ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Album # 51 is Fraternity Of Man - Fraternity Of Man

Time for the american group Fraternity Of Man. This is their debut and it sure qualifies for Radio Dupree airplay:

1) It includes lots of psychedelic music
2) There is a link to Frank Zappa.

OK, let's start off with the Zappa connection: Fraternity Of Man's guitarist and leader Elliot Ingber was a member of Zappa's group The Mothers Of Invention and plays rhythm guitar on Freak Out! By the end of 1966 Ingber left The Mothers (or was he fired?). He formed Fraternity Of Man, which was more of a traditional hippie group.

Their debut released on the ABC label in 1968 included sitar and tablas, songs about smoking joints and Wispy Paisley Skies. There is even a cover version of Zappa's song Oh No, which Frank hadn't released himself at the time. (It came out on Weasels Ripped My Flesh in 1970.)
Fraternity Of Man's version of On No is more of a re-worked version than a cover version, since it include lyrics that obviously has no Zappa reference. Even the title suggests that something has been added: The song is listed as "Oh No I Don't Believe It".

The only song on Fraternity Of Man's self titled debut that went famous was Don't Bogart Me. It wound up on the soundtrack of Easy Rider.

S.H.