It's never over for fans of FZ, for those who play the music, for those who read the magazines and interviews that define the folklore.
It's never over for those old fans waiting for new releases. It's never over for the new ones just getting into it.
It's never over for the family, for the friends, for the musicians that played with him.
It's never over. It just smells funny.
It was good to spend a few moments over these past weeks to point out that fifteen years ago, a man left this earth whose work we enjoy(ed) and wish he still was around. I got a little maudlin here and there but it's expected. December is a shitty month to die in. It's a good month to have a birthday, though. People tend to go apeshit for December birthdays.
Still haven't finished 'Them or Us,' or any of the other books I start and stop. It never ends, y'know?
It'll be around next year. Sweet sixteen. In two years, we celebrate FZ turning seventy. Three years from that, it's the big TWO-OH. Never ends. That's good. Would we want it to?
Read more!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
It's Alive!
Pittsburgh Zappa fans watching The It's Alive Show were treated to a Zappa-reference when the host, Professor Emcee Square, was confronted with his anti-Santa Claus rhetoric by a Kris Kringle representative and an elf with a familiar goatee-imperial. This 'minature Frank Zappa,' delivered the final joke of the evening.
You can watch 'The It's Alive Show' every week, either during the live broadcast or anytime during the rest of the week, each streaming over the internet. I'm a big fan, because it's such a well-written show. Stiffy the Clown has an amazing comedic delivery that's really fantastic. Everyone involved with the show, from Prof to Pointy to each cast member and extra, is a part of a great combination. It's a great piece of entertainment, and they added to Zappadan this year.
They have the best of 'Season 1' available, which I highly recommend. Give them a shot, give them some love.
Read more!
You can watch 'The It's Alive Show' every week, either during the live broadcast or anytime during the rest of the week, each streaming over the internet. I'm a big fan, because it's such a well-written show. Stiffy the Clown has an amazing comedic delivery that's really fantastic. Everyone involved with the show, from Prof to Pointy to each cast member and extra, is a part of a great combination. It's a great piece of entertainment, and they added to Zappadan this year.
They have the best of 'Season 1' available, which I highly recommend. Give them a shot, give them some love.
Read more!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Them or Us. Commercial. Free.
Recently, I bought a copy of 'Them or Us: The Book' from a gentlemen in Utah (no foolin?) and I'm half-way through it. So far, it has tied
The big secret about the book is this - it's a giant script. I hate spoiling it for you kids, but your experience is going to be different. I think the rarity of the book alone keeps it from popping up on torrent sites, or someone would have scanned it and put a .pdf up of it. It's out of print - would it be legal? Maybe. Bringing it back in print would drop the price of the used copies of it on Amazon right now. I'd buy a new copy. Maybe they'd include pictures. A revised version with Ralph Steadman (who did the artwork for 'Have I Offended Someone') would totally be worth the thirty-five or fifty-dollar price tag. I'd pay it gladly. But if it was reissued with what it was, a demented script by a man tying all his work together. Well. I've already paid for my ticket. It's your turn.
It took me about thirteen years of this and that to get all the commercial releases. I never downloaded them, since it seemed kind of foolish. And during that period, the access wasn't there. Today, you can find multiple torrents of differenciating quality of all his work. There are sites offering the bootlegs of all the concerts that DIDN'T get packaged into albums (or, still remain waiting for the ZFT and Vault Records' loving caress.)
I've spent a couple days of this holiday without listening to FZ's music or lighting the candle. It's not out of IR-REV-ERANCE but out of the truth that most of us involved in FZ's work know - every day is Zappadan. There's always a three month period of every year, maybe scattered throughout so it's every other Thursday or alternating weekends where there's a Zappa album on our CDs or mp3 players or turntables. We still check zappa.com for possible new releases or get excited when someone exerts the effort to start a new blog/site that seems different or new. Every one of us gets the shithead idea to possibly write a book about the man (I've said this before, right?) but few do it. Fewer go out and play his music, making such great albums like 'Lemme Take You To The Beach: Zappa Surf Instrumentals." When you've got it bad like I do, you spend your time at Amazon buying all the Zappa TRIBUTE CD's.
That's why I hope that 'Them or Us' stays out of print for a little longer. The new day makes it easy to find stuff, where the idle and the devoted would search the poor, infested p2p networks for anything 'Zappa,' finding the videos of concerts or clips of Frank on Letterman, the SNL appearance or the collection of tv-news obituaties put together when FZ died.
Here's a video of FZ, one of his final interviews with a douche of a reporter pulling that ever fuckin' annoying PREFACE THE QUESTION WITH THREE LINES OF STATEMENT. [TILT HEAD] ASK QUESTION technique for EVERY goddamn thing she asks the dying man.
There's some shit out there you can find that is now available due to all the frightening little skills that science has made available. It robs the new Zappa fan of his or her patience. I've listened to a couple of ZFT releases before I've bought them because I was impatient. Before, I wouldn't have. But now it's a click, and there it goes. Keeping something like books away from the instant gratification makes those who stick around for the long term appreciate their own attendence record, even though such things are completely fucking worthless in the grand scheme. It's a good read. One day, when I put it up for sale, I hope you find me and pay the ticket price and you have the same fun. Or, when my idea gets taken and Ralph pens some illustrations and the movie gets made, we all can enjoy it together and this idea of 'out-of-print' goes away, with patience, with collecting, with the idea of limited-access to information. Absolutely free. Yowza.
Read more!
- Joe's Garage
- One Size Fits All
- Francesco Zappa
- Sleep Dirt
- Studio Tan
- Just Another Band from LA
- Thing-Fish
The big secret about the book is this - it's a giant script. I hate spoiling it for you kids, but your experience is going to be different. I think the rarity of the book alone keeps it from popping up on torrent sites, or someone would have scanned it and put a .pdf up of it. It's out of print - would it be legal? Maybe. Bringing it back in print would drop the price of the used copies of it on Amazon right now. I'd buy a new copy. Maybe they'd include pictures. A revised version with Ralph Steadman (who did the artwork for 'Have I Offended Someone') would totally be worth the thirty-five or fifty-dollar price tag. I'd pay it gladly. But if it was reissued with what it was, a demented script by a man tying all his work together. Well. I've already paid for my ticket. It's your turn.
It took me about thirteen years of this and that to get all the commercial releases. I never downloaded them, since it seemed kind of foolish. And during that period, the access wasn't there. Today, you can find multiple torrents of differenciating quality of all his work. There are sites offering the bootlegs of all the concerts that DIDN'T get packaged into albums (or, still remain waiting for the ZFT and Vault Records' loving caress.)
I've spent a couple days of this holiday without listening to FZ's music or lighting the candle. It's not out of IR-REV-ERANCE but out of the truth that most of us involved in FZ's work know - every day is Zappadan. There's always a three month period of every year, maybe scattered throughout so it's every other Thursday or alternating weekends where there's a Zappa album on our CDs or mp3 players or turntables. We still check zappa.com for possible new releases or get excited when someone exerts the effort to start a new blog/site that seems different or new. Every one of us gets the shithead idea to possibly write a book about the man (I've said this before, right?) but few do it. Fewer go out and play his music, making such great albums like 'Lemme Take You To The Beach: Zappa Surf Instrumentals." When you've got it bad like I do, you spend your time at Amazon buying all the Zappa TRIBUTE CD's.
That's why I hope that 'Them or Us' stays out of print for a little longer. The new day makes it easy to find stuff, where the idle and the devoted would search the poor, infested p2p networks for anything 'Zappa,' finding the videos of concerts or clips of Frank on Letterman, the SNL appearance or the collection of tv-news obituaties put together when FZ died.
Here's a video of FZ, one of his final interviews with a douche of a reporter pulling that ever fuckin' annoying PREFACE THE QUESTION WITH THREE LINES OF STATEMENT. [TILT HEAD] ASK QUESTION technique for EVERY goddamn thing she asks the dying man.
