We're Only in It for the Money
Studio album by The Mothers of Invention
Released	January 1968 (1968-01)
Recorded	March 14-16; August 2-9; October 1967
Genre	Experimental rock, progressive rock, comedy rock, Avant-Garde
Length	39:07
Label	Verve/Bizarre
Producer	Frank Zappa
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (A) link Warr.org link
Frank Zappa chronology
Absolutely Free (1967) We're Only in It for the Money (1968) Lumpy Gravy (1968)
The Mothers of Invention chronology
Absolutely Free (1967) We're Only in It for the Money (1968) Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1968)
Alternative cover
The original cover.

We're Only in It For the Money is a "rock and roll" album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. Displaying snippets of styles as diverse as 1950s doo-wop to 1960s surf music to avant-garde orchestral doodlings, the album peaked at #30 on North America's Billboard Music Charts pop albums chart. The album is a parody of hippies and Summer of Love and a satire based on Zappa's unique perspective on the superficial nature of 1960s pop culture, but takes similar blows at the establishment as much as it does to the hippie counterculture, which by mid-1967 had become commercialized. Cover of the Frank Zappa album, Were Only in It for the Money. ... A studio album is a collection of studio-recorded tracks by a recording artist. ... The Mothers of Invention were a rock and roll band active from the 1960s to the 1990s. ... is the 73rd day of the year (74th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The requested page title was invalid, empty, or an incorrectly linked inter-language or inter-wiki title. ... Events A Roman army of 90,000 men commanded by Germanicus gains a victory at Idistaviso, defeating the German war chief Arminius and capturing his wife Thusnelda, and recovering the lost eagles of Varus legions. ... August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... For other uses, see 2 (disambiguation). ... The requested page title was invalid, empty, or an incorrectly linked inter-language or inter-wiki title. ... This article is about the year 9. ... For other uses, see October (disambiguation). ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Experimental rock or Avant rock is a type of art music based on rock and roll which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, and/or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique. ... For the Swedish political music movement, see progg. ... Comedy rock is a term used to describe rock music that mixes the music with general comedy. ... A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... In the music industry, a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Verve Records is an American Jazz record label, founded by Norman Granz in 1956, which absorbed the catalogues of his earlier labels: Norgran Records and Clef Records (founded 1953). ... Bizarre Records was a record label formed for artists discovered by Frank Zappa and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 5_stars. ... Robert Christgau (born April 18, 1942), is an American essayist, music journalist, and the self-declared Dean of American Rock Critics.[1] In print, his name is sometimes abbreviated as Xgau. ... Image File history File links 5_stars. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. ... Absolutely Free (1967) is the second album by The Mothers of Invention, led by Frank Zappa. ... Lumpy Gravy is the first solo album by Frank Zappa, released in 1968. ... The Mothers of Invention were a rock and roll band active from the 1960s to the 1990s. ... Absolutely Free (1967) is the second album by The Mothers of Invention, led by Frank Zappa. ... Cruising With Ruben And The Jets The Story of Ruben & the Jets. ... Image File history File links The parodic cover that Frank Zappa originally intended for the front of his 1968 album Were Only in It for the Money. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. ... The Mothers of Invention were a rock and roll band active from the 1960s to the 1990s. ... Doo-wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music popular in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s in America. ... Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly Orange County and other areas of Southern California. ... Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. ... Hippies (singular hippie or sometimes hippy) were members of the 1960s counterculture movement who adopted a communal or nomadic lifestyle, renounced corporate nationalism and the Vietnam War, embraced aspects of Buddhism, Hinduism, and/or Native American religious culture, and were otherwise at odds with traditional middle class Western values. ... The Summer of Love refers to the summer of 1967, when an unprecedented gathering of as many as 100,000 young people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a phenomenon of cultural and political rebellion. ... 1867 edition of Punch, a ground-breaking British magazine of popular humour, including a good deal of satire of the contemporary social and political scene. ...

First released in 1968 on Verve Records (see 1968 in music), it was rereleased by Rykodisc 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 releases from 1995 onwards.^[1] Verve Records is an American Jazz record label, founded by Norman Granz in 1956, which absorbed the catalogues of his earlier labels: Norgran Records and Clef Records (founded 1953). ... // January 4 - Guitarist Jimi Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police, after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with bassist Noel Redding. ... Rykodisc Records is an American record label, and subsidiary of Warner Music Group. ...

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.^[2] In 2005, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. This article is about the magazine. ... Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Magazine Cover, November 2003. ... Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894. ... The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings which are culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States. ...

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. Hey Joe is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard, and as such has been performed in a multitude of musical styles. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Leaves were an American garage band formed in California in 1963. ... Not to be confused with The Birds (band). ... Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitar virtuoso, singer and songwriter. ... The Monkees were a pop-rock quartet created and based in Los Angeles in 1965 for an NBC American television series of the same name. ... Robert Michael Nesmith (b. ...

History

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).^[3] 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 admitted had influenced Sgt. Pepper^[4]) 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.^[5] 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.^[6] The Mothers of Invention were a rock and roll band active from the 1960s to the 1990s. ... Lenny Bruce (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), born Leonard Alfred Schneider, was a controversial American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. ... The Fillmore (also known as the Fillmore Auditorium or, for several years, The Elite Club), is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California made famous by Bill Graham (1931–1991). ... For other uses, see Sgt. ... In popular music, a concept album is an album which is unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical (Shuker 2002, p. ... A bus covered with Hippie slogans and flowers Flower power was a slogan used by hippies in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of the non-violence ideology. ...

