REVIEWS
Albums
VARIOUS ARTISTS: FRANK ZAPPA’S JUKEBOX – The
Songs That Inspired The Man (Chrome Dreams, CDCD5023)
Track list: Riot In
Cell Block No. 9 (The Robins)/Louie Louie (Richard Berry)/Work With Me Annie
(Hank Ballard and the Midnighters)/Ionisation (Edgard Varese)/My Starter Won't
Work (Lightnin' Slim)/Okie Dokie Stomp (Clarence Gatemouth Brown)/Leavin' It
All Up To You (Don & Dewey)/I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)
(Howlin' Wolf)/The Closer You Are (The Channels)/Your Cash Ain't Nothing But
Trash (The Clovers)/Louisiana Blues (Muddy Waters)/Song (Cecil Taylor)/Bacon
Fat (Andre Williams)/Rubber Biscuit (The Chips)/Bagatelle (opus 9) (Anton
Webern)/Symphony (opus 21) (Anton Webern)/W.P.L.J. (Four Deuces)No No Cherry
(The Turbans)/Out There (Eric Dolphy)/The Story Of My Life (Guitar Slim)/Three
Hours Past Midnight (Johnny Guitar Watson)/Directly From My Heart (Little
Richard)/Stranded In The Jungle (The Cadets)/Rite Of Spring (extracts) (Igor
Stravinsky)/Nite Owl (Tony Allen).
Way back a long
time ago, before I’d heard Edgard Varese or the Them Or Us album (mainly because it had still to be recorded), I
tuned into FZ being a fraudulent disc jockey on BBC Radio 1’s Star Special. He announced “I think that it's appropriate to make this segue because
these are two of my very favourite records and I think they should be heard as
a pair. The first is The Closer You Are
by The Channels, and this will lead directly into Hyperprism.” What I then heard made me instantly see where
Frank was coming from. Well, this album does that in spades. Hear Lightnin’
Slim exhort Lazy Lester to “blow your harmonica son”.
Hear the originals of songs Frank actually covered over the years. Hear the
songs he frequently referenced in interviews. During the above-mentioned radio
show, he also played I Asked Her For
Water by the Howlin' Wolf (“another person with
exquisite diction”). This CD is really well researched and put together
by Derek Barker, whose excellent liner notes reveal that Richard Berry sings
both the first two tracks on this compilation. This is a must-have for any
self-respecting Zappa fan. And we have more to look forward to from Chrome
Dreams: they’re part-way through the production of a Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention Under
Review 60s documentary DVD, having already filmed interviews with Billy
James, Art Tripp, Bunk Gardner and Don Preston.
FRANK ZAPPA: ONE SHOT DEAL (Zappa Records,
ZR 20007)
Track list: Bathtub
Man/Space Boogers/Hermitage/Trudgin' Across The
Tundra/Occam's Razor/Heidelberg/The Illinois Enema Bandit/Australian Yellow
Snow/Rollo
Well, the release of this was kinda curious,
but at least it’s here and now we can see and hear what the ZFT has excavated
from the Vault for us. As Gail notes, it’s like a sandwich with Occam’s Razor
(that’s the On The Bus solo kept
simple, stoopid) the meat in the middle. And a tasty little treat it is for
sure. One of the things that leapt out at me (and I really should know this by
now, having purchased Roxy &
Elsewhere shortly after its release) is what an inventive bass player Tom
Fowler. Bathtub Man is a blues with
atypical Duke and Brock (FZ’s co-composers on this one) silliness that extends
into great solos from George and Frank. Space
Boogers has
MIKE KENEALLY: WINE AND PICKLES (EXOWAX
2409)
Track list:
2CTV/Feelin' Strangely/Li'l/Backwards Deb (3rd person)/Bubble Creek/Never Ever
Wrong/Unused Hum/I Heard About What You Said/Inhale (with Lyle
Workman)/4S/Skull Bubbles (uncut)/Stop For Flashing Red Light, Part One/Lonely
Man (studio)/Selfish Otter (uncut)/A Concise Piano Statement/AeroDef/Kevorkian
3/Thou Shalt Not Kill/Paloma (alternate version)/Kevorkian 17/The Endings Of
Things.
Comprising mainly
outtakes from Dancing, Dog and Nonkertompf, this is a fine MK sampler showing off the many facets
of this multi-talented guitarist/keyboardist/composist. His vocals are oddly
reminiscent of Rufus Wainwright on Feelin’
Strangely (which features some nice guitar work, including from Rick
Musallam)…and like Roy Estrada mid-Stop
For Flashing Red Light. Li’l is
just a wondrous instrumental that gives me the same sit up and beg for more
feel that most of the Guitar Therapy
CD does. More…swoon.
JIMMY CARL BLACK: FREEDOM JAZZ DANCE
(Azzurra Music, TBP11473)
Track list: Happy
Metal/Taste Of Snakes/Freedom Jazz Dance/Like A Virgin Queen/The Bad Wolf.
I hadn’t fully
appreciated what a busy king bee JCB had been in the run-up to his 70th
birthday, what with tours with the Muffin Men, the JCB Band and Eugene
Chadbourne, his collaboration with Jon Larsen, the commencement of Crossfire’s
reissue campaign of his back catalogue, the release of the How Blue Can You Get? and Hearing
Is Believing CDs, and this. Recorded in May 2007, it marks a bit of a
change musically, being performed without any guitars, three blow monkeys, two
babes (on keys and percussion), and one DJ T “The Thief” on electronics. Having
said that, the first track is not such a radical departure, being an R&B
workout with typical oration and rock steady drumming from the Indian of this
happy metal band. Track two follows a similar pattern – opening and closing
vocals (this time by Valentina Black – no relation, “but I wish she was!”
quippeth Jimmy), with a lengthy horn-led mid-section – but it’s a more up-tempo
spacey psychedelic affair. Dr Chadbourne comments that Bruno Marini’s organ is
dripping with pesto on the cover of Eddie Harris’s title track. Perhaps they
should have renamed it Freedom Jazz
Discharge for this outing. Like A
Virgin Queen is perhaps the most atypical thang here – a flute propelled disco
platform underpinning airy vox from Valentina. The Blacks duet on the final
track, obviously influenced by Neil Jordan’s The Company Of Wolves and starring Valentina as Little Red Riding
Hood, Jessica Fletcher as the Grandmother, and Jimmy Carl Black in the title
role. Oh yeah. I like it. I like it a lot.
ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA: SOUNDTRACK EXCERPTS FROM
THE ZPZ FILM (Razor
& Tie, 7930182993-2)
Track list: Tell Me
You Love Me/Florentine Pogen/Cheepnis/Cosmik Debris/I’m The Slime/Don’t Eat The
Yellow Snow/St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast/Father O’Blivion/Black Page
#2/Peaches En Regalia/Zomby Woof/The Torture Never Stops.
With no visuals,
you’re able to focus on the sounds and here you note the differences from the
original recordings – noticeably, Scheila’s back-up vocals, Aaron’s keyboard
fills, and the re-arranged ‘almost Chinese’ part of Cheepnis. You also hear the amazing playing of percussionist Billy
Hulting and Jamie Kime’s subtle contributions. Did Dweezil really not realise
that Napi was able to pull off his amazing performances as special guest
because of his five year’s of ‘rehearsals’ with Project/Object and the Grande
Mothers? There’s a couple of great guitar solos here: the first from Steve Vai
during Zomby Woof (he makes the song
his own), and then young Dweez’s on Torture,
which starts slowly until he flicks a switch and burns the house down. Possibly
because of the way I’m The Slime and Black Page #2 segued into another piece
or a Dweezil rap (he says “thank you very much, everybody” a few times on this
disc), the audience cheers sound a little odd at the end of these pieces, but
that’s a minor quibble: ZPZ are the best FZ tribute band around at the mo’.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: 20 EXTRAORDINARY RENDITIONS
– THE IDIOT BASTARD SON (Cordelia Records, CD043)
Track list: The Idiot Bastard Son as
interpreted by: Die Beistelltische,
Jerry Outlaw, The Vegetarians, Oldgreygoat And His Girls, Ensemble Ambrosius,
Freedom In Hats, Evil Dick & The Banned Members, The FoolZ, John Tabacco,
DOOT!, Nigey Lennon, The FrazKnapp Fusion Project, The Thurston Lava Tube,
Project/Object, Pojama People, Bogus Pomp Orchestra, Todd Grubbs Group feat. Bo
Smith, The Wrong Object Vs The Friendly Dogs, The Whip It Out Ensemble and
Gamma.
What can I
say? Well, it wouldn’t be right…but maybe I can quote Simon Prentis (Frank's
Semantic Scrutinizer)’s email to me after the London Grande Mother’s show: “…back to Gamma's and your immaculate IBS extravaganza.
Now THAT'S how it should be done. I'm sure Frank would have LOVED it, but
regardless, it does it for me fer sure. I think you've just found a template
for 'exploiting the back catalogue' so to speak. Each and every one of the
different versions comes at the song from a different angle, mining something
unique from the mother fractal without 'fetishing the commodity' in any way
whatsoever (always the downside with 'tribute bands' as far as I'm concerned).
What a great concept. What a great selection. What a great bunch of bands. And
what a wonderful way to revisit and celebrate the work without resorting to
nostalgia for the old folks. Respect!”. High praise, indeed. Read some
more-a here. And there’s a
proper review (plus interview with yours truly, and an exclusive Bonus track)
at http://www.davemcmann.com/reviews.html
FRANK ZAPPA: TRANSMISSIONS (Special guest
reviewer: Dave from G&S Music – who isn’t
stocking this item!)
Track list: I'm The
Slime/Purple Lagoon/Peaches En Ragalia(sic!)/Dancin’
Fool/The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing/St Alphonso.
Transmissions is just about as bad as you might imagine
it could be. Like the Music In Review
DVD, you get a "book" and a disc in one package, but which is CD case
size. The book is a short biography written by Jeff Perkins, who I hadn't heard
of before. His qualification for the job appears to be that he likes Frank's
music and works in journalism. He's written 20,000 words which are mostly his
opinion on a few CDs and a potted history, mostly of the early Mothers. A quick
read through didn't show up any glaring errors of fact but no insights either.
The CD has six tracks (all taken from the December 76 and October 78 Saturday
Night Live shows): audio and "enhanced video" versions of each. The
audio runs exactly 20 minutes. The video plays in Quicktime and, initially, I
couldn't get it to work. I lost interest at that point. The sound quality is poor
as well. In a word, avoid. Put out by the people that Gail should really be
after.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: ZAPPANALE #18
Disc One: "The psycho I've become..."
(Larry "Wild Man" Fischer)/Pärt Preston (Don Preston’s Akashic
Ensemble)/Help, I'm A Rock-It Can't Happen Here (Don Preston’s Akashic
Ensemble)/Reggie Don't Sweat It (Monty & The Butchers)/Apostrophe (Monty
& The Butchers)/Tapas Nocturne (Christophe Godin And Mörglbl)/Pygmy Twylyte
(Christophe Godin And Mörglbl)/Uncle Meat Suite (I Virtuosi Dal Pianeta Talento)/Village
Of The Sun-Echidna's Arf (Of You)-Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
(Project/Object)/Filthy Hobbits (Trigon)/The
Disc Two: "GOD!" (Paul Green
Kids)/Electricity (Kimono Draggin' featuring Stephen Chillemi)/G-Spot Tornado
(Octafish)/Sofa (Sex Without Nails Bros)/"He
screwed me..." (Larry "Wild Man" Fischer)/Whales (Space
Debris)/Grandchild of Mr. Green Genes (Polytoxicomane Philharmonie)/Dog Breath
Variations (The Great Googly Moogly)/Debra Kadabra (Wolfhard Kutz featuring Lol
Coxhill)/Meeting Of The Spirits (Jazzprojekt Hundehagen)/Petrushka-Muffin Man
(Harmonia Ensemble)/"Nice talking to
ya..." (Larry "Wild Man" Fischer)/Tell Me (Chad Wackerman
Trio)/I'm The Slime-Dumb All Over-The Message (Finale).
Bonus Disc: "I'm famous in
Can you imagine the
feeling of walking away from the Zappanale with the hard-drive of all that
weekend’s music tucked under your arm? Frickin’ gorgeous. John and I soon set
to marking up the tracks to be included on these discs, but were beset by
technical problems. We eventually overcame them, and this is what finally
transpired. Friggin’ gorgeous. Shame it couldn’t have been a 3-CD set, but with
the Bonus disc it kinda is. I figure the main aim is for these to be a souvenir
of the event as well as a sort of sampler so that you then go check out more of
the featured bands’ material (and of course listen to the ‘riginal sources; I
personally finally went out and replaced my old Bird Of Fire vinyl with a 5-CD Mahavishnu box set). Lots more words
soon.
