Zappa, 82/4 - Revision history

Jason.Kreitzer at 13:26, 4 October 2021

2021-10-04T13:26:30Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 03:53, 22 September 2021

2021-09-22T03:53:45Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 17:41, 21 September 2021

2021-09-21T17:41:21Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 14:29, 30 August 2021

2021-08-30T14:29:16Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 15:17, 9 August 2021

2021-08-09T15:17:24Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 15:05, 4 August 2021

2021-08-04T15:05:05Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 02:44, 22 July 2021

2021-07-22T02:44:23Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 01:51, 20 July 2021

2021-07-20T01:51:19Z

Spider of Destiny at 20:16, 17 November 2020

2020-11-17T20:16:30Z

Propellerkuh at 15:32, 18 August 2012

2012-08-18T15:32:12Z

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 '''Since [[Sheik Yerbouti]], some critics have accused you of playing it safe a little.<br>
-Those are the same people who say I haven't made a good album since [[We're Only In It For The Money]]. Those are the people who wish the [[Garrick Theater]] was still around. Those are the people who would go see the Grandmothers and think it was a hot show. There's no accounting for taste, but I don't think those people are very well informed.
+Those are the same people who say I haven't made a good album since [[We're Only In It For The Money]]. Those are the people who wish the [[Garrick Theatre|Garrick Theater]] was still around. Those are the people who would go see the Grandmothers and think it was a hot show. There's no accounting for taste, but I don't think those people are very well informed.
 '''Sheik Yerbouti is, however, a very slickly produced album, and from that album to the present you seem to be doing more short, catchy songs-compared to works like "[[Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula|Dwarf Nebula]]."<br>

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 Those are the same people who say I haven't made a good album since [[We're Only In It For The Money]]. Those are the people who wish the [[Garrick Theater]] was still around. Those are the people who would go see the Grandmothers and think it was a hot show. There's no accounting for taste, but I don't think those people are very well informed.
-'''Sheik Yerbouti is, however, a very slickly produced album, and from that album to the present you seem to be doing more short, catchy songs-compared to works like "[[Dwarf Nebula]]."<br>
+'''Sheik Yerbouti is, however, a very slickly produced album, and from that album to the present you seem to be doing more short, catchy songs-compared to works like "[[Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula|Dwarf Nebula]]."<br>
 Yeah, look at the time frame, though. "Dwarf Nebula" was in 1969. Sheik Yerbouti was 1979. If you compare something from that period with Sheik Yerbouti, you're overlooking all the albums in between – which included Overnite Sensation, Apostrophe, and other albums that had sing-along type songs on them. Unless a person can sit there and accurately recall all of my – what? – 300 song-like compositions, and can make rational comparisons between all 300 of them, they're not qualified to talk about what I do. There isn't anybody I've met who knows the catalog and has recall of the tunes and can make comparisons between one thing and another. The Freak Out album is full of little short songs. I started that way.

