Freak-out (slang)

The terms "freak-out" and "freak" have several definitions, with both terms being deployed as adjectives, nouns and verbs throughout the 1960s counterculture. The term "freak" emerged in the 1560s. The phrase "Freak Out" is formed in a similar way to the phrase "break out". "Freak" is often used in reference to unexpected change in the weather or in nature Etymology Online says that the sense of "health freak" or other meaning of someone with a strong interest or hobby such as "Kodak freak" is from 1908. The earliest known use of the phrase "Freak Out" is in John Cleland's novel Fanny Hill published in 1748: "Whether she ever return'd to the attack, I know not, and to say the truth, I believe not; she had had her freak out". In 1968, writer Tom Wolfe used the term "freak" a great many more than several times in his book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, stating that in the context of the psychedelic movement, it was not a pejorative: According to the California legisture's 1969 substance abuse guide, "freak-out" referred to having a "bad trip". Amidst the counterculture of the 1960s, the term "freak" was used alongside other terms such as "head" and "hippie". In the 2015 edition of Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, the term "freak out" in relation to drug use is defined as "to lose sanity while under the influence of LSD or another hallucinogen". The phrase was also defined as "a celebratory event, a gathering together of counterculturists to enjoy music and drugs". The term "freak" would be defined as "a member of the 1960s counterculture. Originally a disparaging negative, turned around and used in a positive, complimentary sense. Widely used from the mid-1960s; hurled as abuse at the original hippies, the term was adopted by them and turned back on the critics by the self-confessed "freaks" with an ability to FREAK OUT themselves and others". According to writer Skip Stone's 1999 book Hippies from A to Z, the term "freak" referred to "A descriptive term for hippies. Like the old Freak show in a carnival, hippies were so different and their behaviors so bizarre by ordinary standards they were considered freaks. But really it's an affectionate term used within the hippy community to describe someone really into being themselves, however outlandish that might be." == Music ==

Freak-out music and movement and Captain Beefheart (left) photographed in a 1975 concert. They have been described as" two giants of the late-60s LA freak scene" During the mid-to late 1960s, music publications used the term "freak-out music" to describe a subset of groups associated with the Los Angeles freak scene. In September 1966, the Los Angeles Free Press (also known as "Freep") advertised the Mothers of Invention's next performance, stating: Another "Freak Out" performance would be scheduled for October 15 at the Earl Warren Showground in Santa Barbara, though it was cancelled according to Frank Zappa due to a "critical acoustic problem & virtually non-existent PA". According to writer Neil Slaven in Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa, one of two issues of Freep published a "hectoring letter" by Zappa under the pseudonym "Suzy Creamcheese." In the letter, Zappa discussed his concept of "freaking out," arguing that nonconformity alone was insufficient and that freaking out was becoming an "excuse instead of a reason". He advocated for "freaking out intellectually" and that "Looking and acting eccentric IS NOT ENOUGH". On the October 12, 1966 issue of British music magazine Record Mirror, writer Norman Jopling describes the "freak-out" movement: in the October 12, 1966 issue of British music magazine Record Mirror, labeled "Prince of Freak Out"Joplin adds, "The music itself ranges from rock 'n' roll to near-psychodelic free form [...] The connection between Freaking Out and psychodelic music is not as strong as supposed. And the equally tenuous connection between both of them and LSD is more of an enigma than a tie-up. The leaders of the Freak Out movement claim to have never taken LSD, Frank Zappa of the Mothers Of Invention, and the omnipresent Kim Fowley." In December 1966, British magazine Beat Instrumental wrote a piece on freak-out music, stating: In director Peter Jackson's 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back, scenes involving the band performing "freak-out jam" sessions with Yoko Ono are showcased during the 1969 recording sessions for Let It Be and Abbey Road. The term "freak-out" has been used as a musical descriptor by several sources. On October 12, 1968, Rolling Stone magazine published an interview with the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, where he stated: "'Have You Seen Your Mother' was like the ultimate freakout. We came to a full stop after that. I just couldn’t make it with that anymore, what more could we say." On December 25, 1966, The New York Times published an article entitled Shock Rock: Take Musical Satire One Step Further by journalist Robert Shelton. In the article, Shelton discussed Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, while briefly discussing Zappa's liner notes for his debut album Freak Out! (1966), "Zappa has apparently hit his mark, for he thinks that "freaking out" is an important method of expression and effecting change". That same month, Belfast Gypsies produced by Kim Fowley released "People! Let's Freak Out / The Shadow Chasers" under the name "The Freaks of Nature". In 1967, American instrumental surf rock band the Ventures released the album Guitar Freakout. That same year, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band's album Gorilla parodied the term "freak" in the sleeve notes for the song "Cool Britannia", which said "Someone letta Freak-Out? What do you think Reader?" In December 1968, Rolling Stone magazine labeled Texas psychedelic band Red Krayola as "the original freak-out group". The band were influenced by Frank Zappa and used the phrase "Free Form Freak-Out" on their debut album The Parable of Arable Land. Front man and bandleader Mayo Thompson stated in 2009: "A lot of people talked about Freakout. Then Zappa came out with his Freak Out! record. But from what I now know about Zappa I'm sure he composed every note. Ours wasn't an image of chaos, it was chaos."'''' In 1970, music critic Nik Cohn published the book Awopbopaloobop alopbamboom, which briefly discussed the Mothers of Invention's album Freak Out! (1966): "Bearded and gross and filthy, entirely obscene, they [The Mothers of Invention]...were freaks. They were meant to be. They were playing the same old game again, épater la bourgeoisie, but this time round it wasn't called Dada or Existentialism or Beat, it was Freak-Out. 'On a personal level', wrote Zappa, 'Freaking out is a process whereby an individual casts off outmoded and restricted standards of thinking, dress and social etiquette in order to express CREATIVELY his relationship to his environment and the social structure as a whole. Freak Out! would later be described as an early rock concept album due to loosely being based around the Los Angeles freak scene. In 1971, in a review of Yoko Ono's Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band for Rolling Stone, music critic Lester Bangs used the phrase "freak-out", stating: "It wasn't until the long freak-out on the back of the live Toronto LP that Yoko began to show some signs that she was learning to control and direct her vocal spasms, and John finally evidenced a nascent understanding of the Velvet Underground-type feedback discipline that would best underscore her histrionics."'''' == Freak out party ==