JON NELSON/THE GENKIN PHILHARMONIC
Track List: Song
For A Dead King/Plague/Country Band March/Vrooom/Echidna's Arf/Ala Et Lolly/896
Lightyears/Marqueson’s Chicken/Solo/Morning Bell/Thrak/Preaching To The
Converted.
A ten or more piece
avant garde/progressive rock band, inspired by Frank Zappa, heavy on horns and
rhythm. It is Jon's third independent project, following Metalofonico and Gran
Calavera Electrica. Jon is the main man of the Meridian Arts Ensemble, who
released four CDs featuring Zappa tunes - all great. And Prime Meridian adds a cracking Beefheart medley. Furthermore, Gran Calavera Electrica is in part a
tribute to FZ, written by Steve Barber. This here is a great live CD. The
quality of some of the recordings isn’t that brilliant, but the performances
more than make up it. The opener swings a little like The Gumbo Variations, and tells the story of how Elvis is alive and
well. The album is the first in an ongoing series featuring a rotating cast of
young uns (there’s over 20 musicians listed), with Jon as Musical Director and
fellow Meridian Ray Stewart’s tuba providing most of the big low notes. So, we
get to hear a couple of originals, some Ives, Zappa, Crimson, Radiohead and
Prokofiev. Solo is a
didgeridoo piece played by
Steve Baczkowski and starts a scary sequence (it frightened J-Roc’s cat) that
concludes with two drummers drumming on Thrak.
Can’t wait for Phase II.
TODD GRUBBS: TIME, SPACE AND THE ELECTRIC
(LSO89365)
Track list: Time,
Space And The Electric/Thank You Mr Maniac/The Fearless Future/Dreaming Aboard
An Alien Aircraft/Edith/The Electric Life/A View From Inner Space/The
Argument/You Are Here/The Ballad Of Emy And Lu/Curved Time.
An all instrumental
affair; mainly up-tempo rockers – but the anthemic Vai-like Edith and The Ballad Of Emy And Lu slow things down nicely. Features a great
moog solo from Don Preston on You Are
Here. My favourite track is undoubtedly The
Electric Life, which features some uplifting Yes-like vocalizations. I’ve
been listening to this for several weeks now and it really grows on you – I
mean, I liked it straight off, but the more I listen the more I hear and the
more I keep coming back to it. The album is mostly played by Todd, on a
multitude of wondrous guitars, with longtime friends Jeff Henry and Alan Tatum
on drums and bass, though as well as Don there are a number of other guest
players. Todd is a huge FZ fan who has now made five great albums (plus he
contributed a version of The Idiot
Bastard Son to the 20 Extraordinary
Renditions CD) and hopefully will one day come to
BOB HARRIS: THE GREAT NOSTALGIA (Crossfire
Publications, 9510-2)
Track list: Ageless
Love/The Great Nostalgia/Message From The Shore/The Flower/There's Still
Hope/Autumn In Nepal (Steve Vai Remix). Bonus tracks: The Blue Gazebo/Nobody
Wins In A War/Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Live at Zappanale 13)/Magnet And
Iron/White Bird-Ancient Wish/There's Still Hope (Steve Vai Remix).
I was very happy to
be part of finally getting this excellent album out on CD, and also to have
suggested the bonus of the spine-tingling performance of Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Bob and wife Thana from Zappanale #13
(which I guess means I’m actually on this CD – as part of the cheering
throng!). Originally a kind of new age album of six mostly improvised pieces by
Bob (on walls-of-vocals, trumpet and keyboards) with percussionist Billy
‘ANT-BEE’ James.
ADRIAN BELEW: SIDE FOUR (LIVE) (Adrian Belew
Presents, ABP2167)
Track list: Writing
On The Wall/Dinosaur/Ampersand/Young Lions/Beat Box Guitar/Matchless Man/A
Little Madness/Drive/Of Bow And Drum/Big Electric Cat/Three Of A Perfect
Pair/Thela Hun Ginjeet.
Apparently before
this was released, some radio station in the
FRANK ZAPPA: WAZOO (VAULTernative Records,
VR 2007-2)
Disc One: Intro
Intros/The Grand Wazoo (Think It Over)/Approximate/Big Swifty.
Disc Two: "Ulterior Motive"/The
Adventures Of Greggery Peccary: Movement I; Movement II; Movement III; Movement
IV - The New Brown Clouds/Penis Dimension/Variant I Processional March.
Folks is right
about not being able to hear much of Ruth Underwood on these CDs: she (and
cellist Jerry Kessler) can only really be heard during some of the quieter
orchestral passages in Greggery Peccary,
the middle of Approximate and, er,
elsewhere. But that’s perhaps not too surprising with 20 musicians on stage for
this and, otherwise, the sound is amazing – especially after years of listening
to those bad quality audience tapes – and, generally, this whole thing is a joy
to behold. Question: why does The Grand
Wazoo have its alternate title in brackets and Variant I Processional March not (with its first year of release
shown as 2007)? It is of course Regyptian
Strut. Anywho, Tony Duran gets Grand
Wazoo off to a great start. There are lots of solos from the lads in this
big band, but it doesn’t seem as if we’ve had over 21 minutes of music before
we get into the organised madness that is the mighty Approximate. This is the real highlight of this set, with the
electric drums of Jim Gordon amazing throughout. With all the brass and wind
solos, it’s odd to then single out Dave Parlato’s bass on Big Swifty. But I just did. And that’s a near perfect rendering of Swifty, BTW. The 30 minute plus Greggery Peccary is tons better than the
original, though it’s mainly a series of improvised passages rather than a long
structured instrumental arrangement of the Studio
Tan vershum. Bereft of its lyric, Penis
Dimension is also more enjoyable and obviously it’s this arrangement that
Ed Palermo’s Big Band regularly dish-up. Have to say I much prefer the 93
version of Regyptian Strut on Läther to Variant
I Processional March, but
that’s a small quibble. Ian Underwood also plays some nice jazzy keys
throughout, as well as some otherworldly on-stage synth programming (eg. on Approximate – have I mentioned that tune
before?). And what you can hear of Mrs Underwood (and fellow percussionist Tom
Raney) is as great as you’d expect from FZ. To say that finally the ZFT is
knocking out the goods is an understatement. Keep ‘em coming, Gail!
