FZ5
The Complete Works of Frank Zappa -- an American Composer (1940-1993) (Part 5) [by Lewis Saul]
1981-1984
31. Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More (LP, Barking Pumpkin BPR 1112, May 11, 1981)
Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression (3:58) is from City of Tiny Lites/Santa Monica/2-11-80
Gee, I Like Your Pants (2:35) is from Inca Roads/London/2-18-79
Canarsie (6:05) is from London/2-19-79/overdubs: Spring '79
Ship Ahoy (5:20) is from the coda of Zoot Allures/Osaka/2-3-76
The Deathless Horsie (6:20) is from London/2-19-79
Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More (6:53) is from Inca Roads/London/2-18-79 (early show)
Pink Napkins (4:38) is from Black Napkins/London/2-17-77
Gee, I Like Your Pants (2:35) is from Inca Roads/London/2-18-79
Canarsie (6:05) is from London/2-19-79/overdubs: Spring '79
Ship Ahoy (5:20) is from the coda of Zoot Allures/Osaka/2-3-76
The Deathless Horsie (6:20) is from London/2-19-79
Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More (6:53) is from Inca Roads/London/2-18-79 (early show)
Pink Napkins (4:38) is from Black Napkins/London/2-17-77
32. Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (LP, Barking Pumpkin BPR 1113, May 11, 1981)
Beat it with Your Fist (1:58) is from The Torture Never Stops/NYC/10-30-80
Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (8:30) is from Inca Roads/London/2-19-79
Pinocchio's Furniture (2:05) is from Chunga's Revenge/Berkeley/2-5-80 (early show)
Why Johnny Can't Read (4:15) is from Pound for a Brown/London/2-17-79
Stucco Homes (9:08) is xenochronic: drum track recorded Spring '79; overdubs at UMRK in Autumn '79
Canard du Jour (9:57) is from a 1972 jam with FZ on bouzouki; Jean-Luc Ponty on baritone violin.
Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (8:30) is from Inca Roads/London/2-19-79
Pinocchio's Furniture (2:05) is from Chunga's Revenge/Berkeley/2-5-80 (early show)
Why Johnny Can't Read (4:15) is from Pound for a Brown/London/2-17-79
Stucco Homes (9:08) is xenochronic: drum track recorded Spring '79; overdubs at UMRK in Autumn '79
Canard du Jour (9:57) is from a 1972 jam with FZ on bouzouki; Jean-Luc Ponty on baritone violin.
33. Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Box Set (#30-32) (3LP, Barking Pumpkin WTX 3823CBS 66368, 1981)
34. Tinsel Town Rebellion (2LP, Barking Pumpkin PW2 37336, May 11, 1981)
Some new talent: Steve Vai now playing "stunt guitar" (parts too hard for FZ to play); Arthur Barrow (bass); and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), and a huge band filled with keyboards and percussion and more guitars -- Zappa was now having fun blending older and newer material.
Fine Girl (3:31) is the only studio cut. Bob Harris #2 sings falsetto (#2, because there was another Bob Harris who played during the "Turtles" era.
Easy Meat (9:19) is from three different concerts -- Tower Theater, 4-29-80; Royce Hall, 9-18-75 (see #27); and Santa Monica, 12-11-80.
The oldies Love of My Life (2:15); I Ain't Got No Heart (1:59); and Tell Me You Love Me (2:07) are all from Berkeley, 12-5-80.
The Blue Light (5:27) is edited from two different performances six days apart: Berkeley, 12-5-80 and Santa Monica 12-11-80. It's hard to believe such a fantastic composition only shows up one more time: on #122 ...
The dark Bamboozled by Love (5:46) precedes the final Brown Shoes Don't Make It (7:14) and Peaches III (5:01) [third recording, following #8 and #12) ...
Fine Girl (3:31) is the only studio cut. Bob Harris #2 sings falsetto (#2, because there was another Bob Harris who played during the "Turtles" era.
Easy Meat (9:19) is from three different concerts -- Tower Theater, 4-29-80; Royce Hall, 9-18-75 (see #27); and Santa Monica, 12-11-80.
The oldies Love of My Life (2:15); I Ain't Got No Heart (1:59); and Tell Me You Love Me (2:07) are all from Berkeley, 12-5-80.
The Blue Light (5:27) is edited from two different performances six days apart: Berkeley, 12-5-80 and Santa Monica 12-11-80. It's hard to believe such a fantastic composition only shows up one more time: on #122 ...
The dark Bamboozled by Love (5:46) precedes the final Brown Shoes Don't Make It (7:14) and Peaches III (5:01) [third recording, following #8 and #12) ...
35. You Are What You Is (2LP, Barking Pumpkin PW2 37537, September 23, 1981)
Two scrapped projects (Warts and All/Crush All Boxes) resulted in this 2LP masterpiece.
The 20 tracks make up three long suites: Teenagers (1-5); Drugs [The Beautiful Suite] (6-11); General Stupidity (12-20).
