Any Zappa freaks ?

Brendan Mitchell · Post by **Brendan Mitchell** » 19 Nov 2006 12:18 am

Here is one of my favourites from Frank I stumbled on looking at Youtube .Rub it . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgujWm0TrJA
Brendan

Susan Alcorn (deceased) · Post by **Susan Alcorn (deceased)** » 19 Nov 2006 6:00 am

Wow, that certainly brings back memories. A biting sense of humor and such incredible musicians.

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 19 Nov 2006 7:02 am

Suzie Creamcheese!

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 19 Nov 2006 7:27 am

I listened to a lot of Zappa records back in the day. Although a lot of his lyrical content is a bit rough, the band was one of the most versatile.

Humor mixed with fantastic musicianship made for a very interesting listening experience.
T & B forever!

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 19 Nov 2006 7:44 am

Watch out where the huskies go, and...

Great googley moogely!

Richard Sevigny · Post by **Richard Sevigny** » 19 Nov 2006 7:54 am

Got to hand it to him. Incredible musicianship and a matching sense of satire.
And NO sacred cows, either...

Larry Robbins · Post by **Larry Robbins** » 19 Nov 2006 8:38 am

Mud Shark, anyone?

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 19 Nov 2006 9:09 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlLMzmnjJBo&search=frank%20zappa%20apostrophe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um6_SP3V0w0&search=frank%20zappa%20apostrophe

A quote from my father: "You know Dave, when you started listening to that Grateful Dead stuff that wasn't so bad but when you started listening to that Frank Zappa guy, well.....your mother and I were a little concerned!"

If they only knew......[This message was edited by Dave Zirbel on 19 November 2006 at 09:15 AM.][This message was edited by Dave Zirbel on 19 November 2006 at 09:15 AM.]

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Nov 2006 9:50 am

great memory. I happened to meet Frank several times when he and the Mothers were playing at the Garrick Theater in the Village, one of our usual haunts...As freaky as he appeared, he was really quite stable and really fun to talk to, very social. He came up to us..were like 16 years old and afraid to look at him let alone talk to him.
We went to see him play several times that summer and he actually remembered us and after the shows come over to chat...

After the shows the Mothers would rehease for hours on end..sometimes we would stay and listen for an hour or so until we were just to blown out from the constant retakes..

Frank, what a genious, I'm sure glad I was around when he was...

t[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 19 November 2006 at 09:51 AM.]

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 19 Nov 2006 10:28 am

Always been a fan of Frank,
my Dad turned me on to him.

I favor his more serious exorations,
but love the humor too.

Oddley, to me, I am told on 3 continents,
that my jazz composing resembles Zappa.
It has happoened several times in N.Amaerica, Europe and Asia.
Out of the blue some one says it sounds like Zappa.
Of course I find that flattering,
but rarely think of frank when I write.

I guess he is a 'seminole' influence.
(that mental indian in the woodpile I never noticed.)

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 19 Nov 2006 10:40 am

Yup. I was always so impressed that such a serious neo-classical composer could just tear into a gutbucket blues and just rip it up. He had everything - great compositional ideas, humor, discipline and an intense work ethic, and tons of grease - and I do mean "grease" in a very good way.

I got to see him fairly often back in the late 60s and early 70s with several Mothers lineups. He just played the blazes out of a Gold Top Les Paul or SG Special. I remember a quote about his guitar influences - he talked about Guitar Slim (Eddie Jones), and I could always hear that in his playing. But he generally downplayed his guitar ability, and I do think his compositional abilities overshadowed his guitar playing.

Still, my favorite wah guitar solo ever is "Stuff Up the Cracks" from the Ruben and the Jets album. I always thought that his guitar solos showed his compositional ideas - he could be in outer space, but I still felt the presence of structure. I hope I learned a thing or two from him.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 19 Nov 2006 12:09 pm

Back in the day I loved his stuff for its iconclastic nature, but always thought of it as sort of comic cacophonic novelty rather than anything serious. Looking back on it now, I have a little more respect for the musicianship that went into it. Somehow I suspect there are not many Zappa fans here. Did Zappa ever use a steel guitar?[This message was edited by David Doggett on 19 November 2006 at 06:44 PM.]

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 19 Nov 2006 9:22 pm

Big fan. Had a buddy -Peter Wolf that played with Zappa back in the 70s. He went on to do some producing.

When they came to Atlanta for a show, Wolf called me up and invited me to come and watch the show from back stage. I got a chance to look at the music also--amazing, all written out by Zappa himself.

The future will be good for Zappa. His compositional skill will be celebrated. Lot's of his music is scored out in a form that can be studied by future generations of studious music types.

I personally prefer the early Verve recordings, but like about all of his work.

"Only 13 and she knows how to nasty!"

Darryl Hattenhauer · Post by **Darryl Hattenhauer** » 19 Nov 2006 10:00 pm

In Sacramento there was a radio station named in his honor, KZAP. In an anti-drug public service announcement for them, he said, "Speed will make you just like your parents."

------------------
My initial response was to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized that I have no character. -- Charles Barkley

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 19 Nov 2006 10:18 pm

David D. I believe Frank used Sneaky Pete on one of his tunes. I forget which one.

My favorite FZ albums are Freak Out, Mothermania, We're Only In It For The Money and Live at the Roxy & Elsewhere.

