From Lagunitas Brewing comes a new beer called Freak Out Ale, celebrating 40 years of Freak Out! — with Gail Zappa’s permission, no less. Here’s the label:
-
Archives
- May 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- January 2003
- December 2002
- November 2002
- October 2002
- September 2002
- August 2002
- July 2002
- June 2002
- May 2002
- April 2002
- March 2002
- February 2002
- January 2002
- December 2001
- November 2001
- October 2001
- September 2001
- August 2001
- July 2001
-
Meta
This stuff really kicks ALE!!!
Arf&Arf, not 2 mention woo-HOOO! Yeah, y’gonna be undergoin’ plenty enough of a massive improve’lence 2 REALLY freak-out after a couple of those babies, since they’re SEVEN-POINT-THREE Percent!!
Zot!
“Wunnerful-wunnerful-wunnerful-wunnerful-wunnerful-wunnerful
-wunnerful-wunnerful-WUNNERFUL. It really makes it.”
“with Gail Zappa’s permission”…I’ve been thinking about this over the last couple days.
it’s important to have a sense of humor, but Gail honey, a question keeps going through my mind. After all your self-righteous whining about protecting the image of the artiste, maintaining the purity of his intentions and wishing to release and perform his music only as he would see fit (in your humble opinion) – WHAT DOES A BEER LABEL DO FOR YOUR CAUSE? Did you run out of money to sue the bastards??
Bob Again, the same thing you write went through my mind. Maybe Gail got old, and thinks product placement is the way to go???
Same here. And the fact that it’s beer… I mean wasn’t FZ against any mind-altering substances (with the exception of caffeine and nicotine obviously)? Maybe she should’ve gone with a cappuccino brand? :)
Greetings gentelmen!
I own the Lagunitas Brewing Co and the idea to make the beer, to ask for permission for the label, and the initial offer to pay for the privilege- and as a Zappa fan, it is a privilege.
Wouldn’t you think it cool yourself, after years of studying music composition and later building up a brewery, to find yourself having the opportunity to actually write out a check to and individual whose last name is Zappa and who was married to one of your personal heros!!? It was very cool for me.
So- for the record, I called Ms. Zappa first, and I offered to pay for it before anyone asked…
Over the last few months I have spoken to her a bunch and she has always been cool, if not darn right sweet.
This was all in the middle of the ZPZ tours as well.
Maybe it was that way because I did not try to just take something from her, as another brewery in Vermont has, without first offering to show my appreciation for the work that went into building the Zappa name and legacy into something that one would WANT to be a part of…
…and last, Mr Zappa did not like alcohol as a thing onto itself, but they did like the more restrained English Bitters as a beverage, not necessarily as a buzz…
I hope you dig the beer, in any case… :-)
Cheers all!
Tony Magee
Lagunitas Brewing Co
Petaluma CA
Tony, Tony, Tony
…so I guess from what you are saying, you actually wrote the sweet lady a check which she had no trouble cashing.
That pretty much answers my question.
Hi Bob,
I don’t know the customs here at this forum, so at the risk of offending others, I’d like to say clearly that I believe that Mr. Zappa’s legacy at this point in history belongs to his heirs- the people who knew him the best and same people who are bringing us the ZPZ music as well as other unreleased material that I for one am enjoying- and to them I am more than honored to pay a royalty for the opportunity to sell my beer using their images and in doing so tell my customers about the kind of things that are important to me.
From your comment I assume that you only work on a pro bono basis and if that is the case, I envy you.
More power, and income of all sorts, to the ZFT.
You should try sometime to produce a high school rendition of West Side Story without first paying the trust that controls Bernstein’s book and see how long it would take for the overseers to descend upon you.
I don’t know from what pulpit you feel good about speaking in dismissive tones about Ms. Zappa, but I am offended by it in any case.
I will not revisit this post.
I wish more power to the economic rights of artists with visions that inspire.
Cheers brother,
Tony
FZ was against illegal drug use, but was known to consume alcohol on occasion.
GZ has every right to do as she sees fit. At least she’s not selling the Freak Out box exclusively at Starbucks!!
But, hey, wouldn’t it be great to get a 6 pack free when buying the box set?