There's some shit out there you can find that is now available due to all the frightening little skills that science has made available. It robs the new Zappa fan of his or her patience. I've listened to a couple of ZFT releases before I've bought them because I was impatient. Before, I wouldn't have. But now it's a click, and there it goes. Keeping something like books away from the instant gratification makes those who stick around for the long term appreciate their own attendence record, even though such things are completely fucking worthless in the grand scheme. It's a good read. One day, when I put it up for sale, I hope you find me and pay the ticket price and you have the same fun. Or, when my idea gets taken and Ralph pens some illustrations and the movie gets made, we all can enjoy it together and this idea of 'out-of-print' goes away, with patience, with collecting, with the idea of limited-access to information. Absolutely free. Yowza.
Read more!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Get Used To It
"Yeah, because failure is the natural state of human nature, y'know. To succeed is the rare thing, y'know. There's nothing wrong with being a failure. You can fail. Get used to it." -FZ
Check this out. I watched it with a comms. major nine years ago. His girlfriend didn't understand why he and this strange, young mutant were enthralled by this foreign language documentary about a dead Italian-American composer from the sixties onward.
Read more!
Check this out. I watched it with a comms. major nine years ago. His girlfriend didn't understand why he and this strange, young mutant were enthralled by this foreign language documentary about a dead Italian-American composer from the sixties onward.
Read more!
BLACK.
Quick note - as since I've chumped on my FZ only audio diet from here until the end of this magnificent celebration, I've tried to incorporate some bands that FZ liked. Though I've lost a lot of the interviews (they're floating around the internet SOME-AH-WHERE) I got from my higher-educational-years of downloading, there is this night that FZ hosted a radio program, spreading his OWN musical message and playing other music as well.
From memory - "I don't care what anyone says. I still like BLACK SABBATH."
Of course, Black Sabbath gets a mention in '200 Motels,' and hey - FZ digs the Sabbath. Henry Rollins suggested instead of naming hurricanes after people, we call them 'The First Four Black Sabbath Albums' and I tend to agree that quartet of releases can really MESS YO' ASS UP.
Anyway, during my HIGHSCHOOLTEENAGEYEARS, the folks running THE BIG DANCE at the end of the year were soliciting musical suggestions. Having a radical family that seemed to support my wishes despite not knowing terribly WHAT or WHY I was getting into, my Grandma had hooked me up with SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH a prior Christmas. Despite its cover of a tortured soul on a bed with SIX-SIX-SIX carved into the headboard, the album has a really nice song on it called 'Fluff,' something I thought would THRILL my TEENAGE peers.
Of course, when providing the CD for review, the head honcho looked at the demonic front cover, probably noticed that all sexual characteristics (primary AND seconday) had been blurred to strike away the women's nipples and the men's PACKAGES. And that it was called SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH - I was SHOT. DOWN.
Shot down without them even listening. 'Fluff' is a decent peice and would make a grand addition to any other teenage HOP. But that's what you get when your cover is evil looking.
Listen to Black Sabbath. 'Master of Reality' is my favorite. And then get out of the seventies.
Also, FZ said he liked the UK Subs song 'I live in a Car' as well as the Stranglers. So he liked some punk. FLOWER, PUNK.
Read more!
From memory - "I don't care what anyone says. I still like BLACK SABBATH."
Of course, Black Sabbath gets a mention in '200 Motels,' and hey - FZ digs the Sabbath. Henry Rollins suggested instead of naming hurricanes after people, we call them 'The First Four Black Sabbath Albums' and I tend to agree that quartet of releases can really MESS YO' ASS UP.
Anyway, during my HIGHSCHOOLTEENAGEYEARS, the folks running THE BIG DANCE at the end of the year were soliciting musical suggestions. Having a radical family that seemed to support my wishes despite not knowing terribly WHAT or WHY I was getting into, my Grandma had hooked me up with SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH a prior Christmas. Despite its cover of a tortured soul on a bed with SIX-SIX-SIX carved into the headboard, the album has a really nice song on it called 'Fluff,' something I thought would THRILL my TEENAGE peers.
Of course, when providing the CD for review, the head honcho looked at the demonic front cover, probably noticed that all sexual characteristics (primary AND seconday) had been blurred to strike away the women's nipples and the men's PACKAGES. And that it was called SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH - I was SHOT. DOWN.
Shot down without them even listening. 'Fluff' is a decent peice and would make a grand addition to any other teenage HOP. But that's what you get when your cover is evil looking.
Listen to Black Sabbath. 'Master of Reality' is my favorite. And then get out of the seventies.
Also, FZ said he liked the UK Subs song 'I live in a Car' as well as the Stranglers. So he liked some punk. FLOWER, PUNK.
Read more!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Waas Zappenin'
MOD-o-fied the prior post, for a little bit of clarity. If things get a little too deviant, I'll let you know. We should be good.
I shouldn't be burnt out on FZ's music but I started ripping it in late November, and listening to it a week before Zappadan started. So, like anything else, I'm failing on my FZ-only diet. He doesn't do anger that well. It's hard to get pissed at the world while listening to well orchestrated music. An oboe fails to convey a man's rage.
The oboe is a great instrument, though. I fucking love the oboe. And the cello. Low sounding instruments are fantastic. Bass. WE MUST HAVE BASS. LOUDER. WHAT ARE WE? ARE WE GODDAMN OLD LADIES?
Remember, the kids of today should protect themselves from the seventies.
Read more!
I shouldn't be burnt out on FZ's music but I started ripping it in late November, and listening to it a week before Zappadan started. So, like anything else, I'm failing on my FZ-only diet. He doesn't do anger that well. It's hard to get pissed at the world while listening to well orchestrated music. An oboe fails to convey a man's rage.
The oboe is a great instrument, though. I fucking love the oboe. And the cello. Low sounding instruments are fantastic. Bass. WE MUST HAVE BASS. LOUDER. WHAT ARE WE? ARE WE GODDAMN OLD LADIES?
Remember, the kids of today should protect themselves from the seventies.
Read more!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
An Alternative to College
Frank Zappa got me into college. His own view on higher education was unfavorable, at least to him. Going to the library was enough, but FZ was an autodidact. Others, like myself, needed the evacuation capability that secondary education provided. For some, the money spent on tuition could be used for a second-hand car and the security deposit on an apartment (and I assure you, that's just as much part of any stable person's cirriculum as ANYTHING).
But no, when you're saddled in the middle of a mountain town, there's really no plausible way that getting a job, an apartment and spending your free time to your art would yield anything but frustration and a drinking problem. Seen it happen.
Thankfully, I'm not the first one to notice and my high school had a guidance counselor that went BONGO FURY every September with the new senior class. It was warfare for this guy and I appreciate it. There was a strict time-table - do the SAT's, even if they're bullshit; send away for info. Dude hooked me up with some North East colleges. I don't think anyone in our class got into someplace with PRESTIGE. He knew out reach.
One of the entrance essays involved YOUR HERO. Colleges always wanted to find out about who the kids idolized. Must be a weeding method. Being that I went for the all blobulous field of ENGLISH, with that CREATIVE bent, it probably didn't matter who my HERO was so long it wasn't Ted Bundy.
Mutant I was, I penned out how FZ influenced me at the early age. It was true, since I found him when I needed a weird role model, someone with odd hair and strange music that seemed both in tune with my natural growth but distorted enough for my own individual set-up. I made that known in the third paragraph, how FZ taught me it was okay to disagree with your heroes (a lesson I treasure to this day.) Back then, I had different views about the merits of church and religion - we agree that manipulative behaviors preying upon the easily influenced are POOR, if not TERRIBLE and DANGEROUS. But I've always had some sense that there's some goodness to this whole GOD thing, even if it wasn't completely known. It's probably one of those strange things - having someone to teach you how to think for yourself.
