ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between  and 
|
|
The Black Page - The Zappa Page
The Black Page - The Zappa Page is a busy FZ fansite on facebook with lots of stuff coming up regulary. Lets start with:
Gábor Csupó at Zappa's home (klick the link to see both on a nice photo):
"One Friday night in the fall of 1991, Frank invited me and Arlene, along with a colleague of mine, Larry LeFrancis, to his recording studio to play
his new composition that he was working on with the Synclavier. Frank's wife Gail walked in the room too, and before the demonstration, Frank told us
that he had cancer and had a maximum of two more years to live. Then he pushed a button on his computer, and the most incredibly beautiful music came
out of the six Yamaha speakers that surrounded us. I had to turn away because tears came to my eyes, and I listened to the song for over ten minutes
with tears running down my face. Frank noticed, and at the end of the song he said, 'Don't worry, I'm not in the box yet......' "
Gábor Csupó first heard FZ in his 20's from records smuggled in to Hungary from western countries. Later, in California, he founded with Arlene
Klasky the Klasky-Csupo animation studio. They worked on The Simpsons. Csupo and Matt Groening tried, unsuccessfully, to persude the producers to hire
Frank Zappa to score the show. FZ was a fan of The Simpsons and took his family to meet the animators at the studio. FZ invited Csupó to visit their
home which was just a couple of minutes away from Csupó's. They became good friends sharing an interest in music, animation and politics. FZ agreed
to supply the music for Csupó's new animated series Duckman and asked Csupó to create the cover art for The Lost Episodes album.
|
|
|
polydigm
King Kong Status
Posts: 2166
Registered: 1-4-2006
Location: Horse Tray Ya
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inspired
|
|
Interesting documentary linked in the comments.
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Steve Hackett Shares Opinion on Frank Zappa: 'He Would Put His Musicians Through Hell'
Steve Hackett opined on the persona and legacy of Frank Zappa, recalling some tales about the exceedingly high standards Zappa held his musicians
at.
A mad genius, a well of musical knowledge, a riddle wrapped up in an enigma - all of these descriptions have a good chance of cropping up in
conversations about Frank Zappa. However, Steve Hackett thinks his overseas prog contemporary should be best thought of as an "all-round impresario",
someone whose music, presentation, and philosophy should be considered together as one holistic piece of art.
Speaking to Classic Album Review in a recent interview, the former Genesis guitarist and prolific solo artist also noted how Zappa had quite a
reputation for demanding *a lot* from the musicians he worked with (transcribed by UG):
"When I think of Zappa, these days when he's mentioned, it's in the sort of seminal sense of the great teacher, that he's doing this and what have
you. But you know, I have a few anecdotes from friends who are talking about the fact that he would suddenly change the key of the tune on the night
and expect his musicians to be able to play it, which would have created havoc. And I think that he obviously wanted these musicians to be working to
a very high standard.
"But I tend to think of him as an impresario, an all-round entertainer in the best sense of the word; you had humor, you had music, you had this,
you had the show, you had an extraordinary thing that he was doing live on MTV, this long-form piece, nevermind Genesis and 'Supper's Ready'... And it
seemed to take in just about everything. And there's streamers going off, and it's this party atmosphere, but it's right on the money. And it's
really, really great."
Recalling what Chester Thompson, former Genesis touring drummer, Mothers of Invention member, and Hackett's occasional collaborator, would tell him
about working with Zappa, the guitarist went on:
"I know that Chester [Thompson] used to say, he said, 'Yeah, Frank kills himself trying to play his own guitar parts.' And other times he would
say, 'Yeah, Frank would carry around a coffee urn, and he'd be drinking coffee literally all day, and cigarettes' - not the greatest diet in the
world. But that's what needed to fuel him up. And do that.
"And I gather all those musicians who join that band, they'd say, 'Oh, what else would you like me to concentrate on?' And he'd say, 'All of it.'
So he would put his musicians through hell. So if ever I think I'm a slave driver, expecting my lot to come up with three or four albums..."
Steve Hackett's "Genesis Revisited Live: Seconds Out & More" live album is out now via InsideOut. Hackett is embarked on the "Foxtrot At Fifty UK
tour". Check out upcoming tour dates...
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
David Bowie, Frank Zappa & Adrian Belew story short webcam interview
(entire interview: Ep 211 Adrian Belew 25th solo album, King Crimson, Zappa, Bowie, Talking Heads and more!)
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Frank Zappa - Tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA, September 18, 1977
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Steve Vai talking to Co de Kloet about his book "Frank & Co"
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Moon Zappa's complicated relationship with 'Valley Girl,' 40 years later: 'I just was trying to make my dad
laugh'
Lyndsey Parker
Lyndsey Parker·Editor in Chief, Yahoo Music
Fri, September 30, 2022 at 10:36 p.m.·9 min read
In 1982, avant garde rock genius Frank Zappa scored his only top 40 hit, the Grammy-nominated, Zeitgeist-capturing “Valley Girl.” The satirical
send-up of suburban SoCal teen life unexpectedly spawned a cottage industry: a cult rom-com that gave Nicolas Cage his first starring role, The Valley
Girls’ Guide to Life handbook, and even fashion and cosmetic lines.
The influence of the song’s Valspeaking protagonist Ondrya, created by Frank’s daughter Moon Unit Zappa, still resonates in pop culture today —
“It's just a weird thing that just keeps going,” Moon says with a shrug — as evidenced by Clueless’s Cher, Schitt’s Creek’s Alexis Rose,
the recurring SNL sketch “The Californians,” and arguably even the vocal fry speech patterns of young people today.