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 '''What do you think of people who do want to relive that era?<br>
-First of all, they can't do it. The era itself is gone. The reason the Mothers were what they were was a combination of these ingredients: the time in which they appeared, and the personalities of the individual members in that particular year of their growth as people. People change. [[Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood|Motorhead]] of 1967 is not Motorhead of today, nor is the [[Don Preston]] of 1967 the Don Preston of today. The Don Preston of today has been on the road with – what's that guy's name? – [[Leo Sayer]], right? He was with Leo Sayer for a number of years. It changes a guy, you know? Those guys in '67 were different people, and the year '67 was a different year, and where they were working was a different world. They were at the Garrick Theater in this little test tube environment for six months or whatever, two shows a night, six nights a week, perfecting a certain type of weirdness that will never happen again. I've got it on film, I've got it on tape – but it ain't on the stage with those guys. So kiss it off, it's gone. If you didn't see it in '67, then you ain't gonna get it. No matter what they play or how weird they pretend to be, it's not going to be recreated – it's a fake.
+First of all, they can't do it. The era itself is gone. The reason the Mothers were what they were was a combination of these ingredients: the time in which they appeared, and the personalities of the individual members in that particular year of their growth as people. People change. [[Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood|Motorhead]] of 1967 is not Motorhead of today, nor is the [[Don Preston]] of 1967 the Don Preston of today. The Don Preston of today has been on the road with – what's that guy's name? – [[Wikipedia:Leo Sayer|Leo Sayer]], right? He was with Leo Sayer for a number of years. It changes a guy, you know? Those guys in '67 were different people, and the year '67 was a different year, and where they were working was a different world. They were at the Garrick Theater in this little test tube environment for six months or whatever, two shows a night, six nights a week, perfecting a certain type of weirdness that will never happen again. I've got it on film, I've got it on tape – but it ain't on the stage with those guys. So kiss it off, it's gone. If you didn't see it in '67, then you ain't gonna get it. No matter what they play or how weird they pretend to be, it's not going to be recreated – it's a fake.
 '''Is it harder for you now to do something that will make as much of an impact as the things you did in the 60s when you were considered to be so outrageous?<br>
-Well, it's not my desire – in those days it wasn't my desire either... I didn't go onstage and say, I'm now going to be weird. I'm gonna go onstage and do what I do. If it appears weird by contrast to Herman's Hermits, that's a sign of the times. But for an American audience that's been hyped into believing that a person who goes onstage and piddles with a python snake is really fantastic, with that type of [[Alice Cooper]] advertising blitz of "This is weird," where people are told what is weird ... they're not ready for conceptual deviations from the norm, because there's not much thinking involved in music consumption today. You just go and see what it looks like, hear what it sounds like, and you've consumed it. But you don't really think about it much. It's just something that happens to wash over you. But in those days when we did it, it was a real confrontation, because everybody had been so used to the British Invasion syndrome. For anybody to do anything outside of that norm, it appeared to be very drastic. But I think what we do today is pretty drastic compared to the rest of what's going on. We play melodies, we play rhythmic compositions that are really hard, and we do it with choreography. We play long songs that have long guitar solos. We do everything wrong (laughs). We're totally against the grain of what contemporary music is today. But it doesn't appear to be weird, because we're dealing with real musical factors. There are many musical groups today that are thought of as avant-garde who aren't dealing with musical factors; they're dealing with literary factors. Certain groups that appear to be really "happening" have enormous rap sheets that have to explain their ethos, you know, to give them a reason to exist. And the press loves to go along, because it's not music, it's all words, and that's something they can deal with. But it's all fake. There's no substance behind it. We've been doing some stuff in the last weeks on the tour – I taught them a bunch of old obscure rhythm 'n' blues songs. They're so much fun to play. We're doing "[[Mary Lou]]" by ''Young Jessie,'' "[[The Man From Utopia]]," the flip side of "Death Of An Angel" by ''[[Donald Woods & the Velairs]],'' "[[The Closer You Are]]" by ''[[The Channels]],'' and we're doing part of "Johnny Darling" by ''[[The Feathers]]'' – ever hear that? It's a single that sells for about $500.
+Well, it's not my desire – in those days it wasn't my desire either... I didn't go onstage and say, I'm now going to be weird. I'm gonna go onstage and do what I do. If it appears weird by contrast to Herman's Hermits, that's a sign of the times. But for an American audience that's been hyped into believing that a person who goes onstage and piddles with a python snake is really fantastic, with that type of [[Alice Cooper]] advertising blitz of "This is weird," where people are told what is weird ... they're not ready for conceptual deviations from the norm, because there's not much thinking involved in music consumption today. You just go and see what it looks like, hear what it sounds like, and you've consumed it. But you don't really think about it much. It's just something that happens to wash over you. But in those days when we did it, it was a real confrontation, because everybody had been so used to the British Invasion syndrome. For anybody to do anything outside of that norm, it appeared to be very drastic. But I think what we do today is pretty drastic compared to the rest of what's going on. We play melodies, we play rhythmic compositions that are really hard, and we do it with choreography. We play long songs that have long guitar solos. We do everything wrong (laughs). We're totally against the grain of what contemporary music is today. But it doesn't appear to be weird, because we're dealing with real musical factors. There are many musical groups today that are thought of as avant-garde who aren't dealing with musical factors; they're dealing with literary factors. Certain groups that appear to be really "happening" have enormous rap sheets that have to explain their ethos, you know, to give them a reason to exist. And the press loves to go along, because it's not music, it's all words, and that's something they can deal with. But it's all fake. There's no substance behind it. We've been doing some stuff in the last weeks on the tour – I taught them a bunch of old obscure rhythm 'n' blues songs. They're so much fun to play. We're doing "[[Mary Lou]]" by ''Young Jessie,'' "[[The Man From Utopia]]," the flip side of "Death Of An Angel" by ''[https://www.discogs.com/artist/752095-Donald-Woods Donald Woods & the Velairs],'' "[[The Closer You Are]]" by ''[[The Channels]],'' and we're doing part of "Johnny Darling" by ''[[The Feathers]]'' – ever hear that? It's a single that sells for about $500.
 '''Do you think you'll record any of the R&B stuff?<br>

