Here’s the Neujahrkonzert 2007: “200 Motels Suite†from frankzappa.at; a show that could not be recorded officially, featuring the L. A. Philharmonic and conductor Zubin Mehta. Here it is now as a bootleg, for our downloading pleasure. See the tracklist here! (Note: only the orchestral parts are included here, starting with Pound For A Brown.)
-
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
Great, Barry. Truly great.
Austria?
FZ – following innovators?
Have a look at Franz Koglmann. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Koglmann
Here’s my guess for the tracklist:
1. Spoken Introduction
2. Pound For A Brown
3. Oh No
4. Envelopes – Little House I Used To Live In – Tuna Sandwich
5. Redneck Eats – World’s Greatest Sinner
6. Holiday In Berlin
7. Inca Roads theme – Strictly Genteel
8. Duke Of Prunes
9. Who Needs The Peace Corps?
10. Pound For A Brown
11. Improvisations?…
12. Oh No
13. Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue
–
Nr. 11 seems to be some more ‘200 Motels’ material, maybe “Dance of The R’n’R Interviers” or something like that.
Anybody know why the concert could not be recorded officially? Legal problems or just no budget?
i think it could not be recorded because zappa did not anticipate that all of the LA philharmonic musicians wanted royalties, something like that
From Neil Slaven’s “Electric Don Quijote”:
“All right, Zubin, hit it!”
Zubin and the boys didn’t hit anything until some way through ‘A Pound For A Brown On The Bus’, which then segued into a version of ‘Bogus Pomp’. The suite continued with ‘Holiday In Berlin’, ‘Duke Of Prunes’, ‘Who Needs The Peace Corps?’ and a convoluted piece that bootlegs have identified as the ‘Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue’. The rest of the evening became increasingly anarchic as Frank subjected orchestra members to his spontaneous whims. During the encore of ‘King Kong’, clarinettist Michele Zurkovski had a toy giraffe, minus the doll’s foot, inserted under her dress. Her reaction went undocumented. (…)
And (Frank)’d fought the local Musicians Union, who refused to allow him to tape the resulting performance, even when he assured them it was for his sole use as a composer. “They told me that if I turned the tape on, I would have to pay the whole orchestra Musicians’ Union scale.” In the event, the bootleggers did what Frank couldn’t and none of the musicians benefited.
OK. Fair enough! Sorry to disagree with Frank but I think musicians should be paid. I’ve been ripped off a few times by tight fisted skinflints myself!
That this concert went on at all can only be attributed to the relationship between Zappa and Zubin — without said relationship I’m certain that the so-called “classically” trained musicians would never have lowered themselves to perform “rock-oriented” compositions — as their behavior does attest.
i’m a big fan, but it’s not always easy to defend Frank’s attitudes in regards to paying union scales and such. he was so vehemently against it, as opposed to the unions, which were unreasonable as well. the story about the london symphonic orch getting wasted before strictly genteel is well-documented. i do think that if a session musician is throwing down on something that can/will be sold, yet exempt from any royalties, that person should be compensated. it must, however, be frustrating to on a scale like that, just to watch the majority of it get pissed away re-playing and replaying.
From what I have read about this concert over the years, there were members of the L. A. Philharmonic who were actively hostile to Zappa’s directions — often doing the exact opposite for spite. Given that this was purely a performance, and not recorded for future sale, one can understand Zappa’s developing attitudes toward Musician Unions as employees hired to perform a work to his satisfaction, not theirs.
nope Balint, track 11 to my ears sounds like the “A Pound For A Brown” improv part :)