“My dream would be to get Paul Thomas Anderson to do a music video. Maybe his wife could play a Val now,” Moon jokes, 40 years later.
Moon Zappa Valley Girl
But as Moon chats with Yahoo Entertainment to celebrate “Valley Girl’s” 40th anniversary reissue campaign — which includes a new animated
music video, merchandise line, and remix by British DJ Flux Pavilion — she is candid regarding her mixed feelings about the single. Making the song
was really just a way for her to get close to her absentee, workaholic father, who often locked himself away from his family in his Laurel Canyon home
studio. In fact, she never even expected “Valley Girl” to come out, and she admits she felt wronged when Frank included what she’d assumed was
just a private recording of “bonding time with my dad” on his ’82 album, Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch — thus making her a
reluctant overnight pop star at age 14.
“I just was trying to make my dad laugh,” Moon tells Yahoo. “That was my objective. And so, having it then appear on an album was a kind of
exposure and embarrassment and betrayal for me. I wasn't thinking about, ‘We're making a product.’ I was thinking, ‘I'm spending time with my
father.’”
Frank Zappa, Moon Zappa - Valley Girl
The idea for the Zappas’ “Valley Girl” collaboration was actually Moon’s, at first. “I was pretty frustrated with the way the house was run.
My father was touring all the time, sometimes eight months out of the year, so that's a long time to go without seeing the steady parental figure in
the house,” explains Moon, who was often forced to help her mother Gail raise the three younger Zappa children while Frank was away or distracted.
“He never raised his voice. He was so funny. He was so smart, so talented, so playful, very improvisational. And so, to miss that kind of stability
and that grounding was really just not great, and to just be stuck with a mom who was really missing him as well. … And then when he was home, he
would sleep during the day and work at night, so then there were restrictions on our own expression and having to be quiet in the house. And then the
world was always revolving around him.
“So, I wrote a note and I said, ‘It has come to my attention that it would be great if you would look for an opportunity where we could work
together. If that's the only way I'm going to get to spend time with you, then let's work together. Contact my people.’”
Not soon after, Frank woke up his then 13-year-old daughter at 2 a.m. on a school night and asked to join him in the studio to lay down some impromptu
spoken-word vocals, on a song inspired by Moon’s imitations of her classmates at Oakwood, an artsy private school in the San Fernando Valley. “He
just said, ‘Just improvise in between the choruses,’ and so I had done this voice that I called this ‘Valspeak’ voice or this surfer-dude
voice,” says Moon. “It was a voice I had picked up going to school in the Valley. When I would go to school with these kids, I'd go to Bar and Bat
Mitzvahs and I'd get to see what I considered normal or stable families were like, and it was exotic to me.”
Moon recalls going “back and forth with some improvisations,” making up “new lingo to play around with that just made us laugh.” While the
soon-to-be common catchphrase “grody to the max” was something she’d overheard at Oakwood or possibly at the Galleria mall, she totally invented
“gag me with a spoon” and “bag your face,” the latter a nod to The Gong Show’s Unknown Comic. “In some ways, it's science fiction,” she
chuckles.
As far as the song’s scenarios narrated by the plucky Ondrya, a couple of them were quite adult – the references to S&M and a creepy
flirtatious teacher, for instance. Moon says those eyebrow-raising verses reflected her unorthodox, or some might say dysfunctional, upbringing. “I
think that's a product of growing up in a hypersexual home,” she explains. “I always joke and say people were in the nude making candles near my
playthings. … There was a portrait in the family home of kind of an orgy scene. There were Zippy the Pinhead cartoon comics laying around, and Oui
and Hustler. And there was a lot of stuff around – vibrators! I had the bedroom next to my parents and heard sex. I knew my dad messed around on my
mother. I've got many journals where I've got drawings that are just naked people chained up and having sex. It's stuff that you shouldn't be drawing
at age eight, nine, and 10.”
And then… “Valley Girl” came out and became a leftfield mainstream hit, leading to appearances on The Merv Griffin Show, MTV, and Solid Gold.
The song’s vapid Ondrya and politically incorrect teacher character had been based on real-life people at Moon’s school, and she was mortified.
“I thought, ‘Oh no, these people are going to get their feelings hurt,’” says Moon. “I thought we were going to get sued. I thought a truant
officer was going to come and take me away. It was very stressful for me. I didn't think about it in terms of, ‘Oh, I'm launching my career.’ I
just thought, ‘Oh no, who are we getting get in trouble with now?’
“I'm just a sensitive person. I don't like people to get their feelings hurt or be exposed to stuff — if they didn't ask for the exposure. I was
just worried about this one girl in particular who really kind of inspired the song the most for me. And then my teacher… those two I had worried
about them getting their feelings hurt, of being exposed to attention, unwanted attention — the way I felt I had this unwanted attention on me. It
really put me into a state of anxiety. Plus, I was going through puberty, so my skin wasn't great. The last thing I wanted do was have any focus on
myself.”
As it turned out, Frank had mixed feelings about the single’s success as well. He was frustrated that the satire seemed to go over many listeners’
heads, and that he didn’t profit from all of the above-mentioned spinoffs from the song. “Valley Girl’s” success also affected Moon’s
relationship with her dad, in good ways and bad.