JON LARSEN: STRANGE NEWS FROM MARS (Zonic
Entertainment, ZEN 2001)
Track list: Goodbye
To Earth/The Eons Are Closing/Mutant Fromage/Dachs Reduction/A Windy Day On
Mars/Air Sculpting In Vacuum/Strange News From Mars/Cydonian Music/Mars Under
The Radar/Cinderella On The Event Horizon Of A Black Hole/The Quilt/The Secret
Word For Today Is/Conseptual Continuity On The Red Planet/Norwegisher
Schweinhund/Capt. Zurcon’s Cranberry Cocktail/Unwanted Sexual Attention In
Space/Optional Entertainment In Zero Gravitation/Tax The Churches/Music Is The
Best/Does Humour Belong In Music?
The unabbreviated session with Jimmy Carl Black (available exclusively on
download at www.hotclub.musiconline.no:
Jimmy Carl Black’s Dach’s Reduction/Mayday From Space/First
Close Encounter With A Real Martian.
This is “the amazing reunion
of Frank Zappa alumni Tommy Mars (keyboards), Bruce Fowler (trombone), Jimmy
Carl Black (vocal) and Arthur Barrow (magic & bass) together with Hot Club
guitarist Jon Larsen. Written as a surrealistic expedition to Mars” -
it features lots of great laid-back jazz instrumentals loaded with trademark
Tommy synth (dig those ‘Hail Caesar Variations’ on Cinderella On The Event
Horizon Of A Black Hole) and fine marimba from Rob Waring (Jon wanted Ed Mann
to add his magic too, but the logistics proved impossible: hopefully they’ll
resolve this for the next expedition of a planned trilogy). Arthur Barrow
engineered the
NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK featuring GREGARIOUS
MOVEMENT: AFTER FRANK - 1st MOVEMENT (Crossfire Publications)
Track list: Skin
Tight/Heaven Must Be Like This/Let’s Stay Together/O-o-h Child/Fire.
Recorded in 1977 in
the daze before Old Gregg got the funk, hear Napi trying to get the denizens of
Santa Cruz to do his dance, the Lucey Ducey - memorably urging them to get off
their ‘buttocks’ at one point - to a great bunch of soul/R&B covers. Skin
Tight features a Room Service/Dummy Up-type improv rap between Napi and the
track’s lead vocalist (and drummer) Billy Ingram. That’s one of the amazing
things about this incarnation of GM: there’s only four folk on stage, but they
manage to sound so full, and have three really strong vocalists. Napi leads on
just the Reverend Green’s ditty, but he honks, percusses and back-up vox all
over the shop. As Greg Russo notes in his liner notes, this is like having five
12” singles; each of the tracks are quite long but you just don’t notice
because you’re having fun listening to it. Not the greatest audio quality, but
it captures a great night of happy music.
FRANK ZAPPA: THE DUB ROOM SPECIAL (Zappa
Records, ZR20006)
Track list: A Token
of My Extreme (Vamp)/Stevie’s Spanking/The Dog Breath Variations/Uncle
Meat/Stink-Foot/Easy Meat /
Guess I wasn’t
paying close attention when this CD was first announced, but it’s just two
tracks from Halloween 81, the rest from KCET 74. When Stevie’s Spanking fades
in after the previously unreleased Token vamp (it’s the only track here not on
the Dub Room DVD) and the crowd cheering after runs over the intro to the
wondrous Dog Meat, you do ask why didn’t they just release a disc of all KCET
material - and I’m the type of guy who actually favours the mix and match
approach of YCDTOSA Vols 1 and 6 rather than the Helsinki/FZ:OZ/Buffalo
complete concert stuff (great though they is). The track running order and
audio quality are wonderful, but the Halloween stuff seems to spoil the flow -
which is not the case with the video/DVD. So, yeah, this greedy sod’d be
happier with two separate discs of the two separate concerts.
THE WRONG OBJECT featuring ANNIE WHITEHEAD
and HARRY BECKETT: PLATFORM ONE (Jazzprint JPVP138CD)
Track list:
Intruth/Honeypump Riff/Big Swifty/Platform 1-Intro/Platform 1/Filthy
Habits/This Affects That/Wet Weather Wet/Scarlet Mine/Tinseltown/Hello Max.
I was unable to
attend any of the Wrong Object’s recent north-of-Watford gigs, but the band’s
Michel Delville told me: “They went very well I think. Nice crowds and good
responses. And it was a good opportunity to launch the new CD. At the
JIMMY CARL BLACK: WHERE’S THE $%&#@'
BEER? (Crossfire Publications, 9508-2)
Track List: The
Indian Of The Group/Black Limousine/Low Ridin’ Man/’59 Chevy/Teenage
Credit/Thank You, Come Again/Captain Beefheart Medley/Lovesick Blues/Stick
Man/Trail Of Tears/Blonde Haired Woman/Lady Queen Bee/Waiting/Plastic
Factory/Who Did You Love/The Great White Buffalo/JCB’s Early Years & The
Mothers.
A slightly
expanded, and mucho enhanced, reissue of Jimmy’s follow-up to his When Do We
Get Paid? anthology. Many familiar tunes, but different versions, showcasing
Jim’s vocal and song-writing talents. Opening aptly with The Indian Of The
Group from the Spring 2001 jaunt with the Muffin Men, the disc also features
some Beefheart songs from that same tour - all previously unreleased (before
the 2002 version of this CD). One of the first times I met Jim (it was in The
Swan opposite Fulham Broadway when he was there with Jack), I asked if he’d
play Hank Williams’ Lovesick Blues. “I haven’t sung that in a long time,” he
replied. I bought him a beer, but he didn’t reprise the song he sang on YCDTOSA
Vol. 5 and Welcome Back, Geronimo Black (which is the version included here,
from 1973 with Bunk Gardner and Don Preston). Yeah, better than Frank Ifield. A
nice surprise is Thank You, Come Again - a country-ish duet with Lurleen
Lumpkin (aka Christina Albertson) recorded in
JEFF SIMMONS: THE STRAIGHT YEARS - LUCILLE
HAS MESSED MY MIND UP/THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK FROM NAKED ANGELS (World IN
Sound, WIS-1035/WIS-1036)
Lucille:
Angels: Naked
Angels Theme/Ride Into Vegas/Vegas Boogie/Vegas
Pickup/Cop Out/First Desert Ride/Rank/Boinin’ (Third Ride)/Scots Breath/Rat
Grind/Bar Dream/Camper Scene/Toccata For Truck/End Theme.
