Absolutly free

Absolutely Free

On the original LP, I played Side One more often than Side Two, as it seemed to flow better. The butchering of "Louie Louie" at the beginning of "Plastic People" sets the mood, as when the Mothers Of Invention were a bar band only, under the name of "The Soul Giants," they played such songs on demand to drunk, unruly crowds constantly, and this can make a person hate such a song. But there is obviously a fondness for it, as virtually all of Zappa's work has at least one passing reference to "Louie Louie" in it. Other versions of it, released later, are more true in structure to "Louie Louie," and are pretty funny to listen to. Here, it just permutates into a similar song, but obviously, they got away from that idea.

Organized incoherence becomes the theme of this performance, as "Duke Of Prunes," silly title and words that it has, starts with a soft, soothing melody, building up steam until the bridge, "Amnesia Vivance," which is basically a blitzkrieg of sound, clashing time signatures and different themes assailing the listener's ears at once, cleaning itself up to form the reprise of "Duke," the last verse being subtitled "The Duke Regains His Chops," a faster rendition of "Duke Of Prunes." Segue into "Call Any Vegetable," structurally the same as the "Duke" segment, but with more textures. This song sounds top-heavy and unbalanced, but quickly, one can tell it's intentional. There is a section of sour notes on the instruments, but they are played with deliberation, much like a lot of Captain Beefheart's music, and when it seques into "Invocation And Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin," it's like a tense spring is being released. The extended jam is more about the mood of the piece, than what's actually being played. Seven minutes of frantically paced, free-form jamming, featuring soloing on guitar by Zappa, accompanied by an electronically treated soprano sax solo being simultaneously played by Bunk Gardner, and the the two musicians appear to be ignoring one another; each is going where he pleases here, held together with a remarkable job by the rhythm section. Some written credits have Jim Black playing drums with Billy Mundi (who looks amazingly like John Belushi, by the way), while Ray Collins is playing tambourine, but film clips from this era, have Black playing tambourine. When they hired Mundi, Black rarely played drums. He focused on singing. He sings a lot on the Mothers' records. But this forms into "Soft Sell Conclusion, which is actually the coda of "Call Any Vegetable." Very complex in texture, melodies and themes crashing into one another, while Zappa takes the last verse (you can hear Collins playing harmonica in the background), bringing the first half of "Absolutely Free" to its end.

The second half is just as accomplished, but is peppered with more short selections that lampoon society and American culture, with humor practically being another instrument. It is book-ended with the "America Drinks" theme, just Collins singing in a style like that of a lounge singer; they skewer teenagers in "Status Back Baby," relationships in "Son Of Suzy Creamcheese," and consumerism in "Uncle Bernie's Farm."

The most elaborate piece is "Brown Shoes Don't Make It," which is structured in such a way, it seems to be geared toward those with short attention spans, the A.D.D. Anthem. It is full of lots of nasty little themes about illicit (and illegal) sex, and rebellion, lines like "Be a loyal plastic robot for a world that doesn't care." It reaches a cacophonous conclusion, and closes with "America Drinks And Goes Home," a reprise of the original theme. Only this time, it has more instruments, and sounds from a crowded bar getting more and more out of control. Every musician who has ever played in a bar can identify with this.

It takes a little getting used to, but "Absolutely Free" is a very good record from possibly the wildest band ever to enter a studio.