FZ6
The Complete Works of Frank Zappa -- an American Composer (1940-1993) (Part 6) [by Lewis Saul]
1984-1987
41. Them or Us (2LP, Barking Pumpkin SVBO-74200, October 18, 1984)
This fantastic 2LP set, opens with a cover of The Channels's 1956 hit, The Closer You Are (2:55).
In France (3:30) features Zappa's childhood idol, Johnny Guitar Watson, singing about Zappa's generalizations about the French
In France (3:30) features Zappa's childhood idol, Johnny Guitar Watson, singing about Zappa's generalizations about the French
The girls is all salty
The boys is all sweet
The food ain't too shabby
An' they piss in the street
The boys is all sweet
The food ain't too shabby
An' they piss in the street
Ya Hozna (6:26) features backwards music:
If those hideous Christians want to have a law in Congress that says you can't put anything backwards on a record, well, how 'bout a record that's got it all backwards? -- FZ
Sharleena (#11) (4:33) features a 15-year-old Dweezil Zappa playing a nice guitar solo.
Sinister Footwear II (8:39) (from the unreleased three-movement ballet, performed in Berkeley on June 16, 1984) is stitched together from two separate performances in Maryland and Germany.
Truck Driver Divorce (8:59) is a country tune. Why not?
Sinister Footwear II (8:39) (from the unreleased three-movement ballet, performed in Berkeley on June 16, 1984) is stitched together from two separate performances in Maryland and Germany.
Truck Driver Divorce (8:59) is a country tune. Why not?
Truck driver divorce!
It's very sad
Steel guitars
Usually weep all over it
It's very sad
Steel guitars
Usually weep all over it
Stevie's Spanking (5:23) concerns Mr. Vai's sexual proclivities.
Baby, Take Your Teeth Out (1:54). Leave 'em on the kitchen table.
Marque-son's Chicken (7:33) is a masterpiece of Zappa's odd time signatures writing. Recorded somewhere in Europe in June or July of 1982, with FZ's scorching guitar solo from London spliced in. This is awesome music!
Planet of My Dreams (1:37) is a faux-Broadway song, with rare lyrics of pleading sincerity. Vocals -- Bob Harris:
Baby, Take Your Teeth Out (1:54). Leave 'em on the kitchen table.
Marque-son's Chicken (7:33) is a masterpiece of Zappa's odd time signatures writing. Recorded somewhere in Europe in June or July of 1982, with FZ's scorching guitar solo from London spliced in. This is awesome music!
Planet of My Dreams (1:37) is a faux-Broadway song, with rare lyrics of pleading sincerity. Vocals -- Bob Harris:
The planet of my dreams
The EARTH, my EARTH
Is bulging at the seams
The EARTH, my EARTH
It's full of my schemes
And as the sunlight beams
The glory of our sciences
And militant alliances
Reveal their BASIC WORTH
Along the mounds of dead appliances!
The EARTH, my EARTH
Is bulging at the seams
The EARTH, my EARTH
It's full of my schemes
And as the sunlight beams
The glory of our sciences
And militant alliances
Reveal their BASIC WORTH
Along the mounds of dead appliances!
Be in My Video (3:39):
You can listen to a good record hundreds of times and still like it. You can watch a video maybe six times and it's boring ... it is (usually by intent) just a commercial for a record. Some people have the nerve to think of this as VIDEO ART. These same people think of Cabbage Patch dolls as a revolutionary form of "soft sculpture." -- FZ
Them or Us (5:23). Guitar solo from The Black Page #2 (#23).
Frogs with Dirty Little Lips (2:42) ... lyrics by young Ahmet, fixed up a little by Frank ...
Whipping Post (7:32). See here for the complete story.
Frogs with Dirty Little Lips (2:42) ... lyrics by young Ahmet, fixed up a little by Frank ...
Whipping Post (7:32). See here for the complete story.
42. Francesco Zappa (LP, Barking Pumpkin SKCO-74202, November 21, 1984)
The only Frank Zappa record with nothing written by Frank Zappa on it!
Francesco Zappa (1717-1803) was an Italian cellist and composer who lived most of his life in The Hague.
One can only imagine how excited Frank was to learn that someone had dug up some old parts of his chamber music from a music library!
Since the harmonies could only be deduced by reading the figured bass from the cello parts, Zappa hired David Ocker (see #39) to realize the music.
Francesco Zappa (1717-1803) was an Italian cellist and composer who lived most of his life in The Hague.
