Frank Zappa's original Mothers Of Invention band broke up in 1969, and in 1970 Frank was putting together an album of studio recordings and some improvised versions recorded in concert. Intrigued with those old "Real Men" types of magazines, Frank handed artist Neon Park this magazine cover about a guy being torn to shreds by wild animals (there were lots of those magazines; I guess they were supposed to make guys feel tough or something). Frank said to Neon, "What can you do that's worse than this?" Remembering an electric razor ad from Schick from the Saturday Evening Post, Park drew a man being attacked by an electric razor.
I remember buying the record from Woolworth's in summer '70 and playing "Oh No" a million and one times since. And that one goes right into "The Orange County Lumber Truck," another favorite.
Many people are shocked by the album's cover art; I guess I'm used to it. Francis Vincent Zappa was a son of Baltimore as well as I; he was born here in December, 1940. His father worked at Edgewood Arsenal and taught for a while at Loyola High School. There's a statue in Frank's honor at 3601 Eastern Avenue in the city. We're proud of you, Frank!
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My friend Tom ran into Zappa's dad down near 33rd & Greenmount around 1970 and they chatted for a while. Tom reports that he was a regular old Baltimore guy, very proud of his son and eager to let people know it.
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