Frank Zappa & the Mothers in Stockholm, 1973

One of my favorite performances by any Zappa ensemble is this particular performance by the early Roxy band (prior to the arrival of Napoleon Murphy Brock and Chester Thompson, and featuring Ian Underwood on woodwinds) at Soliden, Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden, August 21, 1973, which was originally divided into two Swedish television broadcasts (parts of which became the source for the bootleg, Piquantique). There are a lot of extended solos by each of the members of Mothers, making these clips very worthwhile viewing and listening.
Continue reading

Posted in Frank Zappa, Jean-Luc Ponty, Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The Indian of the Group – Jimmy Carl Black

It was a year ago today (well, okay, a year and a month less two days)…

Born in El Paso, Texas, of Cheyenne heritage, Jimmy Carl Black‘s trademark line, “Hi Boys and Girls, I’m Jimmy Carl Black, and I’m the Indian of the group” followed him throughout his music career. On several Mothers albums he was credited as playing “drums, vocals, and poverty”. The last credit, “poverty” seemed to follow Black’s career as it did many bluesmen of his day like a curse.
Continue reading

Posted in Alumni, Frank Zappa, Music, Personal, Pop Cult, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

G-Spot Rehearsal, 1992

Jake’s review made me search the web for a while, and I’ve just run into the video above – it’s the rehearsal, the percussions seems to be a bit different, right?… And some more: a review of this week’s concert in the Los Angeles Times.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Zappa Night In Antwerp

Peter of United Mutations dropped me a note about the upcoming Zappa Night in Antwerp, which is to take place this Saturday:

Antwerp Zappa Night

Details:

Doors will open at 21.00 h, and the opening band, Shit-Gun, will take the stage shortly thereafter. Main feature will be the concert by Captain CheeseBeard & The 7 Sisters Of Prevention, and this will probably kick off at around 21.40 h. In the meantime, there will also be some video screenings, and there will be a little market where you might be able to find that one little thing that you have been looking for for so long…

Looks to be a very cool initiative! Oh, and did I mention there be free tickets? Sharl and I would love to attend but, well, you know

Posted in Community, Frank Zappa | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Frank Zappa, WFMT-FM Chicago, August 1968

Frank Zappa is interviewed by Studs Terkel in these two excerpts from his August 1968 interview on WFMT-FM Chicago. Zappa talks about his music, his lyrics, and the state of America in the summer of 1968:

Posted in Frank Zappa, Interview, Miscellany, Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Can You Play It Backwards?

Funny little anecdote about Zappa’s typical way of dealing with musicians. Act one goes like this:

Just to be sure that Mr. Piano had a fair chance at the reading part of the audition, Frank gave him 2 pieces of music to work on a week before the audition was to take place. One of these pieces is called “The Black Page” which was pretty dense with notes and a real challenge to play. Challenge enough that Mr. Piano kind of gave up learning it as precisely as needed and decided he was good enough to wing it during the audition instead.

Fatal mistake #1! Keep reading for a nice twist at the end.

(Via Paul Carr)

Posted in Frank Zappa, Heh Heh, Miscellany | Tagged , | 16 Comments

Sleep Dirt Variations

We are all quite familiar with the acoustical duet version of “Sleep Dirt” between Frank Zappa (acoustic lead guitar) and James “Bird Legs” Youmans (acoustic rhythm guitar) on the album of the same name, recorded at the Caribou Studios in Nederland, Colorado, in December, 1974. It is one of the most beautiful compositions in Zappa’s body of work.

The other day, while organizing music tracks, I happened across several versions of “Sleep Dirt” by other artists as well as a live version by Frank Zappa from 1975 which has an eerie resonance when one listens to these later cover versions.

Listen for yourself, then decide:

Sleep Dirt – Henry Kaiser & Mike Keneally
– Live at the Freight and Salvage, 2000.
[audio:20091201 Sleep Dirt – Henry Kaiser – Mike Keneally.mp3]

Sleep Dirt – Ed Palermo Big Band
– Iridium Jazz Club, NYC, NY, 12 Dec 2007.
[audio:20091201 Sleep Dirt – Ed Palermo Big Band.mp3]

Sleep Dirt – Quintette Gaucher
– Quintette Gaucher Play the Music of Frank Zappa, 1996.
[audio:20091201 Sleep Dirt – Quintette Gaucher.mp3]

Sleep Dirt – Zappatistas
– Jazz Festival, Frankfurt, Germany, 3 October 2003.
[audio:20091201 Sleep Dirt – Zappatistas.mp3]

Sleep Dirt – Frank Zappa
– War Memorial Gym, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 1 October 1975.
[audio:20091201 Sleep Dirt – Frank Zappa.mp3]

Posted in Frank Zappa, Mike Keneally, Music, Personal | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

A Job Well Done, MusicToday

So there I am attempting to pre-order Philly ’76 and this is what I get:

MusicToday Fail

Click image for full glorious Epic Fail View!
Undaunted however, I am about to undertake pre-order attempt #5…

Posted in Music, Official Releases, Zappa Family Trust | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

LA Phil Plays Zappa

Concert details to be found here. Some more information over at EarBox, written by the conductor. Gotta love the introductory paragraph:

OK, all you Zappa heads out there in the audience. I can recognize you a mile away because of all the midriff bulge, the surfeit of facial hair and that “show me” scowl on your faces. I just hope you’ve not already been served for illegally making your own unlicensed “Burnt Weeny Sandwich” tee shirts.

Heeeee!

(Hat tip: David Ocker)

Posted in Frank Zappa, Heh Heh, Music | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Lady Bianca: Queen of The Blues, 2009

Posted in Alumni, Interview, YouTubery | Tagged , , | 2 Comments