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 In the past two and a half years (just think for a minute what the average rocker's output is in that space of time) Zappa has done the following:
-Released [[Joe's Garage Act I]] (a single LP) and [[Joe's Garage Acts 2 & 3]] (a double set) on Zappa Records, which was then distributed by Phonogram. This rock opera, which came out at the height of the crisis in Iran, addressed the possibility of music being banned by the government in the foreseeable future. It also included the answer to "[[Jewish Princess]]" – "[[Catholic Girls]]."
+Released [[Joe's Garage Act I]] (a single LP) and [[Joe's Garage Acts II & III]] (a double set) on Zappa Records, which was then distributed by Phonogram. This rock opera, which came out at the height of the crisis in Iran, addressed the possibility of music being banned by the government in the foreseeable future. It also included the answer to "[[Jewish Princess]]" – "[[Catholic Girls]]."
 When President Carter reinstated the draft, Zappa countered with a single entitled "[[I Don't Wanna Get Drafted]]." When an executive at Phonogram refused to release the record, Zappa Records released (and distributed) it themselves and subsequently signed a press-and-distribute contract with CBS.
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 Zappa's first release on his newly named Barking Pumpkin Records was Tinsel Town Rebellion, a double set of live material ranging in content from an onstage dance contest to a blues shuffle called "[[Bamboozled By Love]]," a remake of "[[Brown Shoes Don't Make It]]," and the title song, about the insincerity of L.A. punk groups. (In case anyone's wondering about the [[Barking Pumpkin Records|Barking Pumpkin]] logo, it features a jack-o-lantern saying "Arf!" next to a terrified cat saying something in Japanese. The cat is saying "Holy shit!")
-Simultaneously released with [[Tinsel Town Rebellion|Tinsel Town]] were three (count 'em – three) all-instrumental LPs, available by mail order only. These first three volumes of what Zappa says will be a continuing series, are entitled [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]], [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More]], and [[Return Of The Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]], and feature Zappa's much underrated, always surprising guitar work at its best. (For information on availability, write to: Barking Pumpkin, Box 5510, Terre Haute, IN 47805.)
+Simultaneously released with [[Tinseltown Rebellion|Tinsel Town]] were three (count 'em – three) all-instrumental LPs, available by mail order only. These first three volumes of what Zappa says will be a continuing series, are entitled [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]], [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More]], and [[Return Of The Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]], and feature Zappa's much underrated, always surprising guitar work at its best. (For information on availability, write to: Barking Pumpkin, Box 5510, Terre Haute, IN 47805.)
 [[You Are What You Is]] (yet another two-record set) contains 21 songs – all vocals except for the third movement from Zappa's ballet, "[[Sinister Footwear]]" – strung together without pauses, in much the same way that Zappa's band performs live.

