Zappa - C/D

It seems, from talking to people about Zappa in particular, that whatever album(s) you picked up as a teenager remain these odd personal favourites that most of your friends won't really get. Could apply that to many artists, I suppose, but Zappa holds the crown.

Yes, the live volume is good, for starters. "The Illinois Enema Bandit" is the kind of thing I like but which is part and parcel of the Zappa thing that others hate. "Punky's Whips" is also quite fine but it also helps to know what it's about, which was a pic of Angel's lead guitarist one of Zappa's bandmembers used to masturbate over.

On "Burnt Weenie Sandwich," "Directly from My Heart to You" is a great number and performance, although he didn't write it.

Really? I thought that was a joke.

"I hear he's more fluid than Jeff B-e-eck."

But George, my version of BWS doesn't have "Directly from My Heart to You" on it!

and: "one size fits all" is his greatest moment..

Aha George - I just dusted off the Zappa section on the old shelf - and there lies "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" - looks like it's gonna be a Zappa afternoon.

"little house..." spot on - pretty amazing and only clocks in at 18:41. And that violin solo from Sugar Cane Harris is wild, wild, wild.

Q: If i dig the doo-wop tracks on BWS, is "Crusin' With Ruben & The Jets" essential?

I liked "Zoot Allures" quite a bit which was FZ heavy metal. The live recording with Beefheart in the Armadillo capitol of the world, too, cracks me up woth its jaunty manner everytime I listen.

How is that new bio?

It is significant that at least two members of the Velvet Underground have gone on record that Frank is a bummer. John Cale said he didn't like Zappa because he thought Zappa just didn't really like music (this from a man who, as part of his musical performance, once wielded an ax on a table at Tanglewood and then later on a chicken, wherever that chicken incident took place ), Sterling Morrison said something like "have you ever heard of somebody waking up in the morning and singing, humming, snapping their fingers or tapping their toes to a Zappa tune? No you haven't, you can't do it, it's impossible." Now maybe you're going tell me their real beef was that they shared a label with the Mothers and the Mothers got the lion share of the label support, but so what. Maybe that's why they said it out loud but not why they thought it.

The guy was both too lowbrow and highbrow for my taste, a classic outflanking maneuver. His non-yellow-snow-eating followers luckily get to enjoy, upon purchase of one his masterpieces, an immediate jump-up of several levels in musical prestige, like people who buy Sting records.

I seem to remember Zappa saying is that if he had his druthers, he would never hear another II-V-I chord progression again. This "cliched" progression is pretty much the basis of jazz, but it was too boring for the Big Mother, as Xgau called him.

For an account of what it is like to audition for the great man, and come up against the famous "black page" go here

Oh yeah, just to prove I'm open-minded, I do like Ruben and the Jets. "Stuff Up the Cracks" is a great song.

After you got back from Africa, you auditioned for Frank Zappa, didn't you?

Yeah. He came and heard a band I was in in Tampa. Sat through two sets of our show, paid us some great compliments. I said, "If you're ever looking for a bass player, give me a call." A few weeks later, he called me up and asked me to come out to Los Angeles to audition. And he gave me "The Black Page," much to my amazement. It was this incredibly, complexly notated piece of music that he actually wanted me to sight read, and that was how he was going to evaluate my playing. I don't do too well eleven ledger lines above the bass clef, with a seventh-note figure above it, so I told him I'd have to work on it a little bit, and he said, "Well, we need somebody who can read fast. Next!" So I didn't get to play. And that was after driving out to L. A. from Florida. So that was a real heartbreaker. Tears ran down my cheeks. [Laughs.]

"Cover your daughter in choc-o-late syrup, strap her on again, oh bab-ee..."

Or something like that. The melody sticks, the words are icing on the cake.

my guitar wants to kill your mama
village of the sun
take your close of when you dance
magic finger
san'berdino
you are what you is
eddie are you kidding?
dirty love

Ken L, Lou Reed is also on record as absolutly hating Zappa/Mothers.