Zappa – The Great Satirist - Revision history

Spider of Destiny at 21:03, 19 April 2026

2026-04-19T21:03:59Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 17:29, 28 July 2021

2021-07-28T17:29:06Z

Spider of Destiny at 21:17, 17 November 2020

2020-11-17T21:17:00Z

Spider of Destiny at 14:11, 15 September 2011

2011-09-15T14:11:24Z

Spider of Destiny at 19:38, 12 December 2010

2010-12-12T19:38:00Z

Tonefish: The Speakeasy Club, UK linked

2008-07-14T15:58:00Z

The Speakeasy Club, UK linked

Propellerkuh at 13:12, 13 May 2007

2007-05-13T13:12:25Z

Maroual at 21:56, 7 May 2007

2007-05-07T21:56:41Z

Propellerkuh at 12:45, 22 April 2007

2007-04-22T12:45:43Z

Emdebe at 22:21, 24 January 2007

2007-01-24T22:21:27Z

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 "One of the reasons why the Mothers have never been associated with jazz is because most reviewers have never listened to jazz," retorted Frank. "They wouldn't guess unless it said on an album cover that we were influenced by jazz. If I had stated on an early album that I had been influenced by [[Eric Dolphy]] or [[Archie Shepp]] then for the last five years they would have been writing about jazz influences instead of Stravinsky influences.
-"The group has always been encouraged in jazz-type improvision within a framework of atonal music. The trouble is that most of the audience thinks of jazz as going from [[Louis Armstrong|Louis Armstrong]] to [[Blood, Sweat & Tears|Blood Sweat and Tears]]. They don't know about today's self-determination music."
+"The group has always been encouraged in jazz-type improvision within a framework of atonal music. The trouble is that most of the audience thinks of jazz as going from [[Louis Armstrong|Louis Armstrong]] to [[Blood, Sweat & Tears]]. They don't know about today's self-determination music."
 '''Undaunted, I asked if it was possible that the Zappa humour might not have tended to obscure his message over the years.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:29, 28 July 2021
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−	'''Will the real [[Frank Zappa]] kindly stand up!	+	'''Will the real [[Biography\|Frank Zappa]] kindly stand up!

	Most of us would probably get quite a shock if he did for we each seem to have invented our own personal Zappa.		Most of us would probably get quite a shock if he did for we each seem to have invented our own personal Zappa.

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:17, 17 November 2020
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	</div>		</div>
	[[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]		[[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]
		+	[[Category:1971]]

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 '''Deciding to risk the Zappa scorn, I asked if he did not feel that with so many musical roles – rock musician, 'serious' composer, humorist and the rest – he did not feel that his talents were too widely spread, too diffuse.
-"From the audience point of view I'm aware that the danger exists," he replied. "Audiences expect a group to develop a style and stick with it. If it deviates then it is getting into dangerous territory. They want [[Led Zeppelin]] to sound like Led Zeppelin. And [[wikipedia:Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)|Crosby, Stills and Nash]] to sound like Crosby, Stills and Nash.
+"From the audience point of view I'm aware that the danger exists," he replied. "Audiences expect a group to develop a style and stick with it. If it deviates then it is getting into dangerous territory. They want [[Led Zeppelin]] to sound like Led Zeppelin. And [[David Crosby|Crosby, Stills and Nash]] to sound like Crosby, Stills and Nash.
 "We tend to change every night – and to have a sense of humour. We deal in dangerous territories.
@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 "That question is assuming that I want to make a reputation as strictly a composer or strictly a rock-and-roll musician," he said. "It happens that I have a life style which involves various forms of artistic expression. I try to get into those various forms of expression rather than being top notch at any one thing. If I find something interesting and can find a means of conveying that interest to somebody else I will do that in whatever form is best suited to do so.
-"[[wikipedia:Béla Bartók|Bartók]] used to collect folk songs and use them in his compositions. In my case I collect folk lore of a verbal kind, from the street or from the people immediately surrounding the world of the group, and convert them into a musical reference.
+"[[Béla Bartók|Bartók]] used to collect folk songs and use them in his compositions. In my case I collect folk lore of a verbal kind, from the street or from the people immediately surrounding the world of the group, and convert them into a musical reference.
 "That is perhaps an unfortunate analogy. Today, when somebody reviews one of my albums they point to the classical influence of the composers that I like. They say 'That sounds like [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]].' They only say that because Stravinsky was mentioned on the cover of the '[[Freak Out!]]' album. They wouldn't really know the influence of Stravinsky if they heard it.
@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 "One of the reasons why the Mothers have never been associated with jazz is because most reviewers have never listened to jazz," retorted Frank. "They wouldn't guess unless it said on an album cover that we were influenced by jazz. If I had stated on an early album that I had been influenced by [[Eric Dolphy]] or [[Archie Shepp]] then for the last five years they would have been writing about jazz influences instead of Stravinsky influences.
-"The group has always been encouraged in jazz-type improvision within a framework of atonal music. The trouble is that most of the audience thinks of jazz as going from [[Louis Armstrong|Louis Armstrong]] to [[wikipedia:Blood, Sweat & Tears|Blood Sweat and Tears]]. They don't know about today's self-determination music."
+"The group has always been encouraged in jazz-type improvision within a framework of atonal music. The trouble is that most of the audience thinks of jazz as going from [[Louis Armstrong|Louis Armstrong]] to [[Blood, Sweat & Tears|Blood Sweat and Tears]]. They don't know about today's self-determination music."
 '''Undaunted, I asked if it was possible that the Zappa humour might not have tended to obscure his message over the years.

