Throughout 2007, this Idiot Bastard, in conjunction with Cordelia Records (www.cordeliarecords.co.uk), was busy putting together a CD of 20 different versions of
Frank Zappa’s The Idiot Bastard
Son to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of the release of the
album it first appeared on (We’re
Only In It For The Money). January 2008
also happened to be when my fiftieth birthday happened. Well, we didn’t quite
manage to get it together in time, but it’s now available to buy from:
Cordelia (hard) or iTunes (soft)
Here’s some juicy details of the
twenty artistes involved – most of whom recorded versions especially for this
project:
1. DIE
BEISTELLTISCHE – who provided a special edit of the track from their
excellent Zappa-a-capella ‘Kill Ugly Radio’ CD.
Personnel
Steffen
Grill (vocal); Hannes Kaiser (vocal); Marcus Beyer
(vocal); Christoph Winter (vocal); Christoph Dreßler (vocal).
2. JERRY OUTLAW – “The piano and strings were done by Ross Jobson and the bass guitar was
done by Alex Pasut, both from Bogus Pomp. This final
version was recorded at Ross Jobson's home on
Personnel
Jerry Outlaw (guitars); Ross Jobson (piano and strings);
Alex Pasut (bass); Bill Ehrsam
(engineer).
3. THE VEGETARIANS - arranged by Hans Annellsson & John Marshall. Recorded in the Summer of 2007 at Annellssongs
& John's place.
Personnel
John
Marshall (all vocals & lead guitar); Hans Annellsson
(drums, keyboards, guitars & bass).
4. OLDGREYGOAT
AND HIS GIRLS - Muffin Man Roddie Gilliard (for it is he) said “dunno what I wuz
trying to do, but it just kinda happened organically”.
Recorded in
Personnel
Roddie Gilliard; Jigsaw the
Goat; unknown opera singer; the skull and bones of a
5. ENSEMBLE
AMBROSIUS - from their wondrous BIS Records ‘The Zappa Album’ CD,
arranged by Olli Virtaperko.
Personnel
Topi Lehtipuu (lead vocal);
Matti Vanhamäki (baroque
violins 1 & 3); Tuomo Suni
(baroque violin 2); Josu Moisio
(baroque oboe); Jani Sunnarborg
(obor da caccia); Jonte Knif (dulcimer); Ere Lievonen
(organ); Tuukka Terho (archlute); Olli Virtaperko
(baroque cello, vocal).
6. FREEDOM
IN HATS - “Godforsakenmotherf*ckinacidhousecountrygospel!” with a Captain Beef-harp
and echoes of the
Personnel
The
Rev Freedom (acoustic guitar, vocal); Diablo (blues harp).
7. EVIL DICK & THE BANNED MEMBERS – a backwards
version recorded in Bathroomverb.
Read (and hear) lots more about it at http://www.richardhemmings.co.uk/001/idiot.html.
Personnel
Evil Dick (percussive impulses, ‘psychotic gnome’ vocal);
Little Pete (low rumblings, high ceilings); Jools Street
(guitar, violin, musical ability); Brettany Bassoon
(tooting, parping, non-melodic noodling);
Anne Bowden (fluttery flute, fear of hidden microphones in the bathroom).
8. THE FOOLZ – an acoustic version recorded on
Wednesday 8 August just after Zappanale #18 (the plan was to record a version
at the festival in Big Blue, with the Zappateers
singing along; I fear attempts were thwarted by Lübzer
beer!). This version was produced by keyboard man, Wan.
Personnel
Pedro
Steneker (bass); Lex Kemper
(guitar); Wan Kemper (melodica); Remco Aalhuizen (air guitar).
9. JOHN TABACCO – “The 2007 version FZ might have sang if he were here with us today.”
Personnel
John
Tabacco (everything).
10. DOOT! – due to his
recent abduction by the Dick Chin Mafia, JoJo Nodraggin was not able to participate. But the project went
ahead, unabated, and the DOOT! MicroAkestra carried
the day.
Personnel
Stephen
Chillemi (percussion, soprano sax, vibraphone, thingamagoop synth, vocals); Annemarieke Blondel-Schoonderwaldt
(modified viola); Pete Brunelli (composition,
engineering).
11. NIGEY
LENNON - recorded by John Tabacco on
Personnel
Nigey Lennon (vocal, arrangement, programming); Jay Rozen (tuba); Eric Weaver (cameo vocal); John Tabacco (recording, minimal programming, mixing on
Halloween 2007); David Walley (last laugh).
