JOE'S CORSAGE

Joe's Corsage is not an essential item in the extensive Zappa catalog by any means, but it is quite an interesting historical document of the earliest part of the wacky career of the Mothers of Invention, cataloguing a point in their career when they were just growing out of their conventional rhythm & blues roots. Fans of "Freak Out!" will be delighted to hear earlier versions of some of the psychedelic pop songs from that album. Additionally, the album contains interesting versions of "Wedding Dress Song/Handsome Cabin Boy" and "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" (here sung with different lyrics under the title "I'm So Happy I Could Cry") performed in a similar style, quite different from how they ended up being released. Interspersed with the music are snippets of interviews with Zappa explaining his musical background and how he came in touch with the rest of the group; I found these interesting but I understand if most listeners will just dismiss them as filler. Speaking of which, I cannot really in good conscience recommend buying this for the outrageous full price that is usually demanded for posthumous Zappa releases, especially since the album is only 35 minutes long and padded out with some run-of-the-mill 12-bar blues numbers, but I think it is overall worth a Zappa fan's time on streaming platforms or as a second-hand copy.