Frank Zappa: Classic or Dud?

that's really interesting, thanks mark s

almost all the top- and second-tier names in KR make obeisance of some sort to frank as inspiration, even if it's p hard to hear a similarity (i can't really hear one in faust tbrr)

The first Faust album is practically Zappa cosplay at points! They even had a member who called himself "Zappi"!

hey now

No offence

yes my screen name comes from Faust's drummer, as I was listening to "I've Got My Car And My TV" while on the signup page.
that song is very Zappa in retrospect.

^^ yes that song in particular seems to have a big Zappa/Mothers influence. not just in the wacky carnival-like clavier bit but also the vocals, Zappa loved to make people sing weird and stilted melodies like that

I think their spirit of experimentation is also very similar, lotta cut-up stuff and plug-this-into-that sorta messing around

keep in mind this only applies to his stuff up to like, Uncle Meat. maybe Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels too but those I think were mostly recorded before Hot Rats. after that he got a lot more jazzy which Faust couldn't really keep up with. and of course the later hard rock Zappa stuff is a totally different beast

The guitar playing on that track is totally Zappa.

... plus the album ends with a kind of boozy nod to "America Drinks and Goes Home".

The debut's "Miss Fortune" has that wah-wah organ that seems to be playing the chords toZappa touchstone "Louie Louie"

It helps a bit in Zappa appreciation if English is not your native language.

Very probably except it was the early, less lyrically problematic, stuff that was most influential.

Right, fair enough.

"Bobby Brown" was huge in Europe somehow, #1 in Sweden and Norway Top 10 elsewhere.

Very probably except it was the early, less lyrically problematic, stuff that was most influential.

In "Brown Shoes Don't Make It," from the 2nd Mothers album, a character fantasizes about fucking his 13-year-old daughter.

that's true but Brown Shoes is pretty fascinating outside of that, or at least it must've been if you were hearing it in 1968. correct me if I'm wrong but had anyone done a long cut-up pop song like that before? what I have a hard time understanding is them getting into later Zappa, maybe not like the Sheik Yerbouti/Joe's Garage albums as a whole (which still have a lot of fascinating stuff on them), but Bobby Brown being big overseas, yeah that's pretty weird. makes me wonder if there are non-English speakers who are into like, the Bloodhound Gang

Scandinavian sense of humour at work? Somewhere along the lines of the German sense of humour perhaps.

The Who's "A Quick One While He's Away" and "Brown Shoes" were both recorded (roughly) contemporaneously, 2nd half of 1966. A Quick One beat Absolutely Free to release by about 5 months.

and it's even a good song to boot

I think its funny that the Chunga's Revenge cover has become one of those iconic photos of Zappa, even though he never yells like that. Hell he barely even raises his voice. Can you imagine what Zappa screaming like that must sound like? probably like Weird Al or something

pretty sure he is yawning

mods can you please delete that post

his not mine

he's right, though, definitely yawning

He had a premonition of his next 20 years of guitar solos

Yawn Work For Duda

lol halfway

thinking of giving Uncle Meat a try soon on the recommendation of a friend

its a good first Zappa album if that's what you mean

people like to recommend We're Only In It For the Money & Hot Rats but the former vastly overstates how clever he is and how many short catchy tunes he writes and the latter is remarkably tight jazz fusion with no attempts at being funny at all which vastly overstates his ability to shut the fuck up

Uncle Meat kinda has it all though, it's the yin and yang of Zappa from one minute to the next

I can't remember, does he sing on "Uncle Meat"? That's one of the biggest problems with Zappa, his own vocals.

if yes: good first and last zappa album
if no: same

i think he sings some, those weird pitched up vocals he did back then, but also a lot of the vocals are ray collins

Interesting thing about Zappa and singing was like many he struggled to be able to sing and play guitar at the same time. He was never that good at it and usually would not play when he sang as I understood.

Uncle Meat was one I thought was annoying on Cd as there is all that other stuff he added. The original album sequence only came out in the last edition, which I have never heard. The King Kong segment is really good, that is one of his better pieces of music. There is a really good video of the original band playing that one on the tube.

He only sings a few lines here and there (and there aren't that many songs), but you do get to hear him have an argument with Jimmy Carl Black. The reissue features several minutes of him arguing with New York City cops investigating a noise complaint.

local charity shop had a bunch of Zappa stuff in, mostly 80s stuff that I have no interest in
I did buy this copy of infamous 70s Zappa/Beefheart bootleg Confidential tho. mainly cos someone had made their own sleeve for it, love it when people do that!

https://i.imgur.com/eA5Dk6t.jpeg

I love those too, but they're much better when someone tries to draw a picture of the artist on it :)

and yes re: Uncle Meat if you've got the version with the film dialogue on it you can safely skip all that. Zappa CD reissues can be extremely weird, they have bonus tracks but they're sometimes not from the same sessions or even the same decade. iirc there's also some Italian song about a penis that was recorded in like 1985 on it too

dunno if anyone will vouch for his 80s work here, I did pick up a copy of You Are What You Is though which I think was the one from that era which is pretty good. it's got some songs I absolutely hate though so maybe not. idk when I'm gonna listen to it actually.

The 80s album I like the most is Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch. Beyond that there are some decent tracks scattered across the rest, and I like all the live stuff that came out in the Ryko years.

Is that the one with ValleyGirl? Been tempted to check it out with the vague hope of hearing Zappa go new wave

i'm waiting for the opportunity to rec thing-fish to a zappa newb. just completely put them off zappa forever.

The Meat/Light CD is worth investigating, there's the original mix version and a great cd of unreleased material.

i'm waiting for the opportunity to rec thing-fish to a zappa newb. just completely put them off zappa forever.

I'm game.

hahahaha do it and report back

Thing-Fish was the last Zappa album I bought, and basically put me off forever. Still got a copy filed with the other box sets, cover G-, but I'm guessing the vinyl is NM.

It is terrible. Beyond all the blatantly offensive stuff, I really don't like how much of it is recycled songs from his catalog made much worse. Weirdly enough, I kind of like the live versions of some of the Thing-Fish tracks. They worked much better out of the context of the album and all of the awful "acting" on it.

xps You Are What You Is is as far as I've gone with Zappa and yeah it is good, just solid song after solid song (usual caveats for "comedy" and objectionable lyrics so ymmv).

Jumbo Go Away is one of the meanest songs he ever wrote, made even meaner by the fact that it’s got no actual humor in it

Ben Watson confronted him about that song in the interview in his book, and Zappa says it was just reportage of an actual incident, but it says something that he reported it in that way (I say only having read the lyrics).

I've just listened to the song and it's total garbage.

xps You Are What You Is is as far as I've gone with Zappa and yeah it is good, just solid song after solid song (usual caveats for "comedy" and objectionable lyrics so ymmv).

― visiting, Monday, 1 April 2024 bookmarkflaglink

You are not selling it with that caveat.

me every single time:

I've just listened to the song and it's total garbage.

― The Prime of the Ancient Minister (Tom D.), Monday, 1 April 2024 10:51 (forty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Oh great, the shit on Zappa thread is open for business again. I think he’s a lot like The Grateful Dead, with hardcore zealots trading bootlegs, other folks who like certain aspects or certain eras, and those for whom the music is just never going to click whatsoever.

fwiw I find You Are What You Is unlistenable.