[OK Johansen]

Hi,

There's been quite a few threads already on Zappa related stuff. It means many of you fellow head-fiers appreciate the musical genious of this man. So, it's about time he gets his own appreciation thread.

Anything from favourite albums, melodies, lyrics, anecdotes, versions, concerts etc. etc.

I'm no expert myself, so I'm interested in learning as much as possible from the rest of you.

Right now I'm listening to "Freak Out!". Thought that was an appropriate place to start.

Cheers!

 

[Mark from HFR]

Frank's ten + minute epic "Punky's Whips" is awesome. I would love to hear someone arrange it for full symphony orchestra and play it to the hilt (including playing out of tune where necessary!). It would make one kick-ass classical concert piece.

M

 

[redshifter]

i used to play "billy the mountain" on my radio show so i could duck out of the booth to smoke.

 

[JohnFerrier]

I have the following orchestral zappa discs and enjoy them all. I think there is one more that I'd like to get.

 

[ilikemonkeys]

I totally respect his work, but I"m ashamed to say that I just don't get it. I can't listen to Zappa.....but I really like the guy and everything he did for music. Long live Zappa. He is a one and only!

B

 

[OK Johansen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnFerrier I have the following orchestral zappa discs and enjoy them all. I think there is one more that I'd like to get.

Is it The Yellow Shark Album Maybe?

 

[catachresis]

I was weened on Sheik Yerbouti. The first alternative album I ever heard at the age of twelve.

 

[JohnFerrier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OK Johansen Is it The Yellow Shark Album Maybe?

I'll have to look into The Yellow Shark, but also have in mind the Ensemble Modern Plays Frank Zappa.

 

[bigshot]

A lot of Zappa's orchestral recordings are underrehearsed. In his autobiography, he goes into great detail about how difficult it was working with orchestras who weren't familiar with his style and thought that they could sail through "the longhaired hippie's" music without a lot of trouble. Of course when they looked at the scores and realized what Zappa intended them to do, they weren't able to give it to him the way he wanted it.

I was raised on We're Only In It For the Money and Uncle Meat. My brother had a midnight blue Barricuda with an 8 track deck and bongos in the back. Zappa came out of his speakers whenever we'd go for a drive.

See ya
Steve

 

[JohnFerrier]

"I went to lunch with him in Paris, prior to the Perfect Stranger recording. He ordered something called brebis du [fill in the blank] -- I didn't know what it was. It was some kind of meatlike material on weird lettuce with a translucent dressing. He looked like he was really enjoying it. He offered some to me. I asked him what it was. He said, 'The sliced nose of the cow.' I thanked him and went back to my pepper steak."

 

[BillC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnFerrier I'll have to look into The Yellow Shark, but also have in mind the Ensemble Modern Plays Frank Zappa.

"The Yellow Shark" was performed by the Ensemble Modern...

 

[Aman]

[size=large]I appreciate Frank Zappa[/size]






No, seriously - the man's a musical genius. One of the most inventive and creative musicians of his era. He made complex, "out-there" music but still kept it accessible. I can't decide which album is my favorite, but I REALLY appreciate his jazz orchestra works, especially "The Grand Wazoo". I also love Joe's Garage, Bongo Fury, and Studio Tan.

Zappa's in my top five rock artists, for sure.

 

[DJ Mauler]

Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar was AWESOME

 

[omedon]

I Appreciate Frank Zappa


His compositions are so incredibly amazing. Some people find the Wah Wah's and things wierd but when I listen to his music I can't think of anything that would fit better than a Wah Wah or Insert Weird Sound Here. That to me is true genius. Nothing is ever out of place in his music everything that is there belongs there. Say what you will, the man had an ear for sound.

He is like mozart, perhaps better. Plus he is a damn good guitar player.


If only I could have seen him live.

 

[Doc Sarvis]

A few Frank Zappa anecdotes:

1. I saw Frank Zappa live when I was in high school. He has the most accomplished band I have ever heard anywhere, and conducted them as if they were a symphony orchestra. At one point he stopped a song in mid-phrase (to tell a guy waving a whisky bottle around to leave the concert), and after the commotion was over, the band picked up precisely where it had left off. It was also famous as the tour in which the band made a quilt from all the womens' underwear thrown on stage.

2. Two of Zappa's band alumni (Bruce and Tom Fowler) were in a high school band with my brother!

3. IMO Zappa's genius peaked in the early-mid 70s. As he got older, he became so politically strident and embittered that I think it negatively affected his work. But when he was at his best, he was a genius pure and simple.

4. He famously said that rock music was his way to get exposure, and that he was at heart a serious composer. His hero was Edgar Varese.

5. My personal Zappa faves (for various reasons): "Just Another Band From L.A.", "One Size Fits All", "Bongo Fury"