The first Mothers Of Invention album I ever purchased was called Mothermania, released in 1969. "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" was the first track on side A. After hearing "Call Any Vegetable" and "Who Are The Brain Police?" and some tracks from Cruising With Reuben & the Jets on FM radio station WYSL, I could not resist checking this album out. It was their first compilation album and some of the tracks that had appeared on the band's first three LPs (which I now have on CD) were remixed and re-edited (none from Reuben though). It does not appear that Mothermania was ever released as a CD; at least I have never been able to locate one (maybe that has changed). Originally this song appeared on Absolutely Free (1967) as the final track.
Wikipedia: "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" is a song by The Mothers of Invention, written by band leader Frank Zappa ... The song is one of his most widely renowned works, declared by the AllMusic as "Zappa's first real masterpiece" ... The music makes several stylistic shifts, covering hard rock, classical, psychedelic rock, music hall and jazz. It is cited by AllMusic as being a "condensed two-hour musical" ... According to Zappa, the beginning background music was inspired by Lightnin' Slim's "Have Your Way".
This compilation album was always a delight to hear ... over and over again. But it was "Brown Shoes.." that always hooked me in at the very start. Zappa's interest in classical and jazz, as well as lyrical satire, brought a new dimension to rock music as well. I don't think I ever dreamed that the flashes of images I had listening to this song at age 15, 16, and 17 could ever be turned into an actual music video (I didn't even know what a music video was back in those days). Well, for real Zappa fans, here is my attempt to "follow the lyrics" and realize a dream or nightmare.
