Zappa 1972 box

[felser]

Zappa estate coming out with a 4CD/1BR box of 1972 recordings, centered around the sessions for 'Waka/Jawaka' and 'The Grand Wazoo'.  Sounds really good, the only other giant box besides the 'Hot Rats' one I would consider a 'must have'.  I'll watch prices and pre-order.  $60 list, so much better than normal in that regard for Zappa boxes.

https://theseconddisc.com/2022/10/18/it-just-might-be-a-one-shot-deal-zappas-1972-chronicled-on-new-cd-blu-ray-box-waka-wazoo/

[GregK]

Includes the albums in high res audio on Blu Ray too! 

[romualdo]

On 19/10/2022 at 5:59 AM, felser said:

Zappa estate coming out with a 4CD/1BR box of 1972 recordings, centered around the sessions for 'Waka/Jawaka' and 'The Grand Wazoo'.  Sounds really good, the only other giant box besides the 'Hot Rats' one I would consider a 'must have'.  I'll watch prices and pre-order.  $60 list, so much better than normal in that regard for Zappa boxes.

https://theseconddisc.com/2022/10/18/it-just-might-be-a-one-shot-deal-zappas-1972-chronicled-on-new-cd-blu-ray-box-waka-wazoo/

also my fav Zappa "period" - will definitely go for this

also considering the recent 6CD "Erie" set

[BFrank]

That looks like a box worth having!

I was excited when they announced the Hot Rats box, but after streaming it a bit I was really disappointed by all the random noodling and excess studio chatter. I decided that I didn't need that one.

[felser]

9 hours ago, BFrank said:

That looks like a box worth having!

I was excited when they announced the Hot Rats box, but after streaming it a bit I was really disappointed by all the random noodling and excess studio chatter. I decided that I didn't need that one.

I got it used cheap, $50, and ended up being very pleased by it.  A lot of great music, though also a lot of what you mention.

[BFrank]

13 hours ago, felser said:

I got it used cheap, $50, and ended up being very pleased by it.  A lot of great music, though also a lot of what you mention.

Hot Rats? Good to know. If I find a cheap copy, maybe I'll grab it.

[Jim Duckworth]

I'm all in on this and just glad there are no gimcracks and geegaws included.  I fervently hope that the next installment in this series features the Ponty/Duke/Underwood/Underwood/Fowler/Fowler etc band.

 

[felser]

5 hours ago, Jim Duckworth said:

 I fervently hope that the next installment in this series features the Ponty/Duke/Underwood/Underwood/Fowler/Fowler etc band.

Only time I ever saw Zappa live was that version of the band headlining the Spectrum in Philly April 28, 1973.  Opening act was John Hammond, solo with an acoustic guitar, sitting on a stool.  Second act was the classic Mahavishnu Orchestra (McLaughlin/Goodwin/Hammer/Laird/Cobham), who just killed it.  Zappa & Co. played great, but to my ears couldn't compare to Mahavishnu.  Quite a night.  Tickets in those days were like $5-$6!  Here's an article about the concert I found:

https://jrirwin.com/remembering-zappa-and-mahavishnu-at-the-spectrum/

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, felser said:

Only time I ever saw Zappa live was that version of the band headlining the Spectrum in Philly April 28, 1973.  Opening act was John Hammond, solo with an acoustic guitar, sitting on a stool.  Second act was the classic Mahavishnu Orchestra (McLaughlin/Goodwin/Hammer/Laird/Cobham), who just killed it.  Zappa & Co. played great, but to my ears couldn't compare to Mahavishnu.  Quite a night.  Tickets in those days were like $5-$6!  Here's an article about the concert I found:

https://jrirwin.com/remembering-zappa-and-mahavishnu-at-the-spectrum/

I saw that same combo at the Nassau Coliseum on 5/18/73; pretty sure that Leo Kottke opened instead of John Hammond.  Zappa debuted (at least to my ears) the songs that would appear on Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe.

[BFrank]

I saw FZ at UCLA when they recorded "Another Band from LA" - just before this period. But enjoyed him much better a few years later with Duke and that Roxy-era band.