“My father always wanted to have commercial success. It just so happened it didn't happen until that song. And then that song came out at a time
when he was already scheduled to go on a European tour, and so the American press that suddenly needed to be done was left for me to do,” Moon says.
“And that was extremely stressful as a teenager, just trying to get through ninth grade or something. And then a lot of the interviews, they
onlywanted to interview me. And so, then there was this strange dynamic between me and my father, like: ‘Is it an accident that when I step in, we
have a success? Or am I just an instrument that he's using as a tool?’”
Moon Unit and Frank Zappa TV interview 2-1-84 daytime TV show
Moon says “Valley Girl” also altered the Zappa family dynamic in another aspect: “I think it bonded my father in a way that my mother was
resentful of, because now I'm in photographs with my father. I'm paired with him. … I went on Letterman with him and we did a bunch of talk shows
and we traveled together here and there. … So, he and I were the two ‘showbiz’ people in the house. … I was never wanting any of the fame part
of it, but I admired my father, so I wanted to be a working artist like my father.”
As it turned out, Moon got her wish: While she'll probably always be most associated with "Valley Girl," over the past 40 years she has steadily
worked as an actress, journalist, comedian, voiceover artist, singer, and author (with a memoir about her fraught childhood currently in the works).
She also got to pay homage to her father when she accepted his posthumous Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honor at the Hall’s 1995 induction ceremony.
“I feel happy that I got to spend that that time [with my dad]. It's just fun to just know that that that opened a door for me to go deeper inside
my own creativity,” she says.
“But if I hurt my teacher's feelings, or if I hurt the girl who inspired the song, I sincerely apologize. I hope it brought you joy and connection
and closer to your own creativity, and just know that I'm thinking about you all still today.”
Watch Yahoo Entertainment’s full, extended interview with Moon Zappa below, in which she discusses her Solid Gold appearance, attending the Grammys
in a handmade dress, hanging out at the Galleria, and more:
Moon Zappa looks back at "Valley Girl" 40 years later
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Black page entry 5 days ago:
Soundtrack recorded by the Mothers Of Invention at National Film Board Of Canada, Montréal, Québec in January 1967 while they were in residence
at the New Penelope.Film director Robin Spry was in the process of editing a film entitled "Ride For Your Life" about Mike Duff, a Canadian Grand Prix
motorcycle champion who had been severely injured following a crash in Japan during a race there in 1965. Having heard the Freak Out! album, Spry
prevailed upon Zappa to contribute a musical score for the short film. For a fee of $1000 American dollars, Zappa agreed.The recorded material was
edited down to a little over four minutes and used in the film, which was released later in 1967. The Mothers Of Invention then: FZ, Ray Collins, Jim
Fielder, Don Preston, Bunk Gardner, Jimmy Carl Black, Billy MundiDon Preston remembers. "We arrived at the complex; a very large brick building
containing several sound stages, recording studio and remix facilities. I was very excited because two of my favorite filmakers worked there—Norman
Mclauren and John Whitney (from the films we used to improvise to). McLauren pioneered animation using real people and objects. Many of his ideas were
stolen and used in various films. Whitney pioneered the use of computers in animation. His son now owns a large firm in Hollywood, where computers are
used for films like The last Starfigher. Anyway, we set up in the recording studio and they showed the film on a large screen. We watched it several
times and then proceeded to improvise to it with Zappa giving the customary hand signals. We did two or three takes and then packed up our gear and
left." - Necessity is... by Billy James, p. 60
Ride for Your Life
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Star Special was a music slot on BBC Radio 1, featuring guest musicians who would act as DJs and play some records.FZ, who referred to himself at
such events as a 'Fraudulent DJ', appeared in a two-hour Star Special broadcast on January 27, 1980, while he was in Europe to promote his movie "Baby
Snakes".
0:00 intro
0:29 The Closer You Are (The Channels)
3:28 Hyperprim (Edgar Varèse, 1922-23)
7:19 outro
The Closer You Are (Earl Lewis & Morgan "Bobby" Robinson), original recording by The Channels (Whirlin' Disc 100, 1956)
Hyperprism by Edgar Varèse is scored for flute (doubling piccolo), clarinet in E♭, 3 horns, 2 trumpets in C, tenor and bass trombones, and
percussion. The percussion parts call for snare drum, Indian drum, bass drum, tambourine, Chinese cymbal, 2 cymbals, tam-tam, triangle, anvil,
slapstick, 2 Chinese blocks (high and low), lion's roar, rattle, big rattle, sleigh bells, and siren.Recording by Members of the Columbia Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Robert Craft (CBS Records, 1960)
"Varèse was a really cool guy. The only thing that he did that was wrong was he stopped composing for 25 years because people gave him a bad time. If
people wouldn't have given him a bad time, he could have been writing for 25 more years and there would be 25 more years worth of stuff like that for
the people who like that kind of stuff."
Frank Zappa DJ at BBC Radio 1 'Star Special', January 27, 1980 - The Closer You Are/Hyperprism
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
The Confessions Of Kaylan:, Record Collector #419, July 2013
Ken Sharp: After The Turtles, you did a 180 degree turn and you and Mark joined The Mothers 0f Invention. To some that may seem an incongruous
match.