Censorship

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.^[7]

Tracks affected by censor edits on all original versions:

• "Concentration Moon": Gary Kellgren's whispered remark "...also at the same time 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 only removes part of the line, rendering it as "I get to work with the Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa's group."^[7]
• "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.^[7]
• "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, "fucking" is absent). The uncensored line is: "Better look around before you say you don't care/Shut your fucking mouth 'bout the length of my hair/how would you survive/if you were alive/shitty little person?"^[7]

Additional tracks affected by censor edits on the "heavily censored" versions: This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the rock band. ... Lenny Bruce (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), born Leonard Alfred Schneider, was a controversial American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Backmasking (also known incorrectly as backward masking)[1] is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backwards onto a track that is meant to be played forwards. ...

• "Who Needs the Peace Corps?": a spoken line "I will love the police as they kick the shit out of me" was cut out.^[7]
• "Absolutely Free": The spoken word lines "I don't do publicity balling for you any more" and remark "Flower power sucks!" were removed.^[7]
• "Let's Make the Water Turn Black": Several lines of the song are removed, most notably the line about booger-smearing teenage friends Ronnie and Kenny Williams' mother ("and I still remember Mama with her Apron and her pad, feeding all the boys at Ed's Cafe"). Zappa believed that the line was cut because a record company executive thought the line referred to a sanitary pad.^[8]

The Canadian and "heavily censored" editions also have an alternate version of "Hot Poop" that does not include the backwards "Mother People" verse.^[7]

The 1986 reissue with reinstated all of these edited sections.^[7] However, the album's rhythm tracks had been re-recorded by different musicians.

The 1995 re-release matches the original US LP with only the "Harry", "Mother People", and "Concentration Moon" edits.^[7] However, there are tape issues on some tracks.

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. 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 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. Next to Zappa's head on the head-shot portrait, a speech bubble has him questioning, "Is this phase one of Lumpy Gravy?". On the back cover of Lumpy Gravy, a speech bubble shows Zappa questioning "Is this phase 2 of We're Only in It for the Money?" Cal Schenkel was a visual collaborator of Frank Zappa. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... For other uses, see Sgt. ... For other uses, see Collage (disambiguation). ... Blakes album cover Sir Peter Thomas Blake (born June 25, 1932, in Dartford, Kent) is an English pop artist, best known for his design of the sleeve for The Beatles album Sgt. ... Rykodisc Records is an American record label, and subsidiary of Warner Music Group. ... CD redirects here. ... Lumpy Gravy is the first solo album by Frank Zappa, released in 1968. ... Four different shapes of speech or thought balloons Speech balloons (also speech bubbles or word balloons) are a graphic convention used in comic books, strips, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing the speech or thoughts of a given character in the... Lumpy Gravy is the first solo album by Frank Zappa, released in 1968. ...

One section of the CD liner art features a series of badge, banknote, and facial hair cut-outs, satirising 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. CD may stand for: Compact Disc Canadian Forces Decoration Cash Dispenser (at least used in Japan) CD LPMud Driver Centrum-Demokraterne (Centre Democrats of Denmark) Certificate of Deposit České Dráhy (Czech Railways) Chad (NATO country code) Chalmers Datorförening (computer club of the Chalmers University of Technology) a 1960s... A £20 Bank of England banknote. ... Audio engineering is the branch of engineering dealing with the production of sound through mechanical means. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Track listing

All tracks by Frank Zappa. Image File history File links We're_Only_in_It_for_the_Money_-_What's_the_Ugliest_Part_of_your_Body_sample. ...

Are You Hung Up? is the opening track on the 1968 album Were Only in It for the Money by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. ... Hot Poop is a piece by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention from the 1968 album Were Only in It for the Money. ... Are You Hung Up? is the opening track on the 1968 album Were Only in It for the Money by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. ... Hot Poop is a piece by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention from the 1968 album Were Only in It for the Money. ...

Personnel

The Mothers of Invention

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

Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... Pianoforte redirects here. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... Jimmy Carl Black at Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, October 3, 1968. ... Trumpeter redirects here. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... Roy Estrada (born April 17, 1943 in Santa Ana, California) is an American musician. ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... Seasoned drummer, Billy Mundi (born September 25, 1942 in San Francisco) has played a multitude of sessions and been a member of countless bands, most notably The Mothers of Invention and Rhinoceros. ... Donald Ward Preston also known as Dom DeWilde or Biff Debrie born September 21, 1932 in Flint, Michigan. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The baritone saxophone, often called bari sax (to avoid confusion with the baritone horn, which is often referred to simply as baritone), is one of the larger and lower pitched members of the saxophone family. ... The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument. ... The Freak Out! back cover. ... Ian Underwood (born May 22, 1939) is a saxophonist, flautist and pianist. ... The Freak Out! back cover. ...

Session musicians

• Eric Clapton – Male speaking part in "Are You Hung Up?"
• 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"

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE[2] (born 30 March 1945) [3], nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. ... Are You Hung Up? is the opening track on the 1968 album Were Only in It for the Money by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

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: Jerry Schatzberg
• Fashion advisor: Tiger Morse
• Wardrobe: Billy Mundi

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Cal Schenkel was a visual collaborator of Frank Zappa. ...

Charts

Album

It has been suggested that Billboard be merged into this article or section. ...

References

Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. ... Early elections in November are announced in the Netherlands. ...

External links

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