Essays written, checkes cut and applications filled out, my chances were bet and mailed. Strange enough, I ended up getting into the handful I applied, thanks to a decent standardized score and enough personality to charm my way into the ACCEPTED pile on the registrar's desk.
My NUMBAH ONE school, which I admit was that because it offered a SPECIFIC 'creative writing' major for the undergraduates, surprised me. The other schools send congratulation letters. 'Congratulations, Strange Jason. You didn't chump it and we want you to SHOW UP if you want to.' But this place had a hand-written note on the margins.
Be still my heart.
I'm a fan of higher education, having liked it so much that I did it twice. I would reccomend it to anyone who has some interests. FZ didn't SCREW AROUND when it came to life and I think college is a way to specialize those interests you KNOW you want to follow all your life.
This central Pennsylvanian school was a strange experience. I got into the radio station since MUSIC IS THE BEST and opened every show with 'Rubber shirt.' Came up with a cheesy radio DEEJAE name and rocked it. Found some bands that I liked so much, I still listen to them today. Got kicked off of my radio show for calling Pat Buchanan a 'Nazi-rat bastard.' When we left the freshmen dorm, my roommate and I unscrewed the back of the mirror and wrote messages for the future. Ugly as I was, I put down the MUSIC IS THE BEST credo. Information is not Knowledge. Knowledge is not Wisdom. Truth is not Beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. MUSIC IS THE BEST.
Bought 'Broadway the Harday' in Pennsylvania because I couldn't stop listening to 'Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk,' downloaded off of one of the Naspter clones that floated around the place. WinMX or AudioGalaxy. Those odds and ends p2ps were nice because I could find odd things mislabled and wrongly tagged. I heard the version of 'King Kong' from 'Tis the Season to be Jelly,' thinking it was just a live bootleg I would never find again when my computer shat the bed.
When the writing department, the TWO whole professors (one poet, one writer) turned out to be shitheads, and the bills started to pile up, I moved back home and finished the degree at a state university. The Pennsylvania school did do something very important - I met a Pirate Queen lit professor who taught english comp. with a collie (NOT a poodle,) and who saw that I had this flair for writing. She did her best to encourage me to follow it. In the first creative peice, I had FZ and a version of me shooting the shit in whatever constituted heaven I had back then. Everyone didn't know that these bodies were floating in space and wondered when I did a 'flip' if I was doing any of that DOPE FIEND behavior. There were High School teachers who helped me get my start, but back then, I didn't trust anyone in high school. It took that first college professor to tell me that I wasn't full of shit and that I should keep going to help me out. FZ didn't need that since he had the WILLPOWER and confidence that it didn't matter if he got approval or not. Maybe he getting in touch with Varese over that phone call was enough. Maybe Varese was the Pirate that FZ needed.
Read more!
But no, when you're saddled in the middle of a mountain town, there's really no plausible way that getting a job, an apartment and spending your free time to your art would yield anything but frustration and a drinking problem. Seen it happen.
Thankfully, I'm not the first one to notice and my high school had a guidance counselor that went BONGO FURY every September with the new senior class. It was warfare for this guy and I appreciate it. There was a strict time-table - do the SAT's, even if they're bullshit; send away for info. Dude hooked me up with some North East colleges. I don't think anyone in our class got into someplace with PRESTIGE. He knew out reach.
One of the entrance essays involved YOUR HERO. Colleges always wanted to find out about who the kids idolized. Must be a weeding method. Being that I went for the all blobulous field of ENGLISH, with that CREATIVE bent, it probably didn't matter who my HERO was so long it wasn't Ted Bundy.
Mutant I was, I penned out how FZ influenced me at the early age. It was true, since I found him when I needed a weird role model, someone with odd hair and strange music that seemed both in tune with my natural growth but distorted enough for my own individual set-up. I made that known in the third paragraph, how FZ taught me it was okay to disagree with your heroes (a lesson I treasure to this day.) Back then, I had different views about the merits of church and religion - we agree that manipulative behaviors preying upon the easily influenced are POOR, if not TERRIBLE and DANGEROUS. But I've always had some sense that there's some goodness to this whole GOD thing, even if it wasn't completely known. It's probably one of those strange things - having someone to teach you how to think for yourself.
Essays written, checkes cut and applications filled out, my chances were bet and mailed. Strange enough, I ended up getting into the handful I applied, thanks to a decent standardized score and enough personality to charm my way into the ACCEPTED pile on the registrar's desk.
My NUMBAH ONE school, which I admit was that because it offered a SPECIFIC 'creative writing' major for the undergraduates, surprised me. The other schools send congratulation letters. 'Congratulations, Strange Jason. You didn't chump it and we want you to SHOW UP if you want to.' But this place had a hand-written note on the margins.
'I didn't know people your age were into Frank Zappa.'
Be still my heart.
I'm a fan of higher education, having liked it so much that I did it twice. I would reccomend it to anyone who has some interests. FZ didn't SCREW AROUND when it came to life and I think college is a way to specialize those interests you KNOW you want to follow all your life.
This central Pennsylvanian school was a strange experience. I got into the radio station since MUSIC IS THE BEST and opened every show with 'Rubber shirt.' Came up with a cheesy radio DEEJAE name and rocked it. Found some bands that I liked so much, I still listen to them today. Got kicked off of my radio show for calling Pat Buchanan a 'Nazi-rat bastard.' When we left the freshmen dorm, my roommate and I unscrewed the back of the mirror and wrote messages for the future. Ugly as I was, I put down the MUSIC IS THE BEST credo. Information is not Knowledge. Knowledge is not Wisdom. Truth is not Beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. MUSIC IS THE BEST.
Bought 'Broadway the Harday' in Pennsylvania because I couldn't stop listening to 'Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk,' downloaded off of one of the Naspter clones that floated around the place. WinMX or AudioGalaxy. Those odds and ends p2ps were nice because I could find odd things mislabled and wrongly tagged. I heard the version of 'King Kong' from 'Tis the Season to be Jelly,' thinking it was just a live bootleg I would never find again when my computer shat the bed.
When the writing department, the TWO whole professors (one poet, one writer) turned out to be shitheads, and the bills started to pile up, I moved back home and finished the degree at a state university. The Pennsylvania school did do something very important - I met a Pirate Queen lit professor who taught english comp. with a collie (NOT a poodle,) and who saw that I had this flair for writing. She did her best to encourage me to follow it. In the first creative peice, I had FZ and a version of me shooting the shit in whatever constituted heaven I had back then. Everyone didn't know that these bodies were floating in space and wondered when I did a 'flip' if I was doing any of that DOPE FIEND behavior. There were High School teachers who helped me get my start, but back then, I didn't trust anyone in high school. It took that first college professor to tell me that I wasn't full of shit and that I should keep going to help me out. FZ didn't need that since he had the WILLPOWER and confidence that it didn't matter if he got approval or not. Maybe he getting in touch with Varese over that phone call was enough. Maybe Varese was the Pirate that FZ needed.
Read more!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
That's It.
"I don't care whether I'm remembered. As a matter of fact,uh, there's uh, there's a lot of people who would like to forget about me as soon as possible. And I'm on their side, y'know? Just, hurry up and get it over with.
I do what I do because I like doing it. I do it for my amusement first. If it amuses you, then fine. I'm happy that you, uh, participated in it.
But uh, after I am dead and gone -there's no need to deal with any of this stuff because it is not written for future generations. It is not performed for future generations. It is performed for now. Get it while it's hot, y'know? That's it."
Frank Zappa
Read more!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Audience Participation
Tomorrow marks the start of this fake holiday, but really, tomorrow marks fifteen years that the world has gone without Frank Zappa. I'm already exhausted. Listening today to 'Nap Time' from the Everything Is Healing Nicely release captured a mood that's been brewing all year. I'm worn out. 2008 has been a mixed bag. But all the good and all the bad each have this in common--it's been exhausting. I think it's fitting that the 15th anniversary of FZ's death should come in this year. There's highs, lows, and in the end, all the tolerance for bullshit has been rubbed away, leaving this resilience marked with skepticism, tempered with the desire to LET ME DO MY OWN THING.