One can only imagine how excited Frank was to learn that someone had dug up some old parts of his chamber music from a music library!
Since the harmonies could only be deduced by reading the figured bass from the cello parts, Zappa hired David Ocker (see #39) to realize the music.
I knew enough about 18th century notation to enter them into the Synclavier. The music would not be readable by an average musician today. Frank set me to work on this and I did the most authentic job I could with them. Using genuine string-like synth sounds, adding crescendos and diminuendos ... When it came time to recording them the sound was far too staid and old-fashioned for Frank. He started substituting the most uproarious synthesizer sounds then available ... instantly obscuring all the nuances I'd added and blurring much of what Francesco himself had written. Some of the combinations he tried in the studio were even more outlandish than what ended up on the record. -- DO
43. Thing-Fish (3LP, Barking Pumpkin SKCO-74201, November 21, 1984)
In a 90-period from late August to November 1984, Zappa released seven discs of "new" material! (#40-43).
This 3LP set of a soundtrack for an unproduced Broadway musical did recycle a few old tracks, layering in new material and adding Synclavier in parts.
The storyline satirizes Broadway theatre, AIDS, eugenics, conspiracy theories, feminism, homosexuality and African American culture. An evil, racist prince/theatre critic creates a disease intended to eradicate Blacks and homosexuals. The disease is tested on prisoners who are turned into "Mammy Nuns" led by the story's narrator, Thing-Fish (derived from Kingfish). Within the story's framework is a subplot involving a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant couple, Harry and Rhonda, who attend a play by the Mammy Nuns and find themselves confronted with their pasts: Harry as a homosexual boy and Rhonda as a sex doll brought to life.
Zappa failed to raise the $5 million needed to bring it to life, but someone else actually pulled it off in 2003. What a shame Frank didn't live to see it.
This 3LP set of a soundtrack for an unproduced Broadway musical did recycle a few old tracks, layering in new material and adding Synclavier in parts.
The storyline satirizes Broadway theatre, AIDS, eugenics, conspiracy theories, feminism, homosexuality and African American culture. An evil, racist prince/theatre critic creates a disease intended to eradicate Blacks and homosexuals. The disease is tested on prisoners who are turned into "Mammy Nuns" led by the story's narrator, Thing-Fish (derived from Kingfish). Within the story's framework is a subplot involving a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant couple, Harry and Rhonda, who attend a play by the Mammy Nuns and find themselves confronted with their pasts: Harry as a homosexual boy and Rhonda as a sex doll brought to life.
Zappa failed to raise the $5 million needed to bring it to life, but someone else actually pulled it off in 2003. What a shame Frank didn't live to see it.
44. The Old Masters Box One (7LP, Barking Pumpkin BPR-7777, April 19, 1985)
The lawsuit. FZ gets his masters back. Here he releases seven discs (note the catalog number -- 7777, Box Two will feature 8 discs (8888) and Box Three 9 discs (9999) ...
Here we have pristine vinyl of #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and parts of #71.
For reasons which seemed curious, Barrow and Wackerman overdubbed new bass and drum parts to #3 and #5. The fans were furious. It would take a few years, but Zappa eventually restored the original sound, leaving his explanation about oxide dropouts to be untrue (it probably had more to do with his feuding with the original Mothers, which was settled in another lawsuit) ...
In any case, the fans had the opportunity to plunk down $100 to get albums that had been difficult to find at the time.
Here we have pristine vinyl of #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and parts of #71.
For reasons which seemed curious, Barrow and Wackerman overdubbed new bass and drum parts to #3 and #5. The fans were furious. It would take a few years, but Zappa eventually restored the original sound, leaving his explanation about oxide dropouts to be untrue (it probably had more to do with his feuding with the original Mothers, which was settled in another lawsuit) ...
In any case, the fans had the opportunity to plunk down $100 to get albums that had been difficult to find at the time.
45. Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention (LP, Barking Pumpkin ST-74203, November 21, 1985)
Watching Frank testify up on Capitol Hill, you just knew that something amazing was going to come out of all this craziness -- musically, speaking.