Howard Kaylan: Frank always knew something nobody else knew. He was very much Bowie-esque with that. He could see the future. Way back in the 70s he
was the first guy who said to us, “Wait and see, nobody’s going to be in a band. There’s gonna be these supergroups where a guy from this group,
a guy from this group and a guy from this group are gonna get together and make real music. In every band, there’s only one real player and when
those players get together to make music it’s going to be incredible and that’s the future.” That’s what he thought. I know why he wanted Mark
and I in the band. He wanted to add a pop sensibility to the Morhers who were always sort of cast off as being the least playable band in music. So
when we he heard that The Turtles had broken up – we were friends of his – he asked us to join.
The musicians in Frank’s band were the most shocked. When we walked into that first rehearsal, Jeff Simmons looked at George Duke, looked at Ian
Underwood and looked at Aynsley Dunbar, and went, “What the hell is Frank doing?” They knew he was gonna audition new singers. They knew there was
gonna be a new Mothers that were gonna make this movie 200 Motels and go to Europe. They were waiting for whoever came through the door and thought it
might be someone like Gregg Rolie [Santana] but when it was us there was so much scepticism. As soon as we would leave the room there was all this,
“Frank, what the fuck are you doing? Those aren’t the guys! They’re pop idiots and they’re gonna bring the band down.” And Frank said, “I
don’t think so, I think they know what they’re doing.”
So he was right. We even questioned his sanity at the time, as did the audience for the first few shows in Arizona and in Europe. And then they saw
what he meant. It wasn’t so much the first few shows where we had to do what Other Mothers Of Invention players had done, which was sing new
arrangements of Frank’s material.
Fairly quickly it became a tight-knit group who had been through a whole lot of shit together – the fire in Montreaux, Switzerland [noted in Smoke
On The Water], the European tours, the Berkeley orgies. All of these things Frank hadn’t done with his other bands: this was different now. We were
sharing experiences fand hanging out and he was getting high with us. It was very different and I’m thrilled to have been part of that era because
it ended quickly and his distrust for humanity kicked in big time again after that accident in England where he was seriously injured. He was never
quite the same and went back to being the cynic he’d been prior to this closeness. I don’t think any band member permeated that again. I know that
at the end of his life he asked us back. We reminisced and talked, but he was close to that bunch of Mothers Of Invention and it never really was the
Mothers of Inventions again after that. It was different.
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
The strangest gift Frank Zappa ever received: a jar of shit
Thomas Leatham
Tue 29th Nov 2022 19.00 GMT
Frank Zappa was known to defy all expectations, but amazingly, he once gave an interview for the adult magazine Cheri, conducted by the 1970s adult
film star Cherry Bomb. Cheri had been known to combine the world of adult film with that of contemporary pop culture. For example, Cherry Bomb herself
would hang out with the likes of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, while there would be an in-depth analysis of particular sex acts.
As for Zappa, his interview went down at the St. Regis Hotel. Cherry appeared to be instantly infatuated with the man. She wrote: “And there he was,
crouched and glowering on the couch. I’ll tell ya; I was just stunned. Forget your Mick Jaggers and your Robert Plants – this guy is gorgeous up
close! Frank Zappa radiates an animal magnetism, a bumpy allure his photos have never approached.”
The interview began with a discussion of Zappa’s appearance on Saturday Night Live. When Cherry asked whether he had scored the slot on the show
through friends in high places, Zappa dourly answered: “I have no friends.” Zappa had written a song for the sketch about a humanoid creature
called the Conehead.
However, he was also somewhat cynical of the format of television in sum, adding: “The Conehead is a way of life. I think Americans are beginning to
realise it means something important. Unfortunately, TV hasn’t taken the big step to capitalise on it. They should have a Conehead series on NBC –
a situation comedy every week. That would be great! Only the Coneheads, though.”
Cherry then asked whether Zappa’s highly sexualised live performances had been any deliberate attempt to “gross out” his audience. However,
Zappa insisted that he did not necessarily mean to freak out his audience nor to arouse them beyond the normal state of watching intense rock music.
He then noted an extraordinary gift he received from one of his fans.
“My fans do some weird things, I’ll admit,” Zappa said. “There was this girl from Chicago, Laurel, who won a contest. And I was the first
prize – I mean, she could come backstage and meet me. And she gave me a present – a Mason jar with one of her turds in it, rolled up into the
shape of a cannonball. I didn’t know what to do. I just said, ‘Thank you,’ and put it down on the dressing-room table.”
He added: “That was when I had the Mothers with Flo and Eddie, and Jim Pons was playing bass. I’d planned just to leave it in the dressing room
– but no, Jim got curious to see if it was real. Was it, or was it not a piece of poop? He carried it around for a while and finally took one whiff
– and yecch! It was real.”
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
According to The Black Page - The Zappa Page :
The best story you ever read about the Montreux Casino fire during the Mothers concert on December 4, 1971
Alain Rieder
Time Manipulation Drum Blog
On December 4, 1971, I went to Montreux with my friends, to attend the Frank Zappa concert that was going to take place in the afternoon.
I had just turned 16, but I remember having pictures of Zappa and the Mothers on my bedroom wall from the age of about 13. In particular, I had cut
out the famous photos taken by Art Kane and published in 1968 in LIFE magazine, for which they had posed with babies, because those photos amused
me.
[img]https://www.timemanipulation.com/en/tmblog/resources/Frank-Zappa-&-Babies.jpg[/img]
So my first contact with Zappa was more visual than musical, but by the time of the 1971 concert, I was already familiar with some of his records. I
had been very touched by Hot Rats, which seems to me to have been the first of his records to be really successful. I also had Weasels Ripped my Flesh
that someone had brought back from New York, Chunga's Revenge, and Fillmore East: June 1971 that had just come out.
