On e-Bay: very cool Zappa Songbook for sale. Besides the sheet music, it contains 8 full page pictures and 20 + pages of illustrations by Cal Schenkel. Also contains a 14 page manuscript reproduction. Owner says the book is in excellent condition. Looks tempting…
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Meta
Whow, for a Zappa-fan, that would be, like, the perfect birthday gift, no? ;)
I remember this songbook. The arrangements were by Ian Underwood, who did them in a hurry (due to under-funding). As a result of the rush job, they were, well, less accurate than they could have been. As I recall, the piano accompaniments were considerably simplified and sounded somewhat different than the recordings they were based on. Also, the guitar chords were definitely generic and didn’t reflect Frank’s unique style. I assume somebody would be buying this book as a collector’s item rather than for utility. Another point: It probably isn’t worth paying that much for, because it’s not all that rare. When I was in L.A. I saw a couple of copies at garage sales, believe it or not. Sorry to be a wet blanket :), but caveat emptor…
I remember that book too, and Nigey is right. The song ‘arrangements’ aren’t anything great. The one reason to have it, though, is the revised version of the ‘Piano Intro to Little House’. That has always been a favorite Zappa piece of mine, and I haven’t been able to find it anywhere (I’m a pianist who would like to play it)! It’s kind of hard to transcribe, and the revision is…well, a revision – different from the one on ‘Burnt Weenie..’
on the other hand, look at the price used booksellers are asking for this…(click the URL, if it all pasted correctly)