Frank ZappaRecensioni

When I discovered the music of Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention way back in 1970, I wasn't ready for it. W/in a few mnths I was all about it. I was 16 & this was, indeed, the music that got me really excited. It was experimental, it was rock'n'roll, it had some politics, it had some satire, it was complicated, it did the trick for me. I 1st heard the Mothers of Invention live when I skipped school on my graduation day to hitch-hike north of Baltimore to hear them in Harrisburg. THEY WERE GREAT! Very funny, very together. They were also starting to deteriorate into juvenilia. Nonetheless, Zappa continued to crank out the records that I was interested in & a new release was always exciting.. until things like some of those mid-70s live albums came out. Anyway, the more experimental & jazzy Zappa was, the more I liked him; the more "Titties & Beer" he got, the more I got bored. Then I lost interest altogether. Shortly before he died he started doing a few things that interested me again - about wch I was quite happy! Then, fuck it!, he died in 1992 - a mere sprat! W/ a zillion recordings left behind but so much more that he cd've done. Too bad.

So here's an authorized ghost-written autobiography. What Zappa enthusiast cd resist? All that droll commentary, setting the record straight & the like. No doubt, Zappa had alotof stupid bullshit written about him by alotof incomprehending hostile people over the yrs & no doubt it's still almost MIRACULOUS that his music STILL isn't played on rock radio stns while the most producer-created DREK sickens the airwaves unto death, BUT, LET'S FACE IT, Zappa pulled it off w/ balls & perseverance almost unprecedented in the rock music industry. Hats off to his memory!

1 Peaches En Regalia 3:37
2 Don't Eat The Yellow Snow (Single Version) 3:34
3 Dancin' Fool 3:43
4 San Ber'dino 5:57
5 Dirty Love 2:57
6 My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama 3:31
7 Cosmik Debris 4:14
8 Trouble Every Day 5:49
9 Disco Boy 5:08
10 Fine Girl 3:29
11 Sexual Harassment In The Workplace 3:42
12 Let's Make The Water Turn Black 2:01
13 I'm The Slime 3:34
14 Joe's Garage (Single Version) 4:08
15 Tell Me You Love Me 2:33
16 Montana (Single Version) 4:08
17 Valley Girl 4:50
18 Be In My Video 3:39
19 Muffin Man 5:32

1 Hungry Freaks, Daddy 3:27
2 I Ain't Got No Heart 2:33
3 Who Are The Brain Police? 3:33
4 Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder 3:39
5 Motherly Love 2:43
6 How Could I Be Such A Fool 2:11
7 Wowie Zowie 2:51
8 You Didn't Try To Call Me 3:16
9 Any Way The Wind Blows 2:54
10 I'm Not Satisfied 2:38
11 You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here 3:38
12 Trouble Every Day 5:49
13 Help, I'm A Rock 4:43
14 It Can't Happen Here 3:55
15 The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet 12:16

Credits:

Bass, Guitarrón, Soprano Vocals [Boy Soprano] – Roy Estrada
Composed By, Arranged By, Orchestrated By, Conductor [Conducted By] – Frank Zappa
Drums, Vocals [Sings In Some Foreign Language] – Jim Black*
Guitar [Alternate Lead & Rhythm Guitar With Clear White Light] – Elliot Ingber
Lead Vocals [Lead Vocalist], Harmonica, Tambourine, Finger Cymbals, Performer [Bobby Pin & Tweezers] – Ray Collins
Liner Notes – Suzy Creamcheese
Mixed By [Remixed From The Original Master Tapes] – Bob Stone, Frank Zappa
Performer [The Mothers' Auxiliary] – Arthur Maebe*, Benjamin Barrett, Carl Franzoni, Carol Kaye, David Wells*, David Anderle, Edwin V. Beach, Emmet Sargeant, Eugene Di Novi*, Gene Estes, George Price, John Rotella, John Johnson*, Joseph Saxon, Kenneth Watson*, Kurt Reher, Neil Le Vang*, Paul Bergstrom, Plas Johnson, Raymond Kelley*, Roy Caton, Virgil Evans, Vito*
Performer [The Mothers' Auxiliary], Featuring [Featured On Hypophone] – Kim Fowley
Producer [Produced By] – Tom Wilson (2)

I've never been into Frank Zappa's music but I thought "here's the type of person who led an interesting life" so I checked out his autobiography. Zappa certainly has a few stories of rock 'n' roll excess which he balances with his childhood and family life. Some of the stories are amusing, some are outlandish and some are iconic (see, for example, his review of the events that led to his immortalisation in "Smoke on the Water").½

9,5/10

I didn't know anything about Zappa when I started this. I just thought he sounded like an interesting guy. Usually these musician biographies turn out to be mostly about drugs and I'm not into drugs so I can't relate. Zappa was not into drugs. He didn't need them. His mind was already travelling a million miles an hour without them.

I liked this book and it made me like Zappa but I had trouble getting his humor a lot of the time. The book was written in 1998 so all of his political references were about a time that I wasn't really political. I mean I hated Reagan as much as the next punk rocker but I didn't really know anything about what was going on in the world. The other problem is that Zappa is a self-professed "grumpy old guy". So much of it is just complaining that the world is broken and it sucks and even though I agree with him it got to be a little much reading about it everyday.