12. THE
FRAZKNAPP FUSION PROJECT - a half remarkable production, recorded in
every possible place they could find (The Jack, 4-Che, The Lab, The Mill -
Personnel
Fraizer Knapp (drums – www.frazknapp.com
/ www.myspace.com/frazprojects);
Jay Marcus (guitars); Edward Newton (bass); Kieran Hennessy (turntablist – www.myspace.com/weztax); Chris Moxey (vox – www.myspace.com/unknownmf);
Bob Knapp & USA crew (overseas samples); Guy Harrop
(photography - www.guyharrop.com).Thanks
to: Paul Darch/Jim Dunstone/Joel
Tucker/Cordelia Records/Andrew Greenaway/Frank Zappa!
The Idiot
Bastard Son Interpretation
The father
figure had a swastika tattoo hidden away, in congress today.
The mum’s a
prostitute, flaunts her birthday suit, she’s a destitute down town hooker.
His empty arrogance, his low intelligence, no benevolence, no
idea.
Left to rot, in
the back of a car, stashed away in a jar, lar
di dar di
dar.
Dumb Pinocchio,
now we think we know what you think you know.
Imagine a
militant machine, different attire but still the same genes,
he’s prude, so crude, obnoxiously rude.
The equivalent
king, who lets the general’s swing,
Gepeto’s really done in, so wonder who’s got the strings?
Ignorant idiot bastard.
The state will
dress him and the taxes feed him,
to keep him breathing and we believe him.
Listen to
absurd words, he’ll emerge into our world
of movers, shakers, losers, fakers, liars, cheaters and planet rapers.
People like you
who think you’ve got it figured out,
think you know what it’s all about, well you’re wrong!
13. THE
THURSTON LAVA TUBE - a retro/surf version featuring Cordelia’s head honcho and the inspiration for this whole
project: Alan Jenkins. Recorded in the Autumn of 2007
at Cordelia Records and on location in
Personnel
Alan Jenkins (guitar); Blodwyn
P. Teabag (organ); Marshall Cavendish (bass); Mat Bartram
(drums).
14. PROJECT OBJECT - recorded live and unplugged at
BB King’s in
Personnel
André Cholmondeley (guitar); Robbie "Seahag" Mangano (guitar);
David Johnsen (bass); Jordan Shapiro (mandolin).
15. POJAMA
PEOPLE - a live interpretation, sung by Alli
Bach. Basic track recorded
Personnel
Sick
Willie (interjected vocals); Alli Bach (vocals,
marimbas the most); Ted Clifford (keyboards); Brian Casey (bass, odd sounds);
Glenn Leonard (drums, many voices, lead & backing kazoo, marimbas the
least).
The
Arrogant Dubya Son
The arrogant dubya son
The father's a Nazi retired today
The mother's a lobbyist from the NRA
The arrogant dubya son
Abandonded to perish in a pointless war
Cheyney will stash him away and abhor
The idiot boy
Try and imagine a nation all fearing his god
All the time he would spend
At the church he'd attend
Warming his pew
Daddy will feed him and Ronnie will watch
The child will thrive and grow
And enter the world of liars and cheaters
And Don Rumsfeld too
Who smiles and thinks he knows
What this war's about
They think they know everything
maybe so
The song we sing
Do you know
....REPUBLICANS....
The idiot boy
Try and imagine a nation all fearing his god
All the money he spent
All the soldiers he sent
Where are they now?
16. BOGUS POMP ORCHESTRA - recorded on
17. TODD GRUBBS GROUP feat. BO SMITH - recorded by
Todd throughout July 2007, and mixed on
Personnel
Todd
Grubbs (guitar); Alan Tatum (bass); Jeff Henry (drums); Bo Smith (vocals).
18. WRONG OBJECT Vs THE
FRIENDLY DOGS – Michel Delville’s teenage combo teamed up with Belgo-English
quartet The Friendly Dogs to create this.
Personnel
Michel Delville (guitar,
guitar-synth); Damien Polard
(bass); Fred Delplancq (tenor sax); Jean-Paul Estiévenart (trumpet); Laurent Delchambre
(drums and assorted percussions); Andrew Norris (guitar, voice); Damien Campion (bass, double-bass).
19. WHIP IT OUT ENSEMBLE - from their live
performance of We’re Only In It For The Money recorded at The Ironwood Stage &
Grill,
Personnel
Andy
Curtis, Onalea Gilbertson, Michael Green, Ty Semaka, David van Belle
(vocals); Jeff Drummond (guitar); Chipp Robb (bass); David
Rhymer (piano); Craig Soby
(trombone & keyboards); Danny Meichel
(saxophone); Dave Foley (trumpet); Brent Van Dusen
(marimba & percussion); Peter Moller (drums &
percussion); Michael Green (executive producer); Richard Kolke
(dramaturge); Barbie Miotti (freak-out chick); Derek
Waite (sound engineer).
20. GAMMA – the legendary Martian enunciated the
crap out of it. Recorded
Personnel
Gamma
(vocals); Esther Leslie (xylophone); Out To Lunch,
Iris Watson (backing vocals); OTL (producer, for Materialist Esthetix).
Coming next: