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:

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.

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).

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Gail is helping control the shape and size of Frank Zappa's body of work. I don't think having KUR take down its format helps, though. Having sites, festivals, cafes with pictures on the walls creates a culture that lasts longer. There needs to be some public sphere in the art to help it substain. Or else, it just becomes a product to be sold. And siccing the lawyers on fan sites, well. All that does is create a legion of disenfranchised fans - pretty much alt.fan.frank-zappa (YOWZA!)

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.