I imagine many of
you will have tapes or CD-Rs of the three tracks Lucille, Raye and Wonderful
Wino from Jeff’s FZ produced solo album. Scratches an’ all. Well, now you can
have them for real in nu-clear sound thanks to
DON
Track list: Of No
Consequence/Opus 5/Was Black/Found/The Winds Of Change (First Movement)/The
Winds Of Change (Second Movement)/The Winds Of Change (Third Movement)/Primeval
#7/Opening Titles/Ode To Tinguely/The Bride Stripped Bare/Homage To F.Z.
Crossfire recently
re-released an expanded version of Don’s Vile Foamy Ectoplasm. This CD, of more
classically slanted pieces, is a perfect contrasting companion to that disc
(its fraternal twin, if you like), highlighting as it does Don the composer. Of
No Consequence is a live string-driven thing with Hermann-Hitchcock like
moments that doesn’t actually feature Don; it was performed by the Chamber Orchestra
of Invention at the Gewandhaus concerts that spawned the Grande Mothers live
album. Opus 5 and Ode To Tinguely are just Don solo on piano - both short
gallops. Was Black is a more atmospheric piece in the style of Pendereski -
from a nude dance video about
STEVE VAI: SOUND THEORIES, VOLS. I
& II (Epic Records, 88697 01421 2)
Vol 1, ‘The Aching
Hunger’: Kill The Guy With The Ball/The God Eaters/The Murder Prologue/The
Murder/Gentle Ways/Answers/I’m Becoming/Salamanders In The Sun/Liberty/The
Attitude Song/For The Love Of God.
Vol 2, ‘Shadows And
Sparks’: Shadows And.../
Have been looking
forward to this release for some while, and as soon as the track list was
announced, I knocked together some mp3s from the NPS broadcast to get my juices
really flowing (thanks, PvL - you the man). Not sure that a with-orchestra
arrangement of Kill The Guy With The Ball works and it’s certainly not a great
opener - the Keneally piano version would have been better! Starts with a brief
conducting-the-audience thang before Steve lets fly a few notes for various
parts of the orchestra to copy. All clever stuff, but you can’t wait for the
song to really take-off - and when it does, things get a whole lot more
exciting. The first disc features Steve playing with the Metropole Orkest, but
he sits and watches them on disc two, and thus the focus there is on Vai the
composer. It’s a little like the Jaco Pastorius Big Band - good listening,
but there’s a little something (or someone) missing, though the MO’s guitarist,
Peter Tiehuis, takes a solo in Frangelica Pt. 2 (which has an 80s synth opening
and jazz piano & sax soli), Bledsoe Bluvd (where the brass plays a fine
section, perfectly evoking Tommy Mars’ style) and plays the opening lines
of Helios And Vesta. Back to Disc One, Salamanders is one of my fave Steve
tunes and here it’s absolutely amazing. The orchestra starts it then Steve solos
and from hereon in it’s pretty much dominated by the nice little boy (although
he again lets the orchestra introduce another song - For The Love Of
God - before letting rip). Vol 2 has a perc heavy intro and contains some
familiar themes from the Alive In An Ultra World and
BUNK
Track list:
Hello!/Colt .45/The Whistler (First Movement)/Dona/Voices And Dreams (Second
Movement)/Bat Masterson Theme/3,000,000 B.C. Cave Man (Second Movement) - ‘I
Am...’/Basement Theme Downstairs/More Gardner Variations/The Late Show (First
Movement)/Mary Jane/Oh God (edit)/One For The Girls/String Quartet /Wagon
Train/Roaring ‘20s/Rhapsody In Red (First Movement)/Qualude To Chaos And Fine/Adieu/My
Love Has Gone.
Bunk’s first solo
CD, comprising tracks spanning the period 1959-1981. It’s not actually all
Bunk, as he doesn’t appear on the last track - a bonus added in tribute to his late
brother, Buzz. I particularly like the sequencing on this disc - it’s not
chronological and so it moves from 50s big band orchestra to avant garde (the
Menage A Trois pieces) to very melodic stuff with Andy Cahan (in the guise of
Elmer And Fred), throwing in a live track with The Grandmothers from 1981.
Rising out of all this is Bunk’s drowning-in-a-vat-of-chocolate-Angel’s-Delight
sax. Yummy. I especially like the Elmer And Fred tracks, which sound a lot
spiffier here than when they first appeared on those Grandmothers albums - a
feature of all Crossfire reissues. Keep up the great work, Greg.
DON
Track list: Moon
Unit/Immaculate Deception/The Street Urchins/Bannon Call/Horta Babies/Construction
In Slow Motion With Sharp Interludes/Trapezoid/Andrea/Loki (The Thrones Of
Saturn)/The Eye Of Agamoto/Aegospotamos/New Age Mumbo Jumbo (edited remix)/The
Cherubim (edit)/Homage To Tinguely/Silicone Hump/The Street Urchins 2/The
Eternal Question/Palmer Park/Voices From The Past/Death Lights.
Omitting just two
tracks from the original Muffin Records CD (which will appear on future
Crossfire releases) this newly expanded and remastered edition of Don’s Vile
Foamy Ectoplasm adds 10 - many featuring longtime pal, Bunk Gardner. One of the
‘new’ tracks is Loki, on which FZ engineered the gong segments (see our
interview for details). This CD showcases Don the composer,
experimenter and modular Moog demonstrator, providing a brilliant overview of
Don’s works during a period of 44 years. And, of course, the work continues. Of
the added Don & Bunk Show tunes, Aegospotamos stands out as a very pretty
little piece, written the year I was born and performed by the Mothers 10 years
later - as, of course, was The Eye Of Agamoto, which has appeared on many
Mothers’ bootlegs. The CD features an impressive list of guest appearances
from: Jimmy Carl Black, Bruce, Walt & Tom Fowler, Arthur Barrow, Motorhead,
Howard Kaylan, Roy Estrada, Andre Cholmondeley, Mike Miller and Meredith Monk.
Look out for Works.
FRANK ZAPPA:
Disc One: Chunga’s
Revenge/You Are What You Is/Mudd Club/The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing/Cosmik
Debris/Keep It Greasy/Tinsel Town Rebellion/Buffalo Drowning Witch/Honey, Don’t
You Want A Man Like Me?/Pick Me, I’m Clean/Dead Girls Of London/Shall We Take
Ourselves Seriously?/City Of Tiny Lites.
