Ike Willis is putting his Fender Stratocaster on sale. The Strat has Ike’s signature on it and will cost you $420.00 USD (plus shipping).
Includes strap, extra set of Fender Bullet Strings (signed by Ike) and Fender Gig Bag!
I hope all is well with Ike…
Present day FZ world is multil – eveled.
It happens to be the mirror image of FZ, a prematurely adult man.
As for further comments:
You’ll notice that as soon as the close relatives & friends initiate a major gready business on top of that, yes… It’s a way of contributing to refuse him a place in musical history.
– Again #1: FZ was a border crosser. One foot in rock business, another in music.
– Again #2. FZ world could be compared with Wagner world, historically speaking. Weird? No, self evident.
In need of something even more troubling?
http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9762747
I told you earlier about a book ( in EN ) on the Wagner legacy, one of the best books of 2007, musically / sociologically speaking. That’s were it’s all about.
OK, let’s make things clear & transparant.
I don’t like Wagners music at all. As I dislike music from the 19th century, i e Romantism. I love to overlook it. Musically speaking, in my opinion : this was a superfluous century.
Re : short / long scores
For instance. L. Van Beethoven. 1770 – 1827. “Van”, not “Von” , i e the product of a musical family from Mechelen .
Ludwig VB was a self declared revolutionary. A German / Flemish product of the French revolution.
He just wrote one of the shortest & most beautiful scores ever composed.
It’s op 119: 10. It’s 12 bars and it takes 10 seconds. Bagatelle.
For those who do not like reading just
– 2 page texts
– 200 pages books.
It’s – executive summary- compresed into one sound/ read/ look bite:
“Glorious music, disgusting people ( = the family). “
Bernard: shut the fuck up. This post is about Ike Willis selling his guitar.
OK, Barr.
(It’s the mirror image of much more.)
I was just asking myself:
Where are all those world famous people ready to comment?
Bugger off, Bernard.
I assume Ike Willis, being a professional musician, has more than one guitar so maybe this is not as tragic as it might seems on the face of things. And at $420 that’s only a fraction of what a genuine American-made Strat would cost here in the UK.
Newsflash! Musician sells/hocks his ax for needed cash! Gee, like that never happened before… Somebody just sold FZ’s old Les Paul, and Dweezil’s offered the burned Hendrix Strat for sale. Anybody want my slightly used kazoo? Comes autographed…
I saw him at a small brewery before Christmas in Pontiac Michigan with Ugly Radio Rebellion. $5 bucks, seemed like there were about 50 people.
Plooker: Sounds like the kind of gig that makes some guys hock their guitar! I knew a guy who played solo all night for $50, and then found out they paid the kareoke guy $75! By the way, did you get your $5 worth?
It was actually really cool. It was a afternoon all ages show, “St. Alfonso’s Pancake Breakfast”, so I brought my 7 and 8 year old boys and they only charged me the $5. My 8 year old loved it, we were a meter from Ike. Ike was super cool. It must be tough after the 88 band, too bad he does not do ZPZ.
I’ve just thought of something..
On the credits for ‘Joe’s Garage’ Ike is only credited for lead vocals and not guitar. Anyone know why he didn’t play guitar on that album?
because Warren Cuccurullo was there. I think. And: Denny Walley as well. When it was only Ike Willis and Ray White on guitar, there wasn’t too heavy giutar-stuff on the setlist.
[quote comment=”843″]I’ve just thought of something..
On the credits for ‘Joe’s Garage’ Ike is only credited for lead vocals and not guitar. Anyone know why he didn’t play guitar on that album?[/quote]
“Joe’s Garage, on the other hand, is an all-studio album (recorded at the Village Recorder and Kendun Recorders by Joe Chiccarelli), but every guitar solo except one is xenochronous, having been extracted from a live performance and “flown in” to the studio multitrack. This unusual process was also used in reverse: Zappa would pick out a solo, specify a meter and have drummer Vinnie Coliauta play along, inventing polyrhythmic interplay as he went.”
For the whole article, Jamez, go to:
http://mixonline.com/recording/business/audio_mothers_sound/
Some more:
“As I recall, the basic tracks were cut with Vinnie, Warren, Peter, Denny (on some cuts) and Frank or Ike on vocals.”
(see the whole article on Arthur Barrow’s page.)
I hope he cleaned the puke off of it!
http://www.prawnsong.com/bullboard/showthread.php?s=dccff959771fa418b27c2ffdc12c7195&t=54269
[quote comment=”855″]I hope he cleaned the puke off of it!
http://www.prawnsong.com/bullboard/showthread.php?s=dccff959771fa418b27c2ffdc12c7195&t=54269%5B/quote%5D
So the guy fucks up in public one night, Mario. Welcome to the human race, Ike, none of us are getting out of this joint without at least some jive-assed shit on our character. He still plays a mean guitar. Even if he puked on it, that just adds to the sheen (and the overall price on ebay).
