Be a jerk and go to work

Frank Zappa is so deeply woven into Songblague's DNA that it's easy to lose sight of the man himself. And then there's sheer scope of the his work, which you'd be well-advised to go research if you're not already familiar. Having spent some time plumbing the depths of the Zappa cult and the span of his cosmology, I'd be foolish to try to summarize the layers of appeal.

Of course, some tracks are more essential than others, and "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" is an early masterpiece, far beyond just about anyone in the rock idiom circa 1967. Not that this is even rock music at all, what with reference points ranging from R&B to Varese-ian dissonance. The track lays bare the suppressed depravity of straight-laced, post-war America, ripped loose from the dark desk drawers of its elites, without enacting the caricature of middle-class, hippie pseudo-rebellion (Frank's stance on that was pretty brutal too, as we know). From a musical and technical standpoint, it's a stunner. Totally controlled and surreal. And yet, there's something of the bootstrap, lo-budget charm that he'd lose in later years.

Zappa would go to many fascinating places after this, but I don't think he was ever a more astute cultural observer or keen satirist. Oh, did I mention the music is effing sick too.

Frank Zappa - Brown Shoes Don't Make It