We walked from the train station to the Casino and as we passed a movie theater I saw a poster for 200 Motels, the film Zappa had made shortly before,
but which I had never heard of before.
Intrigued by the poster, I assumed that a screening was planned, but I didn't take the time to look into the details of what it was about, as we were
in a hurry to get to the concert venue. I thought about looking on the way back, but on the way back I had something else in mind. I bought the LP
when it came out, but I had to wait until 1982 for my first opportunity to see this film, while living in Los Angeles.
The Montreux Casino was an old building inaugurated in 1886. A modern hall had been built in the garden on the lake side for concerts and other
events, and it was accessible from the ground level by crossing the old building. The ground being slightly sloping towards the lake, the situation of
the hall corresponded to a second floor.
This is where the Montreux Jazz Festival was held in the summer, but during the rest of the year other concerts were organized there monthly, under
the name of Montreux Pop, and people came from far away to attend them.
I was 14 years old the first time I went, in August 1970. There were two concerts on the program, with three bands that were supposed to play twice
each. I remember seeing Black Sabbath and Taste, but Cactus the third band had been blocked at the border and only played the second show which I was
unable to attend.
Taste was Rory Galagher's power trio, and their shows were recorded, resulting in the record that is called Live Taste.
The bassist for Cactus was Tim Bogert, also bassist for Vanilla Fudge, and I had the opportunity to meet him in 1981, as he was teaching at the
Musicians Institute in Los Angeles where I was studying.
That day in August 1970, Claude Nobs was on stage to announce the next concerts and that's when he told us that Jimi Hendrix was coming before the end
of the year. There was an explosion of joy in the audience, but unfortunately Jimi died on September 18, which really affected me because I liked him
and his music a lot. It was also the time when the movie about the Woodstock festival was released.
I remember other concerts I saw there, Deep Purple, Procol Harum, Jethro Tull and Santana, between 1970 and 1971. I also remember missing bands I
really liked like Led Zeppelin and Chicago, or Santana's first concert there.
So on December 4, 1971, I had just turned 16, I was already familiar with the place, but I had no idea that I was going to enter this hall for the
last time.
At that time, there were no chairs, it was not yet the fashion of the standing concerts, and the public sat on the floor, sometimes on a cushion or on
a jacket rolled in a ball, which was my case.
That day, there was an unusual decoration on the ceiling. It was probably planned for the end of the year celebrations, and it seems to me that it was
a tropical decoration, with or interlacing reeds or lianas, with paper or polystyrene flowers perhaps. What is certain is that all this material was
dangerously flammable, as the future has proven!
What you can see above the stage must have been acoustic panels.
At the time I didn't know all the songs played, I understood very little English and in this version of the Mothers there was a lot of dialogue. I
remember Zappa's entrance on stage wearing what I thought was a robe and holding a coffee pot. I liked this slightly eccentric side, even though we
know that Zappa was a very intelligent man.
You can see the coffee pot on the Orange brand amp head, to the right of Zappa. The garment is probably the one on the black speaker cabinet, which
I'll talk about later.
I remember when Frank announced Call Any Vegetable by saying "this is a song about vegetables", the audience started to applaud, but all the lights
turned green instantly and the applause was cut short by the surprise felt by the audience. When you listen to the recording of the concert, you can
hear it clearly.
So here we are, after about an hour and 20 minutes, the band has just played the melody from King Kong, and leaves the stage to Don Preston for a
synthesizer solo. Don fiddles with the oscillators of his Mini-Moog, it is a coincidence, but he produces sounds that may sound a bit like an
alarm.
The end of the concert
I'm sitting in the center, about 2/3 of the way across the room. The sound of the synth suddenly stops, and I see flames in the ceiling 10 or 15
meters away from me on the right. Mark Vollman says "Fire! Arthur Brown in person!" Then Zappa says "Calmly go towards the exits, ladies &
gentlemen".
I didn't see, but a guy fired a flare gun towards the ceiling. At the beginning, the fire is very small, I think that it will be put out quickly and
that the concert will continue. I drag a little to go out, I hesitate to leave my jacket rolled up on the floor keep my space on the floor, well in
front of the stage!
People go out quickly and very calmly, and the firemen and guards on duty get a little upset to get us out faster.
The fire grows quite quickly, and people open the curtains that hide the windows on either side of the stage. I see some people grab chairs to break
the glass.
I see a little blood, someone has been injured, but it seems to be minor.
Once the windows are broken, we feel a big draught rushing in the room, which drives away the smoke, but also fuels the fire.
I decide to go out that way, the ground must be about three meters down, there is a ledge I hang from and I drop into the grass without any
problem.
A friend of mine, whom I didn't know at the time, told me this:
"Alain, I was there too! It is with a WEM speaker cabinet sound system that was on stage that I grabbed with other people to break the windows, which
enabled us to escape by jumping in the grass below...
I remember very well Zappa very calmly telling the audience to get out without panicking. I think that his calmness allowed a quick and safe
evacuation.
In the rush, I had left a small Moroccan bag in which I had put my things and an Afghan coat (made of sheepskin, very trendy at that time) and
especially my documents. Before jumping, I went back on my steps to take back my things which were exactly where I had put them.
