200 Motels (soundtrack)
| 200 Motels | ||||
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| Soundtrack album by Frank Zappa | ||||
| Released | October 4, 1971 | |||
| Recorded | January 28–February 5, 1971 at Pinewood Studios, UK; Overdubs: April, 1971 at Whitney Studios, Glendale | |||
| Genre | Rock, jazz, orchestra, comedy | |||
| Length | 91:49 | |||
| Label | United Artists | |||
| Producer | Frank Zappa | |||
| Frank Zappa chronology | ||||
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| Singles from 200 Motels | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B) |
The soundtrack to Frank Zappa's film 200 Motels was released by United Artists Records in 1971 and features a combination of rock and jazz songs, orchestral music and comedic spoken dialogue. The album, like the film, covers a loose storyline about The Mothers of Invention going crazy in the small town Centerville, and bassist Jeff quitting the group, as did his real life counterpart, Jeff Simmons, who left the group before the film began shooting and was replaced by actor Martin Lickert for the film.
The album peaked at #59 on the Billboard 200, though reviewers deemed it a peripheral part of Zappa's catalog.
The rock and comedy songs "Mystery Roach", "Lonesome Cowboy Burt", "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy", "What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning" and "Magic Fingers", and the finale "Strictly Genteel", which mixes orchestral and rock elements, were noted as highlights of the album by reviewer Richie Unterberger. François Couture, a reviewer for Allmusic, said that "Mystery Roach" contains multiple meanings, all of which have a connection to lyrical subject matter in Zappa's discography. These include the freshwater fish, as the Mothers of Invention live album Fillmore East - June 1971 contained a song referring to the mud shark, a cannabis cigarette butt, which causes the character Jeff to go crazy within the context of the film's storyline, and a combed roll hairstyle, which connects the song lyrically to "Jelly Roll Gumdrop", a song from Cruising with Ruben & the Jets. The version featured on the album is different from the version featured in the film, as it is missing small electric guitar solos by Zappa, and was not scripted as part of the film in its electric arrangement, having originally been written in three separate, unused acoustic blues-oriented arrangements. The song was not performed live.
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