A "freak-out party" or simply "freak-out" is a term used in the hippie subculture or general counterculture of the 1960s to refer to psychedelic happenings or dance parties. On March 2, 1967, journalist Robert Pitman stated in The Daily Express, "These curious way-out events, simulating drug ecstasies, which are known as "freak-outs", in which girls writhe and shriek and young men roll themselves naked in paint or jelly." In the 2015 edition of Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, a freak-out was defined as "a celebratory event, a gathering together of counterculturists to enjoy music and drugs". On April 26, 1973, writer Arthur Levy published an article in Zoo World entitled Frank Zappa: The Great Southern and Western Expedition Is On! regarding a radio advertisement for a "freak out party": In 1967, New York band the Unfolding released a psychedelic rock album entitled How To Blow Your Mind And Have A Freak Out Party. Additionally, the term "freak-out party" would be mentioned in a scene featured in the 1967 hippie exploitation film The Trip by director Roger Corman. The term "freak-out party" would be mentioned in Andy Warhol's book ''Andy Warhol's Party Book'' (1983). == Politics ==

Additionally, members of the Weather Underground drafted their manifesto and declaration of war on the U.S. state with the sentence: "Freaks are revolutionaries and revolutionaries are freaks". == Other uses ==

In 2009, The Guardian used the term "freak-out rock" to describe neo-psychedelia band the Flaming Lips' album Embryonic. == In popular culture ==

In 1966, Joe Boyd and John "Hoppy" Hopkins established the UFO Club in London, which was short for "Unlimited Freak Out". In 1967, Warren Publishing released two issues of the Freak Out USA magazine which focused on California's psychedelic music scene. In 1968, Gilbert Shelton of the underground comix scene published The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, which featured a group known as "The Freaks." According to The Irish Times, the Freaks were a "trio of perpetually wasted hippie desperados". In literature: "The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" By Tom Wolfe uses the word "freak" and other forms such as "freaking" 189 times. In music: Joni Mitchell's song "Carey", which was written in 1970 in the fishing village of Matala on the Greek island of Crete, contains the words "And we'll laugh and toast to nothing and smash our empty glasses down Let's have a round for these freaks and these soldiers A round for these friends of mine". "Almost Cut My Hair" by Crosby, Stills and Nash and "If 6 Was 9" by Jimi Hendrix both reference the use of long hair as a symbolic "Freak Flag". == See also ==