Frank Zappa

[Ken Dryden]

A lot of the box seems to be dialogue, alternate mixes and rehearsals. There is at least one song in the movie that is still not a part of the boxed set or original soundtrack. A bit overpriced even for diehard Zappa fans…

[BFrank]

6 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

A lot of the box seems to be dialogue, alternate mixes and rehearsals. There is at least one song in the movie that is still not a part of the boxed set or original soundtrack. A bit overpriced even for diehard Zappa fans…

Sounds like the Hot Rats set. I didn't buy it, but it seemed to be loaded with studio chatter.

[Rabshakeh]

Did people find the humour funny at the time? It's something I've never understood about Zappa. 

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, Rabshakeh said:

Did people find the humour funny at the time? It's something I've never understood about Zappa. 

It's a paradox that a man who based a good part of his persona on "mindless teenagers" pimped out such a truly enormous amount of puerile, immature, sexual content, like, ok, a working knowledge of Varese excuses something like "Magdalena"?

 

[Rooster_Ties]

1 hour ago, Rabshakeh said:

Did people find the humour funny at the time? It's something I've never understood about Zappa. 

Don’t know about “at the time” (my Zappa deep dive ran from the late 80’s but only for about 20 years)… but I’ve always found Zappa far more “humorous” than necessary “funny”, if that makes any sense.

I appreciate a lot of Zappa’s humor, but certainly not all of it. It’s been a good 10 or 15 years since I’ve listened to lots of Zappa, and I seem to remember appreciating his humor better when I was more immersed in it.

[Rabshakeh]

I was and am a huge Zappa fan, but let's just say that I'm glad so much of his output was instrumental.

[Ken Dryden]

9 hours ago, BFrank said:

Sounds like the Hot Rats set. I didn't buy it, but it seemed to be loaded with studio chatter.

The Hot Rats set was far more interesting, particularly the extended jams that were edited for the original LP and other albums. But hearing the parts separately isn’t all that interesting to me.

Edited October 6, 2021 by Ken Dryden

[romualdo]

Think I'll stick with my partially censored (and one track deleted) Australian double LP - that'll do

But I'm loving the "Hot Rats" box & the three disc redo of "Orchestral Favorites"

Some of the Wazoo period material (one of his best eras IMHO) has also been released on various (Zappa/Vault) CDs over the past 10 or 15 years

[mjzee]

17 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

There is at least one song in the movie that is still not a part of the boxed set or original soundtrack.

I don't remember which song that is, but was it sung by Ringo?  IIRC, nothing about Ringo could be used for the soundtrack (per Apple).  His voice doesn't appear in any dialogue, and, on the cover, his character has a mask over his face (but interestingly, his face appeared on the movie poster that came with the original soundtrack release on UA).

[Rooster_Ties]

3 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

I was and am a huge Zappa fan, but let's just say that I'm glad so much of his output was instrumental.

Can't disagree.  I find some of his lyrics (and humor) entertaining, even a fair bit I might describe as being almost "very entertaining" -- but little of it is especially "funny" per se.

I think you have to 'get' Zappa's humor -- and for about 15 years, I feel like I kinda, sorta got some of it -- but nowadays, not as much.

[Ken Dryden]

On 10/6/2021 at 8:02 AM, Rooster_Ties said:

Don’t know about “at the time” (my Zappa deep dive ran from the late 80’s but only for about 20 years)… but I’ve always found Zappa far more “humorous” than necessary “funny”, if that makes any sense.

I appreciate a lot of Zappa’s humor, but certainly not all of it. It’s been a good 10 or 15 years since I’ve listened to lots of Zappa, and I seem to remember appreciating his humor better when I was more immersed in it.

It is funny what prompted certain songs, like the road manager’s remark, “Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?” or the outrage shown by European concert promoter Fritz Rau when he saw a lowly roadie dare to take asparagus (which he considered a ‘king’s vegetable’) from the spread for the band, which prompted “Shall We Take Ourselves Seriously?” I still get a laugh out of hearing Zappa in concert open his guitar solo over a vamp of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” with the opening notes of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”

Edited June 30, 2022 by Ken Dryden

[felser]

5 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Did people find the humour funny at the time? It's something I've never understood about Zappa. 