MTV refused to play the video of the title cut. Here it is:
The 20 tracks make up three long suites: Teenagers (1-5); Drugs [The Beautiful Suite] (6-11); General Stupidity (12-20).
MTV refused to play the video of the title cut. Here it is:
36. Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch (LP, Barking Pumpkin FW 38066, May 3, 1982)
Most teenagers probably love it when their dad leaves them alone. But Frank worked all night and was pretty much asleep when the kids were awake.
So 14-year-old Moon Unit (b. 1967) slipped a note under the studio door and asked Dad if they could jam sometime.
Thus Valley Girl (4:50) [video].
So 14-year-old Moon Unit (b. 1967) slipped a note under the studio door and asked Dad if they could jam sometime.
Thus Valley Girl (4:50) [video].
The other big deal is Drowning Witch (12:03), which -- after describing the scene on the album cover -- moves into deep exploration territory. Zappa claimed 15 edits.
37. Baby Snakes (LP, Barking Pumpkin BPR 1115, March 28, 1983)
Soundtrack to the film; originally released as a beautiful picture disc.
Punky's Whips (11:29) differs from the version on #23, with FZ doing the Don Pardo narration, among other things. There is some fantastic badass live playing here ...
Punky's Whips (11:29) differs from the version on #23, with FZ doing the Don Pardo narration, among other things. There is some fantastic badass live playing here ...
38. The Man From Utopia (LP, Barking Pumpkin FW 38403, March 28, 1983)
Sprechstimme, sprechgesang -- Zappa called it meltdown ...
The Dangerous Kitchen (2:51), The Jazz Discharge Party Hats (4:28), and The Radio is Broken (5:51) feature the technique of speech singing. Just to make it more interesting, Steve Vai overdubbed a guitar part which tracks Zappa's vocal note-for-note.
Both songs are hilarious.
The rest of the album is terrific. The CD release contained a bonus track, Luigi & the Wise Guys (3:24).
Both songs are hilarious.
The rest of the album is terrific. The CD release contained a bonus track, Luigi & the Wise Guys (3:24).
39. London Symphony Orchestra Vol. I (LP, Barking Pumpkin FW 38820, June 9, 1983)
Zappa's dream had come true, it would seem. The LSO playing his most complex and interesting orchestral scores -- what could be bad?
Unfortunately, despite a fine, committed conductor (Kent Nagano), disaster ensued and FZ found some of his most complicated music being cut from the recording; for example, the brilliant Mo 'n Herb's Vacation, First Movement (4:47), Mo 'n Herb's Vacation, Second Movement (10:04), and Mo 'n Herb's Vacation, Third Movement (12:50) -- left out much of the percussion writing because of difficulty coordinating the parts.
Nevertheless, it is an exciting work, featuring the amazing clarinet playing of David Ocker.
Worse, in Strictly Genteel (6:56; from #13, on #48), the trumpet section came back for the final takes after having visited a local pub during the break -- and their out-of-tune playing sabotaged one of FZ's most delightful orchestral romps.
At home with the tapes, Zappa set out to "fix" all the mistakes with all the production tricks he could think of -- ultimately "washing" all of the material with a reverb that hardly masked all the errors which bugged him so much.
Fortunately the 1995 CD release stripped away the reverb, enabling the listener to hear this music much more clearly.
This first volume also contains Sad Jane, First Movement (4:46), Sad Jane, Second Movement (5:04), Pedro's Dowry (10:25), and Envelopes (4:06) -- all magnificent orchestral compositions.
Unfortunately, despite a fine, committed conductor (Kent Nagano), disaster ensued and FZ found some of his most complicated music being cut from the recording; for example, the brilliant Mo 'n Herb's Vacation, First Movement (4:47), Mo 'n Herb's Vacation, Second Movement (10:04), and Mo 'n Herb's Vacation, Third Movement (12:50) -- left out much of the percussion writing because of difficulty coordinating the parts.
Nevertheless, it is an exciting work, featuring the amazing clarinet playing of David Ocker.
Worse, in Strictly Genteel (6:56; from #13, on #48), the trumpet section came back for the final takes after having visited a local pub during the break -- and their out-of-tune playing sabotaged one of FZ's most delightful orchestral romps.
At home with the tapes, Zappa set out to "fix" all the mistakes with all the production tricks he could think of -- ultimately "washing" all of the material with a reverb that hardly masked all the errors which bugged him so much.
Fortunately the 1995 CD release stripped away the reverb, enabling the listener to hear this music much more clearly.
This first volume also contains Sad Jane, First Movement (4:46), Sad Jane, Second Movement (5:04), Pedro's Dowry (10:25), and Envelopes (4:06) -- all magnificent orchestral compositions.
40. Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger (LP, Angel DS-38170, August 23, 1984)
The Perfect Stranger (12:44), Naval Aviation in Art (2:45), and and Dupree's Paradise (7:54) were conducted by Boulez with the fantastic Ensemble Intercontemporain; the other tracks are credited to The Barking Pumpkin Digital Gratification Consort (Zappa's Synclavier).
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