Trouble Every Day (The Mothers of Invention)

3 JULY 1966


Frank Zappa’s California art rock band The Mothers of Invention released their eclectic double album debut 'Freak Out!' during this week in 1966. The opener to Side Three was the wild, bluesy 'Trouble Every Day', which Zappa originally wrote in 1965 after watching coverage of the Watts Riots. These were hard-hitting lyrics. As he says in the song,
‘You know something, people? I’m not black but there’s a whole load of times I wish I could say I’m not white.’
The album reached #130 on the US charts. 'Trouble Every Day' was released as a single, with 'Who Are the Brain Police?' on the B-side, but like every Zappa single release for the next eight years it failed to chart. Nonetheless, this spaced-out album was ahead of its time and Zappa (an accomplished musician) became a legendary and artistically-revered figure in the industry.