"Camarillo Brillo" is a song by

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

and The Mothers and was first included on his

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

LP '' Over-Nite Sensation''. The song's lyrics include many colloquialisms and made-up words. The title itself is a pun; Zappa mispronounces

Camarillo Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan and ...

, the name of a city in California, to rhyme with brillo, "shining" or "brilliant" in Spanish. The meaning of the song is open to different interpretations. The first two lines state "She had that Camarillo Brillo, flaming out along her head." The "Brillo" could simply refer to a woman's fuzzy or curly hair. It might also refer to hair resembling that of a patient who just underwent shock therapy. The latter would be consistent with the fact that Camarillo was once the site of the

Camarillo State Mental Hospital Camarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a public psychiatric hospital for patients with both developmental disabilities and mental illness in Camarillo, California. The hospital was in operation from 1936 to ...

, which operated from 1936 to 1997. "Camarillo Brillo" is in the key of

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

, though the key briefly changes to

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

during the chorus. The arrangement includes liberal use of

brass instruments A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. The term ''labrosone'', from Latin elements meaning "lip" and "sound", ...

and a wide range of percussion techniques. It ends with a short coda played on piano. There are two versions of this song, the first being in a slower tempo and the second being a much shorter up tempo version played later in Frank Zappa's career. The shorter version can be heard on ''

You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6'' is the last of six double-compact disc, disc collection volumes of live performances by Frank Zappa recorded between 1970 and 1988. All of the material on disc one has a sexual theme. Zappa used th ...

''. The reason for changing the song's pace was discussed in an interview with Zappa in which he states that the song was "boring" so they sped it up in future performances. In 1975, " Muffin Man" was introduced to Zappa's live repertoire, and "Camarillo Brillo" was subsequently played as a medley with the former. Performances of this variety appear on several Zappa releases, including '' FZ:OZ'', ''

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

'', ''

'', and the concert film ''

Baby Snakes ''Baby Snakes'' is a film which includes footage from Frank Zappa's 1977 Halloween concerts at the Palladium in New York City. It also includes backstage antics from the crew, and stop motion clay animation from award-winning animator Bruce Bi ...

''. This song also references quadrophonic speakers and the album on which it appeared; '' Over-Nite Sensation'' was recorded and released in quad on the Disc-Reet label.

References

{{authority control Frank Zappa songs 1973 songs Songs written by Frank Zappa Song recordings produced by Frank Zappa