Urban: I’ve been hanging out with Ike for the past few months. He’s got some serious problems. Drinking way too much and smokin’ crack. It’s very sad to see what he’s become. I have no arguments about his ability to play, it’s just sad to see what he’s doing to himself. The man is living in a hotel, fer chrissake!!!
r u serious??
fuck.
[quote comment=”861″]Urban: I’ve been hanging out with Ike for the past few months. He’s got some serious problems. Drinking way too much and smokin’ crack. It’s very sad to see what he’s become. I have no arguments about his ability to play, it’s just sad to see what he’s doing to himself. The man is living in a hotel, fer chrissake!!![/quote]
Okay, Mario, so Ike has some serious problems (or so you say). Like I said before, welcome to the human race. I’m not going to judge him for his drinking or his smoking crack (given the business he’s in, it’s a problem most, if not all, musicians face at one point or other). It’s not as if there’s a pension plan for aging musicians. What sort of benefit package does Ike get for all those years playing for Zappa? Why, he gets to play in out of the way, dingy bars, to audiences which I’m sure don’t know how much actual pain he plays in (am I right, Mario?). It’s pretty obvious that the crack/alcohol combination is covering some underlying problem. So you say that Ike is living in a hotel. Well, The Trust lives in Laurel Canyon above a state of the art recording studio. Tell me, what’s wrong with that picture, Mario? You can’t feed yourself or your children on fame.
Urban: I’m just stating facts the way I see ’em. When I first met Ike, it was nothing but a ZFT bashfest! All he did was bitch about Sloatman. Of course, I immediately sided with Ike. But as I got to know him better, and got to see his behavior, I soon realized that maybe there’s a reason for Sloatman’s actions. Case in point: He called me one night and asked if I could help him out with some cash so he could pay the hotel’s rate for that evening. I was low on funds at the time, so I said he and his wife could crash in my tiny 1-bedroom apt. if they needed to. He took me up on the offer and asked me to pick him and his wife up at the hotel. (His car wasn’t running, or some such thing.) I obliged and picked them up. On the way to my pad, he asked me to make a detour…to his dealer’s house! Again, I obliged, and spent the rest of the evening in my place watching Ike and his wife smoke crack and get drunk. I’m no angel myself, but there comes a time in one’s life when you have to realize that the drugs are taking over and you have to do something about it. Maybe if he put the pipe down for a second, he wouldn’t have to sell his guitar, or live in a hotel.
Overall, it’s a very sad story. I’m not trying to judge; I’m more broken-hearted than anything. He’s a very talented guy, but he’s throwing it all away. I’ve tried to help him out financially as best I can, but I had to draw the line at over $250 when I saw where the money was going.
Interestingly enough, his hotel is literally less than 2 miles from Frank’s place. Yes, something’s VERY wrong with that picture.
Mario: You have more personal knowledge regarding Ike’s current problems than I do. My statements were not meant to Ike’s problems in any way, just to equate that Ike is a human being like the rest of us, with troubles like the rest of us. Musicians are not gods (far from it) and rather than worship them, should receive our respect for both the work they do (touring well into their later years to put food on the table/or crack in the pipe), and the loads of crap that they take (meeting countless FZ fans at Pancake breakfasts to sign autographs and albums/CDs).
Yes. It’s a sad story. Wouldn’t you be somewhat bitter if you spent 17 years being the voice of FZ and then all you get to show for it is your name on albums whose profits don’t even go to you?
Still you can’t spend your life being bitter or complaining. Perhaps, Ike will see this and come to the realization that he’s really got more appreciative fans that dig his music, and put the pipe down for a while. There’s a reason why crack is such a scourge, Mario, especially when your spouse is also using: it’s cheap, it’s plentiful, and it tells you the ultimate lie — that everything’s going to be all right, even when everything around you is turning to shit.
Obviously Ike is in a very dark place. We can only hope that at some point some friend or friends will intervene (and Ike will listen) before he throws it all away.
Urban: Ike’s a really great guy. Very nice and very approachable—also very willing to talk about his time with Frank. (Absolutetly no bitterness about 17 years—more praise than anything.) What bothers me is the downward spiral he’s chosen to take. Of course, sometimes the path you take isn’t exactly the one best for you…I realize that. But, goddammit, this is Ike “Fucking” Willis, fer chrissake! C’mon, man.
Unfortunately, I have other “ugly” stories about Ike. I love him dearly, really, but things happen…
P.S. Stop trying to be the authority on FZ and all his doings. You come off as a pompous asshole.
@pompous asshole: Oops! Now what?
Just read all this stuff about Ike Willis. Why are all my fave musicians such as Ike and (someone closer to home) Amy Winehouse getting wasted on crack? People who are as talented as them need to be looked after, not overlooked. But, ultimately, only they can get themselves off the stuff.
Get well soon Ike.
