Joe's Garage

Joe's Garage
Joe's Garage was initially released separately in two units. This was the cover art for the single LP release Joe's Garage Act I, depicting Zappa in blackface.
Studio album by Frank Zappa
Released	September/November 1979
Recorded	March — June 1979 at Village Recorders "B", LA
Genre	Rock opera
Length	1:55:14
Label	Zappa
Producer	Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa chronology
Orchestral Favorites (1979) Joe's Garage (1979) You Are What You Is (1981) Singles from Joe's Garage "Joe's Garage" Released: October 29, 1979

Joe's Garage is the fifteenth solo studio album by Frank Zappa. Released separately in September and November 1979, it was subsequently reissued as a triple album box set and adapted for the stage in 2008.

It is a rock opera which discusses themes of individualism, free will, censorship, the music industry, human sexuality and criticism of government and religion, satirizing Catholicism and Scientology. The storyline is told by the Central Scrutinizer, a shadowy intelligence agent who tries to show the listener that music is evil by relating the story of Joe, an average adolescent male, who forms a garage rock band, gives all of his money to a government assisted, but insincere religion, explores unusual sexual activities with appliances, and is imprisoned. After being released from prison into a dystopian society in which music itself has been criminalized, he lapses into insanity.

The album is noted for its unique recording techniques, which include Xenochrony, a technique invented by Zappa in which guitar solos from older live recordings are overdubbed onto new studio recordings. It encompasses a large spectrum of musical styles, while its lyrics often feature satirical or humorous commentary on American society and politics. Joe's Garage initially received mixed to positive reviews. Critics highly appraised the album's innovative and original music, while criticisms were aimed at the highly scatological, sexual and profane nature of the lyrics. It has since been reappraised as one of Zappa's best works.

Background

After being released from his contractual obligations with Warner Bros. Records, Frank Zappa formed a independent label, Zappa Records, released the successful live album Sheik Yerbouti, and began working on a series of songs for a followup album. The songs "Joe's Garage" and "Catholic Girls" were recorded with the intention that Zappa would release them as a single.

Throughout the development of the album, Zappa's band recorded lengthy jams which Zappa later formed into the album. The album also continued the development of Xenochrony, a technique Zappa first featured on Zoot Allures, in which aspects of older live recordings were utilized to create new compositions by overdubbing them onto studio recordings, or, alternatively, selecting a previously recorded solo and allowing drummer Vinnie Colaiuta to improvise a new drum performance, interacting with the previously recorded piece.

Midway through recording the new album, Zappa decided that the songs connected coherently, and wrote a story, changing the new album into a rock opera. Joe's Garage was the final album Zappa recorded at a commercial studio. Zappa's own studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, built as an addition to Zappa's home, and completed in late 1979, was used to record and mix all of his forthcoming releases.

Style and influences

Lyrics and story themes

"Eventually it was discovered that God did not want us to be all the same. This was Bad News for the Governments of The World, as it seemed contrary to the doctrine of Portion Controlled Servings. Mankind must be made more uniformly if The Future was going to work. Various ways were sought to bind us all together, but, alas, same-ness was unenforceable. It was about this time that someone came up with the idea of Total Criminalization. Based on the principle that if we were all crooks we could at last be uniform to some degree in the eyes of The Law. [...] Total Criminalization was the greatest idea of its time and was vastly popular except with those people who didn't want to be crooks or outlaws, so, of course, they had to be Tricked Into It...which is one of the reasons why music was eventually made Illegal."
- Joe's Garage Act I liner notes, 1979.

The lyrical themes of Joe's Garage involve individualism, sexuality, the danger of large government, and "the foolishness of white males", according to Kelly Fisher Lowe in The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. The concepts of the album derived from recent Iranian censorship of music. The album is narrated by a government employee identifying himself as The Central Scrutinizer, who delivers a cautionary tale on the "dangers" of music. Joe, a typical adolescent male, forms a band, as the government prepares to criminalize music. According to the Central Scrutinizer, music leads to a "slippery slope" which includes drug use, disease, unusual sexual practices, prison, and insanity.

The title track is noted as having an autobiographical aspect, as the character of Larry (as performed by Zappa himself) sings that the band plays the same song repeatedly because "it sounded good to me". In real life, Zappa has stated that he writes and plays music for himself, and that he is his sole intended audience. The song also takes lyrical inspiration from playing in bars, as The Mothers of Invention had done, and shady record deals, which Zappa had previously experienced. It is in this song that Joe finds that the music industry is "not everything it is cracked up to be". The song also refers to a number of music fads, including new wave, heavy metal, disco and glitter rock, and is highly critical of the music industry.

