Conceptual Continuity
"Lemme tell you something. You've got our recordings, you've seen us work a few times, you interviewed me three or four times, you've read a lot about us – but you don't know nothing. To know what it's about, you'd've had to be around for the whole thing."
"But Frank -- no one's been around for the whole thing except you."
"Ri-i-ght!" - Zappa in conversation with Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 16th November 1974
"Well, the conceptual continuity is this: everything, even this interview, is part of what I do for, let's call it, my entertainment work. And there's a big difference between sitting here and talking about this kind of stuff, and writing a song like 'Titties and Beer'. But as far as I'm concerned, it's all part of the same continuity. It's all one piece. It all relates in some weird way back to the focal point of what's going on." - Frank Zappa, Interview by Bob Marshall, October 22, 1988.
"Frank had a philosophy, that he related to me at one time which was, an artist's career should not be judged on any singular project, no single record, film or any other individual piece of work. Frank felt that a person's art could only be judged as part of the whole of their career. Each individual creation was a part of that whole. No critique of any single work could change the overall end result, which was what should be seen as an artist's entire body of work. Only in that end result can it be judged and critiqued." - Interview with Mark Volman of the Turtles, Ear Candy Magazine, August 2001
Interactive Map
... what makes for conceptual continuity? To an extent, it’s incredibly subjective and each person will draw their line in a different place. For instance, does asking “get the picture?” on three different tracks over 40 years constitute a link, or is it merely just a turn of phrase that occasionally appeared? What about just mentioning the fact someone has a nose? In both instances here, I have personally not found these sufficient. Instead, I have focused in particular on exact lyrics and music that reappear in other works, as well as themes or objects that recur in a way that I feel is intentional. The latter in particular is certainly up for debate (and one I’m more than happy to dive into). Cameron Piko
Cameron Piko's Interactive Conceptual Continuity Map
See Also
- Conceptual Continuity (BTB) - CD issued as part of the Beat The Boots series.
- Category:Conceptual Continuity - Listing of concepts Zappa used in his works
