The Zappa Thread

[Mosh]

Glad you're enjoying! Hot Rats is one of the best, I always love listening to it.

[Cyclopssss]

Thouroughly enjoying Buffalo at the moment!

[darkshade]

Buffalo is one of my favorite posthumous releases. The band is so tight, Frank is ON during this show.

I've been thinking about Roxy By Proxy, this is something I've been looking forward to ever since I got into Zappa. Roxy & Elsewhere is one of those Zappa albums I listened to so much that I burnt myself out on them and couldn't listen to them again the same way for a long time.

It's rumored that Madrid '88 is the next ZFT release, followed by a 1973 Road Tapes vol.2. One more album and then Dance Me This official release #100. Do you think the ZFT will put out 5 new albums by the end of 2013? It'd be like FZ was back again!

[Cyclopssss]

Philly ´76 isn´t bad either! 

[darkshade]

Philly ´76 isn´t bad either! 

The most funky Zappa since the 73-74 bands.

[sueño]

In honor of the passing of a former Zappa collaborator, I submit these videos of George Duke:

Always loved his contribution to Frank Zappa's band...

...Village of The Sun / Echidna's Arf (Of You) & Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEZwa1Funh0     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT6I3ZJeme4

[Nihil-Morari]

Both an awesome, awesome new release (maybe even my favourite Zappa release of all time?!) and a great way to say goodbye to 'The Man With The Gorilla Suit On'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cy1WJSPaCU

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I played Mr. Big on the jukebox at the bar recently.  Some dude asked me who it was.  This turned into a discussion about virtuoso guitarists and such and the guy asked if I like Zappa.  I only know the few Zappa songs I may ever hear on the radio.  He insisted that I get Over-Nite Sensation and listen to it.  Thoughts?

[Mosh]

I agree with that guy. Overnite is one of Zappa's best albums, lots of tasty guitar playing.

[Orbert]

Also, it's primarily "song-based" and the songs themselves are pretty accessible, especially by Zappa standards, so it's a good starting point.

[Podaar]

Over-nite Sensation is a great Zappa album but only Zombie Woof and Montana really showcase guitar playing. I'd recommend it highly to you mostly because I believe your sense of humor would really be tickled by Dina-Moe Humm and maybe Camarillo Brillo.

Joe's Garage probably has my favorite guitar work from Frank but if you're not overly familiar with Frank and enjoy his satirical side then you'd probably find long stretches of WTF!?

I'll have to give this some extra thought.

[edit]Added a hyphen to the album title so as not to be berated for improper spelling by a certain board member[/edit]

[sueño]

Also, it's primarily "song-based" and the songs themselves are pretty accessible, especially by Zappa standards, so it's a good starting point.

Hey -- you saw the bit about George Duke's passing, didn't you?  A real loss. 

[Mosh]

Overnite Sensation is a great Zappa album but only Zombie Woof and Montana really showcase guitar playing. I'd recommend it highly to you mostly because I believe your sense of humor would really be tickled by Dina-Moe Humm and maybe Camarillo Brillo.

I dunno about that, I'm The Slime has some really good guitar playing, even if it isn't long soloing. And don't forget Fifty-Fifty, which is one of my favorite Zappa solo sections.

Joe's Garage probably has my favorite guitar work from Frank but if you're not overly familiar with Frank and enjoy his satirical side then you'd probably find long stretches of WTF!?

Watermelon In Easter Hay has my favorite guitar playing. Rest of the album is a bit of a let down for me though, except for Act I, which is pretty awesome. Would've liked more guitar playing and less story.

[Podaar]

And don't forget Fifty-Fifty, which is one of my favorite Zappa solo sections.

  I hate going by memory from work! I completely forgot about Fifty-Fifty.

I get the criticism of Joe's Garage and why it's not on a lot of fan's radar but I really dig his dreamy melancholy lead in Outside Now from Act II and all of Act III up to A Little Green Rosetta.

[Orbert]

Also, it's primarily "song-based" and the songs themselves are pretty accessible, especially by Zappa standards, so it's a good starting point.

Hey -- you saw the bit about George Duke's passing, didn't you?  A real loss. 

Yeah, I listened to Roxy & Elsewhere in honor of George.  I was going to post that I'd done so, but that seemed kinda lame, so I didn't.  But it was good.  George was so cool.

And I'm old enough, I'd heard of George Duke and knew his work before being turned on to Zappa, so discovering that he'd played with Frank in the 70's was awesome.

[Nihil-Morari]

That's awesome, that you knew him before he joined Zappa.

[Orbert]

That's almost, but not quite what I said.  I was familiar with George before I was familiar with Frank, but not before they'd actually joined up.

My first Zappa was One Size Fits All in 1975, but this was before I was buying albums.  I heard it on The Midnight Album Hour on our local radio station and always remembered "Po-Jama People" and "Evelyn, A Modified Dog" because they cracked me up.  I did not know at the time who George was or that he played on that album.  I didn't buy my first Zappa until Sheik Yerbouti in 1979.  By then, I was familiar with George Duke's fusion/funk stuff like Reach for It and Faces in Reflection which came out in the mid 70's.

