??? for Frank Zappa Fans

[Frank Cannon]

I see a lot of avatars on this board featuring Frank Zappa, so I know he has a lot of fans here.

I must confess to knowing very little about the guy and his music. When I was in college, I had a friend who played Zappa CONSTANTLY. It was there that I became very familiar with the songs "Bobby Brown", "Dancing Fool", and "Broken Hearts are for Assholes", but that's about it. I thought these songs were mildly amusing, and I looked upon Zappa as a song parodist on the order of Weird Al Yankovich--"Dr. Demento" kind of stuff. I didn't find him to be particularly brilliant. But then, like I said, I knew little about him.

Well, obviously, there is a lot more to Frank Zappa than meets the ear, and I'm willing to get acquainted with this artist if some of you fans can answer a couple of questions:

1. What is it about Zappa's music that makes you like it so much?

2. What album(s) would you suggest as "entry-level" to someone who is not presently a Zappa fan?

[mikeytherat]

1. Good early Zappa, I would suggest - Apostrophe and Overnight Sensation,

perhaps One Size Fits All. If you wanna get really into it - Joe's Garage: Acts I, II and III.

mikey_the_rat

[EnviroBat]

11. I second that. These two albums are very "user friendly" for folks new to Zappa.

A great many of us Zappa fans are musicians ourselves. But usually no where near the level of musician/composer that Zappa was. I myself really dig the complexity of the music, it was some genius stuff. If you're a guitar player, you may have an appreciation for Frank's unique style of playing. He really was up there with the greats like Hendrix and the like, you've just got to "absorb" Frank Zappa stuff. His songs are humorous while at the same time tragic and sad, (Watermelon in Easter Hay for example). This is a tune that comes about near the end of a concept album called Joe's Garage. A story about the dreams of a young man to become a rock star, and in the end, "Who gives a fuck anyway..."

[jonnyblitz]

2. Frank Zappa was one of the first concerts I went to in my youth.

His band was super tight and he played every style flawlessly and that is what stuck out with me, his range of style and the flawlessness of his band. This show was one of the only concerts I went to NOT under the influence of anything. I wasn't a huge fan, never listened to his music, but the Deadheads I hung out with back then dragged me to it and I am glad they did. I saw this show in the late 70's or early 80's at Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, ME. I consider it one of the best shows I have seen and I have seen LOTS of shows.

I couldn't recommend any of his music because I am not familiar with it.

[bbernardini]

3. Wow, those are some tough questions.

1. I tend to prefer music others might find "challenging." :) While I like a well-crafted pop song (I'll freely admit that I absolutely adore Miley Cyrus' "Start All Over"), I also enjoy strange explorations in harmony, rhythm and timbre, all of which I get with Zappa's music. When I listen to Zappa's music, I find myself mentally picking it apart, trying to figure out the ever-changing time signatures and harmonies in my head. (Some people think that analyzing music in this manner takes away from the pure enjoyment of it. I disagree.) I also like a composer with a sense of humor and willingness to try anything. Pseudo-classical instrumental pieces? Sure! Free-form improvisations? Why not? A 50s-style doo-wop tune? Bring it on. Poop jokes? Love 'em. Put them all in one concert like Zappa did, and I'm a very happy guy.

2. Okay, I thought the first question was hard, but now I realize that this one is even harder. I believe there's 76 official releases to choose from. If you liked the songs you mentioned, then the album that contains them, "Sheik Yerbouti," is a fine place to start. You get a wide range of musical styles, cultural observation, and an example of "xenochrony" (in which two completely unrelated performances are layered together to create a new performance).

After that, you could go just about anywhere. Personally, I'd suggest the two double-CD sets from the 1988 tour, "The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life" and "Make A Jazz Noise Here." They feature one of Frank's largest ensembles, with a 5-piece horn section.