Disc Two: Easy
Meat/Ain’t Got No Heart/The Torture Never Stops/Broken Hearts Are For
Assholes/I’m So Cute/Andy/Joe’s Garage/Dancing Fool/The ‘Real World’ Thematic
Extrapolations/Stick It Out/I Don’t Wanna Get Drafted/Bobby Brown/Ms Pinky.
Comparing this to
the recently made available on t’Internet concert by Catholic radio recorded
just a few months earlier with David Logeman on drums is pretty amazing - ‘tis
Vinnie that makes all the difference; everyone seems to raise their game
(including Frank). There’s a long Torture,
with jazzy interludes and - zeets! - a fine VC solo.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: ZAPPANALE #17
Disc One: Gamma
Waves (Gamma)/I Wasn’t Talking (Corrie Van Binsbergen)/Il Y A Mojo (AGE)/Broken
Hearts Are For Assholes (FZLE)/Son Of Orange County (FZLE)/New Design
(TriPod)/Sleep Dirt (Zappatistas)/Peaches En Regalia (Daniel Rohr &
Rocktheater)/Daytime (Jane)/Rat Tomago incl. Zoot Allures & Theme from ‘Bonanza’
(Jazzprojekt Hundehagen)/If Only She Woulda (PiKANTiK)/Two Down (Soft Machine
Legacy)/Watermelon In Easter Hay (Egon Kracht & The Troupe).
Disc Two:
Dootrap (DOOT!)/Napkins (Both Pink & Black) (DOOT!)/Travelling
Riverside Blues (Paul Green School of Rock)/Changes (Paul Green School of
Rock)/Black Page #2 (Paul Green School of Rock)/King Kong (Paul
Green School of Rock feat. Adrian Belew)/City Of
Bonus Disc: More
Stories From The Girl Who Wasn’t Talking (Corrie van Binsbergen)/The World Goes
Round And Round (AGE)/Teen-Age Prostitute (FZLE)/Fashion (TriPod)/Sexual
Harassment In The Workplace (Zappatistas)/Absolutely Free (Daniel Rohr &
Rocktheater)/Know It All (Jane)/Any Kind Of Pain (Jazzprojeckt
Hundehagen)/Suicide Chump (PiKANTiK)/Ash (Soft Machine Legacy)/Toad-O-Line
(Egon Kracht & The Troupe)/Wicked World (Paul Green School of Rock)/Third
Stone From The Sun (DOOT!)/Peaches IV (Les Polissons)/Gnomus (Ikarisches
Ensemble)/Of Bow And Drum (Adrian Belew Power Trio).
This is not so much
a review as an article on my role in the existence of these discs. I guess many
of the regulars to the Zappanale festival come away thinking ‘I hope they put
that on the CDs,’ and to some extent I have been lucky enough to have some
small influence on the selection of a few of the tracks on the last four
Amaretto Mick Zeuner efforts, I came away thinking the same again last year not
dreaming that it would actually be my job to make all the selections this time.
It was all a bit of last-minute mad rush kinda deal, but I think J-Roc and I
succeeded in baking some great discs here. But it wasn’t just a straightforward
‘Let’s have that track, and that one, and what about that one?’ We had to
contend with: the wishes of the artists (although some of their suggestions
were dismissed in favour of what we thought we’re better pieces); the time
constraints of three or four discs at around 79 minutes each (we had no idea
whether it was going to be a 2 or 3-CD set plus Bonus Disc, and so we gave the
Arfs an either or option; had they gone for three CDs, you would have got two
discs of all FZ compositions and one ‘Zappa-Nil’; the Bonus Disc (‘Extra Time’)
was cast in stone and was always gonna be what it now is); the fact that no
King Crimson stuff from Adrian Belew’s set could be used (this we were only
told about part-way through our bid to meet the end of October deadline);
editing out suitable parts from the Finale and Corrie Van Binsbergen’s set (she
played just two lengthy pieces, which included samples from Frank’s catalogue
that we obviously had to avoid - which is why we added ‘Gamma Waves’; this is
as close as we could get to replicating the low growling that preceded the
excerpt from ‘I Wasn’t Talking’ used: when we speeded the original recording
up, we found it was the actual spoken intro to ‘Lumpy Gravy’, so we substituted
this with a slowed down extract from Gamma’s phone message to Ben Watson from
the ‘Zappanale #14’ CDs. Conceptual Continuity buffs may wanna note that Ben
also included part of this as a hidden bonus track at the end of his
‘Frankfurter Ahnung’ CD. And, yes, it was sent to mixmaster Hugo Moller as a
wave file, hence the title); and the wishes of the then Arf Society President,
Wolfhard, to include one particular track. We also wanted to embrace some
less-obvious choices too. So it was much more than just telling Hugo the songs
to use - we had to get to grips with Samplitude software, and learn how to mark
the start and end of each piece digitally; in the case of the Soft Machine
Legacy’s ‘Two Down’, we marked the start well into John Marshall’s drum solo
and had to hope it would blend in well with the previous track (ditto the edit
in the ‘Packard Goose’ finale). I think it does, which for our part was very
much down to John: as a musician, his ears were invaluable in identifying
precisely where to stop and start things, though we didn’t have the luxury of
actually hearing the results until Hugo ‘cut’ the discs. We made some
suggestions (like lose the drum track here to make a better segue, fade the
audience out there, etc) and Hugo obliged. We had a real bounce around the room
moment the first time we heard what he’d done with the segue into ‘Son Of
Orange County’. It sounds like FZLE played the tunes in that order, but in fact
they didn’t (‘Teen-Age Prostitute’ from the Bonus Disc actually followed
‘Broken Hearts’). That fantastic moment was really down to Hugo’s expertise,
and there are many other fine examples to be found. Of course, another
consideration was to include something by every act, even if we didn’t
particularly like some of them. Well, I think our choices mask this pretty well
and I find I can listen to, and enjoy, everything on the discs with no difficulty
at all - even if I do laugh out loud at some points recalling the
Stella-fuelled silliness that existed between John and me at times. We couldn’t
have achieved all this without AMZ, who collected some of the band’s set lists
at the festival and had other useful advice to offer throughout that mad month
of October 2006. I would also like to thank the bands I contacted for promptly
coming back to me with song titles and composers. It all worked out wonderfully
well and both John and I are immensely proud of what we managed to achieve. We
hope this was just our debut effort and that we’ll be involved again in the
future: indeed, I’m drooling at the prospect of listening again to Terry’s
headlining set in the comfort of Leaky Coconut Studios. Now read my liner notes
at http://www.en.zappanale.de/linernotes.