 

[clifford_thornton]

16 hours ago, felser said:

Only time I ever saw Zappa live was that version of the band headlining the Spectrum in Philly April 28, 1973.  Opening act was John Hammond, solo with an acoustic guitar, sitting on a stool.  Second act was the classic Mahavishnu Orchestra (McLaughlin/Goodwin/Hammer/Laird/Cobham), who just killed it.  Zappa & Co. played great, but to my ears couldn't compare to Mahavishnu.  Quite a night.  Tickets in those days were like $5-$6!  Here's an article about the concert I found:

https://jrirwin.com/remembering-zappa-and-mahavishnu-at-the-spectrum/

crazy stuff with Zappa writing new material in the green room, not to be outdone by McLaughlin & Co.. wow.

[Д.Д.]

Ruth Underwood (Zappa's percussionist in the '70s) mentioned that Zappa's decision to add a second drummer (Chester Thompson) in '73 was probably influenced by him seeing Billy Cobham live.    

[mjzee]

You also have to wonder if this dual tour is where Cosmik Debris came from.

[Д.Д.]

Zappa discussing McLaughlin a bit in '73: 

I very much doubt that Zappa liked McLaughlin's playing or writing. There are a couple of studio solos he plays where he does sound McLaughlinish, and these are boring solos (by FZ standards - I'd still prefer those to Mahavishnu-era McLaughlin). Here is one:

Well, Zappa himself said that he rarely managed a good guitar solo in studio. 

He admired Allan Holdsworth, though (and plugged him on every occasion in the '80s) . 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Д.Д.

[Jim Duckworth]

Catching this band on March 6, 1973 as a 16 year old was a game changer for me.  By the time I saw the next iteration of the band, the next year, I too had seen Mahavishnu and was a bit more worldly.  

I never cared for Over-nite Sensation...I was expecting something more like what I had experienced when I was 16...

[felser]

2 hours ago, Jim Duckworth said:

I never cared for Over-nite Sensation...I was expecting something more like what I had experienced when I was 16...

Same here (I like Apostrophe quite a bit more).  To have all that firepower in that band and to use it to make AOR songs with dirty jokes is such a waste, and such a fall from what he was doing the year before, though he reached sales levels he had probably never imagined (or maybe he had, and that was the point of the album).

[T.D.]

3 minutes ago, felser said:

Same here (I like Apostrophe quite a bit more).  To have all that firepower in that band and to use it to make AOR songs with dirty jokes is such a waste, and such a fall from what he was doing the year before, though he reached sales levels he had probably never imagined (or maybe he had, and that was the point of the album).

Very much agreed. 

[Jim Duckworth]

4 hours ago, felser said:

To have all that firepower in that band and to use it to make AOR songs with dirty jokes is such a waste, and such a fall from what he was doing the year before, though he reached sales levels he had probably never imagined (or maybe he had, and that was the point of the album).

My attitude exactly.

[JSngry]

And yet audiences responded.

Me, I lost interest and never really got it back. It's like he was trying to have it both ways, rock star and serious composer, but wasn't comfortable with the dichotomy.

Oh well. 

 

[felser]

47 minutes ago, JSngry said:

And yet audiences responded.

Me, I lost interest and never really got it back. It's like he was trying to have it both ways, rock star and serious composer, but wasn't comfortable with the dichotomy.

Oh well. 

1973 was a lousy year for rock music in a lot of ways, quality fell off a cliff.  Horribly disappoint album by the Allman Bros. (Brothers and Sisters - hope I never hear "Rambin' Man" again), horribly disappointing album by the Rolling Stones (Goat's Head Soup), horribly disappointing album by Chicago (VI), horrible album by Grand Funk (We're An American Band), etc.  Good year for Soul/R&B, but rock fell off a cliff.  Over-Nite Sensation fit right in with the slop.

[JSngry]

What GFR album is NOT horrible? 

[T.D.]

13 minutes ago, JSngry said:

What GFR album is NOT horrible? 

I dunno, but when I was in middle school I really liked the abbreviated version of this tune, which was a 45 (this longer version is also good IMO and got airplay on AOR stations) :

But I disliked everything else I heard from GFR, and never listened to any full album.

[felser]

They definitely changed direction post-Terry Knight.  I actually quite enjoy the Terry Knight-era albums (their first ones), especially their second, just called "Grand Funk".  Granted, I was in the perfect age group for that response to those albums (14 years old in 1969), and I'm not saying they're really good or anything, just that I really like them.  They're fun to me.  Regardless of whether you like the original albums or not, "We're an American Band" the album is quite a different beast.  And "We're an American Band" the song is misogynist AOR garbage - another one of those songs I hope I never hear again.

Edited October 25, 2022 by felser

[mjzee]

And then there was this, produced by FZ:

[felser]

And then they broke up (for a while).