Frank Zappa

A collection of early Zappa material, How's Your Bird does an excellent job of displaying Zappa's roots in doo wop, R&B, and garage rock. The relentlessly crude sound (these tracks were recorded on a four-track in someone's living room in the early '60s) may alienate some fans used to Zappa's more lavish productions, but the pungent, offbeat humor that Zappa is renowned for is here in evidence. The title cut (which Zappa produced and wrote but didn't sing) is characteristically unusual, but it's really on the sarcastic horror movie parodies "Dear Jeepers" and "Letter From Jeepers" (which Zappa wrote and produced for L.A. disc jockey Bob Guy) that Zappa's twisted, downright macabre sense of humor shines. The second half, which mostly contains recordings Zappa had no involvement in (they were recorded by the home studio's owner, though Zappa did help promote them), consists of fairly pleasant but unexceptional doo wop and frat rock. Still, the moments of wit and energy that shine through are worth hearing. It's true that these embryonic recordings are a far cry from the breadth and punch of Zappa's later classics, and it's certainly not the place for newcomers to start, but for a compilation of early Zappa music, How's Your Bird is valuable. ~ Victor W. Valdivia, All Music Guide