200 Motels

Inspired by Zappa and his band's experiences while being on the road, it becomes a kind of precursor for Almost Famous if that movie was shot like a bad trip. Instead of portraying a glamorous life people think they are used to, they show the reality of being broke while on the road. All while staying in dingy motels (200 of them going by the title), eating crappy food, playing to a varied crowd, and then looking to get high or at least get drunk. Or in the case of Jimmy Carl Black, the drummer of the group, at least get a few dollars to send to his family.

200 Motels

While the soundtrack album included both off-kilter rock songs and rich orchestral works, it didn't strictly correspond to the film. As the composer explained in the original liner notes, "This music is not in the same order as in the movie. Some of this music is in the movie. Some of this music is not in the movie. Some of the music that's in the movie is not in the album. Some of the music that was written for the movie is not in the movie or the album. All of this music was written for the movie, over a period of 4 years. Most of it (60%) was written in motels while touring." 041b061a72