I had plans to do something of a write-up of every album. The first attempts at posts here featured a graphic for something called the 'Zappa Index Project,' but every Zappa fan feels inclined to offer her or his own two cents about the significance of each and every album, this ZIP would only add to the HEAP. Besides, seems that Calvin Wazoo over at Frank Zappa's Revenge is doing everything that Barry over at Kill Ugly Radio and his Wiki Jawaka could do. Between the two of these sites, added with St. Alphonso's Pancake Homepage, you really don't need me telling you what's what. I'll chime in with what I think are FZ's stronger and weaker points, sure. But I don't have the energy or enthusiasm to get up and go down the list.
What gives, Jason? Why chump out? Well, son, it's easy to chump because it's been fifteen years. Fifteen years and my god, fifteen years. Fifteen years since episode 523 and playing Doom 2 to 'Fine Girl,' trying to turn on your best friend at the time to FZ only to hear him ask during 'Peaches en Regalia,' "Does this song have any singing?" Fifteen years of successfully turning on not one, but at least five - Murray, James, Jon, Dan, Wally - onto the music, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not.
No joke - I made this mixtape for this friend of mine named James. I included the :57 version of 'Holiday in Berlin' sung by Roy Estrada in there. :57 was all it took to turn this guy onto it. Of course, James was a hell of a musician, a bass player of no equal, a wicked guitar player. Haven't talked to him in about five to eight years. He became an Uncle and might still be up in the Mountain town where we all grew up in. Little houses, y'know.
Fifteen years. Never knew Frank, never saw him live. I still have my Dad, I can only imagine how his kids feel (and write about it, see below.) It's fifteen years, fifteen years. It's time to be tired, to grab a beer and listen to some music for a couple of weeks.
There are things we can do to try and participate. I tried to do these things - eat FZ themed foods (burnt weenie sandwiches, slices of watermelon in easter hay, uncle meat, easy meat, penguin in bondage, sleeping in a jar, would you like a snack?, eat that question, white port and lemon juice, the poodle chews it, titties and beer) but damn, no. Maybe one day, maybe when it's sunny. This time of joy is best for warmer weather, better for California, for San Ber'dino, for Sun Village. It's cold here. It's December. Tomorrow is the 4th of December.
I thought about making a Zappa-themed-menora of sorts, a forteen candle configuration in a giant Z. But that was too much, couldn't be done in the way I would like it. So I spent the buck-fifty for this tall candle, printed out a picture at work and scotch-taped it to the glass.
I think I did a pretty decent job for all things considered. Next year, as I'm sure I'll be doing this next year, I'll print it out on a label and avoid the tape. I wanted to get a picture of Frank smiling, since there's plenty of pictures of him not. I wanted this memorial of a bit of laughter, a bit of happiness. Here, you see him standing at a podium with a mic in his hand (and a wrench in his pocket.) Telefunken-U47. Just a few questions. Packard Goose talking to the rock and roll writers, the worst kind of sleaze.
I wanted a smiling FZ picture for the same reason my Dad cut the picture of a laughing Jesus out from the Sunday program back when we used to go to church. We wanted a representation of happiness in those who brought us joy. My Dad has been a decent man who hasn't thumped a bible but has been sincere about his relationship with GAWD and the afterlife. I don't think Jesus thinks him a jerk, but who knows? Who knows?
Smiling Frank with a microphone, too far back to know that fifteen years after your death, some strange kid (no longer a kid) would write about you, not in a way to eulogize or bury you but too tired to dig you up from your grave. Fifteen years. It was a crappy time when you left. It's crappy now. Fifteen years. Where does the time go?
Read more!
I had plans to do something of a write-up of every album. The first attempts at posts here featured a graphic for something called the 'Zappa Index Project,' but every Zappa fan feels inclined to offer her or his own two cents about the significance of each and every album, this ZIP would only add to the HEAP. Besides, seems that Calvin Wazoo over at Frank Zappa's Revenge is doing everything that Barry over at Kill Ugly Radio and his Wiki Jawaka could do. Between the two of these sites, added with St. Alphonso's Pancake Homepage, you really don't need me telling you what's what. I'll chime in with what I think are FZ's stronger and weaker points, sure. But I don't have the energy or enthusiasm to get up and go down the list.
What gives, Jason? Why chump out? Well, son, it's easy to chump because it's been fifteen years. Fifteen years and my god, fifteen years. Fifteen years since episode 523 and playing Doom 2 to 'Fine Girl,' trying to turn on your best friend at the time to FZ only to hear him ask during 'Peaches en Regalia,' "Does this song have any singing?" Fifteen years of successfully turning on not one, but at least five - Murray, James, Jon, Dan, Wally - onto the music, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not.
No joke - I made this mixtape for this friend of mine named James. I included the :57 version of 'Holiday in Berlin' sung by Roy Estrada in there. :57 was all it took to turn this guy onto it. Of course, James was a hell of a musician, a bass player of no equal, a wicked guitar player. Haven't talked to him in about five to eight years. He became an Uncle and might still be up in the Mountain town where we all grew up in. Little houses, y'know.
Fifteen years. Never knew Frank, never saw him live. I still have my Dad, I can only imagine how his kids feel (and write about it, see below.) It's fifteen years, fifteen years. It's time to be tired, to grab a beer and listen to some music for a couple of weeks.
There are things we can do to try and participate. I tried to do these things - eat FZ themed foods (burnt weenie sandwiches, slices of watermelon in easter hay, uncle meat, easy meat, penguin in bondage, sleeping in a jar, would you like a snack?, eat that question, white port and lemon juice, the poodle chews it, titties and beer) but damn, no. Maybe one day, maybe when it's sunny. This time of joy is best for warmer weather, better for California, for San Ber'dino, for Sun Village. It's cold here. It's December. Tomorrow is the 4th of December.
I thought about making a Zappa-themed-menora of sorts, a forteen candle configuration in a giant Z. But that was too much, couldn't be done in the way I would like it. So I spent the buck-fifty for this tall candle, printed out a picture at work and scotch-taped it to the glass.I think I did a pretty decent job for all things considered. Next year, as I'm sure I'll be doing this next year, I'll print it out on a label and avoid the tape. I wanted to get a picture of Frank smiling, since there's plenty of pictures of him not. I wanted this memorial of a bit of laughter, a bit of happiness. Here, you see him standing at a podium with a mic in his hand (and a wrench in his pocket.) Telefunken-U47. Just a few questions. Packard Goose talking to the rock and roll writers, the worst kind of sleaze.
I wanted a smiling FZ picture for the same reason my Dad cut the picture of a laughing Jesus out from the Sunday program back when we used to go to church. We wanted a representation of happiness in those who brought us joy. My Dad has been a decent man who hasn't thumped a bible but has been sincere about his relationship with GAWD and the afterlife. I don't think Jesus thinks him a jerk, but who knows? Who knows?
Smiling Frank with a microphone, too far back to know that fifteen years after your death, some strange kid (no longer a kid) would write about you, not in a way to eulogize or bury you but too tired to dig you up from your grave. Fifteen years. It was a crappy time when you left. It's crappy now. Fifteen years. Where does the time go?
Read more!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Frank about Frank
I have a couple people to blame for me getting into Zappa. My Dad was tossing his name around one time and it stuck with me, with heavy textures of the "Z" and the double "P" sounds. WIZN, local classic rock station known for it's 'Glow In The Dark Radio' and nightly 'Power Plays,' a half-hour's worth of music of a single artist, played 'Joe's Garage' one night while my family and I drove home from some late winter, social activity. I don't remember hearing much of it, thanks to the blaring hum of the car's poor heating system.
Dad's strange experiment of enrolling me in the Columbia House music club would pay-off. He wanted me to build a music library, and my pre-Zappa picks of the FREE 13 CDs I was allowed upon signing up have all whittled away. Too many unknowing guesses, too many bad choices. It was in July of 1994 that I really got to hear 'Joe's Garage,' and how fucking weird it was.
But besides both those strange and paternal sources, there's one other source I mainly accredit for what has been a fourteen year long tenure as a fan: Kevin Murphy. Particularly, Kevin Murphy and Mystery Science Theater 3000. In particular of the particularly, episode 523, 'Village of the Giants,' original air date 1/22/94.
Being young in the mid nineties with basic cable and a basement meant watching MST3k was not a probability but a fated event, one that would leave irreparable scars on what was my foolish, teenage mind. At the tail end of what was a crappy movie about Ron Howard enlarging a bunch of go-go mod preppy types was interlaced with a story involving the dismissal of MST3k character 'TV's Frank' by his employer, 'Dr. Forrester.'
Their tribute song, Frank about Frank, played twice in the episode. The first was with clips of TV's Frank's exploits through the season; the second time ran over the credits, with the final note fading out on a black and white picture of a man holding a guitar, the words FRANK VINCENT ZAPPA 12/21/40 - 12/4/93 underneath.
Kevin Murphy has been a confirmed Zappa fan, and as both voice of the character of 'Tom Servo' on MST3k as well as a writer, he's been able to slip in numerous Zappa references throughout the series. Of course, I'm sure that most of the guys on the place (Joel, Mike, Trace, etc.) were also Zappa fans as well, but I peg Kevin Murphy as the main force behind the Zappa-MST3K connection. Plus, Tom Servo delivered a lot of the lines I remember. It's fun to go back, retroactively spotting the references when watching the old episodes.
I'll admit, I had this really harrowing feeling seeing the tribute picture form on that old television, having it fade out to the noise and color of what was the Comedy Central call-logo animation that accompanied every show during then. Someone who I had heard about had been confirmed dead and I kind of thought, almost sorta knew, that this dead guy with the funny name was important.
It would take a music class where I did a report on some famous musician (got a A+ on it, I might add) where I learned that Frank Zappa 1) named his kids weirdly, 2) did some weird music and 3) stood up for free speech. Being a teenage freakshow myself, those were three points that automatically confirmed that Zappa was someone I could get into. I did a report on the man without hearing any of his music. The piss-poor mountain town didn't do shit for Zappa on rotation. Strange to think that fifteen years ago, mp3s didn't exist in any way, shape or form. Downloading? Beyond the imagination. It took 'Joe's Garage' the following summer and 'Strictly Commercial' the next Christmas to seal the deal.
Writing in 'The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing colossal episode Guide," Kevin Murphy states, in penning the reflections on show 523, "Village of the Giants":
Read more!
Dad's strange experiment of enrolling me in the Columbia House music club would pay-off. He wanted me to build a music library, and my pre-Zappa picks of the FREE 13 CDs I was allowed upon signing up have all whittled away. Too many unknowing guesses, too many bad choices. It was in July of 1994 that I really got to hear 'Joe's Garage,' and how fucking weird it was.
But besides both those strange and paternal sources, there's one other source I mainly accredit for what has been a fourteen year long tenure as a fan: Kevin Murphy. Particularly, Kevin Murphy and Mystery Science Theater 3000. In particular of the particularly, episode 523, 'Village of the Giants,' original air date 1/22/94.
Being young in the mid nineties with basic cable and a basement meant watching MST3k was not a probability but a fated event, one that would leave irreparable scars on what was my foolish, teenage mind. At the tail end of what was a crappy movie about Ron Howard enlarging a bunch of go-go mod preppy types was interlaced with a story involving the dismissal of MST3k character 'TV's Frank' by his employer, 'Dr. Forrester.'
Their tribute song, Frank about Frank, played twice in the episode. The first was with clips of TV's Frank's exploits through the season; the second time ran over the credits, with the final note fading out on a black and white picture of a man holding a guitar, the words FRANK VINCENT ZAPPA 12/21/40 - 12/4/93 underneath.
Kevin Murphy has been a confirmed Zappa fan, and as both voice of the character of 'Tom Servo' on MST3k as well as a writer, he's been able to slip in numerous Zappa references throughout the series. Of course, I'm sure that most of the guys on the place (Joel, Mike, Trace, etc.) were also Zappa fans as well, but I peg Kevin Murphy as the main force behind the Zappa-MST3K connection. Plus, Tom Servo delivered a lot of the lines I remember. It's fun to go back, retroactively spotting the references when watching the old episodes.
I'll admit, I had this really harrowing feeling seeing the tribute picture form on that old television, having it fade out to the noise and color of what was the Comedy Central call-logo animation that accompanied every show during then. Someone who I had heard about had been confirmed dead and I kind of thought, almost sorta knew, that this dead guy with the funny name was important.
It would take a music class where I did a report on some famous musician (got a A+ on it, I might add) where I learned that Frank Zappa 1) named his kids weirdly, 2) did some weird music and 3) stood up for free speech. Being a teenage freakshow myself, those were three points that automatically confirmed that Zappa was someone I could get into. I did a report on the man without hearing any of his music. The piss-poor mountain town didn't do shit for Zappa on rotation. Strange to think that fifteen years ago, mp3s didn't exist in any way, shape or form. Downloading? Beyond the imagination. It took 'Joe's Garage' the following summer and 'Strictly Commercial' the next Christmas to seal the deal.
Writing in 'The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing colossal episode Guide," Kevin Murphy states, in penning the reflections on show 523, "Village of the Giants":
"Frank Zappa died in 1994. It saddened me. He is one of my great heroes of American culture. When all his tapes are played and his music is studied, I'm guessing he'll go down as one of the finest composers and performers of the century. And God, was he ever funny. Sometimes embarrassingly preachy, but always calmly polemical, like and advocate for reason in a world gone mad and stupid. I think he had no time for stupid people. No one believes me when I tell them how normal the guy was. But he was beautifully normal, and a brilliant rock-and-roll man, and I'll miss him."I've found others who say Episode 523 turned them onto Zappa, though few that they might be. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more who did some research into who this guy was and what he may have done to issue a tribute from what was a beloved television comedy involving puppets and bad movies. Considering his fondness for cheapnis, and how MST3k even did a version of 'It Conqured the World!', I think it's a method most fitting for Frank.
Read more!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Waas Zappenin'
John Swenson has a good write-up over at Stereophile.com titled 'Zappa Returns!' It deals with the current state of the Zappa vault. Good read.
Also, to note, that Lumpy Money, the quasi-40th anniversary release of Lumpy Gravy and We're Only In It For The Money (and possibly Civilization Phase III) is scheduled for release tomorrow.
Read more!
Also, to note, that Lumpy Money, the quasi-40th anniversary release of Lumpy Gravy and We're Only In It For The Money (and possibly Civilization Phase III) is scheduled for release tomorrow.
Read more!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Harder Than Her Husband*
*credit Weird Jon
So, according to a release from Frank Zappa cover band 'Project/Object,' the Boston show that was supposed to happen last night was canceled due to the Zappa Family Trust:
There is a part of the write-up that sticks out, specifically mentioning Frank Zappa-influence, Igor Stravinsky:
The Zappa Family Trust's actions in regulating the work of Frank Zappa is a matter of representation. It's mainly about controlling that representation, as is any legal action dealing with intellectual property. When Zappa Plays Zappa started, it was billed as 'the First time in a decade to officially hear Frank Zappa's music played live.' Of course, P/O took that as anyone would, printing up a series of UNOFFICIAL t-shirts.
