Frank Zappa - 1973 [1995] "Over-nite Sensation"

Over-Nite Sensation is a studio album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, released in September 1973. It was followed by Zappa's solo album Apostrophe (') (1974), which was recorded during the same sessions.

Love it or hate it, Over-Nite Sensation was a watershed album for Frank Zappa, the point where his post-'60s aesthetic was truly established; it became his second gold album, and most of these songs became staples of his live shows for years to come. Whereas the Flo and Eddie years were dominated by rambling, off-color comedy routines, Over-Nite Sensation tightened up the song structures and tucked sexual and social humor into melodic, technically accomplished heavy guitar rock with jazzy chord changes and funky rhythms; meanwhile, Zappa's growling new post-accident voice takes over the storytelling. While the music is some of Zappa's most accessible, the apparent callousness and/or stunning sexual explicitness of "Camarillo Brillo," "Dirty Love," and especially "Dinah-Moe Humm" leave him on shaky aesthetic ground.

Zappa often protested that the charges of misogyny leveled at such material missed out on the implicit satire of male stupidity, and also confirmed intellectuals' self-conscious reticence about indulging in dumb fun; however, the glee in his voice as he spins his adolescent fantasies can undermine his point. Indeed, that enjoyment, also evident in the silly wordplay, suggests that Zappa is throwing his juvenile crassness in the face of critical expectation, asserting his right to follow his muse even if it leads him into blatant stupidity (ironic or otherwise). One can read this motif into the absurd shaggy-dog story of a dental floss rancher in "Montana," the album's indisputable highlight, which features amazing, uncredited vocal backing from Tina Turner and the Ikettes. As with much of Zappa's best '70s and '80s material, Over-Nite Sensation could be perceived as ideologically problematic (if you haven't got the constitution for FZ's humor), but musically, it's terrific.

One of Zappa’s most popular albums of the 70s (and indeed, of his entire career), Over-Nite Sensation featured one of Zappa’s most talented touring bands, as well as some of his most enduring concert staples, such as “I’m the Slime,” “Dinah-Moe Humm” and “Montana.”

It has recurring themes of seediness and filth, as illustrated on the cover and implied, really, in the name of the album itself. An “overnight sensation” is a sudden success; spelling it “nite” suggests a cheapness by calling into American insta-culture cf. “lite” and “e-z”. But it’s also, coming from Zappa, a reference to sensations felt at night, i.e., sexual ones.

Forty years ago, Frank Zappa reminded us once again of his status as rock's top arch-ironist by naming his 17th album 'Over-nite Sensation.' Of far greater significance, however, the record represents a comeback of sorts for Zappa, who struggled a bit in the early part of the '70s.

By the time of the album's release in September 1973, a decade had passed since Zappa and his self-described "repulsive teen combo" the Mothers of Invention started flipping the rock establishment on its head with their genre-defying music and caustic social commentary.

But after controversially disbanding the original Mothers in 1969, and then being attacked on a London stage two years later, a wheelchair-bound Zappa had spent the better part of 1972 composing instrumental, orchestral and big-band music for what became known as 'The Grand Wazoo.'

So it wasn't until the sessions for 'Over-nite Sensation' began, in March 1973, that an almost fully recovered Zappa started behaving like his old self again, revealing itself in the album's updated interpretation of the old Mothers aesthetic -- even though only multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood remained from the '60s lineup. Alongside his wife and percussionist Ruth, keyboardist-vocalist George Duke and a new generation of supporting musicians, Underwood was unknowingly serving Zappa's vision for defining the sound that would carry him through much of the '70s.

That sound pushed Zappa's formidable guitar playing to the fore, along with his increasingly graphic sexual comedy (in contrast to the politicized lyrics of the '60s), while his typically adventurous, genre-crossing creations were performed by professionally trained, sight-reading musicians capable of executing whatever Zappa threw at them with the utmost ensemble precision (something the original Mothers could never do to their leader's satisfaction).

All of these qualities permeate 'Over-nite Sensation' favorites like 'Camarillo Brillo,' 'Dirty Love' and 'Dina Moe Humm,' and struck a chord with younger, mostly male fans who could relate to songs so radically torn between the conservatory and the gutter. Meanwhile, other tunes like 'Zomby Woof,' 'Montana' and the especially memorable 'I Am the Slime' gleefully traffic in varying depths of absurdity, supported by uncredited background vocals from the spectacular Tina Turner and her Ikettes.

Fed up with the lack of financial means his career had brought him so far, in 1973 Zappa took a new approach to his albums, that was much more in line with what the general public expected of a rock artist. Instead of the recent albums, most of them either instrumental or bizarre story telling pieces, Zappa adapted the normal compiling of an album: a set of songs with lyrics, limited in size, without lengthy soloing. Besides that he took more sight of the spotlights by starting to sing most of his songs himself as far as his voice allowed him to do so. Because he had a limited vocal range, the more versatile parts still had to be sung by others. This, with a lot of deviation allowed, remained the course for the coming years. Thus in 1973 appeared "Overnite sensation" (deliberately spelled wrongly) followed by "Apostrophe (')" in the next year, both selling well. Apart from being commercially successfull, Zappa personally also seemed to be fond of these albums. Most of their tracks exist in live variants as well and he kept including songs from these two albums in every tour since they premiered.

Of course not all fans were happy about these developments -- namely those partial to the Mothers of Invention and Zappa's more erudite output. But the typical rock-music consumer had spoken, or was about to, as the following year's 'Apostrophe' album (largely recorded during the same sessions, with the same musicians and same musical hallmarks) soon rode 'Over-nite Sensation's' momentum to the Top 10 and to Zappa's first gold sales certification.

Frank Zappa wanted to use backup singers on the songs "I'm the Slime", "Dirty Love", "Zomby Woof", "Dinah-Moe Humm" and "Montana". His road manager suggested The Ikettes, and Ike & Tina Turner were contacted. Ike Turner insisted that Zappa pay the singers, including Tina Turner, no more than $25 per song. However, an invoice shows that they were actually paid $25 per hour, and in total $187.50 each for 7 1/2 hours of service. During the recording sessions, Tina brought Ike into the studio to hear the highly difficult middle section of "Montana" which had taken the Ikettes a few days to learn and master. Ike listened to the tape and responded "What is this shit?" before leaving the studio. Ike later insisted that Zappa not credit the Ikettes on the released album.

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Track listing:

1     Camarillo Brillo     3:59
2     I'm The Slime     3:34
3     Dirty Love     2:58
4     Fifty-Fifty     6:09
5     Zombie Woof     5:10
6     Dina-Moe Humm     6:01
7     Montana     6:35

Personnel:

    Arranged By, Conductor, Producer – Frank Zappa
    Guitar – Frank Zappa
    Bass – Tom Fowler
    Drums – Ralph Humphrey
    Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone [Alto, Tenor] – Ian Underwood   
    Keyboards, Synthesizer – George Duke
    Marimba, Vibraphone, Percussion – Ruth Underwood
    Trombone – Bruce Fowler (3)
    Trumpet – Sal Marquez
    Violin, Violin [Baritone] – Jean-Luc Ponty