Coming out of the smoke, a fireman, visibly surprised to find me there in front of him kindly asked me to leave... "quickly because it's very
dangerous to stay there!"
I had the impression that Don Preston's "moog" was still making weird sounds on the deserted stage... So I grabbed my stuff and quickly walked out
through the broken windows. It seemed to me that a few moments later, the ceiling collapsed."
This speaker cabinet is clearly visible on the right side of the stage, and on one of the previous pictures we can see its three letters logo in the
upper right corner, a little blurred but very characteristic. According to Frank Zappa, the Orange amp went the same way.
The stage was very low, at most three feet, and that's what made it easy for another friend of mine to climb it and end up walking down a backstage
staircase with Zappa.
Another guy managed to reach out and grab Frank's wah-wah pedal. Being a guitarist, he still uses it today. Appart from a cowbell mentioned by FZ in
an interview, it may be the only instrument to have survived the fire.
After jumping from the window, I go around the building to find my friends, and I see people coming out of the main door with Zappa posters in their
hands.
I can't imagine that the whole building is going to burn down in a very short time, so I go back in through the main door and come out with some
posters.
I had this poster already, as it had appeared folded in eight in a Swiss German magazine called POP. The poster distributed at the concert was the
same size, but it was not folded. It didn't have the POP logo on it, but the paper was also very thin.
I may still have a copy of the folded poster, but I think it's in eight pieces.
I found the following picture on the net.
[img]https://www.timemanipulation.com/en/tmblog/resources/1971-04-xx-Pop-[Switzerland]-v6n4-poster.jpg[/img]
...
Frank, wearing his coat.
Then, the building is totally on fire, the night falls and it is really impressive.
I particularly remember the moment when the roof collapsed to the first floor with a loud noise.
...
FZ interview about the Montreux fire on youtube
...
...
...
Happy Zappadan everybody!
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Frank Zappa - Sleep Dirt, State Fair Park Coliseum, Dallas, TX, December 13, 1984
For the first time since 1975, FZ brings back this famous piece.
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Edgard Varèse: The Idol of My Youth
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965)
Frank Zappa, Stereo Review, June 1971. pp 61-62: Edgard Varèse: The Idol of My Youth
I have been asked to write about Edgard Varèse. I am in no way qualified to. I can't even pronounce his name right. The only reason I have agreed to
is because I love his music very much, and if by some chance this article can influence more people to hear his works, it will have been
worthwhile.
I was about thirteen when I read an article in Look about Sam Goody's Record Store in New York. My memory is not too clear on the details, but I
recall it was praising the store's exceptional record merchandising ability. One example of brilliant salesmanship described how, through some
mysterious trickery, the store actually managed to sell an album called "Ionization" (the real name of the album was "The Complete Works Of Edgard
Varèse, Volume 1"). The article described the record as a weird jumble of drums and other unpleasant sounds.
I dashed off to my local record store and asked for it. Nobody ever heard of it. I told the guy in the store what it was like. He turned away,
repulsed, and mumbled solemnly, "I probably wouldn't stock it anyway ... nobody here in San Diego would buy it."
I didn't give up. I was so hot to get that record I couldn't even believe it. In those days I was a rhythm and blues fanatic. I saved any money I
could get (sometimes as much as $2 a week) so that every Friday and Saturday I could rummage through piles of old records at the Juke Box Used Record
Dump (or whatever they called it) in the Maryland Hotel or the dusty corners of little record stores where they'd keep the crappy records nobody
wanted to buy.
One day I was passing a hi-fi store in La Mesa. A little sign in the window announced a sale on 45's. After shuffling through their singles rack and
finding a couple of Joe Houston records, I walked toward the cash register. On my way, I happened to glance into the LP bin. Sitting in the front,
just a little bent at the corners, was a strange-looking black-and-white album cover. On it there was a picture of a man with gray frizzy hair. He
looked like a mad scientist. I thought it was great that somebody had finally made a record of a mad scientist. I picked it up. I nearly (this is
true, ladies and gentlemen) peed in my pants ... THERE IT WAS!
I ran over to the singles box and stuffed the Joe Houston records back in it. I fumbled around in my pocket to see how much money I had (about $3.80).
1 knew I had to have a lot of money to buy an album. Only old people had enough money to buy albums. I'd never bought an album before. I sneaked over
to the guy at the cash register and asked him how much EMS 401 cost. "That gray one in the box? $5.95"
I had searched for that album for over a year, and now ... disaster. I told the guy I only had $3.80. He scratched his neck. "We use that record to
demonstrate the hi-fi's with, but nobody ever buys one when we use it ... you can have it for $3.80 if you want it that bad. "
I couldn't imagine what he meant by "demonstrating hi-fi's with it." I'd never heard a hi-fi. I only knew that old people bought them. I had a genuine
lo-fi ... it was a little box about 4 inches deep with imitation wrought-iron legs at each corner (sort of brass-plated) which elevated it from the
table top because the speaker was in the bottom. My mother kept it near the ironing board. She used to listen to a 78 of The Little Shoemaker on it. I
took off the 78 of The Little Shoemaker and, carefully moving the speed lever to 33 1/3 (it had never been there before), turned the volume all the
way up and placed the all-purpose Osmium-tip needle in the lead-in spiral to Ionization. I have a nice Catholic mother who likes Roller Derby. Edgard
Varèse does not get her off, even to this very day. I was forbidden to play that record in the living room ever again.