@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 "[[wikipedia:Béla Bartók|Bartók]] used to collect folk songs and use them in his compositions. In my case I collect folk lore of a verbal kind, from the street or from the people immediately surrounding the world of the group, and convert them into a musical reference.
-"That is perhaps an unfortunate analogy. Today, when somebody reviews one of my albums they point to the classical influence of the composers that I like. They say 'That sounds like [[wikipedia:Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]].' They only say that because Stravinsky was mentioned on the cover of the '[[Freak Out!]]' album. They wouldn't really know the influence of Stravinsky if they heard it.
+"That is perhaps an unfortunate analogy. Today, when somebody reviews one of my albums they point to the classical influence of the composers that I like. They say 'That sounds like [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]].' They only say that because Stravinsky was mentioned on the cover of the '[[Freak Out!]]' album. They wouldn't really know the influence of Stravinsky if they heard it.
 "I don't mind influences being spread around but when I complete my recorded work it will be the sum total of that work on which I should be judged not on individual parts of that work which are not important."
@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 "One of the reasons why the Mothers have never been associated with jazz is because most reviewers have never listened to jazz," retorted Frank. "They wouldn't guess unless it said on an album cover that we were influenced by jazz. If I had stated on an early album that I had been influenced by [[Eric Dolphy]] or [[Archie Shepp]] then for the last five years they would have been writing about jazz influences instead of Stravinsky influences.
-"The group has always been encouraged in jazz-type improvision within a framework of atonal music. The trouble is that most of the audience thinks of jazz as going from [[wikipedia:Louis Armstrong|Louis Armstrong]] to [[wikipedia:Blood, Sweat & Tears|Blood Sweat and Tears]]. They don't know about today's self-determination music."
+"The group has always been encouraged in jazz-type improvision within a framework of atonal music. The trouble is that most of the audience thinks of jazz as going from [[Louis Armstrong|Louis Armstrong]] to [[wikipedia:Blood, Sweat & Tears|Blood Sweat and Tears]]. They don't know about today's self-determination music."
 '''Undaunted, I asked if it was possible that the Zappa humour might not have tended to obscure his message over the years.

