Frank Zappa – Possibly the most prolific artist of the 20th Century, with 0ver 60 albums before his death in 1993. And his afterlife keeps on turning up tons more stuff. He performed constantly live and recorded almost every concert, as well as often releasing 3 or more studio albums a year. He wrote prolifically and was a multi-instrumentalist, as well as a perfectionist, especially with live performances. I have no idea how he found the time to create so much, and so varied a repertoire. I first heard of him in the late 60s but didn’t get round to buying him until the 70s. I had quite a few 60s albums on vinyl and then copied onto cassette but my CD collection starts with 2 live albums featuring most of the original Mothers of Invention plus Flo and Edddie (see F) who used to be vocalists in The Turtles. Confused? You will be. So we start with Live Filmore East, June 1971, Now, as well as a brilliant guitarist, Frank liked to combine often outrageous humour with some of his music. Flo and Eddie for a couple of years were in the band and provided both vocals and spoken stuff – this album has both. Either absolute filth, or hilarious comedy – you choose. A great live album though, best songs include ‘What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are’, ‘Tears Begin To Fall’ and ‘Peaches en Regalia’. A riot – as is my second, the following year’s Just Another Band FromOne L.A, which features a side-long crazy musical tale of ‘Billy The Mountain’ (don’t ask) – but it is brilliant, absurd and if you know the song, irresistible – a complete mini-opera. But my favourites are ‘Eddie Are You Kidding’ (A Flo and Eddie regular song) and ‘Magdalena’ – a tale of sexual debauchery and a great tune. One Size Fits All came out in 1973, credited to FZ and The Mothers, it was a pretty good album; some great tunes and the playing was, as usual, exemplary. Fave tracks are ‘Dynamo Hum’ and ‘Montana’ (a crazy story about dental floss and zircon encrusted tweezers – makes no sense but a great song nevertheless). Roxy and Elsewhere , a live album of non-recorded songs released in ’74 was a mixed bag; some good stuff but not my favourite record at all. Much better was One Size fits All (1975), a fairly complex album with a couple of instrumentals and some great songs. Best are ‘Florentine Pogen’, ‘Andy’ and ‘San Berdino’ – a real quality recording. ’76 saw the release of Zoot Allures, one of his best records. Not a poor song on this, and the songs seemed to be evolving into more complete pieces – best are ‘Disco Boy’, Miss Pinky’ and ‘The Torture Never Stops’, which became a live favourite too. Sheik Yerbouti came out in ’79 – and was an instant favourite. By now Frank had lost The Mothers and was recording under his solo name, often with a changing but fairly regular group of Session players. This was recorded mostly live, but with a lot of overdubs and studio effects. In some ways this was the most complex album of Franks, and was a big seller, and remains a fan favourite. The lyrics are pretty explicit and very funny too, the playing as usual is brilliant as well, Best songs on a long album are ‘Bobby Brown Goes Down’, ‘City Of Tiny Lights’, ‘ Jewish Princess’, ‘Dancing Fool’ and ‘Yo Mama’. It still sounds as fresh as when it was released. But for my money his best was his next – 1979’s Joes Garage. Frank was no stranger to controversy, and the cover of this is no exception, with Frank (badly) blacking up – apparently ‘Joe is black’. This series of songs are connected as a ‘Rock Opera’, probably as an insult to serious prog rock albums, by a narrator (Frank himself) as ‘The Central Scrutiniser’ spoken through a vocoder. The story is nonsensical, about a garage band, who fall foul of laws that haven’t been written yet – namely enjoying Music. Joe gets Sex and Religion and eventually Prison as he destroys a robotic sex toy provided by the First Church of Appliantology. (if you aren’t confused by now, just listen to the album). The title song is a great melody and would have been a great single – other favourites are ‘Lucille’, ‘Catholic Girls’, ‘Green Rosetta’ and the absolutely sublime guitar solo ‘Watermelon In Easter Hay’. This was released as a triple album and later as a very long double CD. A lot to take in at