"Brown Shoes Don't Make It" is a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

The Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as the Mothers) were an American rock music, 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 ...

, written by band leader

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

. It is the penultimate song on the second album ''

Absolutely Free ''Absolutely Free'' is the second album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on May 26, 1967, by Verve Records. Much like their 1966 debut '' Freak Out!'', the album is a display of complex musical composition with politica ...

''. The song is one of his most widely renowned works, described by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

as "Zappa's first real masterpiece".

History

The title was inspired by an event covered by ''Time'' magazine reporter Hugh Sidey in 1966. The reporter correctly guessed that something was amiss when the fastidiously dressed President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

made the sartorial faux pas of wearing brown shoes with a gray suit. Johnson flew to Vietnam for a surprise public relations visit later that day. Live versions of this song are featured on the albums '' Tinsel Town Rebellion'' and '' Road Tapes, Venue 2''.

Music and lyrics

The song was written in April 1966 during a trip to Honolulu, where The Mothers played for a week at a club called "Da Swamp". It starts as a general attack on suburban American society: TV, greed and conformity are all mocked openly. The story then moves to a city hall official fantasizing about having sex with a thirteen-year-old girl. The music makes several stylistic shifts, covering

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

classical music,

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. It is cited by

as being a "condensed two-hour musical". Zappa said the opening music section was inspired by Lightnin' Slim's "Have Your Way".

Reception

In a positive review of the album, Dominique Chevalier said "there are snatches of dodecaphonic scales, ballads, rock, R&B,

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

, soap opera and more... and ensures that this is no piece of easy listening". As well as giving its parent album 4.5 stars, AllMusic gave a very positive review of the song. It is also included in

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

Personnel

* Ray Collins – vocals, tambourine *

– electric guitar, vocals *

Jim Fielder Jim Fielder (born October 4, 1947 in Denton, Texas) is an American bassist, best known for his work as an original member of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Prior to BS&T, he was rhythm guitarist for Frank Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention. Fielder at ...

– electric guitar, piano *

Don Preston Donald Ward Preston (born September 21, 1932) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist. He is best known for being a member of the original version of Frank Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention during the late 1960s. He continued to work with Z ...

– keyboards *

Roy Estrada Roy Estrada (also known as "Roy Ralph Moleman Guacamole Guadalupe Hidalgo Estrada" and "Orejón"; born April 17, 1943) is an American former musician. He is best known for being the original bassist of both the Mothers of Invention and Little Fea ...

– bass guitar, vocals *

Jimmy Carl Black James Inkanish, Jr. (February 1, 1938 – November 1, 2008), known professionally as Jimmy Carl Black, was an original member of the Mothers of Invention, providing drums and vocals. He is known for introducing the songs “ Are you Hung Up?” a ...

– drums, vocals *

Billy Mundi Billy Mundi (born Antonio Salas; September 25, 1942 in San Francisco – March 29, 2014) was an American drummer best known as a member of the original version of Frank Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention, as well as the band Rhinoceros. He also ...

– drums, percussion * Bunk Gardner – woodwinds with: *Suzy Creamcheese (Lisa Cohen) – vocals *Jim Getzoff – violin *Marshall Sosson – violin *Alvin Dinkin – viola *Armand Kaproff – cello *

Don Ellis Donald Johnson Ellis (July 25, 1934 – December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his ...

– trumpet * John Rotella –

contrabass clarinet The contrabass clarinet (also pedal clarinet, after the pedals of pipe organs) and contra-alto clarinet are the two largest members of the clarinet family that are in common usage. Modern contrabass clarinets are transposing instruments pitche ...

References

External links

*Lyric

{{authority control 1967 songs Experimental rock songs Frank Zappa songs Satirical songs Political songs Protest songs Songs about school Songs about labor Songs written by Frank Zappa Song recordings produced by Frank Zappa Song recordings produced by Tom Wilson (record producer)