Post subject: Frank Zappa: Most Underpreciated Musician of All Time?
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:52 am
Got Some
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:20 am Posts: 2224 Location: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
just putting it out there...
this guy had 79 studio albums, many of which were fucking fantastic, sublime, and even the bad ones were still great you may argue that his music isn't very commercially accessible, but fuck that who cares
probably the most skilled drummer of all time (terry bozzio) and most skilled guitarist of all time (steve vai) both got where they are because of frank, and countless musicians all of which were close to the best in their field worked in frank's bands
he covered jazz, pop, rock, blues, funk, comedy, disco (albeit parodically), experimental, fusion, and is possibly the inventor of math rock (not sure if that is such a good thing but we'll leave it there)
i think probably the only reason why he isn't heard about all that much is due to the fact that the majority of his listeners would only be musicians, but i think his music should extend beyond that
Post subject: Re: Frank Zappa: Most Underpreciated Musician of All Time?
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:08 am
Got Some
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:20 am Posts: 2224 Location: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
i don't think its so much his skill as a guitarist that is underrated, moreso his ability as a composer. a lot of my favourite zappa solos are things from joe's garage which are just cut and paste jobs from songs that are of no relation, but things like watermelon in easter hay, willie the pimp, and 50-50 are just phenomenal for guitarists of his time. but i always thought that zappa himself stood back a bit (much like dweezil's role in zappa plays zappa) and let the others show off with him while he told them what to do
I think that amongst musicians Zappa is probably not underrated/under appreciated, as for joe public I'd say he's just plain under heard.
As for Bozzio he's incredible but I think Vinnie Colaiuta blows me away more. I love this quote from Vai.
Quote:
He's one of the most amazing sight-readers that ever existed on the instrument. One day we were in a Frank rehearsal, this was early '80s, and Frank brought in this piece of music called "Mo 'N Herb's Vacation." Just unbelievably complex. All the drums were written out, just like "The Black Page" except even more complex. There were these runs of like 17 over 3 and every drumhead is notated differently. And there were a whole bunch of people there, I think Bozzio was there. Vinnie had this piece of music on the stand to his right. To his left he had another music stand with a plate of sushi on it, okay? Now the tempo of the piece was very slow, like "The Black Page." And then the first riff came in, [mimics bizarre Zappa-esque drum rhythm patterns] with all these choking of cymbals, and hi-hat, ruffs, spinning of rototoms and all this crazy stuff. And I saw Vinnie reading this thing. Now, Vinnie has this habit of pushing his glasses up with the middle finger of his right hand. Well I saw him look at this one bar of music, it was the last bar of music on the page. He started to play it as he was turning the page with one hand, and then once the page was turned he continued playing the riff with his right hand, as he reached over with his left hand, grabbed a piece of sushi and put it in his mouth, continued the riff with his left hand and feet, pushed his glasses up, and then played the remaining part of the bar. It was the sickest thing I have ever seen. Frank threw his music up in the air. Bozzio turned around and walked away. I just started laughing.
Post subject: Re: Frank Zappa: Most Underpreciated Musician of All Time?
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:34 pm
Unthought Known
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2004 8:35 pm Posts: 8770 Location: flap flap flap hey no fair i made my saving throw
_________________ New Age bullshit is just a bunch of homo shit that some rich fuck came up with to scam people. It's exactly the same as scientology and every other religion: fake.
Post subject: Re: Frank Zappa: Most Underpreciated Musician of All Time?
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:40 pm
Black Metal Hero
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:04 pm Posts: 39920 Gender: Male
I forget the quote now, but it's something like, there is a list of books that everyone recognises are the best books that have ever been written, and almost no one reads them
I think Zappa is like that for a lot of people, but music obviously
for me anyway, I haven't even attempted to get into him yet, but I've really liked the few songs I've heard on youtube and that
it's like, how do you even begin to attack a discog so huge
I was looking at his site one day, and all four of his kids are artists in some respect, and all seem to be equally as weird, or free-minded
as it stands I respect him most for being (hard-line) straight edge
Post subject: Re: Frank Zappa: Most Underpreciated Musician of All Time?
