In great shape original release no signs of wear on sleeve or vinyl.

Henry Cow ?– Concerts

Label:

Compendium Records ?– FIDARDO 1

Format:

2 × Vinyl, LP, Compilation 

Country:

Norway

Released:

1976

Genre:

Jazz, Rock

Style:

Free Improvisation, Abstract, Prog Rock, Experimental, Art Rock

TracklistShow Credits

Credits

• Bass, Voice, Celesta – John Greaves
• Bassoon, Flute, Oboe – Lindsay Cooper
• Cover – Maggie T.*
• Drums – Chris Cutler
• Guitar, Piano – Fred Frith
• Mastered By – David Vorhaus
• Organ, Clarinet, Saxophone [Alto] – Tim Hodgkinson
• Voice – Dagmar Krause

Notes

Side A recorded 5th August 1975 at BBC Studios (Peel Session). 
Tracks B1 & B2 recorded 21st May 1975 at the New London Theatre. 
Tracks B3 & D2 recorded 13th October 1975 in Udine. 
Side C recorded 25th July 1975 at the Høvikodden Arts Centre, Oslo. 
Tracks D1 & D3 recorded 26th September 1974 at Vera, Groningen. 

Side A: Total time: 22:50 
Side B: Total time: 25:36 
Side C: Total time: 29:02 
Side D: Total time: 26:15 

- 
Initial "Concerts" issue 
Gatefold sleeve

Avant-garde rock & roll of 1970s vintage -- especially, it must be said, of the British variety -- doesn't typically age very well. And although Henry Cow was quite a unique ensemble, even by the standards of the 1970s avant-garde, it would be silly to deny that much of the music captured on these two live discs (originally released on LP in 1976) sounds pretty dated. But this is much more true of the song-based material than the more free-form, improvised music, which still sounds remarkably fresh and surprising 25 years later. And even the more period-specific material is of very high quality: singerDagmar Krause (previously of Slapp Happy, later of the Art Bears) delivers fine performances on "Beautiful As the Moon/Terrible As an Army With Banners" and "Bad Alchemy," as does bassist John Greaves. On the second disc, guitarist Fred Frith tends to dominate, much to the music's benefit; for the most part, the sound is strictly abstract with Frith employing many of the extended guitar techniques that he would later expand and amplify in his solo work and in his duets with Henry Kaiser. The woodwinds and piano lend an almost classical feel to some of these tracks. It's probably not for everyone, but this really is great stuff.

From the beginning, Frank Zappa cultivated a role as voice of the freaks -- imaginative outsiders who didn't fit comfortably into any group. We're Only in It for the Money is the ultimate expression of that sensibility, a satirical masterpiece that simultaneously skewered the hippies and the straights as prisoners of the same narrow-minded, superficial phoniness. Zappa's barbs were vicious and perceptive, and not just humorously so: his seemingly paranoid vision of authoritarian violence against the counterculture was borne out two years later by the Kent State killings. Like Freak Out, We're Only in It for the Money essentially devotes its first half to satire, and its second half to presenting alternatives. Despite some specific references, the first-half suite is still wickedly funny, since its targets remain immediately recognizable. The second half shows where his sympathies lie, with character sketches of Zappa's real-life freak acquaintances, a carefree utopia in "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance," and the strident, unironic protest "Mother People." Regardless of how dark the subject matter, there's a pervasively surreal, whimsical flavor to the music, sort of like Sgt. Pepper as a creepy nightmare. Some of the instruments and most of the vocals have been manipulated to produce odd textures and cartoonish voices; most songs are abbreviated, segue into others through edited snippets of music and dialogue, or are broken into fragments by more snippets, consistently interrupting the album's continuity. Compositionally, though, the music reveals itself as exceptionally strong, andZappa's politics and satirical instinct have rarely been so focused and relevant, making We're Only in It for the Money quite probably his greatest achievement. [Rykodisc's 1987 reissue restored passages censored on the LP, but included re-recorded rhythm tracks and sounded quite different. Their 1995 re-reissue contained both the original music and content edits.]