We're Only in It for the Money

We're Only in It for the Money
Studio album by The Mothers of Invention
Released	March 4, 1968 (1968-03-04)
Recorded	March 14–16; August 2–9; October 1967 at Capitol Studios, LA; Mayfair and Apostolic Studios, NYC
Genre	Experimental rock, musique concrete, psychedelic rock, comedy rock
Length	39:07
Label	Verve
Producer	Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa Studio Albums chronology
Lumpy Gravy (1967) We're Only in It for the Money (1968) Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1968) The intended front cover of the album. At the insistence of the record company, the image became part of the gatefold sleeve.

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Robert Christgau	(A)

We're Only in It For the Money is the third studio album by The Mothers of Invention, released in March 1968 on Verve Records. The album peaked at number thirty on the Billboard 200. It is a concept album that satirizes many aspects of 1960s culture, such as hippie culture and music. It is often considered one of the band's greatest achievements, with its innovative new studio techniques and outstanding social comment.

"We're Only in It For the Money" was the first Mothers album not to feature Ray Collins on lead vocals, as he left the group in 1968. Most of the vocal parts have been sped-up or distorted by studio effects, making it difficult to tell which member is singing on certain tracks.

A 3-disc set titled Lumpy Money was released in 2009 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of both this album and the following, Lumpy Gravy. It includes the original and remixed version of both albums and extras and outtakes.

The album is also notable for being the first of Frank Zappa's projects that he produced himself, which he would continue to do for the rest of his recording career.

Songs

Who Needs the Peace Corps?

"Who Needs the Peace Corps?" is a satire on flower power fashion sense. The lyrics are written in the point of view of a stereotypical hippie, getting stoned and going to San Francisco. The song begins with a solid melody but sinks into a spoken word comedy routine where the young hippy decides he will become the road manager for a psychedelic pop band. This is one of the few songs on the album where the vocals are not sped up to sound cartoonish and humorous.

Mom & Dad

The lyrics to "Mom & Dad" speak of hippies being shot by cops in the park. It is one of the more serious songs on the album. Many people consider the song to be prophetic, since almost three years later, the Kent State shootings occurred where a few National Guardsman shot some college students who were protesting the American invasion of Cambodia. The liner notes say:

This whole monstrosity was conceived & executed by Frank Zappa as a result of some unpleasant premonitions, August through October 1967.

This only adds to the myth that Frank Zappa knew the shootings would occur.

Harry, You're a Beast

"Harry, You're a Beast" is Frank Zappa's first song to feature lyrics that are against women's liberation. There would be many more to come, most notably 1979's Bobby Brown Goes Down. The song is about a boy named Harry having sex with a girl named Madge, which goes wrong, leaving Madge in tears. Harry sheepishly says "Madge, I couldn't help it, I - doggone it!"

What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?

"What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" appears to be speaking to the character in the previous song, Harry. The song asks the title question, then answers it with "I think it's your mind." This could be referring to Harry's sexual encounter with Madge being ruined by his vulgar thoughts. The song starts out as a doo-wop number sung by Roy Estrada. It then turns into a 7/8 beat spoken word bit by Frank Zappa, in which he says "all your children are poor unfortunate victims of lies you believe."

Flower Punk

"Flower Punk" is very similar to the previous song, "Who Needs the Peace Corps?," as it also mocks hippie fashion sense. This time it is performed in a parody of the song Hey Joe, which was famously covered by Jimi Hendrix (Hendrix appears on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band-mocking album sleeve). The lyrics are asking a character only known as "Flower Punk" where he's going and why he's dressed the way he is. His answers are once again hippie stereotypes such as joining a psychedelic band and hoping that a cute girl will notice him for his flashy clothing. The song drowns into a sound collage of tape effects, with multiple sped-up voices talking at once, explained in the liner notes as Flower Punk's mind exploding while on drugs.

Let's Make the Water Turn Black

As the first line of the song promises, "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" is based on a true story. Zappa had two high school friends, brothers Kenny and Ronnie Williams, who would do all of the activities included in the lyrics. They collected their boogers on their window-sill, urinated in a jar to see what kind of creatures would appear in it, and lit their farts on fire. Ronnie and Kenny's story would continue in the next track, "The Idiot Bastard Son."

The Idiot Bastard Son

"The Idiot Bastard Son" talks of a child born to "a hooker somewhere in L.A." and "a Nazi in congress." The child is raised by Ronnie and Kenny Williams, the two boys in "Let's Make the Water Turn Black." It then goes on to say that the child will grow into a world of "liars and cheaters and people like you." In the middle of the track there is a moment where the music turns into a bunch of random studio chatter, similar to Zappa's other project at the time, Lumpy Gravy. The song is popular among fans of The Mothers of Invention, and was a concert staple for Zappa in many of his tours.

Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance

The lyrics for "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" are of a peaceful nirvana where everyone loves each other and there is no hatred, a typical hippie dream. It is followed by a reprise of "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" The song appears in many forms in Zappa recordings. It appears in Lumpy Gravy as an instrumental simply titled "Take Your Clothes Off." Another version is included on Joe's Corsage with different lyrics and a new coda titled "I'm So Happy I Could Cry."

Mother People

Unlike previous tracks on the album, "Mother People" does not satirize hippie lifestyle. It appears more to defend it. It asks questions to listener, "do you think that my pants are too tight? Do you think that I'm creepy?" Then takes an agressive turn "shut your fucking mouth about the length of my hair." (this verse only appears in the 1986 remix) As the last song with lyrics in "We're Only in It for the Money," it stands as a surprising contrast to the previous humorous and merciless parody.

Background

In 1967, Zappa conceived an album, Our Man in Nirvana, which would combine the music of his band The Mothers of Invention with comedy routines by Lenny Bruce (who had performed with Zappa at The Fillmore in 1966). However, when Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released and hugely touted as the first concept album, Zappa, who already had released two (which Paul McCartney later stated had influenced Sgt. Pepper) felt compelled to respond. Also, Zappa noticed its cultural effect, and felt that the then-popular flower power scene had and would continue to have a major influence on popular culture. Consequently, he decided to produce instead a satirical album that parodied every cynical aspect of the fad, Sgt. Pepper, and 1960s US society. The song "Flower Punk" is based upon "Hey Joe", famously performed by Love, The Leaves, The Byrds, The Surfaris and Jimi Hendrix, who is himself pictured in the cover art. "Mother People" was featured in an episode of The Monkees ("Monkees Blow Their Minds"), which also featured Zappa and Michael Nesmith posing as each other. The only vestige of the original album idea in We're Only in It... is the phrase "Don't come in me, in me..." in the song "Harry, You're A Beast", a reference to a Lenny Bruce routine about ejaculation.

Cover art

Cal Schenkel's design was intended as a parody of the cover for The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The fold-out cover for Sgt. Pepper had a collage of famous people by Peter Blake on the outside front, a picture of the group with one member facing away from the camera on the back, and a head-shot portrait of the band on the inside. Zappa originally intended to use the cover as one would expect—front cover on the front, back cover on the back, and the inside group head-shot on the inside—but Zappa's record company demurred and turned the cover inside-out for release, putting the most blatant Sgt. Pepper parody (front cover very similar in its production; back cover showing a picture of the group with only one member facing toward the camera) on the inside and the head-shot portrait pastiche of the band on the outside. Next to Zappa's head on the back cover is a speech bubble that reads, "Is this phase one of Lumpy Gravy?". Respectively, Zappa's next album, Lumpy Gravy features a similar speech bubble that reads "Is this phase 2 of We're Only in It for the Money?"

The 1986 Rykodisc release on CD featured the original photo restored to the front cover, but minus the group headshot. This release combined this album with Lumpy Gravy. In 1995, Zappa's estate authorized the rerelease of the original cover art with the headshot along with the original Verve records mix—as "Lumpy Gravy" was also reissued on its own with its original cover art and Verve Records mix. One section of the CD liner art features a series of badges, banknote, and facial hair cut-outs, satirizing those of Sgt. Pepper, with some differences; one badge features a small photograph of recording engineer Gary Kellgren and the other is a nipple. The banknote had a picture of a belly button in the middle.

Release and censorship

Originally released in March 1968, the album eventually peaked at number thirty on the Billboard 200. Initial releases of the album had certain sections of songs edited or removed due to perceived offensiveness. These two sets of edits are often distinguished by the monikers "censored" and "heavily censored." However, these set of edits were sometimes applied inconsistently, so these two categories are inexhaustive.

Tracks affected by censor edits on all original versions:

• "Concentration Moon": Gary Kellgren's whispered remark "I get to work with The Velvet Underground, which is as shitty a group as Frank Zappa's group" was cut. However, the Canadian release of the album keeps the line intact. Later Verve pressings (aka the "heavily censored" version) only removes part of the line, rendering it as "I get to work with the Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa's group."
• "Harry You're a Beast": The "Don't come in me, in me" verse was edited in order to hide the offending lyric by re-editing parts of the verse in the wrong way, and reversing parts of the song. This phrase is from Lenny Bruce's "To is a Preposition, Come is a Verb" routine.
• "Mother People": a verse containing the expletives "fucking" and "shitty" was replaced with a repeat of the first. The original verse was backmasked and appended to the track "Hot Poop" (even there, however, the word "fucking" has its "uck" part cut out to make it less obvious).