This note’s for you…
tony-
as someone who claims to be a zappa fan, you offend too easily.
you must have paid a shitload for the shnazzy label. i hope you sell alot of the beer – you are, after all, shilling beer first and foremost, no?
oh yeah, right – this is all about zappa and his genius.
speaking of which – regarding ‘more power to the economic rights of artists with visions that inspire’, i agree completely. unfortunately, this particular inspiring visionary has been dead since december 1993.
were you talking about dweezil? gail? diva, perhaps?
btw – if you were indeed a TRUE zappa fan, you would have called your special brew ‘SHMERTZ Golden Rot Gut BEER’. but no, you call it ‘freak out ale’. how very uninspired. what a lack of vision.
POOOO-AHHHH!
Yea, I get pretty tired of some folks on this site that NEVER miss an opportunity to rag on the ZFT…Frank’s FAMILY – who actually KNEW Frank and are responsible for his business, like it or not. These people are so offended by the stupidest shit. OH! Freak Out Ale!
What a bummer!!
I want two six-packs of this ale – one to drink, one to save.
Maybe if YOU owned a brewery and wanted to honor Frank Zappa with a product that you are proud of, some cunt would get all aggrieved and piss on your fun.
FUCK YOU.
hey scott-
you’re fantastic. really. when you go to heaven and meet the man himself, i’m sure he’ll walk straight up to you and shake your hand for your self-righteousness.
and i’m sure gail will give you a 10% discount off the 40th anniversary edition of ‘freak out’.
wait – actually, i doubt that.
HOWEVER – and i quote from the REAL frank zappa book, written by the REAL frank zappa…REALLY. pgs. 250-251:
‘gail has said in interviews before that one of the things that makes our relationship work is the fact that we hardly ever get to talk to each other.
we talk about business when we have to, but the rest of the time we don’t talk at all…even when i’m not touring, our work keeps us on different schedules.’
shit, it must have been hard to pick up her husband’s true intentions TELEPATHICALLY. and most of the shit the zft has released since frank’s passing has been a fucking insult to the work the man did while he was alive.
so FUCK YOU TOO scott. right back at ya.
You are right, mc N A S T Y . I defer to your
superior understanding of Frank’s business.
For myself, I make no such claim.
actually, scott – you DID make such a claim. you claimed that the zft is unimpeachable. and i called BULLSHIT on that. i think the zft sucks, and i occasionally like to come on this forum and say as much. and if my expressing that opinion ‘pisses on your fun’, then BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
mcnastie-1
scott-0
you lose.
as for you buying up 2 sixers of that swill – a fool and his money are soon parted…twice.
you lose AGAIN!
sucks to be scott.
*heh* Apparently the folks railing against Lagunitas don’t know much about their interesting recent past events, the type of which basically were about as anti-establishment as you can get for a small business and still stay in business.
The Freak Out Ale is great. I think it is the spiritual brother of the recent Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale.
i’m not ‘railing against’ anything. and i don’t give a fuck if it’s the ‘situationist international brewing company’ or the ‘fuck the man microbrews incorporated’ – i just think the very idea of slapping zappa’s mug on a bottle of beer is fucking stupid, and that’s that. it made me think of that scene from ‘ein leben als extravaganza’, where zappa’s in austria talking shit about w.a. mozart’s mug being plastered all over chocolates and toilet paper, etc. his look of contempt is palpable through the screen, after 30 years. but apparently gail thinks that type of shit is real cute. i have every right to disagree, and to express my contention.
besides – gail and lagunitas are going to sell all that beer regardless of what mcnastie thinks. so fuck it.
‘…and for those of you in taiwan who got chumped, this chorus is for you: rang tang ding dong, i am the japanese sandman . . . take 8!’
WTF?
…you see what a little alcohol does to an otherwise nice community of folks?
Let’s all just settle down and give the world our best rendition of a high school production of WEST SIDE STORY!!
A little on stage conflict set to music might reduce everyone’s testosterone levels. Do you feel pretty?
…and if you feel throwing a check onto the stage, put it over there.
I apologize.
Kiss and make up you two.
Fancy a beer? :)
yup
Just bought one from the Safeway, bought to give it a try…
I love the Lagunitas freak out ale and label. I eat Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream and and laugh if you will, I have a bottle of Marilyn Merlot. Every one on this site just lighten up or just light up.
A quip from FZ “Whatever happen to all the fun in the world.”
Drink good beer, listen to good music and laugh with friends.
Peace Out,
Jimmy