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:36 pm
Supersonic
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:07 pm Posts: 12393
I don't buy this Zappa-as-unappreciated thing.
My mom, who is a barfly "let's go see REO Speedwago two towns away" "I really like those Green Day fellows" kinda empty slate, has liked Frank since she was a teen.
My dad, who is a Neil Young (as seen through CSNY), Loggins and Messina, Cat Stevens, Johnny Cash guy, likes him.
My uncle on my mom's side, who is a Kiss fanatic (is 44, has a Kiss shrine...) and doesn't believe that anything can be good if it hasn't been on the radio (went with me to Springsteen on the Rising tour, hated it because there weren't enough songs off the greatest hits), quotes Frank lyrics all the time.
I think, if anything, the one place I haven't seen Zappa appreciation in HEAVY numbers is in the music geek / musician arena. He's like the opposite of Tom Waits, in that. But that's my experience. Which is probably universal. You know.
Post subject: Re: Frank Zappa: Most Underpreciated Musician of All Time?
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:58 am
Got Some
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:20 am Posts: 2224 Location: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
godeatgod wrote:
for me anyway, I haven't even attempted to get into him yet, but I've really liked the few songs I've heard on youtube and that
it's like, how do you even begin to attack a discog so huge
free advice:
if you're looking to get into zappa you can start with his "catchy" stuff. get onto apostrophe or overnite sensation, this is probably the most straightforward zappa stuff, even though some of the stuff he does is ridiculous. next option i would say is hot rats, get onto that shit, jazz blues rock fusion it is fucking amazing, just jamming most of the way through. next try something like joe's garage for comedy value, the story is brilliant. also something like sheik yerbouti will go down very well for a first timer. then get onto something like one size fits all for the some more obscure stuff. next advice would be to watch babysnakes or dub room special. and also pick up roxy and elsewhere for some of his live show experiences.
Post subject: Re: Frank Zappa: Most Underpreciated Musician of All Time?
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:20 am
Black Metal Hero
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:04 pm Posts: 39920 Gender: Male
fishbob wrote:
godeatgod wrote:
for me anyway, I haven't even attempted to get into him yet, but I've really liked the few songs I've heard on youtube and that
it's like, how do you even begin to attack a discog so huge
free advice:
if you're looking to get into zappa you can start with his "catchy" stuff. get onto apostrophe or overnite sensation, this is probably the most straightforward zappa stuff, even though some of the stuff he does is ridiculous. next option i would say is hot rats, get onto that shit, jazz blues rock fusion it is fucking amazing, just jamming most of the way through. next try something like joe's garage for comedy value, the story is brilliant. also something like sheik yerbouti will go down very well for a first timer. then get onto something like one size fits all for the some more obscure stuff. next advice would be to watch babysnakes or dub room special. and also pick up roxy and elsewhere for some of his live show experiences.
I don't fear the weirdness
I'm biting my lip wondering if I should download the 8gig discog or not
Post subject: Re: Frank Zappa: Most Underpreciated Musician of All Time?
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 4:28 am
Got Some
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:20 am Posts: 2224 Location: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
godeatgod wrote:
fishbob wrote:
godeatgod wrote:
for me anyway, I haven't even attempted to get into him yet, but I've really liked the few songs I've heard on youtube and that
it's like, how do you even begin to attack a discog so huge
free advice:
if you're looking to get into zappa you can start with his "catchy" stuff. get onto apostrophe or overnite sensation, this is probably the most straightforward zappa stuff, even though some of the stuff he does is ridiculous. next option i would say is hot rats, get onto that shit, jazz blues rock fusion it is fucking amazing, just jamming most of the way through. next try something like joe's garage for comedy value, the story is brilliant. also something like sheik yerbouti will go down very well for a first timer. then get onto something like one size fits all for the some more obscure stuff. next advice would be to watch babysnakes or dub room special. and also pick up roxy and elsewhere for some of his live show experiences.
I don't fear the weirdness
I'm biting my lip wondering if I should download the 8gig discog or not
ah ok, probably not worth downloading the entire thing because there's a LOT of stuff to sift through. probably just start with the ones i mentioned, they're probably the most well-recognised ones
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Loggins and Messina.
