) as the voices of a strai ...
'' with Mothers of Invention band members and ''200 Motels'' stars Mark Volman
Mark Randall Volman (born April 19, 1947) is an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with his bandmate and friend Howard Kaylan, a member of the 1970s rock duo ...
and Howard Kaylan
Howard Kaylan (born Howard Lawrence Kaplan, June 22, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with bandmate and friend Mark Volman, a member of th ...
.
The main part of the suite, "Dental Hygiene Dilemma" incorporates elements of rock band, orchestra and spoken dialogue, and depicts Jeff smoking a marijuana cigarette which had been dipped in Don Preston
Donald Ward Preston (born September 21, 1932) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist. He is known for working with Frank Zappa from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s.
Biography
Preston was born into a family of musicians in Detroit and began st ...
's "foamy liquids" and imagining Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
appearing to him on a wall-mounted television as his "good conscience" and asking him not to steal the towels, while Studebacher Hoch appears to him as his evil conscience, "dressed as Jim Pons
Jim Pons is an American bassist, author and singer who most notably played for the Leaves, the Turtles, and the Mothers of Invention.
Biography
Jim Pons was born in Los Angeles. In 1964, he joined The Leaves and stayed in the group until 1967. ...
", and convinces Jeff to quit the Mothers of Invention, start his own hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band and play music like Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succes ...
or Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
.[ In real life, Simmons started his own ]blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
band after leaving Zappa's band, and released the album ''Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up
''Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up'' is the debut album of American musician Jeff Simmons (musician), Jeff Simmons. Released in 1969, the album was produced by Frank Zappa, who wrote two songs for the album under the pseudonym "La Marr Bruister". T ...
'' for Straight Records
Straight Records, self-identified simply as Straight, was a record label formed in 1969 to distribute productions and discoveries of Frank Zappa and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen. Straight was formed at the same time as a companion l ...
, which Zappa produced.[ In "Dilemma", Volman exclaims "We got to get him back to normal before Zappa finds out and steals it and makes him do it in the movie!"][
"A Nun Suit Painted on Some Old Boxes" is the first part of a suite for soprano voice, chorus, and orchestra called "I Have Seen the Pleated Gazelle".] The suite criticizes organized religion
Organized religion, also known as institutional religion, is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established. Organized religion is typically characterized by an official doctrine (or dogma), a ...
and references dental floss, connecting the suite to Zappa's later song "Montana", appearing on the album ''Over-Nite Sensation
''Over-Nite Sensation'' is the ninth studio album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, released in September 1973. It was followed by Zappa's solo album ''Apostrophe (')'' (1974), which was recorded during the same sessions.
Recording
...
''.[ In the film, "A Nun Suit" precedes the "Dental Hygiene Dilemma" cartoon, but is placed before the rock song "Magic Fingers" on this album, removing the context of the line "Want to watch a dental hygiene movie?"][ The "Gazelle" suite continues with "Motorhead's Midnight Ranch", "Dew on the Newts We Got" and "The Lad Searches the Night for His Newts", for which the corresponding film sequence was only partially shot.
]
Release and reception
''200 Motels'' charted at No. 59 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album was released on compact disc for the first time in 1997 in correlation with a theatrical reissue of the film. The CD edition contained extensive liner notes and artwork, a small poster for the film, and bonus tracks consisting of radio promos for the film and the single edit of the song "Magic Fingers".[ The album was reissued in 2021, in two editions: the original album on 2 CDs and an extended version on 6 CDs. (again including a facsimile of the original film poster)
The album was deemed to be a peripheral album in Zappa's catalog by music critics.][ ]Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's Richie Unterberger critiqued what he referred to as the "growing tendency to deploy the smutty, cheap humor that would soon dominate much of Zappa's work" but said that "Those who like his late-'60s/early-'70s work ..will probably like this fine".[
]
Track listing
All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa.
Personnel
* Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
– bass guitar, guitar, drums, producer, orchestration
* George Duke
George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...
– trombone, keyboards
* Ian Underwood
Ian Robertson Underwood (born May 22, 1939) is a woodwind and keyboards player, known for his work with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
Biography
Underwood graduated from The Choate School in 1957 and Yale University with a bachelor' ...
– keyboards, woodwinds
* Big Jim Sullivan
James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English musician whose career started in 1958.
He was best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of t ...
- guitar, orchestration
* Martin Lickert – bass guitar
* Aynsley Dunbar
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born 10 January 1946) is an English drummer. He has worked with John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Journey, Jefferson Starship, Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, Shuggie Otis, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Mick R ...
– drums
* Ruth Underwood
Ruth Underwood (born Ruth Komanoff; May 23, 1946) is an American musician best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, and other percussion instruments in Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. She collaborated with the Mothers of In ...
– percussion
* Jimmy Carl Black
James Carl Inkanish, Jr. (February 1, 1938 – November 1, 2008), known professionally as Jimmy Carl Black, was a drummer and vocalist for The Mothers of Invention.
Background and early career: 1960s–1990s
Born in El Paso, Texas, Black was o ...
– vocals
* Howard Kaylan
Howard Kaylan (born Howard Lawrence Kaplan, June 22, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with bandmate and friend Mark Volman, a member of th ...
– vocals
* Jim Pons
Jim Pons is an American bassist, author and singer who most notably played for the Leaves, the Turtles, and the Mothers of Invention.
Biography
Jim Pons was born in Los Angeles. In 1964, he joined The Leaves and stayed in the group until 1967. ...
– voices
* Mark Volman
Mark Randall Volman (born April 19, 1947) is an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with his bandmate and friend Howard Kaylan, a member of the 1970s rock duo ...
– vocals, photography
* Theodore Bikel
Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in films, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), ''Moulin Rouge'' (1952), ' ...
– narrator
* Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works.
The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
Production
* Bob Auger – engineer
* David McMacken – design, illustrations
* Cal Schenkel
Calvin "Cal" Schenkel (born January 27, 1947, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania) is an American illustrator, graphic designer, animator and comics artist, specializing in album cover design.
He was the main graphic arts collaborator for rock musician F ...
– design
* Barry Keene – overdubs, remixing
* Patrick Pending – liner notes
Charts
References
{{Authority control
1971 soundtrack albums
Albums conducted by Frank Zappa
Albums produced by Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa albums
United Artists Records soundtracks
Musical film soundtracks