JIMMY CARL BLACK: WHEN DO WE GET PAID?
(Crossfire Publications, 9504-2)
Track list: Trail of
Tears (The Grandmothers)/Turn On Your Love Light (Live) (Holzhaus, Black and
Terrazas)/Goin’ Back to Texas (Live) (Holzhaus, Black and Terrazas)/Stretch
Pants (The Keys)/Just a Matter of Time (The Keys)/I’m Ready (The Jolly
Rogers)/Love Potion #9 (The Jolly Rogers)/Cherry Pie (The Jolly Rogers)/Ain’t
Got No Home (The Jolly Rogers)/Bony Moronie (The Jolly Rogers)/Sick and Tired
(Big Sonny and The Lo Boys)/I’m a King Bee (Big Sonny and The Lo Boys)/Sympathy
for the Devil (Big Sonny and The Lo Boys)/Freak Out in Screw, Texas (The
Grandmothers)/Fever (Arthur Brown with Jimmy Carl Black)/Lady Queen Bee (The
Grandmothers)/Blue Eyed Woman (Jimmy Carl Black with The X-Tra Combo).
This original
Ant-Bee compiled CD has been completely remastered and re-EQ’d by Greg Russo,
who has added 3 bonus tracks: Fever (with Arthur Brown); Lady Queen Bee (with
The Grandmothers); and Blue Eyed Woman (with The X-Tra Combo). All of the
tracks will be available on paid download sites (like iTunes, and about 40
others) shortly. The disc includes material recorded either side of Jimmy’s
stint with the Mothers. It opens with a live rendition of Jim’s tale about who
dicked the red man over, Trail Of Tears, by the Austin Grandmothers who also
closed the original CD with the improvised studio weirdness that is Freak Out In Screw,
THE MOFO PROJECT/OBJECT (Deluxe 4-Disc
Version) (Zappa Records, ZR 20004)
Disc 1: Hungry
Freaks, Daddy/I Ain’t Got No Heart/Who Are The Brain Police?/Go Cry On Somebody
Else’s Shoulder/Motherly Love/How Could I Be Such A Fool/Wowie Zowie/You Didn’t
Try To Call Me/Anyway The Wind Blows/I’m Not Satisfied/You’re Probably
Wondering Why I’m Here/Trouble Every Day/Help, I’m A Rock/It Can’t Happen
Here/Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet.
Disc 2: Hungry
Freaks, Daddy (Vocal Overdub Take 1)/Anyway The Wind Blows (Vocal Overdub)/Go
Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder (Vocal Overdub Take 2)/I Ain’t Got No Heart
(Vocal Overdub Master Take)/Motherly Love (Vocal Overdub Master Takes)/I’m Not
Satisfied (2nd Vocal Overdub Master, Take 2 Rough Mix)/You’re Probably
Wondering Why I’m Here (Vocal Overdub Take 1/Take 2)/Who Are The Brain Police?
(Basic Tracks)/How Could I Be Such A Fool? (Basic Tracks)/Anyway The Wind Blows
(Basic Tracks)/Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder (Basic Tracks)/I Ain’t Got No
Heart (Basic Tracks)/You Didn’t Try To Call Me (Basic Tracks)/Trouble Every Day
(Basic Tracks)/Help, I’m A Rock (FZ Edit)/Who Are The Brain Police? (Section B,
Alternate Take)/Groupie Bang Bang/Hold On To Your Small Tiny Horses... (Nullis
Pretii at non-Composer speed).
Disc 3: Objects (FZ
directs Kim Fowley in crowd control...)/Freak Trim (Kim Outs A Big
Idea)/Percussion Insert Session Snoop/Freak Out Drum Track w/Timp. &
Lion/Percussion Object 1 & 2 (FZ Edit)/Lion Roar & Drums from Freak
Out!/Vito Rocks The Floor (Greek Out!)/‘Low Budget Rock & Roll Band’/Suzy
Creamcheese (What’s Got Into You?) (excerpt from interview 1971)/Motherly Love
(Live at Fillmore, 25 June 1966)/You Didn’t Try To Call Me (Live at Fillmore,
25 June 1966)/I’m Not Satisfied (Live at Fillmore, 25 June 1966)/Hungry Freaks,
Daddy (Live at Fillmore, 25 June 1966)/Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder (Live
at Fillmore, 25 June 1966).
Disc 4: Wowie
Zowie/Who Are The Brain Police? (Section A, C, B)/Hungry Freaks, Daddy/Cream
Cheese (Work Part)/Trouble Every Day (single edit)/It Can’t Happen Here
(Mothermania Version)/Interviews excerpts: ‘Pyschedelic Music’/‘MGM’/’Dope
Fiend Music’/’How We Made It Sound That Way’/‘Poop
Rock’/‘Machinery’/‘Pyschedelic Upholstery’/‘Psychedelic Money’/Who Are The
Brain Police?/Any Way The Wind Blows/Hungry Freaks, Daddy/More Interviews: ‘The
‘Original’ Group’/‘Necessity’/‘Union Scale’/‘25 Hundred Signing Fee’/‘Tom
Wilson’/‘My Pet Theory’/‘There Is No Need’.
Disc One is the
original album; Two comprised mainly of alternate takes and backing tracks;
Three the best of the bunch, with lots of great percussion; and Four full of
interviews. If evidence were needed that Freak Out! is more than just a bunch
of gentle doo-wop parodies, three experimental pieces and a blues-based social
critique, then here it is. But there may just be a little too much: on the fourth
disc, Frank comes across as a pompous big-head on some of the early interview
segments; I mean, did he seriously believe the Beatles ripped him off on Lovely
Rita, or was it all just a publicity ploy?
FRANK ZAPPA: TRANCE-FUSION
Track list: Chunga’s
Revenge/Bowling On Charen/Good Lobna/A Cold Dark Matter/Butter Or Cannons/Ask
Dr Stupid/Scratch & Sniff/Trance-Fusion/Gorgo/Diplodocus/Soul Polka/For
Guiseppe Franco/After Dinner Smoker/Light Is All That Matters/Finding Higgs’
Boson/Bavarian Sunset.