It's all about control. Take the Zappandale v. ZFT issue. Recently, they released a newsletter. Translated, thanks to Barry at Kill Ugly Radio:
I want to think that Gail is terribly happy with the current situation. I want to think that if given the choice, she would pick that the cancer went into remission, that he recovered and together, they would continue living today. Perhaps he would take residency in a few higher-scale theaters on the west coast, some sparse performances (one or two a year) around the world. He would be there to give Moon away at her wedding, to see the birth of his grand-daughters, to see Diva graduate high school. I think that this would be preferable to the situation Gail faces today: fifteen years spent without him, a world full of his vocal fans, and what might be the horrendous task of managing his estate. Fifteen years of moving the catalogue over from Ryko, back to Barking Pumpkins; putting out the Baby Snakes DVD; going through the mythological vault. Fifteen years of HARD. WORK, of being harder than her husband.
Of course, I don't know shit. I don't know what goes on in Gail, Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet, Diva or any one at the ZFT thinks. And I don't know what Project/Object has done to work with the Zappa Family Trust. I don't know what the ZFT thinks of tribute bands. There's a lot of going-on's that never get fully explained. I'm sad that the Project/Object show got cancelled. They're pretty fun to watch and you get a three-hour show for your ticket price. I got a lot of good Zappa-related CDs off of them, like the German release that Napoleon Murphy Brock put out with a bunch of FZ fans. I would hope that there can be some better understanding and better representation between the two (of many) sides, with each giving a little way on their sides for a compromise in the middle.
Wowie Zowie. Or, we can all go marching into the sea.
Read more!
So, according to a release from Frank Zappa cover band 'Project/Object,' the Boston show that was supposed to happen last night was canceled due to the Zappa Family Trust:
Due to Adelaide Gail Zappa and her incessant, worldwide legal attacks on fans honouring Frank Zappa's music, and attempts to negate his request (according to the Zappa hotline, Dec 1993) to “Play my music”, the Project/Object show for Friday 21 November 2008, at Bill's Bar in Boston, has been canceled.I've seen P/O a handful of times, once or twice when Don Preston played with them, multiple times when Napoleon Murphy Brock was there. Ike Willis was always there, as well as André Cholmondeley, who usually is the mouth-piece for P/O's legal problems with the ZFT. He is also a champion for tribute/cover bands.
Stand by for further details on the threatening letters. All other shows, have proceeded fantastically or are proceeding as planned, since what we do is 100% legal under US law. It's sad that lawyers are being enriched every year by this useless letter-writing campaign (all clubs also get threat letters).
FYI - The band Ugly Radio Rebellion, who you'll remember was under attack for Dec. 2007 shows, just had to cancel all their Nov 2008 shows due to a couple of clubs’ unfounded fears of Adelaide Gail Zappa suing them. Bogus Pomp in Florida also recently was attacked for celebrating this music. Artists in Germany also continue to be attacked. What a waste of good money that could be used to release more Zappa music…Because it's all too easy to burn out on FZ music, especially if you've been listening to it for a good part of your life, I've cut back before 'Zappadan' where the insane plan of mine, to listen to everything (EVER) released by, for or about the man, takes place. I have picked up a couple of the FZ related books I've collected over the years but never got around to fully digesting. There's only one part of The Words and Music of Frank Zappa, written by Kelly Fisher Lowe, that I've read - specifically, the part about my favorite album 'Burnt Weeny Sandwich.' KFL, like everyone else, has little to say about the release (there's even a part in the write-up that says how every other biographer doesn't say shit about the album nor 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh.')
There is a part of the write-up that sticks out, specifically mentioning Frank Zappa-influence, Igor Stravinsky:
"...[I]n The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Stephan Walsh notes that Stravinsky had an "astonishing ability to absorb other idioms without ever sacrificing the integrity of his own. He himself was well aware of the trait, and made a joke of it. 'I am probably describing a rare form of kleptomania' " Zappa was also practicing a kind of self-kleptomania at this point in his career. Although many former band members have made a cottage industry accusing of stealing their ideas, if one sees Zappa's use of works in mixed genres as a willingness to be influenced by what was going on around him, it creates a much more complex explanation for how Zappa operated as an artist." (Fisher Lowe 79)I'll probably mention this passage a couple more times, especially since it's legitimate that a lot of former Mothers and such have stated that Zappa "ripped them off." It was the basis for '200 Motels,' after all. This absorbing kleptomania is relevant for the latter half of the P/O release:
I am conducting research into where and when Frank Zappa got permission to perform, record or parodise ALL of these and many, many other various artists’ music. Of course sometimes he sought permission, and when RECORDED and RELEASED, he certainly paid mechanical royalties. But certainly many times he didn't.The first thing we, the readers, must keep in mind is that Frank Zappa doesn't equate his estate, and I'll simply accredit the last line there to Andre's frustration. But, if I weren't be lenient, I would say Andre isn't showing a deeper understanding of Zappa, his art or art in general. Having read some of Andre's writing, my opinion of him is higher. I think he's a smart guy. I think he has a great understanding. The last half of the press release was poor representation on his part of that understanding.
For a guy who has a LARGE part of his art based on USING THE MATERIAL OF OTHERS, his estate is strangely, hypocritically opposed to any one else doing the same!
The Zappa Family Trust's actions in regulating the work of Frank Zappa is a matter of representation. It's mainly about controlling that representation, as is any legal action dealing with intellectual property. When Zappa Plays Zappa started, it was billed as 'the First time in a decade to officially hear Frank Zappa's music played live.' Of course, P/O took that as anyone would, printing up a series of UNOFFICIAL t-shirts.
It's all about control. Take the Zappandale v. ZFT issue. Recently, they released a newsletter. Translated, thanks to Barry at Kill Ugly Radio:
if the festival’s organizers wish to keep the festival going, they are to report — at the earliest occasion — name and location of any artists playing, as well as any (FZ) tunes on their playlist.It would then be GZ’s deity-given, exclusive prerogative to veto any artists she feels “violate the integrity and intentions” of FZ, from playing at Zappanale.
Barry's translation is a bit harsh, but his site, KillUglyRadio.com, received a Cease and Desist letter from the ZFT. So, it's easy to understand where the anger comes from. I do disagree with the anti-blog tactics. KUR had a beautiful layout that was stripped away of its FZ imagery. Things like KUR, P/O and even this moderately small showing of a blog here and there are done out of love for the subject matter. If this site were to proliferate to the extent where I had a layout featuring OUR FOUNDER extensively, there's no reason as to why the inbox SHOULDN'T receive a C&D letter. But, how does one have a FZ fan site with no pictures/lyrics/samples/videos of FZ?
Gail is often demonized, but I think it's not totally her fault. These practices of INTENSITY were made by Frank. Think about it: he was notoriously strict and demanding as a bandleader. The rehearsal schedule was intense and he had a long history of legal battles of his own. From the acocunts of the biographies written about him, Frank was a stickler. From these accounts, Frank was controlling. Listening to the music, yeah. It makes sense. You need a tight band to get the sound out. You need a tight organization to get the shit from one town to another. You need to have a tight stomach to face a congressional hearing or to fight against bootleggers or to make a movie or to work with an orchestra.
I want to think that Gail is terribly happy with the current situation. I want to think that if given the choice, she would pick that the cancer went into remission, that he recovered and together, they would continue living today. Perhaps he would take residency in a few higher-scale theaters on the west coast, some sparse performances (one or two a year) around the world. He would be there to give Moon away at her wedding, to see the birth of his grand-daughters, to see Diva graduate high school. I think that this would be preferable to the situation Gail faces today: fifteen years spent without him, a world full of his vocal fans, and what might be the horrendous task of managing his estate. Fifteen years of moving the catalogue over from Ryko, back to Barking Pumpkins; putting out the Baby Snakes DVD; going through the mythological vault. Fifteen years of HARD. WORK, of being harder than her husband.
Of course, I don't know shit. I don't know what goes on in Gail, Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet, Diva or any one at the ZFT thinks. And I don't know what Project/Object has done to work with the Zappa Family Trust. I don't know what the ZFT thinks of tribute bands. There's a lot of going-on's that never get fully explained. I'm sad that the Project/Object show got cancelled. They're pretty fun to watch and you get a three-hour show for your ticket price. I got a lot of good Zappa-related CDs off of them, like the German release that Napoleon Murphy Brock put out with a bunch of FZ fans. I would hope that there can be some better understanding and better representation between the two (of many) sides, with each giving a little way on their sides for a compromise in the middle.