The man was a genius and an incredible musician. I'm not really into his music but he was a savant.

Last problem with this book is that the "road stories" section was way too short and all of the stories had the same plot "random girl sticks random object in her no-no spot".

1. Penguin in Bondage
2. Pygmy Twylite
3. Dummy up
4. Village of the sun
5. Ectidna's art (of you)
6. Don't you ever wash that thing?
7. Cheepnis
8. Son of orange county
9. More trouble every day
10. Be-bop tango (of the old)
11. Jazzmen's (church)

The man gives his controversial opinions, which in the light of the last twenty years, make a great deal of common sense, and talks about his life's work. One of the most interesting men of the twentieth century, who I think will be even more well-remembered as time goes on.

We're Only In It for the Money Demos According to information submitted, the item known to traders as "Money demos" contains the following: 1. Lonely Little Girl (Instrumental) [01:06] 2. Oh No [00:47] 3. Lonely Little Girl (Reprise) [01:02] 4. Theme from Burnt Weenie Sandwich [04:06] 5. Mom & Dad [03:02] 6. Bow Tie Daddy [00:33] 7. Harry, You're a Beast [01:14] 8. What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? / What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (Reprise) [02:22] 9. Guitar Solo [03:46] 10. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance [01:33] 11. Mother People [01:45] 12. The Idiot Bastard Son [02:24] 13. Who Needs the Peace Corps? Walkthrough: Most of the tracks segue directly just as on the album. Many are very similar to the released versions, but the ones which are different are enough so to [illegible!]. * The instrumental version of "Lonely Little Girl" is clearly the backing track of the released version (but a lot slower). It has an extra bridge, also performed in fall 1975 [external link]. (The title "It's His Voice on the Radio", used for this song on some versions of the album, can be traced to this bridge.) * "Oh No" is based on the Lumpy Gravy version (with full orchestration). * "Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich" is the basis for the album version, but mixed and edited differently there. This one lacks the percussion overdubs. It segues directly out of "Lonely Little Girl (Reprise)", instead of fading in underneath the percussion, and ends with the guitar riff/fill-thingee from "Flower Punk" instead of the fade-out behind the overdubs on the album version. * "Mom & Dad" begins similarly to the album version, although a bit faster and with flute. It abruptly switches to some completely different instrumental music (which sounds like its based on the riff to "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?", partly) for about a minute and then shunts back to the normal song. [This "new music" sounds like backing tracks that went unused to me - David Goodwin] * "Bow Tie Daddy" is the same as on the album. * "Harry, You're a Beast" is not censored, and instead of the snorks and music at 00:45 we get a weird measure in a different time. It's the only original-drums uncensored version we have, and that "extra measure" where they would splice in the snorks is very interesting. * "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" is again very similar until the 01:00 mark when it switches to some of the "new" music that is in "Mom & Dad". This then hits a tape speed effect and switches into the reprise version of "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?". * The guitar solo is a different edit of the one in "Stuff up the Cracks" on Cruising with Ruben & the Jets. Oddly enough, instead of the final chords of "Stuff up the Cracks", it segues into "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance". * "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" is very similar to the final record, with slightly more prominent guitar. * "Mother People" again isn't censored, and ends with "... holding you near me?" rather than the needle scratch into Lumpy Gravy music and the coda. * "The Idiot Bastard Son" has a longer intro and is missing the musique concrete/dialogue segments. It's different from the Mothermania version, but that is the closest resemblence. It sounds unmixed ... all instruments are up the entire time. * The complete "Who Needs the Peace Corps?" - the sax is audible during a lot of it, and it keeps going ... past where it ends on the record! You finally get to hear the real ending. Informants: Corey, Charles Ulrich, David Goodwin All-Orchestral

Product Details

* Audio CD (May 2, 1995)
* Original Release Date: 2000
* Number of Discs: 1
* Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
* Label: Rykodisc
* Catalog Number: 10510
* ASIN: B0000009S6
* Average Customer Review: based on 42 reviews. (Write a review.)
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,387 in Music (See Top Sellers in Music)
Yesterday: #6,611 in Music

Listen to Samples
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1. Didja Get Any Onya? Listen Listen
2. Directly From My Heart To You Listen Listen
3. Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Sexually Aroused Gas Mask Listen Listen
4. Toad Of The Short Forest Listen Listen
5. Get A Little Listen Listen
6. The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue Listen
7. Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwart Nebula Listen
8. My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama Listen
9. Oh No Listen
10. The Orange County Lumber Truck Listen
11. Weasels Ripped My Flesh Listen

Editorial Reviews
From the Label
The second collection in a row of archival Mothers material, a mix of live and studio recordings (following BURNT WEENY SANDWICH), originally released in 1970. Said Rolling Stone, "...finds the group peerless in the field of amalgamating satire, musical adventuresomeness and flash. This could be because they're the only ones attempting it, but no matter."

Perhaps the most diverse Mothers album of its time, WEASELS ranges from the avant excursion "Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbeque" to the relatively tuneful "Orange County Lumber Truck," from the onstage hijinks on "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask" to the social satire, a la WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY, heard on "Oh No". "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" would sum up rock'n'roll brattiness for years to come; some kid named Dweezil Zappa even recorded it in the '80s. And there's a Little Richard cover ("Directly From My Heart to You") in the middle of all this? Sure.