Brown Shoes Don't Make It
"Brown Shoes Don't Make It" | |
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Song by The Mothers of Invention | |
from the album Absolutely Free | |
Released | May 26, 1967 |
Recorded | November 18, 1966[1] |
Studio | TTG Studios, Los Angeles |
Genre |
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Length | 7:30 |
Label | Verve |
Songwriter(s) | Frank Zappa |
Producer(s) | Frank Zappa, Tom Wilson |
"Brown Shoes Don't Make It" is a song by The Mothers of Invention, written by band leader Frank Zappa. It is the penultimate song on the second album Absolutely Free. The song is one of his most widely renowned works, declared by the AllMusic as "Zappa's first real masterpiece".[2]
History
The title was inspired by an event covered by Time magazine reporter Hugh Sidey in 1966.[3] The reporter correctly guessed that something was amiss when the fastidiously dressed President Lyndon B. Johnson 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".[4] The lyrics are derived from Zappa's belief that people who make laws are sexually maladjusted. 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, classical, psychedelic rock, vaudeville and jazz. It is cited by AllMusic 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, soap opera and more ... and ensures that this is no piece of easy listening".[5] As well as giving its parent album 4.5 stars, AllMusic gave a very positive review of the song.[6] It is also included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.[7]
Personnel
- Ray Collins – vocals, tambourine
- Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals
- Jim Fielder – guitar, piano
- Don Preston – keyboards
- Roy Estrada – bass, vocals
- Jimmy Carl Black – drums, vocals
- Billy Mundi – 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 – trumpet
- John Rotella – contrabass clarinet
References
- ^ Ulrich, Charles (May 13, 2018). The Big Note: A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa. New Star Books. ISBN 978-1-554201-46-4.
- ^ "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" (song review). Retrieved 2008-03-03.
- ^ Sidey, Hugh (1980-06-30). "The Meaning of the Cordovans" (web reprint). Time. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
- ^ Miles, Barry (2004). Zappa. Grove Press. p. 116. ISBN 9780802142153.
- ^ Chevalier, Dominique "Viva Zappa!" 1985 Page 62
- ^ "AllMusic review". Web.archive.org. 2011-07-31.
- ^ "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll A-C". Archived from the original on 2008-01-20. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
External links
- Lyrics [1]
- v
- t
- e
- Frank Zappa
- Roy Estrada
- Jimmy Carl Black
- Ray Collins
- Don Preston
- Van Dyke Parks
- Henry Vestine
- Jim Guercio
- Steve Mann
- Elliot Ingber
- Jim Sherwood
- Jim Fielder
- Bunk Gardner
- Billy Mundi
- Ian Underwood
- Art Tripp
- Lowell George
- Buzz Gardner
- Aynsley Dunbar
- Mark Volman
- Howard Kaylan
- Jeff Simmons
- George Duke
- Jim Pons
- Bob Harris
- Jean-Luc Ponty
- Tom Fowler
- Ruth Underwood
- Ed Mann
- Bruce Fowler
- Napoleon Murphy Brock
- Chester Thompson
- Terry Bozzio
- Denny Walley
- Ricky Lancelotti
- Norma Jean Bell
- Novi Novog
(1966–1993)
official releases
- Lumpy Gravy (Primordial)
- The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa
- Beat the Boots!
- Beat the Boots! II
Compilations |
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Birthday Bundle series |
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- "Trouble Comin' Every Day"
- "Who Are the Brain Police?"
- "WPLJ"
- "My Guitar"
- "Peaches en Regalia"
- "I'm the Slime"
- "Cosmik Debris"
- "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow"
- "Du Bist Mein Sofa"
- "Find Her Finer"
- "Disco Boy"
- "Dancin' Fool"
- "Bobby Brown"
- "Joe's Garage"
- "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted"
- "You Are What You Is"
- "Valley Girl"
- "Cocaine Decisions"
- "Stairway to Heaven"
compositions
- "Absolutely Free"
- "Advance Romance"
- "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary"
- "America Drinks & Goes Home"
- "Are You Hung Up?"
- "Billy the Mountain"
- "The Black Page"
- "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"
- "Camarillo Brillo"
- "Cheepnis"
- "Duodenum"
- "Father O'Blivion"
- "Help, I'm a Rock"
- "G-Spot Tornado"
- "I Have Been in You"
- "Inca Roads"
- "Jewish Princess"
- "Let's Make the Water Turn Black"
- "A Little Green Rosetta"
- "Memories of El Monte"
- "Montana"
- "Muffin Man"
- "Nanook Rubs It"
- "Plastic People"
- "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet"
- "Rollo"
- "Sleep Dirt"
- "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast"
- "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"
- "A Token of My Extreme"
- "The Torture Never Stops"
- "Uncle Remus"
- "Watermelon in Easter Hay"
- "Who Needs the Peace Corps?"
- "Willie the Pimp"
- "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station"
- 200 Motels
- Baby Snakes
- The Dub Room Special
- Does Humor Belong in Music?
- Video from Hell
- Uncle Meat
- The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
- The Amazing Mr. Bickford
- In popular culture
- Zappa Plays Zappa
- Pachygnatha zappa
- Phialella zappai
- Zappa confluentus
- 3834 Zappafrank
- Frankly a Cappella
- King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa
- Zappa's Universe
- Category