As Dweezil says,
“It’s just a guitar record,” but it’s better than the previous one (Guitar was
just too much for me - each track in isolation sounds great, but that’s one of
the few Zappa albums I can’t sit right the way through). You know, I always
thought the inclusion of the Harry Lime Theme was of Muffin Man origin, but
here it is: played by Scott in For Giuseppe Franco. Interestingly, the first
solo on this album is played by the Dweez, but after three minutes or so, he’s
joined by his dad on an edited version of Chunga’s from the second Broadway
Wembley show on Frank’s final tour proper. I’ve owned a tape of this for so
long that listening to it now it’s hard to get too excited. But the sound
quality is so great that inevitably there’s a small frisson downstairs. I wish
it were bigger, but that’s the way God planned it. This is a great CD that I
hope you all own by now and so I don’t need to say too much more. I’m a
fan of the inbetweeine tracks on Shut Up which I think would’ve enhanced this
but, as it is, it’s wonderment of the highest order - with the son of Zappa
playing Zappa on first and last.
THE MUFFIN MEN: LIVE IN THE KITCHEN OF LOVE
(Ark-Hive 931)/LOOKS LIKE NOODLES TO ME (Ark-Hive 941)
Kitchen track list:
Zootz/Torturez/Cosmikz/Franz/Assholez/Clevelandz (interpolating Wayco’s The
Kitchen Of Love)/Slutz/Medleyz/Mamaz/Williez.
Noodles track list: Heavy Duty Judy/Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy/Bamboozled By
Love/Uncle Remus/King Kong/Rasta Pasta/Easy Meat/Pick Me I’m Clean/Lucille Has
Messed My Mind Up/Harry, You’re a Beast/Oh No!/Son Of Orange County/Why Does It
Hurt When I Pee?/Joe’s Garage/Mr Green Genes/Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man/Take
Your Clothes Off When you Dance.
For some strange
reason, I always thought the earlier incarnations of the Muffins were not as
proficient as the more recent Tilo backed line-ups, but in fact these
recordings (Kitchen from
Gigs
THE 3RD INTERNATIONAL ZAPPA CONFERENCE,
PARIS, 5-6 JULY 2008 – special guest reviewer: Evil Dick
ICE-Z 3, ICE-Z 69 or
The 3rd International Zappa Conference…what was this conference called? As it turned out, it was called all three
things depending on who you spoke to.
This time it was the turn of
MUFFIN MEN, THE BOARDWALK,
Set list: Willie The Pimp/Plastic Factory/Road
Ladies/Great White Buffalo/Pygmy Twylyte/Jones Crusher/San Berdino.
King Kong/Big
Leg Emma/The Indian Of The Group/City Of Tiny Lites/Wino Man/Zoot
Allures/Yellow Snow/Black Napkins/More Trouble Everyday/Flower Punk/My Guitar.
Train. Uncle.
Drive.
BEN WATSON AND DIDIER MERVELET ON 1968, MUSIC, CAPITALISM, CONWAY HALL,
Before this
lecture, Didier (Sécrétaire Generale of Les Fils de l’Invention) confided in me
that this would be Ben reading a paper and "I’m supposed to add
(improvise) some entertaining interpolations". And he did. Say what you
like about Ben, he’s an engaging performer – though he claimed he had to stick
to his script because of nerves. But as someone pointed out during the
subsequent Q&A/discussion, he was just as lucid, interesting and charming
when improvising. And the interventions from Didier throughout were no
different. It was during the subsequent discussion that Ben spoke of the
reasons for his avid interest in Zappa over the MC5, Sun Ra, Hendrix, et al
(because of the wider references to music of all kinds, mainly). So what was
the crux of their biscuit? Ben provided a critique of anniversaries and
sectarian attempts to carve up the past by referencing May 1968 (the time of the student
protests and general strike in
ZAPPATEERS NL FESTIVAL, 14-15 MARCH 2008
THE GRANDE MOTHERS,
Set list: Hungry Freaks Daddy/Let’s Move To
Cleveland/Lonely Little Girl/Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance/Chunga’s
Revenge/Call Any Vegetable/The Idiot Bastard Son/Uncle Meat/Obligatory Drum
Solo-T’Mershi Duween/Pygmy Twylyte.
Peaches En Regalia/Montana/Big Swifty (interpolating
I Come From Nowhere and Evelyn, A Modified Dog)/I’m The Slime/In The
Sky/Let’s Make The Water Turn Black/Harry, You’re A Beast/Oh No/Son Of Orange
County/More Trouble Every Day/San Ber’dino/Sofa No. 1/I’m The Slime.
Encores: Little House I Used To Live In/Merely A
Blues In F/Mother People.
I was lucky enough to meet the guys backstage
beforehand and presented Don with a copy of the 20 Idiot Bastards CD (after all, it’s his logo on the back – see
top of this page too). Napoleon and
ALLAN HOLDSWORTH TRIO WITH JIMMY JOHNSON AND
Set list started
with Chad’s The Fifth, followed by Fred (where CW’s pyrotechnic display
elicited much applause from the assembled throng) and Water On The Brain (featuring a fine solo from JJ)…thereafter, no
idea - but this is the third time I’ve seen Chad this year and it was the best
of those gigs. The Jazz Café is quite a small venue – so much so that Julian
Barratt of The Mighty Boosh (a huge
Holdsworth fan: he was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall gig earlier this year too),
stood on Mrs G’s foot and elbowed her in the tit. It’s perhaps worth mentioning
here that Barratt, and his Boosh
co-star Noel Fielding, were on Jonathan Ross’s Friday night chat show the week
of this gig where they mentioned their common interest in Zappa and Beefheart.
Anyways, back to
ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA: SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE,
Set list: Noise
Intro/Black Napkins/Suzy Creemcheese/Brown Shoes Don’t Make It/America Drinks
And Goes Home/City Of Tiny Lites/Advance Romance/Dumb All Over/What’s New In
Baltimore?/Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy/Dog Meat/Pygmy Twylyte/Dupree’s Paradise
Variations/Uncle Remus/Willie The Pimp/Joe’s Garage/Wind Up Workin’ In A Gas
Station/San Ber’dino/Zoot Allures/Ship Ahoy/The Illinois Enema Bandit/Cosmik
Debris/G-Spot Tornado/Muffin Man.
“Everybody else goes out and plays a show as if it’s their album, which is boring. I’d rather sit at home and listen to the album, because I hate to be in a smoke-filled, loud room - that’s not enjoyable for me at all...I always look up to guys who can sit and do dinner music...they’re singing in tune and playing somebody else’s music, and I don’t think I could do that...it’s the shittiest job in the world.” That was Dweez