@@ Line 74: / Line 74: @@
 '''I decided to touch another raw spot. Perhaps one of the most extraordinary confrontations in Zappa's career was his appearance, last year, at the ''London School of Economics''<sup>[[#Note1|[1]]]</sup>. It was a case of mutual disillusionment for students who had thought of Zappa as a leader of their revolution, and for Zappa who had no desire for any such role to be thrust upon him.
-"An interesting thing happened when I was last in London," Frank mused when I raised the subject of the LSE. "I was sitting in the Speakeasy and there was this young man, an American, buying drinks for a large number of people. He came over and apologised, said he was one of the people who had been bleating at me at the London School of Economics.
+"An interesting thing happened when I was last in London," Frank mused when I raised the subject of the LSE. "I was sitting in the [[ The Speakeasy Club, UK|Speakeasy]] and there was this young man, an American, buying drinks for a large number of people. He came over and apologised, said he was one of the people who had been bleating at me at the London School of Economics.
 "I remembered him. He was really running his mouth. He wanted to know what did I do with my money. He was in the full [[wikipedia:Che Guevara|Che Guevara]] costume. At the Speakeasy I asked why he was in England, why he was at the LSE. It turned out he was there on his parents' money, avoiding the draft or something.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 The man has his own weird logic which can turn what one considered a profound question into naive jibbering and a simple enquiry as to his movements into a dialectical argument.
-'''Speaking to Frank this week via that modern marvel the transatlantic telephone, I built up my own confidence by first asking about his forthcoming visit to Europe, and in particular to his latest project "200 Motels" which, it has been reported, is to be filmed by Dutch television.
+'''Speaking to Frank this week via that modern marvel the transatlantic telephone, I built up my own confidence by first asking about his forthcoming visit to Europe, and in particular to his latest project "[[200 Motels]]" which, it has been reported, is to be filmed by Dutch television.
 "We will be performing the material from '200 Motels' which we can do without an orchestra throughout the tour," reported Frank without obvious hidden meanings. "It depends on the scheduling of the concerts how much we do on any one show, anything between ten and 40 minutes from '200 Motels.'
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 "I'd rather not make any more statements about it right now as we are involved in an expansion of the project."
-'''The Mothers of Invention on this tour will be the same line-up that played Bath in the summer.
+'''[[The Mothers|The Mothers of Invention]] on this tour will be the same line-up that played Bath in the summer.
 "The Mothers aren't really a permanent fixture these days," agreed Frank. "Some of the guys are interested in doing other things and everybody has led groups before or else has recording plans. But after Bath the guys say 'What are we going to do now?' So we did two fairly long tours in the U.S. The result is we are thinking and behaving more like a regular group every day."
@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 "An interesting thing happened when I was last in London," Frank mused when I raised the subject of the LSE. "I was sitting in the Speakeasy and there was this young man, an American, buying drinks for a large number of people. He came over and apologised, said he was one of the people who had been bleating at me at the London School of Economics.
-"I remembered him. He was really running his mouth. He wanted to know what did I do with my money. He was in the full Che Guevara costume. At the Speakeasy I asked why he was in England, why he was at the LSE. It turned out he was there on his parents' money, avoiding the draft or something.
+"I remembered him. He was really running his mouth. He wanted to know what did I do with my money. He was in the full [[wikipedia:Che Guevara|Che Guevara]] costume. At the Speakeasy I asked why he was in England, why he was at the LSE. It turned out he was there on his parents' money, avoiding the draft or something.
 "Actually, my main disagreement with those Maoists is not that they want to change things. I want to change a lot of the same things. But most of the really radical revolutionaries' conception of change is a swing of the pendulum in one direction only."

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 Interview by Bob Dawbarn<br>
 '''Will the real Frank Zappa kindly stand up!
 Most of us would probably get quite a shock if he did for we each seem to have invented our own personal Zappa.
@@ Line 70: / Line 72: @@
 "That goes back to the idea that nobody can be humourous and serious at the same time," he admonished. "The humour is as accurate and as honest as I can make it. If a disaster occurs I am not going to be dishonest about it even if some people might find it incomprehensible that I can find humour in that particular situation – to be blasphemous enough to find them funny."
-'''I decided to touch another raw spot. Perhaps one of the most extraordinary confrontations in Zappa's career was his appearance, last year, at the London School of Economics. It was a case of mutual disillusionment for students who had thought of Zappa as a leader of their revolution, and for Zappa who had no desire for any such role to be thrust upon him.
+'''I decided to touch another raw spot. Perhaps one of the most extraordinary confrontations in Zappa's career was his appearance, last year, at the ''London School of Economics''<sup>[[#Note1|[1]]]</sup>. It was a case of mutual disillusionment for students who had thought of Zappa as a leader of their revolution, and for Zappa who had no desire for any such role to be thrust upon him.
 "An interesting thing happened when I was last in London," Frank mused when I raised the subject of the LSE. "I was sitting in the Speakeasy and there was this young man, an American, buying drinks for a large number of people. He came over and apologised, said he was one of the people who had been bleating at me at the London School of Economics.
@@ Line 77: / Line 79: @@
 "Actually, my main disagreement with those Maoists is not that they want to change things. I want to change a lot of the same things. But most of the really radical revolutionaries' conception of change is a swing of the pendulum in one direction only."
+==Notes==
 [[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 "I don't mind influences being spread around but when I complete my recorded work it will be the sum total of that work on which I should be judged not on individual parts of that work which are not important."
-'''A dangerous question after that, but I commented that until his album with [[Jean-Luc Ponty]] and the Mothers' "[[Weasels Ripped MY Flesh|Weasels]]" LP, I had not associated him with jazz influences.
+'''A dangerous question after that, but I commented that until his album with [[Jean-Luc Ponty]] and the Mothers' "[[Weasels Ripped My Flesh|Weasels]]" LP, I had not associated him with jazz influences.
 "One of the reasons why the Mothers have never been associated with jazz is because most reviewers have never listened to jazz," retorted Frank. "They wouldn't guess unless it said on an album cover that we were influenced by jazz. If I had stated on an early album that I had been influenced by [[Eric Dolphy]] or [[Archie Shepp]] then for the last five years they would have been writing about jazz influences instead of Stravinsky influences.