In order to listen to The Album, I had to stay in my room. I would sit there every night and play it two or three times and read the liner notes over
and over. I didn't understand them at all. I didn't know what timbre was. I never heard of polyphony. I just liked the music because it sounded good
to me. I would force anybody who came over to listen to it. (I had heard someplace that in radio stations the guys would make chalk marks on records
so they could find an exact spot, so I did the same thing to EMS 401 ... marked all the hot items so my friends wouldn't get bored in the quiet
parts.)
I went to the library and tried to find a book about Mr. Varèse. There wasn't any. The librarian told me he probably wasn't a Major Composer. She
suggested I look in books about new or unpopular composers. I found a book that had a little blurb in it (with a picture of Mr. Varèse as a young
man, staring into the camera very seriously) saying that he would be just as happy growing grapes as being a composer.
On my fifteenth birthday my mother said she'd give me $5. 1 told her I would rather make a long-distance phone call. I figured Mr. Varese lived in New
York because the record was made in New York (and because he was so weird, he would live in Greenwich Village). I got New York Information, and sure
enough, he was in the phone book.
His wife answered. She was very nice and told me he was in Europe and to call back in a few weeks. I did. I don't remember what I said to him exactly,
but it was something like: "I really dig your music." He told me he was working on a new piece called Déserts. This thrilled me quite a bit since I
was living in Lancaster, California then. When you're fifteen and living in the Mojave Desert and find out that the world's greatest composer,
somewhere in a secret Greenwich Village laboratory, is working on a song about your "home town" you can get pretty excited. It seemed a great tragedy
that nobody in Palmdale or Rosamond would care if they ever heard it. I still think Déserts is about Lancaster, even if the liner notes on the
Columbia LP say it's something more philosophical.
All through high school I searched for information about Varese and his music. One of the most exciting discoveries was in the school library in
Lancaster. I found an orchestration book that had score examples in the back, and included was an excerpt from Offrandes with a lot of harp notes (and
you know how groovy harp notes look). I remember fetishing the book for several weeks.
When I was eighteen I got a chance to go to the East Coast to visit my Aunt Mary in Baltimore. I had been composing for about four years then but had
not heard any of it played. Aunt Mary was going to introduce me to some friend of hers (an Italian gentleman) who was connected with the symphony
there. I had planned on making a side trip to mysterious Greenwich Village. During my birthday telephone conversation, Mr. Varèse had casually
mentioned the possibility of a visit if I was ever in the area. I wrote him a letter when I got to Baltimore, just to let him know I was in the
area.
I waited. My aunt introduced me to the symphony guy. She said, "This is Frankie. He writes orchestra music." The guy said, "Really? Tell me, sonny
boy, what's the lowest note on a bassoon?" I said, "B flat ... and also it says in the book you can get 'em up to a C or something in the treble
clef." He said, "Really? You know about violin harmonics?" I said, "What's that?" He said, "See me again in a few years."
I waited some more. The letter came. I couldn't believe it. A real handwritten letter from Edgard Varèse! I still have it in a little frame. In very
tiny scientific-looking script it says:
VII 12th/57
Dear Mr. Zappa
I am sorry not to be able to grant your request. I am leaving
for Europe next week and will be gone until next spring. I am
hoping however to see you on my return.
With best wishes.
Sincerely
Edgard Varèse
I never got to meet Mr. Varèse. But I kept looking for records of his music. When he got to be about eighty I guess a few companies gave in and
recorded some of his stuff. Sort of a gesture, I imagine. I always wondered who bought them besides me. It was about seven years from the time I first
heard his music till I met someone else who even knew he existed. That person was a film student at USC. He had the Columbia LP with Poème
Electronique on it. He thought it would make groovy sound effects.
I can't give you any structural insights or academic suppositions about how his music works or why I think it sounds so good. His music is completely
unique. If you haven't heard it yet, go hear it. If you've already heard it and think it might make groovy sound effects, listen again. I would
recommend the Chicago Symphony recording of Arcana on RCA (at full volume) or the Utah Symphony recording of Amériques on Vanguard. Also, there is a
biography by Fernand Oulette, and miniature scores are available for most of his works, published by G. Ricordi.
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Adrian Belew: What Was My Audition for Frank Zappa Like
"Changed my life, that handshake did."
"I flew out to Frank's house - my first time on a plane. That's how green I was.
"They picked me up and took me to his house in the basement, which would turn into his studio over the years. It was just a big empty room.
"Frank's sitting behind a console, he's got a cigarette in his mouth, of course, and there's a microphone in the middle of the room.
"Unfortunately, there were people moving things all over; here goes a piano in front of you, they're setting up something over there and so on. It
was very distracting. Frank gave me a long list of songs. I had to borrow the albums from friends because I was so poor.
"We started, and he’d say, 'Okay, let's try 'Andy,'' and I'd play it for a minute or two and sing some things, and then he'd stop me, take
another puff and say, 'Okay, try 'Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station.'
"I was fumbling and really being distracted by all the stuff going on. I had nowhere to go, so they were gonna take me back to the airport and fly
me back home, so I just watched everyone else's terrifying auditions.
"I watched keyboard players and percussionists and thought, 'Oh my god, these guys are so great, I don't know how I'll ever be in this band.'
"There was a moment at the end of the day, though, where it was just Frank and I standing there, and I said, 'I'm sorry, I really thought I could
do this, and I thought it would be different.'