If the rumors are true, then wow. Ike is one of the greatest singers I’ve ever heard — he’s up near Freddie Mercury level, in my opinion. Substance abuse isn’t quite tragic for those of us who had little going on upstairs to begin with, but Ike is most certainly NOT one of those people. I saw P/O a bunch of times years ago, and I thought Ike was really nice, especially considering the teenage fanboy-like reverence with which I regarded the first Zappa alumnus I ever got to meet. I hope he can clean himself up instead of letting his gifts go to waste.
[quote comment=”880″]Urban: Ike’s a really great guy. Very nice and very approachable—also very willing to talk about his time with Frank. (Absolutetly no bitterness about 17 years—more praise than anything.) What bothers me is the downward spiral he’s chosen to take. Of course, sometimes the path you take isn’t exactly the one best for you…I realize that. But, goddammit, this is Ike “Fucking” Willis, fer chrissake! C’mon, man.
Unfortunately, I have other “ugly” stories about Ike. I love him dearly, really, but things happen…
P.S. Stop trying to be the authority on FZ and all his doings. You come off as a pompous asshole.[/quote]
There’s a big difference between voicing one’s opinion and declaring it to be an authority on the matter, Mario. I am not an authority on FZ and all his doings, and have never identified myself as such. Pompous asshole? I’ve been called much worse. If you feel the need to spread Ike Willis’ “ugly stories” on these pages you might contact Barry first (for possible legal ramifications of doing so). Personally, I don’t understand how you can “gossip” out of one side of your mouth, while calling me a “pompous asshole” out the other side. Perhaps your mouth really is your religion…
You put your faith in a hole like that…
“Personally, I don’t understand how you can “gossip” out of one side of your mouth, while calling me a “pompous asshole” out the other side. Perhaps your mouth really is your religion…”
Now this is an historic downer in this blog, too. You “gossiped out” that Gail wiped up the human liquids from her husband and haven´t even been there at the time – and here we have an eye / ear witness who (possibly) was with Willis and you blame him for telling? Sorry but earth to urban: Why don´t you put a bit more faith between your ears?
My suggestion: Let´s wipe the table clear and clean and be friends again. It all went out of control, too much agression, too much sarcastic remarks and in a way, I even agree with you, saying we had all that according to “the heirs” before.
Earth to Roland…Wives care for husbands, and vice versa. This I speak from personal experience. It is not “gossiping”. One doesn’t need to be present to know this. Furthermore, my motivation for suggesting Gail cared for Frank was honorable, not suggested out of spite, or bitterness, or hatred, or whatnot. I mean, if you had a friend with a drinking and drug problem, someone you supposedly “loved” why would you spread their personal history, their “ugly stories” over the internet? Does this make sense to you?
As Barr once said, “It’s words, just words…take a deep breath.”
In, out. In, out. In, out.
I feel better already.
@urbangrafitto: “In, out. In, out. In, out. I feel better already.”
To what are you referring here now?
Remember William S. Burroughs: Language is a virus (from outer space).
Jesus Christ! “Gossip” and “rumors” have nothing to do with this. All I’m trying to do is give my fellow Zappa fanatics some news about Ike. We all love Ike and value his contributioons to Frank’s canon, right? I’m just giving you guys a heads-up about what’s going on with him nowadays. However sad it may be, it’s the truth. You don’t know me from Adam, and I’m certainly aware that you might think I’m bullshitting, but them’s the facts, ma’am. Sorry to be the bringer of such news.
I’ve been a hardcore FZ fan for close to 35 years. Imagine how excited I was when I met Ike and started hanging out with him. Also imagine how distraught and disappointed I became when I saw him for what he has become. Truly sad.
Gang!
Language is a virus, and by golly, we’ve all seen some prime evidence of that around here lately…
Mario: I’m sure you mean no harm and that “them’s the facts ma’am”. In my opinion, posting those accounts on the world wide webs though was perhaps not the wisest of decisions, even though I do understand your reasons for doing so. You mean well.
Now that we’ve all been informed about Ike’s condition, why don’t we give the case (and the man) a rest — what do you say? I’m sure you’ll agree we owe him that much at the very least…
Last but not least: be well soon Ike.
Mario, I’d like to thank you very much for your candour in this matter.
From personal experience with an afflicted relative I know that matters were not helped when “friends” tried to deny the seriousness of the problem.
Straight talking is much more helpful. Ultimately, recovery is a decision only Ike can make. Personal responsibility is the key and other people joining in the denial does not help.
I’m truly sorry about what is happening to Ike – he’ll be in my prayers tonight. (no doubt Frank would be offended!)
thanks again Mario
Baz Grant
Scotland
On this topic, it looks like someone is selling some drums used by aynsley dunbar, and the seller is claiming they were used on a Zappa record
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/msg/671724718.html
Looks like you’d have to be in NY to get them, plus, there is no guarantee that they were in fact used on a record. plus, you must like puke green
“The value is to the collector!” – Warren Zevon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qo1jl_eNq0
thanks for the link urban! That was a cool little story about Zevon