Frank Zappa: Camarillo Brillo

Continuing this week’s focus on Frank Zappa, today’s song is “Camarillo Brillo” from the 1973 album Over-Nite Sensation. After bursting into the adventurous music scene of the late ’60s, Zappa experienced a whirlwind of a career. His music was simultaneously loved and hated in the States and in Europe, and by the end of the decade he was advancing his sound with his first album filled with his trademark virtuosic electric guitar work (Hot Rats). His music was already laying the foundations of jazz fusion, but from the rock side of the style. He released several albums in a variety of styles, worked on a failed concert with the L.A. Philharmonic, and wrote/directed a surrealistic experimental film (200 Motels) in 1971. This was all followed by catastrophe when an audience member shot a flare gun off during a live Mothers of Invention show at the end of 1971, resulting in the burning down of the casino and destruction of the band’s equipment (this event is the basis of the song “Smoke On The Water” by Deep Purple). A few weeks later, the band performed a show in London, with rented gear, and an audience member jumped on stage and pushed Zappa into the orchestra pit (out of jealousy from his girlfriend’s infatuation with Zappa). The band actually thought Zappa was dead, but he survived. He spent the rest of his life in chronic pain from the incident and had to retire from touring for 6 months. He returned in 1972 with two jazz albums, but it was clear he needed to find a new direction. Amazingly, Zappa was able to find this new direction in 1973 with his album Over-Nite Sensation. This album dropped much of the psychedelic experimentation and jazz influences that had defined his material up to that point. Instead, the album was an amazing mix of rock, soul, and prog with a new focus on melody and virtuosic instrumentation. This album was the first in a string of releases, including Apostrophe (‘) in 1974 and One Size Fits All in 1975, that are among his most successful and best-known works.

To learn more about Frank Zappa, check out his Wikipedia page.

To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

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