Wowie Zowie. Or, we can all go marching into the sea.
Read more!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Dweezil Refuses
Starting off the real posting in the two weeks before Zappadan, I figure I would set the bar up with something written a year ago about 'Zappa Plays Zappa.' It was the second time around that the act came to the state of Connecticut. Having missed the first (ticket prices. yowza!) I had the scratch to get a decent seat for this showing. ZPZ has been around twice more since then. I haven't gone to either showing.
I've always worry about kids of famous people, or at least, the kids of famous people whose work I enjoy. I can't imagine talking to them, saying "Hey, how about your mom? Ain't she something?" or "Wow, your dad - like, your dad was so cool." It's a bit unfair for those kids, having a handicap when it comes to developing their own persona. Look at Hank III. At least, he's having fun. And I think all the Zappa kids are having fun, too. They seem to be doing alright for themselves. I was happy to see Dweezil and Ahmet do their thing on the couple of cable-tv shows they had. Diva, I found out, has a unique hat business on the side. And Moon's been acting, writing, and living happily (I hope.)
So, when ZPZ came about, with the Zappa kids (Dweezil, and if my memory doesn't fail me, Ahmet did some appearances on the first run. I know Diva has a tour diary you can purchase at zappa.com) starting to take up THE MUSIC and THE MANTLE, it kind of freaked me out. What came out of it was the piece below the cut: an attempt at racid fraudulent literary journalism, I guess.
November 2, 2007
Dweezil Refuses
"Man, I'd love to play 'Watermelon,' but that song's a little too heavy for me right now," said Dweezil Zappa to the crowd attending the second showing of 'Zappa Plays Zappa' at the Chevy Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut. "Maybe in a few years, we'll see." During the few breaks in the straight three-hour set, the stage is pelted with requests as everyone calls out the song they want to hear, from 'Montana' to 'My Guitar wants to Kill Your Mama.'
The shouted song request Dweezil notes is for 'Watermelon in an Easter Hay,' the climax of 1979's 'Joe's Garage.' In context of the rock opera, it is the last song ever played, before the final musician conforms to life without music. It's a high point of the album musically as Frank's guitar playing is never more beautiful than in the quick flowering of notes in between the slow, repeated theme. On the surface, it's a pretty song to listen to. With further knowledge about how Frank was invested in music, specifically in the type of 'air sculpture' guitar solos that comprise songs like 'Watermelon,' it becomes more than just a pretty sound. It’s a way to know what made Frank happy and sad, to better understand another human being - the utmost goal of art.
'Watermelon..' also shares a distinction from Frank's body of work. With two other songs, 'Black Napkins' and 'Zoot Allures' from the '76 album of the same name, Frank considered 'Watermelon' a summation of his life's work. Despite gaining radio play and national fame with songs like 'Don't Eat the Yellow Snow,' 'Dancin' Fool' and 'Valley Girl,' Frank wanted his work to be represented by three highly orchestrated, instrumental pieces. Frank Zappa always wanted to be considered a serious musician with a funny side, not a comedy group that occasionally quit fooling around. The posthumous release 'Frank Zappa plays the Music of Frank Zappa' explains this in the liner notes, notes written by Frank's son Dweezil.
Seeing Dweezil on stage play the rhythm sections along with the audio track from one of his father's concerts was a swell of mixed joys. Dweezil watches the screen just like how everyone else watches, with head titled and eyes raised in attention. In that, it was strange, as to anyone else in the building, they are watching footage of a favorite musician play, dead for nearly 15 years but immortal. But for the eldest Zappa son, it's home movies time. He's watching his Dad. With that are all the moments he shared with his father, from growing up with the man until the very last days before his death in '93.
For the last fourteen years, Dweezil Zappa has lived without his father. He was seventeen when his first album, 'Havin' a Bad Day' came out. He's spent time as an actor and a television personality, or simply as the only kid in the world named ‘Dweezil.’ Though they all have collaborated together musically, of the four Zappa children, Dweezil has taken to Frank the most. As a musician, Dweezil's guitar is tight and noted. During the concert, he performs an effortlessly rendition of 'Ship Ahoy,' a trance-fusion piece where the drums and bowing of an electric upright bass barely detract the attention away from Dweezil's light-fast hands. The song is Dweezil and Dweezil alone.
Though eldest daughter Moon Unit was the voice behind the highly successful 'Valley Girl', she has gone on to write a novel and raise a family. Younger brother Ahmet appeared with Dweezil in a handful of related projects but like Moon Unit, he's gone on to write children’s fiction. Youngest child Diva specializes in high fashion knitted goods. For the last two years, Dweezil has taken upon the mantel of his father by organizing the 'Zappa Plays Zappa' tour, a celebration of Frank's music. In viewing, this celebration is bittersweet.
During the concert, Frank is projected upon a screen. Footage of 'Cosmik Debris,' a crowd favorite, is played from 'The Dub Room Special' DVD. Frank is playing an oak brown Gibson SG guitar. It’s the same guitar Dweezil plays. During the solo, the footage of Frank dukes it out with Dweezil in a conversational exchange of guitar solos. Frank whips off a quick barrage of notes and Dweezil responds in kind. It's a wonderful display of technology and legacy mired with metaphor, as a fifteen-foot tall Frank towers over the band, specifically his son in the front.
Watching Dweezil look up to his dad, figuratively and literally, inspires admiration spliced with worry that Dweezil Zappa can't escape his own name. If there's another person named 'Dweezil' out there, they're doing nothing to make themselves known. Being unique with the Dweezil moniker is one, but the last name of Zappa carries the weirdness and the weight of a musically prolific and profound father. Had Dweezil not ventured out into many different projects in all sorts of media, it would be easy to adopt a cyncial view of 'Zappa Plays Zappa' as a child cashing in on a famous name. But looking deeper, this is not the case. It has never been the case.
Frank and Gail Zappa never had any outlandish motive or bizarre parenting habits. When it came to their children, they were always honest, caring and respectful. The Zappa children, despite having far-out names, might have the most grounded and developed childhood available when it comes to their parents. In the end, Frank was a head-of-household who nurtured a sense of individuality within his children. If they developed an interest in music, Frank supported it and helped it but didn't let his children rest on their laurels, or coast by on their name. Frank was known to be a hard teacher and a demanding musician so if anyone wanted to work on music with them, it would have to be out of an honest and sincere desire to do it.
Dweezil is sincere and honest when he talks about his late father, both at the Wallingford concert and on the 'Over-Nite Sensation/Apostrophe(')' DVD that discusses those two albums. Dweezil breaks down the audio tracks of a few songs on the DVD, marveling at the complexity of the arrangement. His appreciation is visible. When he laughs, he maybe going through the five stages of grief at once in less than a second, settling on accepting before, love.
Sincerity keeps Dweezil from playing 'Watermelon'. There's no doubt that he could, physically. But emotionally, Dweezil says he isn't ready yet. There's a line he can't cross, a step he can't take yet. Hearing him say that was the high point of the concert because it was reaffirmation that there's a point where Dweezil stops from becoming Frank. A child with less integrity would have no reservations from playing the song, complying with the paying customer to ensure they come back the next time the tour rolls through town. But turning down the request for such a reason as it being too heavy, to personal, is a sign that Dweezil actually cares about this music. He's not living off the name. He's an active participant in supporting the living being of music.
The concert ends three hours after starting with an encore performance of 'Muffin Man' that brings everyone to his or her feet. By this time, the voice that called out the request is one of the many cheering at the crescendo of sound at the concert's end. Patrons exiting talk, some mournful that their favorites weren't played. One or two voices are caught talking about Dweezil's kind refusal, each marked with a smudge of disappointment that's wiped away at how awesome it was to hear 'G-Spot Tornado' live. One day, Dweezil will play 'Watermelon in an Easter Hay.'
