Frank Zappa Memorial

Memorial in Baltimore, 2010

Frank and Gail Zappa

A blog visitor commented on how Gail Zappa was a hottie in the heyday. Here is a couple pics I found to support that comment

Captain Beefheart-Strictly Personal

Strictly Personal

This album has gotten a bad rap for it's over the top production but I don't care! It's an amazing album and could be the one of the most hallucinatory albums ever recorded! I just played it back to back twice! If the only Beefheart you know is Trout Mask, then you may be shocked to hear this, which is more coherent and rooted in both blues and "song" structure, though in both the Captain proves(as usual) extremely adventerous, inventive and innovative. The album just builds and builds right to the very end...the epic Kandy Korn which has one of the most stunning finales ever! Safe As Milk and Trust Us are unbelievable nuggets and there are two wild psycho-blues workouts that have to be heard to believed(Son of Mirror Man and Gimme That Harp, Boy) Admittedly, some of the production takes the guts out of the guitars but I don't mind the phasing on the vocals. It definitley feels like a totally cohesive, unified album....it just happens to be an acidy album! Finally, if you happen to be a connesiuer of the outer edges of late 60's rock (let's say Skip Spence or Syd Barrett or even Grateful Dead, Zappa or King Crimson) but found Trout Mask Replica too abrasive and scary or found Safe As Milk too mid 60's-ish-early-in-the-career-kind-of-feel,then this album may be the missing link for you! It was for me

Zappa Pictures



DVD Review-Zappa Plays Zappa

Zappa Plays Zappa

No one on this planet is composing music like this anymore. It's intricate, heartfelt, melodic, humorous, and takes talented musicians to play it. Too many people have closed their minds to Zappa's music just because of his lyrics, and that's too bad, because the music speaks for itself, and for me, lyrics are secondary.

Dweezil assembled a smoking hot band, hit the road, and now we have a document of some of these shows. This DVD has performances from two, maybe three, shows. The set list is phenomenal, although not one song from "Joe's Garage" or "You Are What You Is" (two of my favorite Zappa albums) is included. The audio mixes, stereo and DD 5.1, sound great. The video is clear and the editing is good, but there are plenty of spilt-screen shots, and the camera angle from the guitar headstock looking down on the strings, when used, doesn't show much. The video is presented in a widescreen format. Disc one is 1 hour 54 minutes long; disc two is 1 hour 34 minutes and has a ten-minute interview with Dweezil and "Cheepnis" as bonus features.

The only thing missing from this performance, that was routine at Frank's show, is the audience participation and general weirdness that was played out on-stage. And that's ok by me. I've had the pleasure to see Frank about a dozen times in concert and some of these theatrics were too much and I wished they had focused more on the music. You can only throw around an inflatable doll so many times before it gets boring. One gig I remember Frank did nothing but sit down in a chair facing the audience, smoke cigarettes, and conduct the band. I felt a bit ripped off that he didn't play his guitar or sing. But all I feel when watching this DVD is amazement and pleasure. This is such a killer DVD, the music is timeless, and hopefully Dweezil has sparked some interest for this music to a younger generation. Highest recommendation!

DVD Review-The freak out list

The freak out list

The freak out list

The idea behind this video is to explore the 66 names that appeared in a list inside the gatefold cover of the MOI's "FREAK OUT" LP.These people supposedly had an inspiring effect on FZ. The problem is the producers concentrate on only a handful of those listed--Varese, Miles Davis, The Cadillacs etc.

The ensuing discussion plays out like a web-based college course. The discussion is intelligent, deep and well researched. You will find out more than you thought you knew about these people and how they influenced FZ-positively or negatively.
The videos and picture sources are nothing new-they use alot of the SNL and the BBC performances that have been floating around for years-so don't purchase this to see Frank or the MOI in concert.I was disappointed as I would have loved to find out why people like 20 Mule Team Borax spokesperson Rosemary DeCamp or DJ B. Mitchell Reed deserved a shout out.

This is dull but it is educational. I wished they would have covered more individuals with less detail than the few they single out here.

Understanding America

Understanding America

Billed as an artistic statement, this is really just a compilation of unrelated Zappa tracks that are far better in their original contexts. If you're new to Zappa and want an introduction to his music, you might as well buy "Strictly Commercial" instead. But you're better off starting with an album like "One Size Fits All" or "Apostrophe." If, on the other hand, you are already a fan, you'll find "Understanding America" to be a complete waste of your time and money. It's full of excellent but seemingly randomly-chosen music that appears to have nothing at all to do with understanding America, or any other coherent theme. Billed as an artistic statement, this is really just a compilation of unrelated Zappa tracks that are far better in their original contexts. If you're new to Zappa and want an introduction to his music, you might as well buy "Strictly Commercial" instead. But you're better off starting with an album like "One Size Fits All" or "Apostrophe." If, on the other hand, you are already a fan, you'll find "Understanding America" to be a complete waste of your time and money. It's full of excellent but seemingly randomly-chosen music that appears to have nothing at all to do with understanding America, or any other coherent theme.