DZ

Olli Haavisto · Post by **Olli Haavisto** » 19 Nov 2006 11:42 pm

Sneaky Pete played on the Waka/Jawaka album , I think the song is called "`Cause it jus might be a one-shot deal " ??
I think I`ve read of Sneaky playing live with the band , too.
BTW Check out the Zappa guest appearence on the Monkees where Frank plays Nesmith and vice versa....On YouTube

------------------
Olli Haavisto
Finland
www.ollihaavisto.com

John McGann · Post by **John McGann** » 20 Nov 2006 6:05 am

Excerpts from Zappa's "Truck Driver Divorce":

Truck Driver Divorce
It's very sad
steel guitars
usually weep all over it...

...oh go ride the bull
oh go ride the bull
Make it go up and down
and when you fall down you can even eat the mattress...

Truck Driver Divorce, it's very sad...
Bust your ass
to deliver some string beans
deliver some string beans
deliver a whole bunch of string beans
to Utah....

My favorites-

Sinister Footwear (Them Or Us, I think)
The Yellow Shark (Ensemble Modern)
Shut Up 'n Play Your Guitar vol 1-3
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore vol 2.
Mo N' Herb's Vacation (w/ London Symphony/Kent Nagano)

------------------
http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...

[This message was edited by John McGann on 20 November 2006 at 06:05 AM.]

Howard Kalish · Post by **Howard Kalish** » 20 Nov 2006 1:32 pm

I suppose my two biggest musical influences are Frank Zappa and Bob Wills, though that may seem strange. I've been an Frank Zappa fan since I found Freak Out in a record bin when I was 13 years old. I have all his LPs up to and including Overnight Sensation.

I saw the Mothers at least 12 times in various incarnations and spoke to Frank a number of times. Even interviewed him for my college newspaper. He tried to pick up my girlfriend by offering her an osage orange.

Years later I was at a party and my daughter, now 21, was about 1. Both Jimmy Day and Jimmy Carl Black, the Indian of the groups, where at the party. I have a picture, buried in a box somewhere, of me and my kid with a Jimmy on either side of us.

I think We're Only In It For the Money is still one of the most brilliant records of its era, lyrically and musically.

I wish one of you steel players would do a rendition of Peaches En Regalia. Maybe someone has. I recall someone posting some steel versions of an FZ tune or two.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 20 Nov 2006 1:46 pm

My older brother had Freak Out & Absolutely Free when they came out--I don't know if I would have encountered them myself. They remain seminal & super important in my own musical evolution. Only Money is brilliant too. I picked up these three on CD not too long ago. Unfortunately I wore out the grooves on Live at the Fillmore, loud, while still living at home--I can only begin to imagine the living hell I put my folks through with that one. In retrospect I think this was a weak period--the Flo & Eddie thing.
Major regrets that I never saw Zappa.
one thing that always struck me about his guitar playing---I have no idea about his influences but his phrasing was always quite unique. His attack and accenting was so very different from anyone I ever heard. I always wondered where he was coming from with that. Whatever, it was a striking personal style in a world of guitar clones.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 20 Nov 2006 4:04 pm

Howard, Zappa meets Wills, eh? LOL! What a chunk of chocolate!

'Peaches en Regalia' has indeed been recorded on steel, very well, I might add, by Joe Goldmark. You can find it on his CD, "All Over the Road".[This message was edited by Jim Cohen on 20 November 2006 at 04:13 PM.]

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 20 Nov 2006 4:20 pm

Michael Haselman · Post by **Michael Haselman** » 20 Nov 2006 4:57 pm

Don't forget Frank's greatest country ballad, "Harder Than Your Husband." (much, much, much...)

Susan Alcorn (deceased) · Post by **Susan Alcorn (deceased)** » 20 Nov 2006 5:50 pm

Well, I'll add my own little bit here. I saw the Mothers of Invention twice in the very early seventies -- once with Flo and Eddie (and they were great live) and once without. I remember on one night Dion DiMucci opened the show by himself -- just he and his guitar, and people started yelling, "You suck" and "We want Zappa", and he had the most beautiful and sincere voice I had ever heard. He just kept smiling and kept singing. His attitude is something I'll never forget.

A couple of years ago I was in Buenos Aires, and they were having a sort of Zappa film fest at a very prestigious arts center, and I went. The music of course was wonderful, and the musicianship impeccable, but I was the only one laughing (and some of the humor I find personally disgusting). I think that so much of Zappa's humor is very American idiomatic in-jokes. One of the films they showed was from his last concert in Germany. He looked pretty gaunt and didn't jump around the stage, but there was such an intensity in his guitar playing. He wasn't as flashy as a lot of other rock guitarists, but what he did was incredibly musical if you listen to the ideas and the little things he put in there.

Last summer Jimmy Carl Black and I were both in one of Eugene Chadbourne's ensembles (a Johnny Paycheck tribute) at a festival in Vandoeuvre, France. Jimmy is a real sweetheart and still talks fondly about Zappa. He's from West Texas which you can figure out as soon as he opens his mouth. He's living in Germany now and still plays quite a bit (often with Eugene Chadbourne and keyboardist Pat Thomas) throughout the continent. When he lived in Austin he had a housepainting business with Arthur Brown (the crazy world of).

OK, that's my Zappa trivia.

-- Susan

and "Zappa meets Wills" is not a bad description of the band that Howard plays in.[This message was edited by Susan Alcorn on 20 November 2006 at 05:52 PM.][This message was edited by Susan Alcorn on 20 November 2006 at 06:12 PM.]

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 20 Nov 2006 8:06 pm

Help I'm A Rock!

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 20 Nov 2006 10:27 pm

I picked up Freak Out when it was first released. In the liner notes was a quote from Edgar Varese, "The present day composer refuses to die."

It opened the door to another way of doing things.