Zappa Plays Zappa — “Muffin Man”
From Frank/Beefheart’s ’75 album, Bongo Fury, “Muffin Man” has always been one of the most rippin’ songs. Here, Dweezil and the rest ZPZ just plow through the song.
Frank Zappa — “Montana”
From 8/21/73.
According to Barry Miles’ Zappa biography, Tina Turner was so impressed with a rough cut of the song, she volunteered herself and her backup singers to sing the “raising my lonely dental floss” backups on the song. Afterwards, Tina called her then-husband Ike Turner into the studio to listen. According to Miles, Ike listened for about a minute, declared “What the hell is this shit?”, and left.
They Said What?
“Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something.”
-Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa — “Muffin Man”
Frank was just a bad ass.
Frank Zappa — “Muffin Man”
“Girl you thought it was a man, but it was a muffin…”
Zappa Plays Zappa — “Village Of The Sun”
I wonder where Johnny Franklin is now…
Frank Zappa — Poughkeepsie, NY (9/21/1978)
01 Deathless Horsie
02 Dancin’ Fool
03 Easy Meat
04 Honey Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?
05 Keep It Greasey
06 Village Of The Sun
07 The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
08 City Of Tiny Lights
09 Pound For A Brown
10 Bobby Brown
11 Conehead
12 Mo’s Vacation
13 The Black Page
14 Is That Guy Kidding Or What?
15 I Have Been In You
16 Flakes
17 Magic Fingers
18 Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
19 Nanook Rubs It
20 St Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
21 Father O’Blivion
22 Rollo
23 Little House I Used To Live In
24 Tell Me You Love Me
25 Yo Mama
26 Black Napkins
RIP — Frank Zappa
Multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, Frank Zappa died of prostrate cancer on this date in 1993. Zappa recorded many albums with The Mothers Of Invention and solo, 1969 album ‘Hot Rats’, 1974 album ‘Apostrophe’, featuring ‘Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow’. His first band was The Blackouts, Zappa recorded one of the first concept albums, ‘Freak Out’.
Frank Zappa — Austin, TX (10/26/1973)
Cosmik Debris, Inca Roads, Pygmy Twylyte, Idiot Bastard, Son Of Cheepnis, Big Swifty, Dickie’s Such An Asshole, Father O’blivion, Son Of Mr Green Genes/King Kong/Chunga’s Revenge
Joe’s Garage Musical Opens In L.A.
From Rolling Stone:
Almost 30 years since the original release of Frank Zappa’s unrealized stage play Joe’s Garage, director Pat Towne has brought the Rolling Stone-dubbed “unproducible” musical to Hollywood’s Open Fist Theatre. Joe’s Garage imagines a world where music is banned — the plot follows its protagonist as he discovers the obscene powers of rock & roll, the lazy appeal of religion and the benefits of a nice yellow apron when having sex with a robot (Joe dons that ass-less costume for the bulk of the show).
The show debuted Friday during the first presidential debate, and the irony wasn’t lost on Zappa’s widow, Gail, who says the current political climate was no small factor in finally bringing the show to life. “[Joe’s Garage] is made for people who love this country and love the Constitution,” she told Rolling Stone after the premiere, which she attended with a crew that included daughter Diva. “It’s just so relevant… these are desperate times and people are trying to convince themselves that information is knowledge, and it’s not.” Continue Reading…
Captain Beefheart — Tropical Hot Dog Night
Don Van Vliet or Captain Beefheart has always been a bit of an eccentric, kind of like how Donald Trump is a little arrogant. It seems that Don grew up with his parents thinking he was a child prodigy as an artist and sculptor. Apparently they thought very highly of his talents and didn’t require him to attend school and would allow him to boss them around from the comfort of his bedroom while he contemplated his next artistic endeavour. Somewhere in this timeframe he befriended Frank Zappa and the two of them would listen to blues and doo-wop music on Don’s turntable. Frank gave Don the nickname “Captain Beefheart”, many theories exist exploring his name, one being that he had a beef in his heart against society. Beefheart released his critically acclaimed masterpiece, “Trout Mask Replica” in 1969.
The following song is off of Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) in 1978. The video is just some random weirdness, but you can catch Captain in appearances throughout the video. These images of him from the only video he ever made, Ice Cream For Crow, which was deemed “too weird” for MTV.
And here he is with David Letterman in 1982:
Jerry Garcia — Pair Of Frank’s (Zappa & Sinatra)
TWO MEETINGS OF THE AGES. BOTH INCLUDE JERRY.
First of here’s an audience recording of the night that the Jerry Garcia Band opened for Frank Zappa. This historic pairing happened on August 18, 1984.
Jerry’s Set:
Cats Under The Stars, Get Out Of My Life Woman, I’ll Take A Melody, Run For The Roses, Gomorrah, Midnight Moonlight, E: Deal
Jerry Garcia Band: Jerry Garcia, DeeDee Dickerson, John Kahn, David Kemper, Jaclyn LaBranch, Melvin Seals.
