CD Details
- Released: July 31, 2012
- Label: Zappa
Entertainment Reviews:
Q - 8/95, pp.150-151
4 Stars - Excellent - "A pair of side-long 'underground oratorios' crystallising Zappa's life themes--the corruptions of materialism, the vacuity of modern culture, the value of vegetables--and his technique, montaging ham-fisted mock opera with puerile bubblegum and a jazz-rock that writhes with exhilaration..."
Down Beat
3 Stars - Good
Option
Recommended
Tracks:
- 1.Plastic People
- 2.The Duke of Prunes
- 3.Amnesia Vivace
- 4.The Duke Regains His Chops
- 5.Call Any Vegetable
- 6.Invocation and Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin
- 7.Soft-Sell Conclusion
- 8.Big Leg Emma
- 9.Why Don'tcha Do Me Right?
- 10.America Drinks
- 11.Status Back Baby
- 12.Uncle Bernie's Farm
- 13.Son of Suzy Creamcheese
- 14.Brown Shoes Don't Make It
- 15.America Drinks & Goes Home
Product Description:
Full performer name: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention.
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention: Frank Zappa (guitar, vocals); Ray Collins (vocals); Bunk Gardner (saxophone); Don Preston (keyboards, vocals); Roy Estrada (bass, vocals); Jimmy Carl Black, Billy Mundi (drums, percussion, vocals).
This package contains the complete libretto (clean American version), plus two additional tracks not included on the original release.
Lyricist: Frank Zappa.
Liner Note Author: Frank Zappa.
Photographers: Jerry Deiter; Marshal Harmon; Alice Ochs.
Arranger: Frank Zappa.
Before becoming obsessed with sex, politics and the Synclavier, Frank Zappa was a performer of great whimsy, who here, on his second album, was singing about such topics as fruits and vegetables while also displaying a developing critical attitude toward American social mores. Dense with musical references from "Louie Louie" to Holst's "The Planets," ABSOLUTELY FREE is a testament to the young Zappa's awesome musical breadth. These Mothers of Invention lack the precision of Zappa's later combos, but give a firm R&B grounding to his experimentation. ABSOLUTELY FREE includes the classic "Brown Shoes Don't Make It," a biting parody of suburban American values, along with forgotten masterpieces like "Call Any Vegetable," a tune pointing out the ease with which we can become in tune with our little green buddies.
Based on 