"Catholic Girls" is highly critical of the Catholic church, and satirizes "the hypocrisy of the myth of the good Catholic girl." "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" was written in the summer of 1978. Zappa's road manager, Phil Kaufman, alleged that the song was written after Kaufman had asked that very question; within the context of the album's storyline, it is sung by Joe after he receives a sexually transmitted disease from Lucille, "a girl who works at the Jack in the Box". The Central Scrutinizer continues to express the hypothesis that "girls, music, disease, heartbreak [...] all go together." Halfway through the album's libretto, Zappa expressed the belief that governments believe that people are inherently criminals, and continue to invent laws which gives states the legal grounds to arrest people, leading to the fictional criminalization of music which occurs towards the end of the album's storyline.

"A Token of My Extreme" satirizes Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard, as well as new age beliefs and the sexual revolution. It describes a insincere religion, which cooperates with a "malevolent totalitarian regime." "Stick It Out" contains lyrical references to Zappa's songs "What Kind Of Girl", "Bwana Dik" and "Dancin' Fool". "Dong Work For Yuda" was written as a tribute to Zappa's bodyguard, John Smothers, and features Terry Bozzio imitating Smothers' dialect and speech. "Keep It Greasy" is a lyrical tribute to anal sex. Following Joe's imprisonment and release, the libretto describes a dystopian future, accompanied musically by long guitar solos which are described as being imagined by Joe. "Packard Goose" criticizes rock journalism, and features a philosophical monologue delivered by the character Mary, who had been absent since the first act.

Music and performance

Joe's Garage is noted for its extensive guitar-oriented work, including live improvisations which were incorporated into new studio compositions using xenochrony.

The music of Joe's Garage encompassed a variety of styles, including blues, jazz, doo wop, lounge, orchestral, rock, pop and reggae. "Catholic Girls" makes musical reference to Zappa's controversial song "Jewish Princess", as a sitar plays the melody of the earlier song during the fadeout of "Catholic Girls". "A Token Of My Extreme" originated as an instrumental which opened Zappa's concerts in 1974; a recording of the original version of this piece was released under the title "Tush Tush Tush (A Token of My Extreme)" on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2.

"Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up" first appeared on Jeff Simmons' album of the same name. The Joe's Garage arrangement is radically different, and is played as a reggae song. "Stick It Out" originated as part of the Mothers of Invention's "Sofa" routine in the early 1970s. The Joe's Garage version is musically influenced by funk and disco, with its lyrics performed first in German, and then in English. "Sy Borg" derives from funk, reggae and R&B.

"Keep It Greasy" had been performed by Zappa since 1975; the Joe's Garage album version features a guitar solo from a March 1979 live performance of the song "City of Tiny Lights". Another March 1979 guitar solo from "City of Tiny Lights" is incorporated into the song "Outside Now" using the same recording technique. "Packard Goose" also uses Xenochrony, with its guitar solo taken from a March 1979 performance of "Easy Meat". The album concludes with a long guitar instrumental, "A Watermelon in Easter Hay", and the song "A Little Green Rosetta"; the latter was originally written for Zappa's shelved Läther album.

Release

Joe's Garage Acts II & III was released in November 1979, with cover art depicting a makeup artist applying blackface onto Zappa's face.

Joe's Garage was initially released in separate units, beginning with the single LP Act I in September 1979. For the album artwork, Zappa was photographed in blackface, holding a mop. The gatefold sleeve of Act I was designed by John Williams, and featured a collage which included a naked Maya, vague technical drawings, pyramids and fingers on the fret of a guitar. The lyric insert featured similar illustrations which related to the content of the songs and storyline. The title track was released as a single, with "The Central Scrutinizer" as its B-side. It did not chart.

Act I peaked at #27 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. It was followed by the double album Acts II & III in November. The gatefold of Acts II & III featured collages taken from a medical journal, while the cover for Acts II & III featured a makeup artist applying blackface makeup to Zappa's face. Acts II & III peaked at #53 on the Pop Albums chart.

Joe's Garage was reissued as a triple album, combining Acts I, II & III into a single box set, and as a double album on compact disc. The song "Wet T-Shirt Night" received two alternate titles when the album was released on CD: the libretto referred to the song as "The Wet T-Shirt Contest", while the back cover referred to the song as "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt". In an interview, Zappa explained that the "fembot" was the name given to a female robot in an episode of the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. Additionally, the instrumental "Toad-O Line" was renamed "On The Bus". Additionally, a Central Scrutinizer monologue at the end of "Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up" which concludes the story's first act, was indexed as its own track on the CD reissue, under the title "Scrutinizer Postlude".