A friend of mine thought Sheik Yerbouti was awesome and went to get some Zappa, and got Roxy & Elsewhere.  George Duke of course is on that album, which was pretty cool.  This inspired me to dig further into Frank's earlier 70's stuff (which I probably would have done anyway) and found that George was on a lot of it.

[Mosh]

One Size Fits All was my first album too! 

I still love it, but as far as those classic 70's albums goes, it's kinda at the bottom of my rankings.

[Orbert]

Yeah, One Size Fits All was towards the end of that era, of that chapter in the Zappa chronology.  But it's still pretty awesome IMO, and I'll always have a soft spot for it.  You never forget your first.

[Mosh]

Yea I feel the same way. I always listen to it and think, "Wow, I had no idea what I was getting into." 

The studio albums tend to be a level below the live albums anyway. The live stuff is where it's at, especially during that era. Lots of my favorite tracks from the 70's like Montana, Inca Roads, and Black Napkins all have superior live versions.

[Ultimetalhead]

My favorite guitar work of Zappa's mostly appears on Apostrophe, I've noticed. Nanook Rubs It is full of absolutely delicious licks, and Cosmik Debris and Stinkfoot both have fabulous solos. And the title track is a wonder of jammy goodness.

[Cyclopssss]

Have you heard the news?
What news? Can´t afford a paper!
Can´t afford no shoes....
Hii Yaahaa

One size fits all is a fantastic album.

[Lucidity]

Just bought Hot Rats at a local record store   

[DebraKadabra]

https://barfkoswill.shop.musictoday.com/Dept.aspx?cp=971_62209

Roxy By Proxy coming September 20th. Looks like it's the real deal this time.

Nice and all but I WANT VIDEO DAMMIT!!!
 
I also listened to part of Playground Psychotics and all of Roxy and Elsewhere in honor of George Duke.  RIP, man...

[darkshade]

Just bought Hot Rats at a local record store   

Good job. I recently listened to the 2012 UMe Hot Rats, and I was really diggin' it. I've had the 80s remix one for years, and couldn't quite get into the new version with the analog/vinyl mix because I was so used to the remix version, though I enjoyed the fact that it was different. But now the original vinyl version clicked, I understand those who can't get into the remix version.

[Nihil-Morari]

So Roxy By Proxy (the album prequel to the actual movie) is being delayed every week. I still doubt if we'll ever get to see the movie.

The good news is: a Finnish show from 73 (with Jean Luc Ponty) has been announced (and I think even already released) as the second part of the Road Tapes series. That should be a great show, that band is great, and known for a famous video bootleg from that same tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKpd0l-O77U Really a great show to watch, full TV special, an hour long great Zappa music live.

And then this:

I found this on a shelf in a record store, the people there didn't know it was Zappa, it doesn't even say it on the box, but it turns out (and this is had me bouncing) that it's a very rare 10LP box set, it came out right before the You Can't Do That... series, and it was said back then that is was a better set than those CD's. There are a couple of complete shows from 68 all the wat up to tracks from 85. So a very diverse box set.
And the best thing is: they didn't know what it was so I got it for only 50 euro's, apparently it's being sold on ebay for over 4 times as much. 

[bout to crash]

Holy crap!!

[Nihil-Morari]

It's even better than I thought. The sound quality is off the hook. Incredible LP with the Flo and Eddie band, I'm guessing much earlier in the tour than Fillmore, the dialogues aren't as crazy as later. The 68-69 band double LP sounds like any officially released album from that time, and has some awesome stuff like 'The Duke', which later became 'Little House I Used To Live In' and 'The String Quartet' as some sort of 24 minute Uncle Meat Medley.
I haven't even listen to anything but man this is awesome.

[bout to crash]

Awesome!! Gots to start searching the record stores...

[Orbert]

Wow, I'd forgotten about The Mystery Box.  I remember it coming out, and it's pretty much what you've described.  I'm not surprised that some people have no idea what it is, even people who work in used record stores.  Good find!

[CharlieDominietzsche]

Has anyone else heard The Yellow Shark? This has to be the hidden gem of Zappa's career. It's one of the best sounding orchestral recordings I've ever heard, and the renditions of Dog Breath, Uncle Meat, Be-Bop Tango, Pound For A Brown, and G-Spot Tornado are delightful.

[Orbert]

I have it.  It's good stuff. 

[Cyclopssss]

So, where's Roxy? 

[Orbert]

[Mosh]

 

Last email from the ZFT said that it ships in January, so maybe won't be so far away. But then again, it's the ZFT.

Has anyone else heard The Yellow Shark? This has to be the hidden gem of Zappa's career. It's one of the best sounding orchestral recordings I've ever heard, and the renditions of Dog Breath, Uncle Meat, Be-Bop Tango, Pound For A Brown, and G-Spot Tornado are delightful.

I have it, one of the better classical Zappas. It's really nice that Zappa got see a classical performance of his work that he could be satisfied with during his lifetime and the song list is really killer. The liner notes are also really great, very thorough and gives a good look at what the preparation was like.

As for hidden gem, with a discography as large as Frank's, there are a lot. I don't see a lot of people talk about Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention; I think that's a fine album.