Posted on 06/19/2008 6:36:10 AM PDT by CharlieOK1
I am not really into the music scene of today, as I believe that everything that is touted as 'new' or 'the next big thing' always ends up being something somebody else already did. I have lately found myself digging back into music that really was innovative and ground-breaking. A lot of which was done before I was even around (I am 30). For example, Steely Dan, King Crimson, Yes, David Bowie...
I have always been fascinated by Frank Zappa, as he is basically universally thought of as a musical genius, but just have never really dove into his musical catalog as I really don't know where to start.
Would it be OK for us to plug Little Feat into this list as well? With the added bonus that 2 of the original members of Little Feat (Roy Estrada and Lowell George) were just prior to the release of LF’s 1st record members of Zappa’s band.
The trick to finding more of this type of genre (rock/jazz-fusion) is to read the liner notes and see who played in the band. Back in the day, many of these guys worked with each other.
For example: King Crimson's bassist, Tony Levin, nows collaborates with Peter Gabriel, who used to be in Genesis. Bill Bruford, who has done stints as the drummer for King Crimson, has also played/toured with Genesis, as well as been a drummer for Yes.
By doing internet searches on particular band members, you'll find a whole host of new music that you never knew existed.
MUD SHARK!
Saw him in a relatively small room in 1970 with those two semi-naked falsetto singers Flo & Eddie. A display of individual musicianship. Many different things at once. He'd raise a little finger and trains would be headed one-eighty without losing velocity. Physics cannot explain.
Aplomb would be too hyperactive to describe him. "We've broken a guitar string. Talk among yourselves."
His widow said he and Bill Clinton were brothers under the skin. That Gore dressed like a policeman.
Was not afraid to cut his hair and put on a suit to testify.
One might deduce an iconoclast who believed all borders were self-imposed.
"Life is such a ball
I run the world from city hall"
Brown Shoes Don't Make It
The trick to finding more of this type of genre (rock/jazz-fusion) is to read the liner notes and see who played in the band. Back in the day, many of these guys worked with each other.
_________
Absolutely fantastic advice.
Not many people know that.
Lydia Lunch's stuff is unlistenable poseury, and Mars doesn't quite get it done.
Yup. That’s how I got interested in Zappa. By figuring out that Adrian Belew, from King Crimson, used to work with Zappa and Talking Heads and I think David Bowie. Belew is freaking awesome.
But John Peel thought that the most best album ever was by Zappa’s friend, the great CAPTAIN BEEFHEART! Get a copy of TROUT MASK REPLICA (available quite cheap these days) and wonder where music has gone since.......but beware, not an easy listen.
Go early and often...Freak Out and Absolutely Free. You will find that there are many song lyrics that are almost as timely now as they were then.
lurker nailed the proper Zappa anthology
Timeless lyrics...a favorite.
Irony was that even though he didn’t do drugs, I sure found his music much easier to enjoy high.....very high to be precise.
...except for his commercial diddies like Disco Boy or Valley Girl.
I haven’t thought about it for a long time but I can still remember the funny lyrics to Dinah Moe Hum, Montana, Camarillo Brillo, Dirty Love, Zombie Woof......Overnight Sensation came out in 73, I was 15-16....it was perfect for the time.
Well, it was better high because the topics were so absurd. “Moving to Montana soon . . . gonna be a dental floss tycoon.”
I have an extensive music collection, mostly rock with jazz, classical, old r&b, and country thrown in. Anything from AC/DC to ZZ Top. I love the instrumentals.
Frank could do things on a guitar others could only dream of. I saw him once. What struck me was that when playing the guitar, he seemed to be staring off into space. Not looking at the audience, or at the instrument. Just lost in his own world.
He lived a clean lifestyle, for the most part. He abhorred drugs. And he did die young. But he had the vice of being a heavy smoker. And the cancer got him.
At St. Alfonso’s pancake breakfast
Where I stole the margarine
And whittled on the bingo cards
And blew up the latrine
I wrapped a newspaper ‘round my head
So I’d look like I was Deep
I said some Mumbo Jumbos then
An’ told him he was goin’ to sleep
I robbed his rings
An’ pocket watch
An’ everything else I found
I had that sucker hypnotized
He couldn’t even make a sound
I proceeded to tell him his future then
As long as he was hanging around,
I said
“The price of meat has just gone up
An’ yer ol’ lady has just gone down . . . “
Look here brother,
Who you jivin’ with that Cosmik Debris?
(Now is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?)
Don’t you know,
You could make more money as a butcher,
Baby, baby.
An amazing guy and very, very kind to a young fan who had stood outside a radio station office for 2 hours in the snow.
I still have a T-shirt from a Mothers Day show in 1977.
He always surrounded himself with top notch musicians and demanded the very best from them AND himself.
Start with 2 or 3 of the albums I mentioned and you'll soon be, as I am, an incurable Zappa-phile.
Coincidentally his son, Dweezil, just did a tour a couple years ago which is available on the 'net as "Zappa plays Zappa". I saw an interview with him and he said the hardest thing about setting it up was the he couldn't find enough musicians who were technically proficient enough to play the stuff his dad composed.
Thanks for bringing back some very pleasant memories for me.
Best,
L
Willie is excellent.
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