Frank’s Set:
Zoot Allures, More Trouble Every Day, Penguin In Bondage, Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel, City Of Tiny Lights, You Are What You Is, Mudd Club, The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing, Dumb All Over, He’s So Gay, Bobby Brown, Keep It Greasey, Honey Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?, Carol You Fool, Chana In De Bushwop, Let’s Move To Cleveland, Cosmik Debris, Sharleena, Ride My Face To Chicago, The Illinois Enema Bandit
A big thank you goes out to LeadCowBellist on PT for these shows.
Secondly, or thirdly, whatever, did you know that Jerry Garcia and Frank Sinatra once met? According to Steve Parrish’s book “Home Before Daylight”, he discusses this meeting of the ages. Apparently it was very late one night at a heliport in New York City, late 1988. Sinatra was alone at the terminal and on his way to Atlantic City and Jerry was on a Garcia Band tour. While obviously not a Dead Head, Frank was aware of Jerry and his contributions to popular music and Jerry of course had a deep appreciation and respect for Sinatra’s voice. They exchanged pleasantries and discussed music theory. When walking away, Jerry said, “That voice…. Just AMAZING.”
Frank Zappa — St. Alphonso’s Pancake Breakfast
Over-Nite Sensation & Apostrophe examined. Here Ruth Underwood & Dweezil Zappa perform St. Alphonso’s Pancake Breakfast. Interspersed with interviews with Billy Bob Thornton, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Terry Bozio & Frank Zappa amongst others. Dynamo Hum included here too.
Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time
RollingStone.com has gone and compiled a list for all of us telling us who are the top artists of all time. I’m glad they tell me how to think sometimes, because I sometimes forget that I can do it on my own. Trey Anastasio writes about Zappa, Warren Haynes writes about the Grateful Dead and Van Morrison on Ray Charles. (Taken from 2005)
Frank Zappa — Stinkfoot
Taken from Zappa’s Apostrophe.
Stairway To Heaven — Who Does It Better?
Frank Zappa:
Led Zeppelin
Stanley Jordan:
Rodrigo y Gabriela:
Frank Zappa — Vault Releases
From Jambase: The Zappa Family Trust headed by Frank Zappa’s widow Gail Zappa, operates under the principal of AAAFNRAA: Anything, Anywhere, Anytime For No Reason At All. It’s a phrase that Frank Zappa used often in his lifetime and it serves as a guiding principle for much of the work carried out by the Trust today.
“It is a key factor in the decision-making process that governs our output,” Gail says. “Strange things happen for inexplicable reasons; we like to take advantage of the possibilities that may come from these events. We like to do that more than we like to try to figure out why they occurred.”
While traditional record labels plan release schedules months in advance, Vaulternative and Zappa Records, two labels administered by the Trust, often release albums on Zappa.com with little to no warning. Gail Zappa and archivist/Vaultmeister Joe Travers released the new compilation One Shot Deal, collated from Frank Zappa assemblages, concert tracks and outtakes from 1972 to 1981, as soon as it rolled off the assembly line in June. Similarly, the new Honker Home Video (another imprint administered by the Trust) DVD release The Torture Never Stops arrived recently with little warning.
Here’s the track listing for One Shot Deal:
1. Bathtub Man
2. Space Boogers
3. Hermitage
4. Trudgin’ Across the Tundra
5. Occam’s Razor
6. Heidelberg 1987
7. The Illinois Enema Bandit
8. Australian Yellow Snow
9. Rollo
The Torture Never Stops comes with special cardboard No-D (think 3-D, but the opposite) glasses. The film is presented as edited by Zappa himself and as broadcast on MTV. It is the first time this film has appeared on DVD and is the most complete edit in existence of the Halloween, 1981 concert. Recorded October 31, 1981 at the Palladium in New York, the show spans 24 songs and over two hours.
The band includes Ray White, Steve Vai, Bobby Martin, Tommy Mars, Ed Mann, Scott Thunes, and Chad Wackerman. One major highlight is the fret-shredding guitar duel between Zappa and a young Vai on “Stevie’s Spanking.” The DVD also includes concert footage of “Teen-Age Prostitute” and “City of Tiny Lights,” and the music video for “You Are What You Is.” Also included is a set of temporary Frank Zappa tattoos, including the iconic, copyrighted mustache image, and, of course, the No-D glasses.
The Torture Never Stops track listing:
1. Black Napkins
2. Montana
3. Easy Meat
4. Beauty Knows No Pain
5. Charlie’s Enormous Mouth
6. Fine Girl
7. Teen-age Wind
8. Harder Than Your Husband
9. Bamboozled By Love
10. We’re Turning Again
11. Alien Orifice
12. Flakes
13. Broken Hearts Are For Assholes
14. You Are What You Is
15. Mudd Club
16. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
17. Dumb All Over
18. Heavenly Bank Account
19. Suicide Chump
20. Jumbo Go Away
21. Stevie’s Spanking
22. The Torture Never Stops
23. Strictly Genteel
24. The Illinois Enema Bandit
These releases follow on the heels of the Wazoo live album (see our earlier newswire here), released earlier in 2008.
The Zappa Family Trust’s mission is to celebrate and protect the legacy of Frank Zappa, the great American composer and musician who died in 1993. Expect plenty more surprises in 2008, according to the gnomes at the Zappa Family Trust.
