Ahead of Their Time

In advance of current ideas, customs, or methods, as in His treatment of light showed this painter to be well ahead of his time, or Wearing trousers and smoking cigars marked Amy Lowell as a woman ahead of her time. This idiom uses time in the sense of "era" or "generation," a usage at least a thousand years old. The phrase is usually but not always used to express approval. [First half of 1900s]

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• Artist: The Mothers of Invention
• Rating:
• Release Date: March 23, 1993
• Total Time: 67:27
• Type: Live
• Genre: Rock

Review

The date is October 28, 1968. The Mothers of Invention are playing the Royal Festival Hall in London. Frank Zappa has booked 14 musicians from the BBC Symphony Orchestra to accompany them during the first part of the show. He had been writing chamber music pieces in the hotel rooms he visited and wanted to try them out. He strung them together by devising a psychodrama he called "Progress?" This was meant (and indeed turned out) to be a one-time performance, so he made sure to record it. He released the whole thing as Ahead of Their Time 25 years later. The first half of the disc is comprised of the "play." A faction of the Mothers want to play conservative concert music. Don Preston advocates progress with his avant-gardist electronics. He and pianist Ian Underwood battle it out while other frivolous characters (played by members of the Mothers) intervene. It must have been a lot of fun to watch (and it was filmed; parts of it appeared in the movie Uncle Meat), but some of the more visual scenes translate poorly on record. More important is the music itself, which definitely points toward the score to 200 Motels -- it even includes "Holiday in Berlin," which will eventually become a central theme of the film music. The second half of the CD presents the rock part of that night's concert. All instrumental and very focused, it presents Zappa's best tunes from 1967-1968, including the complete sequence that includes "Let's Make the Water Turn Black," "Harry You're a Beast," "The Orange County Lumber Truck," and "Oh No." The sound quality is far from perfect, but this is a crucial document that fans of the '60s Mothers will enjoy. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Prologue (Bogus Pomp)	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(3:07)
Progress?	Ian Underwood, Don Preston, Motorhead Sherwood, Frank Zappa, Bunk Gardner, Art Tripp	The Mothers of Invention	(4:44)
Like It or Not	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(2:21)
The Jimmy Carl Black Philosophy Lesson	Jimmy Carl Black, Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(2:01)
Holding the Group Back	Frank Zappa, Ian Underwood, Roy Estrada	The Mothers of Invention	(2:00)
Holiday in Berlin	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(:56)
The Rejected Mexican Pope Leaves the Stage	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(2:55)
Undaunted, the Band Plays On	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(4:34)
Agency Man	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(3:17)
Epilogue	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(1:52)
King Kong	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(8:13)
Help, I'm a Rock	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(1:38)
Transylvania Boogie	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(3:07)
Pound for a Brown	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(6:50)
Sleeping in a Jar	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(2:24)
Let's Make the Water Turn Black	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(1:51)
Harry, You're a Beast	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(:53)
Orange County Lumber Truck, Pt. 1	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(:46)
Oh No	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(3:22)
Orange County Lumber Truck, Pt. 2	Frank Zappa	The Mothers of Invention	(10:36)

Credits

Cal Schenkel (Artwork), Art Tripp (Drums), Euclid James Sherwood (Tambourine), Art Tripp (Percussion), Frank Zappa (Producer), Don Preston (Piano (Electric)), Frank Zappa (Guitar), Bunk Gardner (Clarinet), Jimmy Carl Black (Drums), Roy Estrada (Vocals), Don Preston (Noise), Roy Estrada (Bass), Frank Zappa (Arranger), Ian Underwood (Sax (Alto)), Frank Zappa (Vocals), Ian Underwood (Piano), Bunk Gardner (Sax (Tenor)), Bob Stone (Remixing), Euclid James Sherwood (Sax (Baritone))

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