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic (Acts I, II & III)
Allmusic (Act I)
Allmusic (Acts II & III)
Rolling Stone	(favorable)

Joe's Garage received mixed to positive reviews upon release, with criticisms being aimed at its highly profane lyrical content, but has since been reappraised as a landmark album. Allmusic writer William Ruhlmann gave 3 out of 5 stars for the individual releases Act I and Acts II & III. Ruhlmann wrote of Act I, "although his concern with government censorship would see a later flowering in his battles with the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), here he wasn't able to use it to fulfill a satisfying dramatic function." Ruhlmann also felt that Acts II & III "seems so thin and thrown together, musically and dramatically".

Reviewing the album for Rolling Stone, Don Shewey wrote, "If the surface of this opera is cluttered with cheap gags and musical mishmash, its soul is located in profound existential sorrow. The guitar solos that Zappa plays in Joe's imagination burn with a desolate, devastating beauty. Flaws and all, Joe's Garage is Frank Zappa's Apocalypse Now." The collected Acts I, II & III release received 4.5 out of 5 stars from Allmusic's Steve Huey, who wrote "in spite of its flaws, Joe's Garage has enough substance to make it one of Zappa's most important '70s works and overall political statements, even if it's not focused enough to rank with his earliest Mothers of Invention masterpieces."

For his performance on Joe's Garage, Vinnie Colaiuta was named "the most technically advanced drummer ever" by Modern Drummer, which ranked the album as one of the top 25 greatest drumming performances of all time. On September 26, 2008, Joe's Garage was staged by the Open Fist Theatre Company in Los Angeles, in a production authorized by the Zappa Family Trust.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Frank Zappa. 

Act I
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Central Scrutinizer"	3:28
2.	"Joe's Garage"	6:10
3.	"Catholic Girls"	4:26
4.	"Crew Slut"	6:31
5.	"Wet T-Shirt Night"	4:45
6.	"Toad-O Line"	4:19
7.	"Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?"	2:36
8.	"Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up"	7:18
9.	"Scrutinizer Postlude"	1:34
Total length:		33:49

Act II
No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Token of My Extreme"	5:30
2.	"Stick It Out"	4:34
3.	"Sy Borg"	8:56
4.	"Dong Work for Yuda"	5:03
5.	"Keep It Greasey"	8:22
6.	"Outside Now"	5:50
Total length:		38:15

Act III
No.	Title	Length
1.	"He Used to Cut the Grass"	8:35
2.	"Packard Goose"	11:34
3.	"Watermelon in Easter Hay"	9:09
4.	"A Little Green Rosetta"	8:15
Total length:		37:33

Personnel

Cast

• Frank Zappa – Central Scrutinizer, Larry, L. Ron Hoover, Father Riley & Buddy Jones
• Ike Willis – Joe
• Dale Bozzio – Mary
• Denny Walley – Mrs. Borg
• Al Malkin – Officer Butzis
• Warren Cuccurullo & Ed Mann – Sy Borg
• Terry Bozzio – Bald-Headed John
• Al Malkin, Warren Cucurullo, Dale Bozzio, Geordie Hormel, Barbara Issak & most of the people who work at Village Recorders (circa 1979) – The Utility Muffin Research Kitchen Chorus

Musicians

• Frank Zappa – Vocals, guitar
• Warren Cuccurullo – Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Choir, Chorus, Organ, Guitar
• Denny Walley – Vocals, Slide Guitar, Guitar
• Craig Twister Steward – Harmonica
• Jeff – Sax (Tenor)
• Marginal Chagrin – Sax (Baritone)
• Patrick O'Hearn – Wind, Bass
• Peter Wolf – Keyboards
• Stumuk – Sax (Baritone), Sax (Bass)
• Tommy Mars – Keyboards
• Vinnie Colaiuta – Drums, Percussion
• Arthur Barrow – Vocals, Bass
• Ed Mann – Vocals, Percussion
• Dale Bozzio – Vocals
• Al Malkin – Vocals
• Ike Willis – Vocals
• Barbara Isaak – Choir, Chorus, Assistant
• Geordie Hormel – Choir, Chorus
• Terry Bozzio – Guest Vocals

Production staff

• Ferenc Dobronyi – Cover Design
• Steve Alsberg – Project Coordinator
• Joe Chiccarelli – Engineer, Mixing, Recording
• Norman Seeff – Photography, Cover Photo
• John Williams – Artwork
• Steve Nye – Remixing
• Mick Glossop – Remixing
• Stan Ricker – Mastering
• Jack Hunt – Mastering
• Thomas Nordegg – Assistant
• Tom Cummings – Assistant

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Joe's Garage Act I

Year	Chart	Position
1979	Pop Albums	27

Joe's Garage Acts II & III

Year	Chart	Position
1979	Pop Albums	53