one listen, and as usual with Frank far too long really – but he was uncompromising; he didn’t give a fuck for Sales or Fans or The Record Company either. He would never get away with it now…. Tinseltown Rebellion followed in 1981 (along with 3 double albums of guitar music). Another pretty good album, taking potshots at the music business, and combining some live recordings with studio work. Less brilliant then Joes Garage but I like the songs – ‘TinselTown Rebellion Band’, a live version of ‘Love Of My Life’ and ‘Fine Girl’. Later that same year, as well as the three double live guitar albums Frank put out another classic You Are What You Is. Continuing his themes of sexuality, stupidity and Religious Quacks the album is varied in style, from the countryesque ‘Harder Than Your Husband’ to the lovely soul ballad ‘Doreen’, the very naughty ‘Goblin Girl’ and the excellent closer ‘Drafted Again’ again a double with too many songs to really appreciate at one go, would have been better as a single album – but that’s Frank, over-indulgent but brilliant. Next up is the brilliantly titled album Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch {1982} (you have to see the cover to understand). Well another favourite from Frank; great songs and arrangements – fave tracks ‘Valley Girls’ (sung by his daughter Moon Unit), ‘No, Not Now’ and his truly operatic Teenage Prostitute’. He followed this with The Man From Utopia (1983), a mostly live album again and some excellent songs too; several tracks are Franks singing what appears to be a somewhat ad-libbed monologue to his band playing along – ‘The Dangerous Kitchen’, ‘The Radio Is Broken’ and ‘The Jazz Party Discharge Hats’ but best is an instrumental ‘We Are Not Alone’. Another winner. Zappa then sold us a CD called Baby Snakes, which I was quite disappointed with. It turns out that this was actually a soundtrack to another live film; only really decent song was a version of ‘Disco Boy’. Next in my limited collection is Them Or Us (1984). A quite disappointing record really, a lot of long instrumental stuff, and even the ‘songs’ drift into instrumentals. Still, I like ‘In France’, ‘Sharleena’ and ‘Baby Take Your Teeth Out’ – but then again, relistening – it’s not so bad really. But then, disaster struck – or not. Frank released another triple album, a ‘rock opera’ based on a Broadway show. It was absolutely over the top; even for me. Thingfish – (1984) was outrageous and I rarely play it, even though the music is quite good. It manages to offend blacks, gays, women and all sorts of liberals. Best move on quickly. 1991 and Make A Jazz Note Here appeared. A mostly live album, featuring a few classical pieces (done in Frank’s style). Not a favourte, but I quite like ‘Star Wars Wont Work’ and ‘Strictly Genteel’. My last Zappa album was Yellow Shark (1993). By now Frank was seriously ill with terminal cancer of which he died shortly after this album’s release. It is a 1992 recording by the ‘Ensemble Moderne’ where they played many of Frank’s compositions. Frank was especially proud to be recognised as a serious composer of ‘Musique Concrete or Modern Classical. Of course, as you know I am a sucker for Greatest Hits – even when I have almost all that is on them. So, I have Greatest Hits, and Strictly Commercial (Greatest Hits) which are almost identical save for the latter having a handful of extra tracks. These are both, more or less, the acceptable face of Frank; radio friendly and not too obscene. Both are excellent – fave tracks are ‘Peaches En Regalia’.’Cozmik Debris’ and ‘Muffin Man’. I also have a couple of live collections posthumously released (actually Frank’s releases post his death must almost exceed his lifetimes output, as new stuff keeps getting released {mostly live renditions of recorded tracks{ ). Cheap Thrills, Son Of Cheap Thrills, Freaks and Motherfuckers, Have I Offended Someone…..all are okay – but for enthusiasts only. So, Frank – either a genius, years ahead of his time; a vulgar madman; a brilliant but misguided guitarist; a composer of great variety but ultimately a wasted talent….take your pick. I just feel that his best stuff is up there with the greatest – just discerning that from the huge volume of music he released is a bit harder.