Additional tracks affected by censor edits on the "heavily censored" versions:

• "Who Needs the Peace Corps?": a spoken line "I will love the police as they kick the shit out of me" was cut out.
• "Absolutely Free": The spoken word lines "I don't do publicity balling for you any more" and remark "Flower power sucks" were removed.
• "Let's Make The Water Turn Black": Several lines of the song are removed, most notably the line about Ronnie and Kenny Williams' mother ("and I still remember Mama with her apron and her pad"). Zappa believed that the line was cut because a record company executive thought the line referred to a sanitary pad.

Reissues

The album was first issued on CD in 1986 with newly recorded bass and percussion tracks. Parts censored from the original release were also restored. However, subsequent fan demand for the original Verve recording led to its restoration on Rykodisc's 1995 release and onwards. Some of the censorship is still present.

Disc 2 of the 2008 3-disc Frank Zappa CD Lumpy Money contains the 1986 reissue of "We're Only In It For The Money" sourced from a digital master tape, and mastered by Bernie Grundman in 2008. There is also an original 1968 mono mix as part of this collection.

Legacy

The album was included in Q magazine's list of the "Best Psychedelic Albums of All Time." In 2003, the album was ranked number 296 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The magazine regarded it as "a milestone of studio mischief and a merciless satire of anything that pissed Zappa off during flower power's heyday." In 2005, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing

All tracks written by Frank Zappa.

Original 1968 release

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Are You Hung Up?"	1:23
2.	"Who Needs the Peace Corps?"	2:34
3.	"Concentration Moon"	2:32
4.	"Mom & Dad"	2:16
5.	"Bow Tie Daddy"	0:33
6.	"Harry, You're a Beast"	1:22
7.	"What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?"	1:03
8.	"Absolutely Free"	3:26
9.	"Flower Punk"	3:57
10.	"Hot Poop"	0:26

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Nasal Retentive Calliope Music"	2:03
2.	"Let's Make the Water Turn Black"	1:45
3.	"The Idiot Bastard Son"	2:44
4.	"Lonely Little Girl" (Listed on the gatefold sleeve as "It's His Voice On the Radio")	1:45
5.	"Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"	1:35
6.	"What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (Reprise)"	0:57
7.	"Mother People"	2:32
8.	"The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny"	6:25

Current Rykodisc CD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Are You Hung Up?"	1:25
2.	"Who Needs the Peace Corps?"	2:34
3.	"Concentration Moon"	2:22
4.	"Mom & Dad"	2:16
5.	"Telephone Conversation"	0:49
6.	"Bow Tie Daddy"	0:33
7.	"Harry, You're a Beast"	1:21
8.	"What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?"	1:03
9.	"Absolutely Free"	3:24
10.	"Flower Punk"	3:04
11.	"Hot Poop"	0:27
12.	"Nasal Retentive Calliope Music"	2:03
13.	"Let's Make the Water Turn Black"	2:01
14.	"The Idiot Bastard Son"	3:19
15.	"Lonely Little Girl"	1:10
16.	"Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"	1:33
17.	"What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (Reprise)"	1:03
18.	"Mother People"	2:26
19.	"The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny"	6:26

Personnel

The Mothers of Invention

• Frank Zappa – guitar, piano, lead vocals
• Jimmy Carl Black – trumpet, drums, vocals
• Roy Estrada – electric bass, vocals
• Bunk Gardner – all woodwinds
• Billy Mundi – drums, vocals
• Don Preston – keyboards
• Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood – baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, road manager
• Suzy Creamcheese – telephone voice
• Ian Underwood – piano, woodwinds
• Pamela Zarubica – vocals

Session musicians

• Eric Clapton – Male speaking part in "Are You Hung Up?" and "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music."
• Gary Kellgren – "the one doing all the creepy whispering" (i.e., interstitial spoken segments)
• Spider Barbour – vocals
• Dick Kunc – "cheerful interruptions" vocal
• Vicki Kellgren – additional telephone vocals
• Sid Sharp – orchestral arrangements on "Absolutely Free", "Mother People" and "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny"

Production

• Producer: Frank Zappa
• Executive producer: Tom Wilson
• Engineers: Gary Kellgren, Dick Kunc
• Remixing: Dick Kunc
• Editing: Dick Kunc, Frank Zappa
• Arranger: Frank Zappa
• Concept: Frank Zappa
• Art direction: Cal Schenkel
• Design: Cal Schenkel
• Artwork: Cal Schenkel
• Photography: Jerrold Schatzberg
• Fashion advisor: Tiger Morse
• Wardrobe: Billy Mundi

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1968	US Billboard 200	30

External links

• Details of the album's censorship
• Lyrics and information
• Release history