Joe's Garage is a three-part rock opera released by American musician Frank Zappa in September and November 1979. Originally released as two separate albums on Zappa Records, the project was later remastered and reissued as a triple album box set, Joe's Garage Acts I, II & III, in 1987. The story is told by a character identified as the "Central Scrutinizer" narrating the story of Joe, an average adolescent male, from Canoga Park, Los Angeles, who forms a garage rock band, has unsatisfying relationships with women, gives all of his money to a government-assisted and insincere religion, explores 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 encompasses a large spectrum of musical styles, while its lyrics often feature satirical or humorous commentary on American society and politics. It addresses themes of individualism, free will, censorship, the music industry and human sexuality, while criticizing government and religion, and satirizing Catholicism and Scientology. Joe's Garage is noted for its use of xenochrony, a recording technique that takes musical material (in this instance, guitar solos by Zappa from older live recordings) and overdubs them onto different, unrelated material. All solos on the album are xenochronous except for "Crew Slut" and "Watermelon in Easter Hay", a signature song that Zappa described as the best song on the album, and according to his son Dweezil, the best guitar solo his father ever played.
Joe’s Garage initially received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising its innovative and original music, but criticizing the scatological, sexual and profane nature of the lyrics. Since its original release, the album has been reappraised as one of Zappa's best works.
Background
After completing contractual obligations with DiscReet Records and distributor Warner Bros. Records in March 1977, Zappa formed Zappa Records, with distribution in the US and Canada by Phonogram Inc. He released the successful double album Sheik Yerbouti (1979, recorded 8/1977-2/1978), and began working on a series of songs for a follow-up album. Throughout the development of Joe's Garage, Zappa's band recorded lengthy jams which Zappa later formed into the album. The album also continued the development of xenochrony, a technique Zappa also featured on One Size Fits All (1975), 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. Joe's Garage was the final album Zappa recorded at a commercial studio.
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".</blockquote> This view inspired the lyrical content of "Crew Slut", in which Mary, Joe's girlfriend, falls into the groupie lifestyle, going on to participate in a wet T-shirt contest in the following track, "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt". 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". It describes an insincere religion, which co-operates with a "malevolent totalitarian regime." "Stick It Out" contains lyrical references to Zappa's songs "What Kind Of Girl", "Bwana Dik", "Sofa No. 2", 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.
"A Token Of My Extreme" originated as an instrumental song played during improvised conversations by saxophonist Napoleon Murphy Brock and George Duke on keyboards. It typically opened Zappa's concerts in 1974; a recording of this version of the 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. The Joe's Garage arrangement is radically different, and is played in a reggae style. "Sy Borg" derives from funk, reggae and R&B. After Zappa died, "Watermelon in Easter Hay" became known as one of his signature songs, and his son, Dweezil Zappa, later referred to it as "the best solo Zappa ever played".
The song is followed by "A Little Green Rosetta", a song that was originally intended to appear on Zappa's shelved Läther album, but rerecorded with different lyrics for Joe's Garage.
Guitar solo sources
All dates occurred in 1979.
{| class="wikitable"
!Song
!Source
!Notes
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|Toad-O Line/On the Bus
|style="text-align:center;"|March 21st,<br>Rhein-Neckar-Halle, Eppelheim, Germany
|extracted from "Inca Roads" (source also appears on One Shot Deal as "Occam's Razor")
|-
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|Keep It Greasy
|rowspan=1 style="text-align:center;"|March 31st (late show),<br>Rudi-Sedlmayer Sporthalle, Munich, Germany
| first section extracted from "City of Tiny Lites" (source also appears on Guitar as "Outside Now (Original Solo)")
|-
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|March 31st (early show),<br>Rudi-Sedlmayer Sporthalle, Munich, Germany
|second section extracted from "City of Tiny Lites"
|-
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|Outside Now
|second solo extracted from "City of Tiny Lites"
|-
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|April 1st,<br>Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland
|first solo extracted from "City of Tiny Lites"
|-
|rowspan =2 style="text-align:center;"|Packard Goose
|first section extracted from "Easy Meat"
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|March 27th (late show),<br>Rhein-Main-Halle, Wiesbaden, Germany
|second section extracted from opening solo ("Persona Non Grata")
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|He Used to Cut the Grass
|style="text-align:center;"|March 23rd,<br>Liebenau Station, Graz, Austria
|extracted from opening solo ("Persona Non Grata")
|}
Release
thumb|Joe's Garage Acts II & III was released in November 1979, with cover art depicting a makeup artist applying makeup to 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 black makeup, holding a mop for the car grease garage theme. 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.
Act I peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Joe's Garage was reissued in 1987 as a triple album, combining Acts I, II & III into a single box set, and as a double album on compact disc. 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. The Central Scrutinizer monolog 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".<br /><small>(Acts I)</small><br /><small>(Acts II & III)</small>
| rev2 = Q
| rev2Score =
| rev3 = Rolling Stone
| rev3Score =
| rev4 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev4Score =
AllMusic gave 3 out of 5 stars for the individual releases Act I and Acts II & III. 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." 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.
The cover was parodied by Swedish rockabilly artist Eddie Meduza on his 1980 album Garagetaper.
Track listing
Personnel
Musicians
- Frank Zappa – lead guitar, vocals
- Warren Cuccurullo – rhythm guitar, vocals, sitar
- Denny Walley – slide guitar, vocals
- Ike Willis – lead vocals
- Peter Wolf – keyboards
- Tommy Mars – keyboards (Act 1)
- Arthur Barrow – bass guitar, guitar (on "Joe's Garage"), vocals
- Patrick O'Hearn – bass guitar on "Outside Now" and "He Used to Cut the Grass"
- Ed Mann – percussion, vocals
- Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, combustible vapors, optometric abandon
- Jeff (Jeff Hollie) – tenor sax (all tracks Act 1)
- Marginal Chagrin (Earle Dumler) – baritone sax (all tracks Act 1)
- Stumuk (Bill Nugent) – bass sax (all tracks Act 1)
- Dale Bozzio – vocals (Acts 1 & 3)
- Al Malkin – vocals (all tracks Act 1)
- Craig Steward – harmonica (all tracks Act 1)
Cast
- Frank Zappa – Central Scrutinizer, Larry, L. Ron Hoover, Father Riley and Buddy Jones
- Ike Willis – Joe
- Dale Bozzio – Mary
- Denny Walley – Mrs. Borg
- Al Malkin – Officer Butzis
- Warren Cuccurullo and Ed Mann – Sy Borg
- Terry Bozzio – Bald-Headed John
- The Utility Muffin Research Kitchen Chorus – Al Malkin, Warren Cucurullo, Dale Bozzio, Geordie Hormel, Barbara Issak and most of the people who work at Village Recorders
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
{| class="wikitable"
!Chart (1979)
!Peak<br>position
|-
|United States (Billboard 200)
|align="center"|27
|-
|Australia (Kent Music Report)
| style="text-align:center;"|94
|-
|Canadian Albums (RPM) (Act I)
| style="text-align:center;"|16
|-
|Canadian Albums (RPM) (Act II & III)
| style="text-align:center;"|39
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1979)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | Canadian Albums (RPM)
| 98
|}