Song 185: “Peaches En Regalia” by Frank Zappa
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What is 'Peaches En Regalia' and why is this episode focused on Frank Zappa's Hot Rats era?
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs by Andrew Hickey Song 185 Peaches in Regalia by Frank Zappa Before we begin, this episode, surprisingly given the artist in question, has fewer content warnings than most. However, it does feature discussion of songs that mention incest, and quotes one line of lyric referring to underage sex. While other than that there is little to warn people about in the episode itself, including in the musical clips, it's worth mentioning that listening to the full songs discussed, for example by listening to the playlist associated with the episode, might be disturbing for some people. There is also some mention of drug use, and some brief mentions of war atrocities, and clips of songs which discuss police violence.
Now, on with the show. This episode is the second of three episodes, all of which are linked, and all of which discuss, in one way or another, bizarre and straight records. Those labels are among the first to be owned and run by a rock musician, as they were set up by Frank Zappa and his manager Herb Cohen. Though, as we say, there is no first anything, and they came after the Beatles' Apple Records and the Beach Boys' Brother label. But unlike most rockstar vanity labels, they released a lot of interesting and important material in a whole variety of genres. Last time we looked at one of the least known artists on those labels, which, despite having two names, rarely operated as a single company.
Next time, we're going to look at probably the most artistically important artists to record for them. This time, we're going to look at the career of Zappa himself in this period, at the clashes with his previous label that led him to set up his own company, and at the making of what is still for many his greatest album, Hot Rats.
The way I see it, Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.
When we left the Mothers of Invention back in 1966, they had just released their first album, Freak Out, on Verve Records, and indeed, as a result of that release, had been forced to change their name from just The Mothers to The Mothers of Invention, as the label disliked the possible interpretations that could be put on the shorter name. That wasn't the only thing that Frank Zappa disliked about that album. He was unhappy with it even before it was released, because Side 4, a long avant-garde percussion instrumental, was, according to Zappa, intended to be merely the percussion part of a more extensive and complicated piece of music, but it was released unfinished. And while the album was praised on its release, at least by the more forward-thinking critics and listeners, by the time it came out it also no longer really reflected the music that the mothers played live.
Even before the album was released, there had been a line-up change. Elliot Ingber, the rhythm guitarist, was very fond of smoking dope and taking acid, something which Zappa not only didn't indulge in but didn't approve of, seeing it as a kind of weakness. Ingber was turning up to shows increasingly stoned, and was, according to some band members, even falling asleep in the middle of performances. The final straw, apparently, was when Ingber turned up to one show on acid, and played through the whole show without realising that his amplifier was turned off. After his dismissal, Ingber went on to form a group called the Fraternity of Man, whose most well-known song is the one that got included on the soundtrack to Easy Rider, Don't Bogart Me, a song which suggests the reasoning behind Ingber's second was largely correct.
Don't bogart that joint, my friend, pass it over to me. Don't bogart that joint, my friend. Pass it over to me. Roll another one. Just like the other one.
The last thing they think were played on with the mothers is a real oddity. It's hard to express just how big the Batman TV show was in 1966, and everyone seemed to be trying to cash in on it, including musically. As we heard a few episodes ago, the Who recorded the Batman theme,
Jan and Dean did an entire concept album based around the series.
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Chapters
3 chapters
1
What is 'Peaches En Regalia' and why is this episode focused on Frank Zappa's Hot Rats era?
0:00–22:29
2
How did early Mothers of Invention line-up changes shape Zappa's musical direction?
22:29–49:54
3
Why did Zappa move from Verve/MGM and what problems did he face with record labels?
49:54–2:38:54