Ok so it's been a month since my last post. Did anyone notice? That's ok, time flies. Sure I could go on about how busy I've been or how I've been going places or how I just got lazy, but what's the point right? It's my fault, my blog, and now I have to play catch up. So get prepared for a double-blog bonanza.
Back to the music.
I actually pulled this next selection off the wall of weird a few weeks back (obviously), but I've been trying to figure out how to go about jumping into this next artist's repertoire. That being the case, there is only one thing that can be said: Zappa. Frank Zappa.
Love him or hate him, question him or commend him, Frank goes down in history as not only a politically outspoken musician who didn't care about what others thought, but also as a melodic and hilarious symphonic genius.
The Frank collection I'm reviewing is an interesting one. This is the 2002 release from the Zappa Picks collection chosen by Jon Fishman. I say it's interesting because I'm doing a retrospect of another retrospect of what these cuts mean. Fishman's selection of tunes is a neat snap shot of some great moments in Frank's career. What's better is that Jon's liner notes take you back in great detail to what these songs mean to him; and I like that sort of thing.
An excerpt from the liner notes:
"Compiling this disc has been an unexpectedly fruitful and worthwhile recollection and reflection of some key moments in my life. I'm surprised to find how many of them have been accompanied by Zappa's music. I realize in doing this that it is safe to say that the work of Frank Zappa, his music primarily, but also his humor, politics, social commentary...all of it...has not just been a fundamental on me, but is actually more like a part of my metabolism. He was a truly unique individual who maintained an incredibly high degree of quality and integrity in his work throughout his career. Fortunately for us all, I think, he was one who did not subscribe to the notion of if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em, but rather beat-'em-and-have-them-join-you."
Now this isn't the end all be all of Zappa collections, jeez the guy has released a total of 89 records that span over 30 years. 89 RECORDS!! So needless to say it's difficult to tackle a daunting task of selecting a mere 16 tracks for this release. However Fishman does a great job, let's dive in shall we?
1. "Excentrifugal Forz" & 2. "Apostrophe"- straight of one of the most popular FZ records Apostrophe ('), "Forz" is a short and sweet lead up to one of my favorite tunes from Frank. Jack Bruce's bass line here is dirty and solid and makes for an excellent hook. For those not familiar with Jack Bruce, well let's just say he played with Clapton, and it was called Cream. Simply amazing instrumental. I highly recommend it.
3. "Magdalena" & 4."Dog Breath"- show signs of FZ's love of old 50's tunes. The 'doo wop' I guess you could call it. Frank was a big fan of that era and many of his songs play to that.
5. "Cheepnis", 6. "Son of Orange County" & 7."More Trouble Every Day"- taken from the Roxy & Elsewhere release, this trio of live cuts is a gem. "Cheepnis" begins with Frank explaining to the crowd about how he loves how cheaply old monster were; which is the basis for the song. That and a monster poodle. "Orange County" is a soothing follow-up to the monster movie theme with sick guitar riffs and a good poking fun at Richard Nixon with "I just can't believe, you are such a fool". "Trouble Every Day" is account of all that was going on in society at the time.
8. "It Can't Happen Here"- from Freak Out , which actually was one of the first double-lps released because FZ wanted to ruffle some record exect's feathers. A odd ball collection of jazz, and quirky lyrics and vocal stylings giving the government the finger.
9. "Keep it Greasy"- one of my favorites from Frank. "Keep it greasy, so it'll go down eas-say". Enough said.
10. "For Calvin (And his next two hitch-hikers)"- A very strange tune if ever I heard. This one came from Frank's jazz-esque period and The Grand Wazoo . Very unconventional but it explores an interesting theme. Like something out of circus.
11. "What Ever Happened to All the Fun in the World"- a 30 sec play on words.
12. "Rat Tomago"- solid guitar work from one of the best. Frank's licks are unlike any others. At first you don't know where he's going or what he's doing, but before too long it all comes full circle. This instrumental jam is just a slaughter house of rock.
13. "Wait a Minute"- a followup slew of chit chatter in similar fashion to "For Calvin" that ties the onslaught of "Rat Tomago" together.
14. "It Just Might Be a One Shot Deal"- at first listen you it becomes clear that FZ's mind was all over the place. First a weird jingle that melds into a country jam complete with pedal steel guitar. Amazing.
15. "I'm the Slime"- taken from my favorite FZ release Over-nite Sensation, "Slime" embodies many aspects of what made Frank great: obscure lyrics, a funky jam, and sensuous back up singers. What I get from this tune is simple; TV rots your brain. Whether it comes from a game show or a commercial, it's the slime.
16. "Sofa No. 2"- Seems like a strange German love ballad at first glance complete with lyrics you can't understand, but this track comes from a period that I really enjoy from Frank. At this time he had the wonderful George Duke on keyboard on vocals and Ruth Underwood on percussion with her signature and precise xylophone (of course that's not Ruth in the video below).
Now I purchased this disc when it came out in 2002 and I plan on keeping it. It's a good snap shot of many great periods in Frank's career. I can't really come up with memories of listening to it on specific occasions like some of Frank's other discs, but I do enjoy it.
We will certainly come across some of those other discs along the way on this blog, but for now allow me to share some classic Zappa clips.
"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
