200 Motels is a 1971 American-British musical surrealist film cowritten and directed by Frank Zappa and Tony Palmer and starring The Mothers of Invention, Theodore Bikel and Ringo Starr.^[1] The film covers a loose storyline about The Mothers of Invention going crazy in the small town Centerville.^[1] A soundtrack album was released in the same year.

Plot[link]

The film deals loosely with life on the road as a rock musician.^[2] The Mothers of Invention go crazy in the small town Centerville, and bassist Jeff quits 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.^[1] The style of the film has been dubbed a "surrealistic documentary".^[3][4]

History[link]

In 1970, Frank Zappa formed a new version of The Mothers of Invention which included British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, jazz keyboardist George Duke, Ian Underwood, Jeff Simmons (bass, rhythm guitar), and three members of The Turtles: bass player Jim Pons, and singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, who, due to persistent legal and contractual problems, adopted the stage name "The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie", or "Flo & Eddie".^[5]

Zappa began writing a film for his new lineup called 200 Motels, and the band debuted on Zappa's next solo album Chunga's Revenge (1970),^[6] which was produced as a preview of the film.^[7] Zappa also met conductor Zubin Mehta. They arranged a May 1970 concert where Mehta conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic augmented by a rock band. This material served as a second preview of the film. According to Zappa, the music was mostly written in motel rooms while on tour with The Mothers of Invention. Some of it was later featured in 200 Motels.^[8] Although the concert was a success, Zappa's experience working with a symphony orchestra was not a happy one.^[9] His dissatisfaction became a recurring theme throughout his career; he often felt that the quality of performance of his material delivered by orchestras was not commensurate with the money he spent on orchestral concerts and recordings.^[10]

Zappa pitched the film to United Artists, using a portfolio including a ten page treatment, two boxes of audio tape, and newspaper clippings. The film studio gave Zappa US$650,000 to finish the project, which Zappa initially intended to premiere on Dutch television before his next tour.^[7]

Production[link]

200 Motels was filmed in a week at Pinewood Studios outside London, and featured The Mothers of Invention, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ringo Starr, Theodore Bikel, and Keith Moon.^[11] Tensions between Zappa and several cast and crew members arose before and during shooting.^[11] It was the first feature film photographed on videotape and transferred to 35 mm film, a process which allowed for novel visual effects.^[12] Produced by Murakami/Wolf Productions. Jerry Good, Producer. Charles Swenson, Animation Director.

Release and reception[link]

United Artists' press kit for the film stated "For the audience that already knows and appreciates THE MOTHERS, [it] will provide a logical extension of our concerts and recordings."^[7] The film premiere was shown at Doheny Plaza Theater in Hollywood, California to mixed reviews.^[13]

Soundtrack[link]

The soundtrack to 200 Motels was released by United Artists Records on October 4, 1971, and features a combination of rock and jazz songs, orchestral music and comedic spoken dialogue.^[1] 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.^[1]

The score relied extensively on orchestral music, and Zappa's dissatisfaction with the classical music world intensified when a concert, scheduled at the Royal Albert Hall after filming, was canceled because a representative of the venue found some of the lyrics obscene. In 1975, he lost a lawsuit against the Royal Albert Hall for breach of contract.^[14]

200 Motels charted at #59 on the Billboard 200.^[15] The album was not released on compact disc until 1997. The CD edition contained extensive liner notes and artwork as well as a small poster for the film, as well as bonus tracks consisting of radio promos for the film and the single edit of the song "Magic Fingers".^[1]

The album was deemed to be a peripheral album in Zappa's catalog by music critics.^[1] Allmusic's Richie Unterberger critiqued what he referred to as the "growing tendency to deploy the smutty, cheap humor that would soon dominate much of Zappa's work", but said that "Those who like his late-'60s/early-'70s work [...] will probably like this fine".^[1] Italian critic Piero Scaruffi described the album as "ambitious and monumental", and described it as a standout from other albums Zappa released during this period, which Scaruffi deemed to be juvenile and uncreative.^[16]

Legacy[link]

After 200 Motels, the band went on tour; the live album Just Another Band From L.A. included the 20-minute track "Billy the Mountain", Zappa's satire on rock opera set in Southern California. This track was representative of the band's theatrical performances in which songs were used to build up sketches based on 200 Motels scenes as well as new situations often portraying the band members' sexual encounters on the road.^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

• 200 Motels at the Internet Movie Database
• Review of the 2010 DVD release