Mark Zeger Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 I was talking about Frank Zappa with my oldest daughter. She has a music performance degree, works at a music performance institution, and has very broad tastes in music, ex. in the past 24 hrs, we discussed Lizzo and the NY Phil performance of Brahms 4 she attended. I wanted to suggest an intro to Zappa. I had seen Zappa maybe 4-5 times and know his library up to mid 1980s. Peaches En Regalia would be the first song on my list. From there, the possibilities are endless. What short list of songs/albums would you compile to provide a Zappa introduction? Lets say 10 songs or maybe 4-5 albums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Joe's Garage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Ten or fifteen years ago a friend made me an Intro to Zappa mix that served me well. Not sure if I can find the CD anywhere now, but I know it had Muffin Man, Keep it Greasy, and Watermelon in Easter Hay on it. Covered a lot of stylistic ground while still making it clear what made Frank so Frank. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 [video:youtube] Quote When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksoper Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Over-Nite Sensation/Apostrophe, and One Size Fits All. I love this band(s). A who's who of players. Some of Frank's better known novelty songs, which he only wrote to fund the more esoteric stuff, but even these were genius. Inca Roads remains my all time favorite. Chester's gorilla. Quote 9 Moog things, 3 Roland things, 2 Hammond things and a computer with stuff on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedar Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 I would guess that Apostrophe was his most commercially successful album, and maybe most accessible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Zeger Posted April 26, 2019 Author Share Posted April 26, 2019 Over-Nite Sensation/Apostrophe, and One Size Fits All. I love this band(s). A who's who of players. Some of Frank's better known novelty songs, which he only wrote to fund the more esoteric stuff, but even these were genius. Inca Roads remains my all time favorite. Agreed. This period was peak Zappa for me. The Underwoods, the Fowlers, George Duke, Ponty, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sosho Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Roxy & Elsewhere , Weasels Ripped My Flesh , Joe`s Garage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe P Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Everything on Roxy, especially Penguin in Bondage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChazKeys Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 The live stuff is an interesting starting point. Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life is a favourite of mine - amazing performances and wonderful versions of both FZs material and others including gems like Bolero, Ring of Fire, Purple Haze and Stairway to Heaven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rod76 Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Freak Out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicaL Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Sheik Yerbouti Shut up 'n Play yer Guitar Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More and Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Quote Gear: Yamaha MODX8, Mojo 61, NS2 73, C. Bechstein baby grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawback Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 I would agree with the one, the only, Freak Out! It Cant Happen Here Quote ____________________________________ Rod Here for the gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Läther (Zappa in New York), and definitely "Peaches en Regalia" Oh Punky!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Am I the only one here who's a fan of Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch? I know that's a bit later in his career. Quote Dan Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Don't forget The Grand Wazoo. This cut has one of my favorite George Duke comping and solos on it. [video:youtube] Quote AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrythek Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 For some more interesting instrumental music, I would suggest The Grand Wazoo, the later live Wazoo tour recording, and perhaps Jazz From Hell (mostly done on the Synclavier). Just to show his diversity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danielo Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 I'm a fan of The Grand Wazoo and Waka/Jawaka (two different albums that could've been a double). Mostly instrumental, with some great tunes with a more jazz rock oriented sound from the early 70s, and awesome musicians (with no other than George Duke at keyboards). I'm a fan of the more instrumental material. Uncle Meat has some great stuff too. I love the very polyrhythmic main tune. Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh are also favorites of mine. For good music + corrosive lyrics + conceptual album, my favorite one is Absolutely Free. Check out the amazing Brown Shoes Don't Make It: it's Zappa in a nutshell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrythek Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Don't forget The Grand Wazoo. This cut has one of my favorite George Duke comping and solos on it. [video:youtube] Oh yes, side 2 was my introduction to George as well. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danielo Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Don't forget The Grand Wazoo. This cut has one of my favorite George Duke comping and solos on it. [video:youtube] Yeah, I love this tune. It sounds very peaceful, all things considered (all things being Zappa). And what about this tune, Eat That Question? [video:youtube] Based on a single riff. Duke's solo is so energetic, propulsed by the Dunbar's drums. And then, at the end, the riff comes back, but in a very different and amazing arrangement. It's the same riff, but mutated. Lovely stuff. The other great tune from this album, in my opinion, is For Calvin. You get a feeling of unrest, probably because it sounds like there's extensive use of the augmented scale (I have not checked that out, but that's my guess). Awesome arrangements towards the second half of the tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Emm Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 "The Man from Utopia" for sure. Its a cross-section of just about everything Zappa, apart from his orchestral works. "Moggio" has a Synclavier aroma to it and "The Dangerous Kitchen" is one of the funniest things he ever wrote. Quote I wanna be the papal nuncio of Las Vegas. I won't burn long, but I'll burn hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboyNQ Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 If it's an intro, I'd be running with the "Does Humour belong in Music" stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardware Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Uncle Meat. Quote Magnus C350 + FMR RNP + Realistic Unisphere Mic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 4 or 5 album overview. That's tough. 1 Apostrophe 2 Joe's Garage 3 Sheik Yerbouti - something from the Belew lineup 4 Them or Us or Ship Arriving Late - ( the Vai line up). 5 London Philharmonic Orchestra - not a huge fan but an overview should include some of his 20th century classical compositions. I'm really tempted to have something with The Mothers (Grand Wazoo, Freak Out, In it for the Money etc...) but we can only pick 5. The Zappa catalog is huge. PS - Jazz from Hell was his last studio album. Most all of it is just Frank using Synclavier. It's different if Looking for a broad overview. You can You Tube it see if it's cool. Well it's Frank so yeah, it's cool. Quote "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Zeger Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 4 or 5 album overview. That's tough. I'm really tempted to have something with The Mothers (Grand Wazoo, Freak Out, In it for the Money etc...) but we can only pick 5. Ok to go beyond 5 albums, but with Franks massive catalog I was trying to set an approachable limit. Maybe 10 songs/works helps cut across more of his career. Ex, Id start with Peaches En Regalia rather than the entire Hot Rats album. Why Peaches? I find it a good primer on the Zappa musical vocabulary and, sentimentally, I played it for a piano recital in 11th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Who you jiving? Who you jiving with that cosmic debris? If you can only have one Zappa that would be Apostrophe. And it might be the only one you can crank loud without some semiperverted lyric jumping out like Joes Garage. Just dont get pluked. Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Listed for accessibility: 1) Sheik Yerbouti 2) Bongo Fury 3) Apostrophe 4) One Size Fits All 5) Were Only In It For The Money 6) Overnite Sensation Quote The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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