Best FZ Covers: Mats Morgan All Star Team: Echidna’s Arf (Of You)

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

(Thx Pierre Vervloesem!)

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Frank Zappa’s Grand Wazoo EP, 1972

Posted on June 3, 2010 by urbangraffito

When Barry first emailed the link to the above excerpt from the bootleg EP of Frank Zappa and the Grand Wazoo Band‘s (mistakenly printed as Frank Zappa and the Petit Wazoo Orchestra on the front cover by the bootlegger) September 15th, 1972 performance at Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, West Germany, I was immediately thrust back in time to when I first purchased this very bootleg EP.
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Best (or Worst) FZ Covers – The Four Directions perform “Lonesome Cowboy Burt”

Posted on May 31, 2010 by urbangraffito

Jeff and Diane of The Four Directions perform “Lonesome Cowboy Burt” at the Bolton Street Theater in NewCastle, Australia – complete with trumpet and harmonica solos, as well as an improvised tap interpretation. I kid you not. Personally, I don’t know whether this cover belongs as one of the best, or worst FZ covers I have ever heard. They certainly deserve marks for nerve and enthusiasm, though. For bookings or info please contact their agent [ jeje-Management@good-craft.com], or contact Diane [tapsolo@gmail.com]. I dedicate this post to Gail.

Posted in Bizarre, Heh Heh, Miscellany, Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

RIP Dennis Hopper

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Dennis Hopper has died at the age of 74 following a long battle with prostate cancer. Enter Frank Booth, stage left:

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Best FZ Covers: Billy The Mountain by Eric Severinson

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Balint

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Call Any Vegetable – 1970 versus 2006

Posted on May 29, 2010 by urbangraffito

One of the fantastic advantages of the advent of current technologies such as YouTube and the Internet, is it allows one to compare and contrast particular songs – in this case, Frank Zappa‘s “Call Any Vegetable” – with particular groups and bands of completely different eras: FZ‘s 2nd MOI band’s vaudeville-style with that of Dweezil’s Zappa Plays Zappa. Merely just a cover? Or an improvement on the original? Zappa Plays Zappa‘s clip is from their DVD/CD released in 2006 of two shows filmed and recorded in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA, respectively. While the two Vaudeville Mothers clips (the complete audio) and the edited version, both from the “Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, 6 Nov 1970” show. Personally, I’ll always have a bias toward the earlier versions. Still, Napoleon Murphy Brock does one hell of a rendition.
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Posted in Frank Zappa, Miscellany, Music, YouTubery, Zappa Plays Zappa | Tagged , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

The Sonic Beauty of Igor Stravinsky

Posted on May 28, 2010 by urbangraffito

After a long week beset from all sides with city sounds and industrial rhythms, there is nothing more soothing to my ears and mind than the sonic beauty of Igor Stravinsky‘s compositions. Listening to the following three clips, one can easily understand Frank Zappa‘s affinity for this man and his music:
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Best FZ Covers: Battle of the YouTube Muffins, Or, Some People Like Cupcakes Better…

Posted on May 26, 2010 by urbangraffito

I’m really not certain which of these groups belongs in a compilation of best FZ covers – each has something different and unique in their version of Frank Zappa‘s Muffin Man that the other two groups do not. Give them a hearing and decide for yourself. MazMyth at LMCS Auditorium on January 9, 2009; Zappa Plays Zappa at Villa Arconati, July 15, 2008; or Pappa Plays Zappa at The Upperfloor (known as Stalloftet) in Hamar, Norway, August 3, 2008:
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Posted in Bizarre, Frank Zappa, Heh Heh, Miscellany, Music, YouTubery, Zappa Plays Zappa | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Best FZ Covers – Panzerballett

Posted on May 23, 2010 by urbangraffito

Panzerballett is one of the most interesting and totally eclectic bands that I have had the joy of coming across in recent memory. Music critics call their sound “an innovative mixture of jazz, funk and metal, crossing complex polyrhythms with metal guitar riffing, funky grooves and jazz improvisation.” Like the best work of 1970s Brecker Brothers combined with hints of Return To Forever and Funkadelic‘s Maggot Brain, Panzerballett has created a unique heavy metal/ funk/ jazz fusion hybrid of their own design. In doing so, they’ve created Zappa covers just as unique.
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Best FZ Covers – Delicious Band Research Kitchen

Posted on May 21, 2010 by urbangraffito

If I were to compile an awesome compilation of Frank Zappa covers, I would begin with this band, Delicious Band Research Kitchen, and these three Zappa covers – “Uncle Remus” (above), “Wonderful Wino” and “Find Her Finer” (both below) – which they performed at ‘Les Fils de l’Invention’s FZ festival’ (Sons of Invention) in Paris, France on July 5th, 2008.
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