"Freak Out", "Absolutely Free", "We're Only in It For the Money", "Ruben and the Jets", and "Uncle Meat"?  Yes.  From that point on?  No, except for the occasional song.

[bertrand]

Cheepnis is funny. When he stayed away from sex, he could sometimes hit the mark. But anything to do with sex, yikes. His incredible misoginy has been belabored enough, no point to dig that up again.

I have enough Zappa material, I think. I could use more things like Little House I Used To Live In or Eat That Question or The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution. Is there more out there of that calibre?

Edited October 6, 2021 by bertrand

[Jim Duckworth]

On 4/28/2021 at 3:43 PM, Chuck Nessa said:

Because he was spectacularly nasty to me, Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie when we met with him in the late '60s. My blood starts to boil when I see his name.

I find this sad and puzzling.  In his autobiography Zappa talks about being so impressed with a late night Art Ensemble of Chicago performance at The Amougies Festival that he attempted to wake up fellow attendees with, I believe, fireworks.

[Ken Dryden]

I got a kick out of “Rhymin’ Man,” the country western song that recognized what a con artist Jesse Jackson is. Zappa was surprised during a 1989 phone interview when I asked about the “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum” quote inserted near the end of the song , he told me “No one knows that song.” I imagine most rock press and radio folks were not familiar with the Fats Waller recording of it like me, as I was a jazz radio producer and writer.

[mjzee]

Frank Zappa’s Estate, Including His Catalog and ‘The Vault,’ Acquired by Universal Music Group

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/frank-zappa-estate-including-catalog-130231363.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

[Dub Modal]

Damn, they sold it all lock stock and barrel. Bet they made a fortune 

[felser]

Amazing that the kids were able to agree amongst themselves.  The power of $, I guess.

[Rabshakeh]

4 hours ago, felser said:

Amazing that the kids were able to agree amongst themselves.  The power of $, I guess.

Isn't it just Ahmet? I thought that Gail's will was very uneven.

[Ken Dryden]

16 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Isn't it just Ahmet? I thought that Gail's will was very uneven.

The younger two got 30% each and the older two 20%, if I remember right. A crappy thing to do to your kids.

On 6/30/2022 at 11:44 AM, Dub Modal said:

Damn, they sold it all lock stock and barrel.ses Bet they made a fortune 

Remember that the Zappa Family Trust was insolvent at one point after Gail’s death.

[Rabshakeh]

7 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

The younger two got 30% each and the older two 20%, if I remember right. A crappy thing to do to your kids.

The point was that I don't think the two older kids had power to control decision making. I think that percentages meant that it was in the hands of Ahmet.

[BFrank]

I remember Dweezil was sort of ostracized for a while and he couldn't even use the "Zappa" name when touring and playing his father's songs. Apparently they worked things out somehow.

[Д.Д.]

Since Ahmet is at the helm of ZFT, they are doing an exemplary job, IMHO. A lot of high-quality releases, the latest Erie set ( https://open.spotify.com/album/5jMwFhLiUmpWKePQoKIrwu ) being a prime example. What's nice is that all the releases are available for streaming in full immediately upon release. I read that Universal has paid in the neighborhood of $25-30M for the catalog and the vault, so in order to recoup such an investment we are going to see a lot of new releases, I guess.    

      

[Rabshakeh]

5 hours ago, Д.Д. said:

Since Ahmet is at the helm of ZFT, they are doing an exemplary job, IMHO. A lot of high-quality releases, the latest Erie set ( https://open.spotify.com/album/5jMwFhLiUmpWKePQoKIrwu ) being a prime example. What's nice is that all the releases are available for streaming in full immediately upon release. I read that Universal has paid in the neighborhood of $25-30M for the catalog and the vault, so in order to recoup such an investment we are going to see a lot of new releases, I guess.    

      

It’s a deep vault.

[romualdo]

14 hours ago, Д.Д. said:

the latest Erie set ( https://open.spotify.com/album/5jMwFhLiUmpWKePQoKIrwu ) being a prime example.       

Looks very interesting - will probably go for that one