No matter how many are in attendance, it will be an intimate performance ‘tween father and son, two individuals coming together as family, the long divide of death rendered powerless by a the strength of a son’s love wrapped tightly around in music.
Read more!
I've always worry about kids of famous people, or at least, the kids of famous people whose work I enjoy. I can't imagine talking to them, saying "Hey, how about your mom? Ain't she something?" or "Wow, your dad - like, your dad was so cool." It's a bit unfair for those kids, having a handicap when it comes to developing their own persona. Look at Hank III. At least, he's having fun. And I think all the Zappa kids are having fun, too. They seem to be doing alright for themselves. I was happy to see Dweezil and Ahmet do their thing on the couple of cable-tv shows they had. Diva, I found out, has a unique hat business on the side. And Moon's been acting, writing, and living happily (I hope.)
So, when ZPZ came about, with the Zappa kids (Dweezil, and if my memory doesn't fail me, Ahmet did some appearances on the first run. I know Diva has a tour diary you can purchase at zappa.com) starting to take up THE MUSIC and THE MANTLE, it kind of freaked me out. What came out of it was the piece below the cut: an attempt at racid fraudulent literary journalism, I guess.
November 2, 2007
Dweezil Refuses
"Man, I'd love to play 'Watermelon,' but that song's a little too heavy for me right now," said Dweezil Zappa to the crowd attending the second showing of 'Zappa Plays Zappa' at the Chevy Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut. "Maybe in a few years, we'll see." During the few breaks in the straight three-hour set, the stage is pelted with requests as everyone calls out the song they want to hear, from 'Montana' to 'My Guitar wants to Kill Your Mama.'
The shouted song request Dweezil notes is for 'Watermelon in an Easter Hay,' the climax of 1979's 'Joe's Garage.' In context of the rock opera, it is the last song ever played, before the final musician conforms to life without music. It's a high point of the album musically as Frank's guitar playing is never more beautiful than in the quick flowering of notes in between the slow, repeated theme. On the surface, it's a pretty song to listen to. With further knowledge about how Frank was invested in music, specifically in the type of 'air sculpture' guitar solos that comprise songs like 'Watermelon,' it becomes more than just a pretty sound. It’s a way to know what made Frank happy and sad, to better understand another human being - the utmost goal of art.
'Watermelon..' also shares a distinction from Frank's body of work. With two other songs, 'Black Napkins' and 'Zoot Allures' from the '76 album of the same name, Frank considered 'Watermelon' a summation of his life's work. Despite gaining radio play and national fame with songs like 'Don't Eat the Yellow Snow,' 'Dancin' Fool' and 'Valley Girl,' Frank wanted his work to be represented by three highly orchestrated, instrumental pieces. Frank Zappa always wanted to be considered a serious musician with a funny side, not a comedy group that occasionally quit fooling around. The posthumous release 'Frank Zappa plays the Music of Frank Zappa' explains this in the liner notes, notes written by Frank's son Dweezil.
Seeing Dweezil on stage play the rhythm sections along with the audio track from one of his father's concerts was a swell of mixed joys. Dweezil watches the screen just like how everyone else watches, with head titled and eyes raised in attention. In that, it was strange, as to anyone else in the building, they are watching footage of a favorite musician play, dead for nearly 15 years but immortal. But for the eldest Zappa son, it's home movies time. He's watching his Dad. With that are all the moments he shared with his father, from growing up with the man until the very last days before his death in '93.
For the last fourteen years, Dweezil Zappa has lived without his father. He was seventeen when his first album, 'Havin' a Bad Day' came out. He's spent time as an actor and a television personality, or simply as the only kid in the world named ‘Dweezil.’ Though they all have collaborated together musically, of the four Zappa children, Dweezil has taken to Frank the most. As a musician, Dweezil's guitar is tight and noted. During the concert, he performs an effortlessly rendition of 'Ship Ahoy,' a trance-fusion piece where the drums and bowing of an electric upright bass barely detract the attention away from Dweezil's light-fast hands. The song is Dweezil and Dweezil alone.
Though eldest daughter Moon Unit was the voice behind the highly successful 'Valley Girl', she has gone on to write a novel and raise a family. Younger brother Ahmet appeared with Dweezil in a handful of related projects but like Moon Unit, he's gone on to write children’s fiction. Youngest child Diva specializes in high fashion knitted goods. For the last two years, Dweezil has taken upon the mantel of his father by organizing the 'Zappa Plays Zappa' tour, a celebration of Frank's music. In viewing, this celebration is bittersweet.
During the concert, Frank is projected upon a screen. Footage of 'Cosmik Debris,' a crowd favorite, is played from 'The Dub Room Special' DVD. Frank is playing an oak brown Gibson SG guitar. It’s the same guitar Dweezil plays. During the solo, the footage of Frank dukes it out with Dweezil in a conversational exchange of guitar solos. Frank whips off a quick barrage of notes and Dweezil responds in kind. It's a wonderful display of technology and legacy mired with metaphor, as a fifteen-foot tall Frank towers over the band, specifically his son in the front.
Watching Dweezil look up to his dad, figuratively and literally, inspires admiration spliced with worry that Dweezil Zappa can't escape his own name. If there's another person named 'Dweezil' out there, they're doing nothing to make themselves known. Being unique with the Dweezil moniker is one, but the last name of Zappa carries the weirdness and the weight of a musically prolific and profound father. Had Dweezil not ventured out into many different projects in all sorts of media, it would be easy to adopt a cyncial view of 'Zappa Plays Zappa' as a child cashing in on a famous name. But looking deeper, this is not the case. It has never been the case.
Frank and Gail Zappa never had any outlandish motive or bizarre parenting habits. When it came to their children, they were always honest, caring and respectful. The Zappa children, despite having far-out names, might have the most grounded and developed childhood available when it comes to their parents. In the end, Frank was a head-of-household who nurtured a sense of individuality within his children. If they developed an interest in music, Frank supported it and helped it but didn't let his children rest on their laurels, or coast by on their name. Frank was known to be a hard teacher and a demanding musician so if anyone wanted to work on music with them, it would have to be out of an honest and sincere desire to do it.
Dweezil is sincere and honest when he talks about his late father, both at the Wallingford concert and on the 'Over-Nite Sensation/Apostrophe(')' DVD that discusses those two albums. Dweezil breaks down the audio tracks of a few songs on the DVD, marveling at the complexity of the arrangement. His appreciation is visible. When he laughs, he maybe going through the five stages of grief at once in less than a second, settling on accepting before, love.
Sincerity keeps Dweezil from playing 'Watermelon'. There's no doubt that he could, physically. But emotionally, Dweezil says he isn't ready yet. There's a line he can't cross, a step he can't take yet. Hearing him say that was the high point of the concert because it was reaffirmation that there's a point where Dweezil stops from becoming Frank. A child with less integrity would have no reservations from playing the song, complying with the paying customer to ensure they come back the next time the tour rolls through town. But turning down the request for such a reason as it being too heavy, to personal, is a sign that Dweezil actually cares about this music. He's not living off the name. He's an active participant in supporting the living being of music.
The concert ends three hours after starting with an encore performance of 'Muffin Man' that brings everyone to his or her feet. By this time, the voice that called out the request is one of the many cheering at the crescendo of sound at the concert's end. Patrons exiting talk, some mournful that their favorites weren't played. One or two voices are caught talking about Dweezil's kind refusal, each marked with a smudge of disappointment that's wiped away at how awesome it was to hear 'G-Spot Tornado' live. One day, Dweezil will play 'Watermelon in an Easter Hay.'
No matter how many are in attendance, it will be an intimate performance ‘tween father and son, two individuals coming together as family, the long divide of death rendered powerless by a the strength of a son’s love wrapped tightly around in music.
Read more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