We're Turning Again (4:55) has Zappa name-checking Donovan, Hendrix, Morrison, Mama Cass, Joplin and Moon:
We're Turning Again (4:55) has Zappa name-checking Donovan, Hendrix, Morrison, Mama Cass, Joplin and Moon:
They took a whole bunch of acid
So they could see where it's at
(It's over there, over there
Over there, over there
And under here also)
So they could see where it's at
(It's over there, over there
Over there, over there
And under here also)
Alien Orifice (4:10) is an instrumental from the eight-piece '81-'82 band which sounds like a bunch of Mexican Jumping Beans having a great time. Zappa's solo is great.
Yo Cats (3:33) is about overpaid studio musicians and the union.
What's New in Baltimore? (5:20) is another masterful performance by the '81-'82 band, put together from at least three separate edits.
Yo Cats (3:33) is about overpaid studio musicians and the union.
What's New in Baltimore? (5:20) is another masterful performance by the '81-'82 band, put together from at least three separate edits.
Little Beige Sambo (3:02) -- a Synclavier composition -- is a torrent of notes which is a tribute to Conlon Nancarrow.
Porn Wars (12:05) combines the Senate hearings testimony encased in an appropriate musical landscape.
Aerobics in Bondage (3:16) -- another Synclavier composition.
Additional tracks on CD release:
I Don't Even Care (4:39) -- with Johnny Guitar Watson.
One Man, One Vote (2:35) -- Synclavier.
H.R. 2911 (3:35) -- some of the music heard in Porn Wars.
Aerobics in Bondage (3:16) -- another Synclavier composition.
Additional tracks on CD release:
I Don't Even Care (4:39) -- with Johnny Guitar Watson.
One Man, One Vote (2:35) -- Synclavier.
H.R. 2911 (3:35) -- some of the music heard in Porn Wars.
46. Does Humor Belong in Music? (CD, EMI CDP 7 46188 2, UK, January 27, 1986)
47. The Old Masters Box Two (8LP, Barking Pumpkin BPR-8888, November 25, 1986)
One of the only live releases featuring the fabulous '84 band.
Some new recordings of old tunes: Zoot Allures (5:26); Tinsel-Town Rebellion (4:44); Trouble Every Day (5:31); Penguin in Bondage (6:45); What's New in Baltimore? (4:48); WPLJ (1:31); and Whipping Post (8:23), with Dweezil.
New: Hot-Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel (6:43)
Some new recordings of old tunes: Zoot Allures (5:26); Tinsel-Town Rebellion (4:44); Trouble Every Day (5:31); Penguin in Bondage (6:45); What's New in Baltimore? (4:48); WPLJ (1:31); and Whipping Post (8:23), with Dweezil.
New: Hot-Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel (6:43)
Republicans is fine
If you're a multi-millionaire
Democrats is fair
If all you own is what you wear
Neither of 'em's REALLY right
'Cause neither of 'em CARE
'Bout that Hot-Plate Heaven
'Cause they ain't been there
If you're a multi-millionaire
Democrats is fair
If all you own is what you wear
Neither of 'em's REALLY right
'Cause neither of 'em CARE
'Bout that Hot-Plate Heaven
'Cause they ain't been there
Cock-Suckers' Ball (trad., 1:05) -- check out the original by The Clovers (1954)!
Let's Move to Cleveland (15:43) -- one of the last important rock-band compositions to appear until the '88 band.
Let's Move to Cleveland (15:43) -- one of the last important rock-band compositions to appear until the '88 band.
#7-12, 14, parts of 71.
48. Jazz From Hell (LP, Barking Pumpkin ST-74205, November 25, 1986)
FZ's final studio album (excluding #65, released posthumously).
Nothing but gold, through and through. Everything except St. Etienne (6:26, 1982) is from the Synclavier.
Zappa could now compose music so complex that it could never be performed by human musicians. For the time being, the fans who really knew what was happenin' ...
Nothing but gold, through and through. Everything except St. Etienne (6:26, 1982) is from the Synclavier.
Zappa could now compose music so complex that it could never be performed by human musicians. For the time being, the fans who really knew what was happenin' ...
49. Joe's Garage Acts I, II & III (2LP, Barking Pumpkin SWCL 74206, 1987)
#28 and 29 together, at last.
50. London Symphony Orchestra Vol. II (LP, Barking Pumpkin SJ-74207, September 17, 1987)
The remaining releasable material from the LSO sessions features just four tracks: Bogus Pomp (24:32); Bob in Dacron, First Movement (5:38), Bob in Dacron, Second Movement (6:35); and Strictly Genteel (6:53). FZ's attempt to "cover up" all the mistakes meant that this release was still awash in reverb. He'd finally fix that on #66.
Comments