"He said, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'I thought it would just be you and me somewhere quiet where I could show you that I could do this.'
"So we went up to his living room and sat on his purple couch, I took my little Pignose amp and stuffed it between the pillows so I could turn it
up as loud as I could, and we started over. We got about a third of the way through and Frank was starting to sing along with me.
"Finally he put his hand out, shook my hand and said, 'You've got the job.' Changed my life, that handshake did."
Asked on what caused the end of his involvement with King Crimson just before the band's latest three-drummer lineup was assembled, Adrian replied:
"Simple! Robert [Fripp] just pulled the plug. [Laughs]
"We had done 10 shows as a five-piece band with new drummer Gavin Harrison along with Pat Mastelotto, and I thought we were gonna continue on from
there, and at the end of those 10 shows, Robert seemed to be game for that as well.
"But within a few weeks, it was over. He said I'm not gonna play anymore,' and that was that. When he put together the current lineup, he had
something totally different in mind, and he told me it wouldn’t be right for me and I wouldn't be right for it."
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
A Tribute to Frank Zappa by Dr. Allan Zavod, Rolling Stone magazine, February 1994
Allan Zavod (October 16, 1945, Melbourne, Vic, Australia – November 29, 2016, Melbourne) at University Of Illinois Pavilion, Chicago, IL, August 18,
1984
"Playing with Zappa was the greatest gig that any musician could wish for. He always challenged you, stretching your musical abilities beyond you
wildest imagination. As a musician, he was never boring. Each night was a new experience. We did 250 shows in one year - each show unique in some
way.
The vast amount of musical material in itself was an enormous challenge to learn. Frank would pull out songs we hadn't done for six months. On the
fist day of a three week rehearsal, Frank presented me with 200 tunes and asked if I could learn them in that space of time. I began to realise you
could never learn all of Frank's music - it's a continuous ongoing adventure.
Sorry to kill the myth that he was weird and wild; his lyrics may have been, but the mans was not. Zappa was a serious composer and one of the most
professional musicians, I've ever been associated with. He was a disciplinarian of the severest kind when it came to leading the band into tight
performances. This was done by utilising three hour sound checks for rehearsals on a daily basis.
We played so many different styles, all of which were executed sincerely and with enormous feeling. We played everything from gospel, Broadway, jazz,
20th century atonal classical, rock and humorous pieces with clichés reminiscent of Spike Jones. We never sounded like a jazz band trying to play
other styles, because we played rock from the gut with sheer feel and, the next moment, we'd intellectualise on some classical music - also with
soul.
So why all the bizarre and sexual lyrics in such a heavy, serious musical environment? For example: "Why does it hurt when I pee", or "Fuck me you
ugly son of a bitch" or "I know a girl with a little rubber head." Zappa's lyrics were a caricature of the perverted sexual attitudes that exist in
American life. There was usually a serious message behind the weird and sometimes sick lyrics.
Frank and I were neighbours in LA so I drove him home after rehearsals. I was always amused by the way he saw the world around him, his dry sense of
humour. With Frank, you had to be careful you didn't reveal too much of yourself during the days or you'd end up in a song on stage that night.
Zappa the workaholic, Zappa the recluse, and Zappa the relentless objector when it came to anything that hinted at a healthy diet. Down on drugs as he
was, I once accused him of being the biggest drug addict of all, because of his continuous indulgence in caffeine and nicotine. His response was that
the word drug didn't apply - coffee and cigarettes were food to him.
Frank rarely surrounded himself with friends - his family were his friends. What a shock it was when one day at his house he suggested that we go out
to dinner. At the Brown Derby Restaurant in blasé LA, where movie stars are commonplace, all heads turned towards Frank ...Zappa has devoted fans
everywhere."
|
|
|
polydigm
King Kong Status
Posts: 2166
Registered: 1-4-2006
Location: Horse Tray Ya
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inspired
|
|
Quote: Originally posted by ursinator2.0  | | Asked on what caused the end of his involvement with King Crimson just before the band's latest three-drummer lineup was assembled, Adrian replied:
"Simple! Robert [Fripp] just pulled the plug. [Laughs] We had done 10 shows as a five-piece band with new drummer Gavin Harrison along with Pat
Mastelotto, and I thought we were gonna continue on from there, and at the end of those 10 shows, Robert seemed to be game for that as well. But
within a few weeks, it was over. He said I'm not gonna play anymore,' and that was that. When he put together the current lineup, he had something
totally different in mind, and he told me it wouldn’t be right for me and I wouldn't be right for it." |
Don't get me wrong, I'm very impressed with the latest incarnation of King Crimson and their performances of that era of material,
but most of the new stuff they've come up with doesn't grab me that much. Robert Fripp has never been a significant composer in his own right, whereas
Adrian Belew brought a significant compositional element to the table and would have continued to do so. Maybe Fripp couldn't handle that.
|
|
|
Eddie RUKidding
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 426
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
|
|
^ Agreed, plus Fripp has a history of doing this right from the first incarnation of KC.
South of the Border
|
|
|
ursinator2.0
Sheik Yerbouti Status
Posts: 318
Registered: 11-7-2022
Member Is Offline
Mood: in between and
|
|
Most recent entry on the black page providing a download link to issue 145 of Shindig magazine including an article on early L.A. freak scene.
Have a zappy xmas 
|
|
|
|
![[*]](images/davis/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
