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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Young, clean-shaven, buying-Edgard-Varese-albums-in-record-stores Frank Zappa. Gotta love it. One of the best there ever was.

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Longtime Zappa guy. Frank was a genius.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Don't eat the yellow snow. Zappa rules.

Scorehead, which era of Zappa is your favorite? Never had you pegged as a Zappa guy.

I'm partial to the second, advanced phase of the original Mothers, after We're Only in It for the Money but before Flo and Eddie. Uncle Meat, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Hot Rats (though that one's just FZ and Underwood). The two big-band fusion albums he made after his broken leg, Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, are both awesome.

First album I ever bought was Sheik Yerbouti, late August 2004. I was never the same.

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Man...I like some eclectic stuff, but I just can't do Zappa. At all. And I've tried a bit.

The music itself...decent. Maybe not amazing, but I could listen to it. But the vocals and lyrics...good God.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

You know what you are? You're an asshole!

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

I like the interview a member of the foreign press had with Frank about "Jones Crusher." It went something like:

"Is this song about cult leader Jim Jones and how much you want to crush him?"
"No, it's about an extremely tight vagina."

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No, the music is amazing. I get that the lyrics might not be everyone's cup of tea, but he had a lot of talented lead vocalists. Ike Willis, Ray White, Flo and Eddie, even Ray Collins handled the early doo-wop stuff quite well.

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I can kind of concede that he was a genius from a compositional standpoint, I just have a hard time that any non-wank musician type actually enjoys listening to his music.

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Zappa had his share of unlistenable wank (I broke my purchase-only rule and d/led the Shut Up n' Play Yer Guitar trilogy; let's just say I was right to save the money), but you're selling him way short by writing all his music off as just for musicians. I wouldn't say anyone can enjoy the tunes on Freak Out! or Over-Nite Sensation, but they're much more accessible than one might expect.

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Don't get me wrong, I am a musician, and I can't hardly listen for more than 10 minutes.
I appreciate the technical abilities, it just isn't music that's pleasant to listen to, IMO.
Then again, I also despise the whole of Santana's catalog, and he's worshipped on a similar level,
and nowhere near as testing to sit through.
If I want prog, polyrhythmic jazz-fusion-rock, I'll take Jeff Beck any day of the week, though.
Taste is weird.

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

Back in the day, Scorehead was a musical snob while all of my buddies were listening to what was popular. While I liked the great classic Rock & Roll bands from the '70's, I was the guy listening to prog & fusion...Zappa, Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Genesis (with Gabriel), Steve Hackett, Yes, Jean Luc Ponty, Mahavishnu, Camel, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Curved Air, Brand X, Gong, Steve Hillage, UK, Nektar, Colosseum, Allan Holdsworth, Billy Cobham, Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Return To Forever, Jeff Beck, Pat Metheny, Larry Coryell, etc...

With regards to Frank Zappa, the first FZ album that I bought was the 1974 release "Apostrophe". My 2 favorite albums are both live releases..."Roxy & Elsewhere" from 1974, & "Zappa in New York" from 1976. Franks band in the mid '70's was outstanding & full of musical virtuosos. Frank was one of a kind.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Ever go to http://www.progarchives.com ??, Scorehead? Can get some decent discussion there about all those bands.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Thanks.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Humorous Zappa story by Steve Vai:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6cplMM3d_Q

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Speaking of Prog, YES will be in Chicago at The Copernicus Center July 26 & will perform both "Fragile" & "Close To The Edge" in their entirety. No Wakeman or Anderson, but still...

http://copernicuscenter.org/yes/

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

i liked Gentle Giant. "Three Friends" is a good album.

I'm saving Zappa for my final days on this earth so I can probably sit and really enjoy it...cos I think I'll need a lot of time.

Don't wait on Frank as you will shorten your listening enjoyment. All you need are the 2 live albums "Roxy & Elsewhere" & Live In New York". Those bands were great great bands full of virtuosos.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Scorehead, CH and Chus all united by their Zappa love. Strange bedfellows indeed.

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Never a Zappa guy. I know of his talent and all of the amazing people he's worked with, I just never heard that Zappa song that made me go "FUCK, WHAT A JAM!!!"

All due respect...

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"I'm not smiling because I thought what you said was humorous. I'm smiling because one day I know you'll be dead..."

Check out the first 2 links below. The 3rd one is what night be FZ's greatest composition ever & a difficult as hell piece to play & perform.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGy21u_LEwc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEZwa1Funh0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5FUxqnoHDU&list=RDX5FUxqnoHDU

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

LOL!! Your examples just reinforce my opinion.


I'm familiar with The Black Page. I'm very big on drumming and I've seen several variations of that song performed over the years by several of my all time favs. The other two are fine songs, just not my thing. Like I said, I respect the talent, but it's all so "Zappa-ey". Just not a fan.

I was once is a fairly heated argument about Zappa and I was told that the musical part of my mind wasn't developed enough to "get" Zappa.

That's fine...

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"I'm not smiling because I thought what you said was humorous. I'm smiling because one day I know you'll be dead..."

Almost everything on Roxy and Elsewhere is better on You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2, which also contains the immortal line "you try bringing pussy in here, we spray you with mace." and

"I'll call the American embassy!"
"You'll call them?!? What?"
"What'll I call 'em? I'll call 'em a barrel of motherfuckers, that's what I'll call 'em."

While those are solid recommendations, I'm not the biggest fan of "The Black Page" and think it's a bit overrated as FZ's finest work. That, to me, would be either "The Little House I Used To Live In," "Watermelon in Easter Hay," or "What's New in Baltimore?"

The Uncle Meat/Hot Rats/Burnt Weeny Sandwich/Weasels Ripped My Flesh era is my favorite.

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After linking to "What's New in Baltimore?", I had to fire up Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention and was immediately reminded of how much I love Johnny Guitar Watson. First of all, you gotta love a guitarist whose nickname is "Guitar." I don't think many people can pull that off. I don't even know how much guitar work he contributed to FZ's albums; I just love his vocals. And it turns out he was a huge figure in rhythm and blues who never got enough credit. Way cool of Frank to give him work.

Favorite FZ sidemen:
Ian Underwood
Ike Willis
Ruth Underwood (really defines the Zappa sound more than almost anyone)
Terry Bozzio
Ray White
Johnny Guitar Watson
Jean-Luc Ponty
the Synclavier
Jimmy Carl Black, the Indian of the group
Don Pardo

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I never got the Zappa attraction ...he produced garbage IMO .

O
v
e
r

rated!

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Big Zappa guy. My mom liked him so I grew up listening to his old LPs. He's kind of an acquired taste, like Sparks.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

He definitely influenced Vai a lot. I know Steve was disappointed when he couldn't pull off Real Illusions. He wanted Bowie and a whole cast on that. He having obviously played with frank wanted to pull off something grand.