The Mothers Of Invention - We're Only In It For The Money

Oooh, a bit of a classic or wot? Released barely a few months after Sergeant Pepper (and with a "tribute" sleeve - see above and bottom), this is a *real* classic album. None of yer Beatles rubbish (no, I'm not getting at The Beatles, they did some amazing stuff - but Pepper isn't it. The whole of the late middle years - Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, the Yellow Submarine tracks - could have been great if they'd lost 2/3 of the tracks. Anyway...).

I had borrowed "Mothermania" from Kentish Town library and liked it a lot, so I went in search of other albums by the Mothers. I bought two (at first - many more followed), this one and Burnt Weeny Sandwich, and immediately filed them in my ever-increasing record collection under "favourite artists" (or some equivalent, more juvenile name) along with The Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention.

WOIIFTM is a "searing indictment" (wotever that is) of contemporary hippy culture, values and music. It's also blooming hilarious and contains a couple of the best of FZ's early songs.

Actually I'm a bit sorry I included this album in my "16 crucial albums" because, although it is one, I haven't got any stories or anecdotes to go with it (hence the links to Websites). The only other thing I'd say is that when it was originally re-released on CD (as a double with "Lumpy Gravy" it was missing the original drum and bass parts. The story went that FZ had somehow erased the relevant tracks from the original master tapes and been forced to record new parts - which sound sh*te and add nothing at all. All mid-80s synth drums and slap bass - YUK. Anyway the later reissue (on Rykodisk, whence the sleeve art above) restores the original drum'n'bass to their glorious thin late-60s originals.