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spacepopecoast2coast ago

I really need to take some time and properly get into Zappa

always got the impression he was one of the good guys - didn't know he hated The Beatles haha that takes some serious balls, but he sure as shit had the skills to back up whatever shit he wanted to talk

ignacious_riley ago

In the months after Revolver, Paul McCartney stated in an interview that "...the next album will be our 'Freak Out!'" Paul, in other interviews, mentioned wanting to make a mix between the Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds" and Zappa's "Freak Out!"

The first songs recorded were for an autobiographical album. "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" were to be crucial tracks, outlining respectively John and Paul;s childhood. The songs were kept, but not included, for the final album which abandoned the childhood theme for one about a fictitious band reuniting. This was Sgt. Pepper. "We're Only in it for the Money" and "Lumpy Gravy" were Frank's response. Check out the album art, that's actually Jimi Hendrix in person on the cover. https://http2.mlstatic.com/frank-zappa-were-only-in-it-for-the-money-D_NQ_NP_20724-MLB20196794926_112014-F.webp

Both him and Clapton ("GOD god oh god, I can see god!!") we're included on the album in samples of real life conversations Frank recorded while they were tripping ("Ah... ah... are you hung up? Out of sight, man, but are... uh... are you hung up?"), though Jimi's involvement is legendary and possibly non-existent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IemQsLV9dTM

Frank appears on the Hendrix track "Stars that Play with Laughing Sam's Dice" (STP with LSD) on sound manipulation. Frank traded Jimi a wah pedal (Jimi's first ever) for Jimi's guitar that he sacrificed (played on Zoot Allures).

Happy to answer any questions! I am a Zappa nerd.

spacepopecoast2coast ago

HOLY FUCK that album cover haha no idea how I've never seen that before now

"Stars that Play with Laughing Sam's Dice" damn dude if that's not a loaded song title, shots ffffireeedd

ignacious_riley ago

Fun fact: that album art matched Sgt. Pepper's so well that the printing company used to print both of them on the same sheet of paper to save on colored ink. Great quote from Frank in a 1975 interview with Captain Beefheart (his childhood friend) and George Duke, "Man, that'd make for some great wallpaper!"

spacepopecoast2coast ago

haha you're just shooting from the hip, respect the trivia for sure - if I go for one album, where should I start?

glad McCartney was listening to Zappa tho... Rubber Soul and Revolver had some great songs, but Sgt. Pepper's and onward is where The Beatles really come alive for me

ignacious_riley ago

Absolutely, and when Frank and John hooked up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G18aGDMy5Y4)), Frank apparnetly knew enough Beatles tunes to jam over "She's Loves You" and "Help" backstage before the show.

Sorry for the cavalier writing, it isn't often I can talk to people about this stuff! Recommend one album? He made 100 before he died! For me though, it's "Hot Rats." Ever hear a modern album where it sounds like 40 people, but it's three musicians doing overdubs? Hot Rats was commissioned by Sony in 1969 as a test record for their world first 16-track tape recorder. They wanted someone who would possibly break their prototype in use as beta-testing, and Frank delivered a complete masterpiece that constitutes a strong candidate for the first jazz fusion and experimental prog album.

Pro-tip: Frank butchered his albums when he released them on CD in the 80s, the original mixes have entirely different instruments and sections. Search out the original mix for everything.

Here is a track called "Peaches en Regalia." Frank plays all strings, most drums. Ian Underwood plays all keys and all wind instruments. Shuggie Otis on bass, I forget the main drummer. The guitar solo is actually played on bass, recorded with the tape moving at half speed so it shifts up an octave when played back normally, layered 9 times with a wah pedal and doubled by a flute. The entire piece is in sonata form. No songs about poop and pee here, just high art. One of maybe 7 albums of his that I believe you cannot even come close to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSb_YW3p8CY

spacepopecoast2coast ago

no apology necessary, I think it's super rad

ignacious_riley ago

Man, as a composer/artist (gotta be careful not to dox myself), I feel you. That's just Frank, man, you could make a very serious and heavy argument for him being America's Mozart/Bach/Varese/whatever. He's a motherfucker, and the further down the rabbit hole you go, the more you get! There are plenty of other guys who are worthy of that title in America, but the only Americans who come close for me off the top of my head are John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, and Albert Ayler. Of course, mentioning black artists on a racially conscious board such as this will catch flack, but I am of the firm belief that aside from freaks (Zappa/The Stooges/Velvet Underground), music stopped evolving harmonically around 1964-1967, when the FBI murdered all of the black artists/leaders. Oh boy, what could have been, and what is happening now, just makes me so fucking sad...

spacepopecoast2coast ago

who could argue tho for real, the best and most honest art always seems to come from the underdogs... when that tune is all you have, but it's yours and no one can take it from you

excited to listen thru some of these Zappa records, predicting I'm gonna find out where some of my favorite artists really got a lot of their sound from