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 Zappa's first release on his newly named Barking Pumpkin Records was Tinsel Town Rebellion, a double set of live material ranging in content from an onstage dance contest to a blues shuffle called "[[Bamboozled By Love]]," a remake of "[[Brown Shoes Don't Make It]]," and the title song, about the insincerity of L.A. punk groups. (In case anyone's wondering about the [[Barking Pumpkin Records|Barking Pumpkin]] logo, it features a jack-o-lantern saying "Arf!" next to a terrified cat saying something in Japanese. The cat is saying "Holy shit!")
-Simultaneously released with [[Tinsel Town Rebellion|Tinsel Town]] were three (count 'em – three) all-instrumental LPs, available by mail order only. These first three volumes of what Zappa says will be a continuing series, are entitled [[Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar]], [[Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar Some More]], and [[Return Of The Son Of Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar]], and feature Zappa's much underrated, always surprising guitar work at its best. (For information on availability, write to: Barking Pumpkin, Box 5510, Terre Haute, IN 47805.)
+Simultaneously released with [[Tinsel Town Rebellion|Tinsel Town]] were three (count 'em – three) all-instrumental LPs, available by mail order only. These first three volumes of what Zappa says will be a continuing series, are entitled [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]], [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More]], and [[Return Of The Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]], and feature Zappa's much underrated, always surprising guitar work at its best. (For information on availability, write to: Barking Pumpkin, Box 5510, Terre Haute, IN 47805.)
 [[You Are What You Is]] (yet another two-record set) contains 21 songs – all vocals except for the third movement from Zappa's ballet, "[[Sinister Footwear]]" – strung together without pauses, in much the same way that Zappa's band performs live.
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 The reason why older people don't come to concerts as much is because of the places we have to work. An older person with average intelligence does not want to sit in such an environment, and he doesn't have the social pressure to go to a concert; he'd rather stay at home and listen to a record or watch TV or do something else. He doesn't want to have some fifteen-year-old vomiting on his shoes.
-'''Those same people are of the age group that's being bombarded by [[Styx]], [[REO]], [[Foreigner]] and such. Do you think your audience, being within that age group, is an entirely different audience than, say, Foreigner's? How much overlap do you think there is?<br>
+'''Those same people are of the age group that's being bombarded by [[Wikipedia:Styx (band)|Styx]], [[Wikipedia:REO Speedwagon|REO]], [[Wikipedia:Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] and such. Do you think your audience, being within that age group, is an entirely different audience than, say, Foreigner's? How much overlap do you think there is?<br>
 Well, you can't judge a person because of their age, okay? That's age discrimination. Saying that a person is fifteen years old, therefore they're not equipped to make rational assessments of what they like – that's not right. People have different types of intellectual equipment at different ages. What we're talking about is the ability to discern between Styx and REO Speedwagon. And there are people, even fifteen years old, who can tell the difference and can also say, "Well, I don't like either, and I would prefer something else." I am not averse to Styx, REO Speedwagon, Journey, Foreigner; the thing I don't like is when that's all you ever get to hear on any station. That does a disservice to everybody else who's making music who never gets heard. It's not just me; I mean, think of all the other new wave groups that never get on, think of all the things from the past that are really good music that don't get played. It's too monochromatic. It's a combination of what the radio doesn't play and the fact that in the record store they can only stock so many albums and they don't let you listen to anything before you buy it. All the decisions are based on what the cover looks like or what people hear on the radio – those are the important sales tools. It's also based on who's got the biggest display that week at the local record store. It's also based on how much money there is in the consumer's pocket to spend on something like an album for entertainment.

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 It's nice – considering that nobody in the United States gives a damn.
-'''There always has been a sort of dichotomy between you performing rock 'n roll in that arena, while having a great love for 50s R&B, and at the same time being a devotee of [[Edgar Varèse]], [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]] and people like that.<br>
+'''There always has been a sort of dichotomy between you performing rock 'n roll in that arena, while having a great love for 50s R&B, and at the same time being a devotee of [[Edgard Varèse|Edgar Varèse]], [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]] and people like that.<br>
 So what's the dichotomy? Ever met a person who only wanted to eat fried chicken? I'm sure that there are people who like certain types of things I do that would hate the rest of it. I like rhythm 'n' blues, I like the electric music I'm doing onstage now, I like writing orchestra music. I like all that stuff equally well; one thing's as much fun as another. I like producing records, working with videotape, all those things.