[RadiationTherapy]

4. 1. The diversity and creativity,

2. Shut Up and Play Your Guitar is a great cut and paste of some of Zappa's most amazing electric guitar work.

[bif]

5. Hot Rats is excellent

He did a couple of jazz-influenced albums too. I never really got into his funny stuff, but he was a brilliant guitarist, that's for sure.

[Bennyboy]

6. Fo rme......

I would try "the Best band You Never Heard In your Life' as a great example of how Frank could be funny and serious all at the same time. Really I think FZ was way more than the parodists, he took topics of the day and made social comment on them. The album Sheik Yer Buti (Bobby Brown, Flakes etc), probably was the most social commenttty (nice word I know), but other albums were a bit more subtle. by making them with social comment though, now they might sound dated, homophobic, xenophobic etc.
But others still resonate in todays world. "I am the slime" for example.

Frank's music was very different, kind of hard to listen to at first, but then it just gets you. Kind of like baseball, the more you listen, the more there is to listen to. It hits on jazz in one riff and the blues in another.

BtW, my favorites are
Just another band from LA, (Billy the Mountain is incredible and I play this whenever I go on vacation)
Wakajawaka (excellent jazz)
Joe"s Garage

[Beausoleil]

7. "Freak Out!"

Freak Out! is the debut album by American experimental rock band The Mothers of Invention, released June 27, 1966 on Verve Records. Though often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, the real unifying theme of the album is not musical, but a satirical attitude based on frontman Frank Zappa's unique perception of American pop culture. It was also one of the earliest double albums in the history of rock music.

The album was produced by Tom Wilson, who signed The Mothers, formerly a bar band called the Soul Giants, to a record deal in the belief that they were a white blues band. The album features vocalist Ray Collins, along with bass player Roy Estrada, drummer Jimmy Carl Black and guitar player Elliot Ingber, who would later join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band under the name Winged Eel Fingerling.

The band's original repertoire consisted entirely of cover songs. When Zappa joined the band, he not only changed their name but also expanded its music to include a wide range of original material. The musical content of Freak Out! ranges from rhythm and blues, doo-wop and standard blues-influenced rock to orchestral arrangements and avant-garde sound collages. Although the album was initially poorly received in the United States, it was a success in Europe. It gained a cult following in America, where it continued to sell in substantial quantities until it was prematurely discontinued in the early 1970s.

The album influenced the production of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In 1999, it was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and in 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it among the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freak_Out!

May as well start at the beginning.

[meegbear]

8. I was listening to some of those songs this morning ...

Those all came from Shiek Yerbouti. Since you're familiar with those, get that.

also see:
Joe's Garage (of course)
Thing-fish

[evlbstrd]

9. He was a genius, pure and simple.

Search youtube for interviews.
As for albums, I especially love his early work with the Mothers and immediately following. Try Freak Out!, We're Only In It For The Money (with the Sgt. Pepper cover parody), Hot Rats, Waka/Jawaka, Uncle Meat and The Grand Wazoo.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

10. My personal favorite

is Over Nite Sensation. I'm the Slime - is a great song - Camarillo Brillo... WOW

Apostrophe(') is the other favorite. Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow, Father Oblivion, St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast, Stink-Foot ----

And then of course "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" is another great album.

Zappa wrote some Hilarious lyrics and never shied away from offending people. In fact, he went the extra mile to be offensive just to wake people up to their own bullshit.

[graywarrior]

12. Read his book The Real Frank Zappa Book

[HughBeaumont]

13. The care that he put into his work, for one.

The fact that he was ridiculously far ahead of his time in the 60s and 70s rock scene is the other.

Plus he did this all without psychedelics; just great arrangements, the right players with eccentric personalities and a smartass lyrical bent.

We're Only In it for the Money is pound for pound the best Mothers album. Not a weak track in the bunch, musically diverse and conceptually haunting, it provides more than a formidable third-party answer to the Beatles/Beach Boys one-upsmanship going on at that time.