Who IS Frank Zappa

I also like to think that Feeding the Monkies At Ma Maison was a warm up release for Dance Me This. It makes no sense to withhold the album, as it's one of the few albums left that Frank created and intended to release, unlike Wazoo, Buffalo, One Shot Deal, Philly 76 (as great as those albums are), or the Joe's series, and Project/Object box-sets, which are hit-or-miss... And did we really need Understanding America, over Dance Me This??

You want to read some BS? http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/notes/Dance_Me_This.html


Edited by darkshade - December 18 2013 at 21:30

darkshade wrote: <span style="color: #BF0000">xxxthe barfiesps: Your next email from us concerns Roxy By Proxy ship date for January 2014. And Thank You!</span><span style="color: #BF0000">No explanation, no apologies... Is this all a trick to distract us from the fact that Dance Me This still hasn't been released? </span><span style="color: #BF0000"></span>

Lol. Quite glad I just ordered the Road Tape stuff and didn't wait for this to be released. I fully expect January to come and go before it's released.

And frankly, I think I rather have Dance Me This atm.

I'd guess maybe he was a little bit wary of performing for a while - never know when it might happen again (an attack by a fan).  After a fashion he got a personal bodyguard (forgot his name, but he can be seen in Baby Snakes), but I don't know when that occurred, and maybe that put him more at ease.

Edited by HolyMoly - December 18 2013 at 20:37

The Bearded Bard wrote: darkshade wrote: Anyone ever seen this? http://images.wikia.com/4chanmusic/images/4/4a/Frank_zappa_flowchart_2.pngIt's a flow chart of how to get into FZ. Personally, I'd connect Wazoo with the jazz, as a lot of his fusion stuff had classical bits too. It needs to be updated, but it serves its purpose. I almost wish I had one of these when I first got into Zappa. Noted! Added to my list of Zappa albums to get next.

Definitely get Wazoo. The first disc is mostly funky jazz-fusion, Zappa-style. The second disc is heavier on the 20th century classical, but still lots of fusion jams in between.

xxx
the barfies
ps: Your next email from us concerns Roxy By Proxy ship date for January 2014. And Thank You!

No explanation, no apologies... Is this all a trick to distract us from the fact that Dance Me This still hasn't been released?

Me neither. Farther Oblivion is only on posthumous albums or unofficial boots, and 5 out of the last 6 Zappa albums I've listened to have had it on there; it's quite intriguing hearing each version so different, yet familiar.


Edited by darkshade - December 17 2013 at 10:48

Continuing on. Doing the chronological marathon really lets you see (hear) Zappa's music open up from the late 60s Mothers, to the jazz and funk of 73/74. It's interesting to note how much he was working on Farther Oblivion (which would eventually split off and become Greggary Peccary, Be-bop Tango, and other pieces) and how he mixed in sections for improv, or changed where they happened and who took a solo. The earliest themes appear in the 60s, and more themes start taking shape in The Grand Wazoo on "For Calvin", and by the time the big band toured (Wazoo), Frank had put together this epic monster of a piece, at the time was over a half hour long. Through the Petite Wazoo tour, and the 73 tour with Jeal-Luc Ponty, the piece further evolved, and I'm guessing FZ chopped up the music again before the Roxy tour, as Be-Bop Tango became its own piece, but the themes that would be on Greggary Peccary were still being developed, and it doesn't seem like the piece was is on any more albums chronologically until Lather/Studio Tan. I must have listened to Farther Oblivion 5 times in the past week. It's such a complex piece (whether as Farther Oblivion, GP, or Be-Bop Tango), that I'm still digesting it. I like what it eventually became (mostly Bebop Tango and Greggary Peccary), but I enjoy the early versions that have much more improv in them.


Edited by darkshade - December 17 2013 at 08:41

That's a cool idea for an artist that certainly needs it. All my favorite artists certainly wouldn't need it. 

darkshade wrote: Anyone ever seen this? http://images.wikia.com/4chanmusic/images/4/4a/Frank_zappa_flowchart_2.png It's a flow chart of how to get into FZ. Personally, I'd connect Wazoo with the jazz, as a lot of his fusion stuff had classical bits too. It needs to be updated, but it serves its purpose. I almost wish I had one of these when I first got into Zappa.

Not bad.  Interesting that they picked Apostrophe as the catch-all to start with.  I wonder if that's where most people start out.

XMASage and Corsage both worth getting. I like listening to those early era albums for their 'quiet' ambiance, mixed with the rhythm&blues and doo-wop, which I find humorous. Mystery Disc is like that too, as well as some of MOFO and the first half of The Lost Episodes.