Brown Shoes Don't Make It

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"Brown Shoes Don't Make It"
Song by The Mothers of Invention
from the album Absolutely Free
ReleasedMay 26, 1967
RecordedNovember 18, 1966 [1]
Studio TTG Studios, Los Angeles
Genre
Length7:30
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, described by AllMusic as "Zappa's first real masterpiece". [2]

Contents

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] 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, modernist classical music, 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

with:

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" (song review). Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  3. ↑ Sidey, Hugh (1980-06-30). "The Meaning of the Cordovans" (web reprint). Time. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  4. ↑ Miles, Barry (2004). Zappa. Grove Press. p. 116. ISBN   9780802142153.
  5. ↑ Chevalier, Dominique "Viva Zappa!" 1985 Page 62
  6. ↑ "AllMusic review". AllMusic . 2011-07-31. Archived from the original on 2011-07-31.
  7. ↑ "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll A-C". Archived from the original on 2008-01-20. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
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