Who IS Frank Zappa

presdoug wrote: Hate to say this, but despite his great image as a "merciless critic of the right", Frank Zappa  was a card carrying, dues paying member of the NRA. Oh, well, nobody is perfect. He still had a unique invective.

 

Edited by moshkito - December 30 2012 at 13:20

few days ago I started to listening to "the best of... Frank Zappa". Absolutely incredible! 

darkshade wrote: At least 3-4 more are supposed to be out within the next year or so, including the Roxy performances

Don't count on it. They set up a ridiculous scheme to finance it, which revolves around selling the masters to a 'preview' CD to 1000 people for 1000 bucks, so that those guys can distribute them. Which might sound clever at first, but then you start to think about the quantities that these people would have to sell just to break even and realize that the whole thing can never work. There are maybe 20,000-30,000 people in the world who would want to buy this CD, probably less considering that a film version of it is supposed to be released next year. This amounts to 20-30 people per distributor at best. And from the looks of it, the ZFT is relying on the 1 million bucks they expect from selling these masters to finish the film.

Frank Zappa passed away 19 years ago today.  I remember I was at work when I got a call from my friend telling me the news.  There was a friend at work I had just "turned on" to Zappa's work, and I went over and told her, "Frank's dead."  We both commiserated a while, consoled a bit by the fact that he produced a LOT of music in his lifetime, much of which had not even yet been released.  There would be more, and in a way he would live on.

12/21/1940 - 12/4/1993  RIP.

Zappa (and The Mothers) were relatively popular in the 60s and 70s (and 80s?). It doesn't seem like it when you read the history of music at that time, but every time I do a little research, FZ was quite the household name.

I think the best place to start is FREAK OUT.This is the album that was a MAJOR influence on the Beatles SGT. PEPPER.The album itself like many of Zappa's is a social commentary on California society as well as a heavy critique of corporate America.The production is ragged,the music sometimes out of time and tune...all elements of the best music that came out of the 60's! lol
Zappa is very difficult to get into initially because of his non-commitment to commercial music and his incredibly complex and off beat harmonic musical mind.He is an incedible guitar player and a great intellect.In my op' Zappa,Mike Oldfield and Brian Wilson can be considered the grand old men of symphonic rock

Canterzeuhl wrote: So if I wanted the version of 'We're Only in it for the Money' with uncensored lyrics in the 'Mother People' song, where could I get that? Have those lyrics been restored in this remastering?

There is no uncensored version of the original "Mother People" mix without the overdubs. There never has been. There's an alternative mix on the Mothermania album (available for download on zappa.com and soon to be released on CD as part of the reissue program) that includes the uncensored verse but is different in some aspects. The 1986 remix with the overdubbed drums and bass tracks has the uncensored lyrics, but of course it also has rhythm tracks that were recorded 17 years after the original album. It's out of print, so you'll have to look around for a copy. The current version is the same as the original album, with the original instruments and the censored verse. In fact this album hasn't been remastered at all for the reissue campaign. And I very much doubt that it would still be possible at this point to create a version with the original lyrics, because the tapes - which were already in bad shape in 1986 -  are probably completely degraded at this point.

Edit: Right, the Lumpy Money box set has the 1986 remix as well.

darkshade wrote: I still have a problem with those albums that came from Lather (Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt, Orchestral Favorites (FZNY being an exception)). I still think Lather is the man's ultimate masterpiece, and to break it up into other albums (6 albums if you include Shiek Yer Bouti and Joe's Garage as they have material also featured on Lather), is terrible. Sure, OF, SD, and FZNY have stuff not on Lather, and vis-versa, but those pieces could have made up a whole new album anyway.

They don't just have tracks that are not on Läther, most of the songs are also present in different mixes or entirely different recordings. For example, Sleep Dirt is still the only place where you can get the full-length versions of Filthy Habits, Flambay and The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution. The versions on Läther are all drastically cut, in the case of Ocean by about five minutes.

As great as Läther is in aggregate, it still doesn't erase the purpose of the original albums.


Edited by HarbouringTheSoul - October 16 2012 at 15:56

I still have a problem with those albums that came from Lather (Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt, Orchestral Favorites (FZNY being an exception)). I still think Lather is the man's ultimate masterpiece, and to break it up into other albums (6 albums if you include Shiek Yer Bouti and Joe's Garage as they have material also featured on Lather), is terrible. Sure, OF, SD, and FZNY have stuff not on Lather, and vis-versa, but those pieces could have made up a whole new album anyway.

darkshade wrote: This one intrigues me: Sleep Dirt Analog transfer by Joe Travers 2012. Re-mastered by Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering 2012. Now without vocals and drum overdubs!

I love how all the reviews on PA that dock points for the vocals now make no sense anymore.

They're toying with you, to make sure you really want it.