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-[[Frank Zappa]]<br>
+[[Biography|Frank Zappa]]<br>
 By Dan Forte<br>
 Musician, No. 42, April 1982<br>
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 Ladies and gentlemen ... Pat Benatar!"
-Frank Zappa lowers his baton and the band strums one last power chord as their mustachioed bandleader/MC weaves a gut-wrenching blues guitar cadenza. But it's a far cry from "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" or anything else in the [[Pat Benatar]]/top ten catalog. Rock music's premier satirist – who in the past has lampooned everyone from [[The Beatles]] to [[Peter Frampton]] – has just pulled off perhaps his best spoof ever by playing rock 'n' roll's most requested song, "[[Whipping Post]]." But the joke this time is more on the audience than on [[The Allman Brothers Band|the Allman Brothers]], because Zappa and his virtuoso seven-piece band played the Southern boogie anthem straightfaced, sincere, even inspired.
+Frank Zappa lowers his baton and the band strums one last power chord as their mustachioed bandleader/MC weaves a gut-wrenching blues guitar cadenza. But it's a far cry from "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" or anything else in the [[Wikipedia:Pat Benatar|Pat Benatar]]/top ten catalog. Rock music's premier satirist – who in the past has lampooned everyone from [[The Beatles]] to [[Peter Frampton]] – has just pulled off perhaps his best spoof ever by playing rock 'n' roll's most requested song, "[[Whipping Post]]." But the joke this time is more on the audience than on [[The Allman Brothers Band|the Allman Brothers]], because Zappa and his virtuoso seven-piece band played the Southern boogie anthem straightfaced, sincere, even inspired.
 Why? Well, in Frank's words, "Why not?"
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 [[You Are What You Is]] (yet another two-record set) contains 21 songs – all vocals except for the third movement from Zappa's ballet, "[[Sinister Footwear]]" – strung together without pauses, in much the same way that Zappa's band performs live.
-And that, in addition to his concert tours, is only the part of Zappa that the public sees. Lately he has also: completed work on his own studio attached to his home, which is now fully operational; composed music to be performed by one of his early classical influences, twelve-tone composer [[Pierre Boulez]]; emceed a New York concert featuring the music of his "boyhood idol," [[Edgar Varèse]]; and started work on a book, which will be "a compilation of all the things I've done dealing with the written word – all the song lyrics, essays and stories."
+And that, in addition to his concert tours, is only the part of Zappa that the public sees. Lately he has also: completed work on his own studio attached to his home, which is now fully operational; composed music to be performed by one of his early classical influences, twelve-tone composer [[Pierre Boulez]]; emceed a New York concert featuring the music of his "boyhood idol," [[Edgard Varèse|Edgar Varèse]]; and started work on a book, which will be "a compilation of all the things I've done dealing with the written word – all the song lyrics, essays and stories."
 The "Hardest Working Man In Show Business"? Ask [[James Brown]] or [[Bruce Springsteen]] what they've done in the past couple of years.
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 '''Do you think you'll record any of the R&B stuff?<br>
-We've recorded all of it. Remember, I bought the recording truck. Bought it from the [[Beach Boys]] – a hundred inputs, two 24-track machines, and most of the outboard gear for my studio.
+We've recorded all of it. Remember, I bought the recording truck. Bought it from the [[Wikipedia:The Beach Boys|Beach Boys]] – a hundred inputs, two 24-track machines, and most of the outboard gear for my studio.
 '''Do you think you'll ever do another theme LP? Like [[Cruising With Ruben & The Jets]] was the band doing this certain type of music.<br>

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	[[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]		[[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]
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