Song of the Day 4/19: Frank Zappa and the Mothers, “Son of Orange County/More Trouble Every Day”
Once upon a time in America, government oppression inspired protest. Lots of it was angry. Frank Zappa’s was, too, but his mode of expression was mockery, as in this oblique but incisive critique of our 37th president. The track as it appears on “Roxy and Elsewhere” was mostly recorded at Edinboro (Pa.) State College May 8, 1974, days before the Senate hearings into Watergate began (part of Zappa’s solo is from three days later in Chicago). It segues into “More Trouble Every Day,” Zappa’s commentary on the Los Angeles riots. Both songs were adapted from versions that appeared on early LPs, performed here by what many fans consider the best version of the Mothers Zappa ever assembled.
Love it, and agree this was one of Frank’s greatest bands. Speaking of protest disappointed I have not heard any recent protest songs as we could surely use some.
There is a statue of Zappa in Vilnius, capital city of Lithuania. Now he never set foot in the country but a lot of young people would risk arrest smuggling in his records and tapes back when Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union. When the Iron Curtain fell and Lithuania became a free country the locals tore down the statue of Lenin and erected a Frank Zappa Memorial.