YOU CALL
THAT NEWS?
(Hot Poop,
Lukewarm Poop
…final poop)
(Last updated 14 January 2022)
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Hot
Poop
·
One of the
many joys of my personal Zappa fandom has been that, every now and again, a
group of musicians come from nowhere and very pleasantly surprise me. I'm
thinking Just Another
Band at Zappanale in 2012, or the Spiders
Of Destiny at the Oval Tavern in 2015. Both of these bands were relatively
short-lived, and I was happy to have enjoyed them while I could. One new
ensemble assembled out of the blue at London’s Jazz Cafe this week for a show
called The Genius Of
Frank Zappa. A few years ago, sax and keyboard whizz Ben Vize instigated a solo project he
called Nostalgic Orange, performing jazz
flavoured original material. As an avid Zappa fan, he has now put together a
group of young up and coming jazz musicians to spank some Frank under the NO
banner. After being starved of live Zappa music for nearly two years (my last
was Ensemble
Modern in February 2020), their set was a joy to behold. Semantic
Scrutinizer Simon Prentis
was also there and pieced together this video compilation
from their show. Ben hopes to play more FZ gigs in future, so keep an eye on
these pages. [Added: 14 January 2022]
·
Next Zappa
Trust release will be The Mothers 1971,
an 8CD box set due on 18 March 2022. This comprises: every note from the four Fillmore
East shows, including the entire John & Yoko encore;
the full Rainbow Theatre performance from 10 December 1971, including its
shocking conclusion; an unreleased hybrid concert culled from performances in
Scranton and Harrisburg; and the original Tears
Began To Fall single and its non-album-b-side Junier Mintz Boogie.
Vinyl freaks can also get an expanded anniversary edition of Fillmore East – June 1971 and the
Rainbow Theatre show – both on separate 3LP sets. Annoyingly (as I do not possess
a gramophone!), "the vinyl version of Fillmore
East has been expanded to include vintage, period-perfect Zappa mixes, some of
which are not included in the CD box set and can’t be found anywhere else."
(Unless I am reading things wrong, this amounts to King Kong – Solos and the original version of Billy The Mountain.) Looks like cracking releases,
anywho. Here’s the official announcement
plus the box set’s
listing at Zappa.com with track times and whatnot. [Added: 14 January 2022]
·
Hopefully in
2022 we’ll get the 50th anniversary Waka/Wazoo box set, including alternate vershums etc. what the Vaultmeister
has spoken of. You may recall he hoped to include up to four George Duke demo tracks which FZ
produced that, “capture the same musicians, the
same time period and the same sound.” Uncle Remus and For Love (I Come Your Friend) were two of these, and Psychosomatic Dung was another; you can
hear that one here. [Added: 03 January 2022]
·
Ruth Underwood was understandably deeply moved
by Marco Pacassoni's Frank & Ruth masterclass tribute here. There's a good chance you'll get to
see Marco with his quartet at Zappanale this year, and if you haven't already
got the album,
why not? [Added: 03 January 2022]
·
First act
officially confirmed for Zappanale #31 in July: The Mike Keneally Report. [Added: 03 January 2022]
·
Dale Bozzio's ‘kiss and tell’ autobiography, Life Is So Strange – Missing Persons, Frank
Zappa, Prince & Beyond, is now available from Cleopatra
Records. [Added: 03 January 2022]
·
Just a
couple of Bruce Bickford-related
titbits gleaned from the audio commentary on the Zappa movie Blu-Ray: when Bruce was told about the access that Alex Winter and his team would have to
the vault, he immediately asked if they could look for the main title sequence
he’d put together for Baby Snakes (that
FZ never used); it was one of the first things they found and snippets can be
seen in the movie. Secondly, the drawings we see during the ‘Frank goes to
jail’ sequence were created by Bruce specially for the
movie. Great stuff. [Added: 28 December 2021]
·
Dweezil has added a 2012 ZPZ recording
of Strictly Genteel to his Reward Music
site. He says, “If you ask me, Strictly Genteel is one of the most
beautiful pieces of music ever written. We only played this song a handful of
times on tour and the arrangement is a hybrid of the orchestral version and the
rock band version. For six musicians on stage to cover the amount of material
and sound changes required in this arrangement I think it's quite an
accomplishment, and I like the dynamics we were able to achieve as a band.” [Added: 28 December 2021]
·
Although the
50th anniversary release of 200 Motels is a joy to behold,
audiophile completists will no doubt want to hold on
to their earlier versions. What we now have (in the words of the Vaultmeister) is
a “new high resolution 96K24B digital patchwork
stereo master constructed from all of the available safety elements we could
find thus far in The Vault.” The most noticeable difference appears to
be a missing keyboard overdub during Strictly
Genteel (The Finale). Asked why they didn't go back to the CD version,
Travers said, “dealing
with the sonics of the Ryko
version...wasn't the pathway we wanted to take.” Fair enough. It sounds
absolutely splendid to my old lugs – but I’ll be keeping my musicassette
and Ryko versions too! [Added: 28 December 2021]
·
Mike Keneally is “thinking
of calling the new double-album I’m trying to finish 60, with an Adele-style glamour shot on the front. Disc One is a
tight collection of nine mostly vocal tracks (also includes one instrumental
featuring Steve Vai)
lasting about 42 minutes. Disc Two is a sprawling collection of mostly
instrumental tracks.” Mike is also “in the
midst of planning a lot of live appearances next year, including an April tour
with a fabulous collection of musicians playing some tunes you know real well,
and an appearance on ‘Cruise To The Edge’ with someone else you know real well,
hopefully a Zappa Band U.S.
headlining tour later in the spring, European summer gigs with the Mike Keneally Report, and there’s this
OTHER band I’ve been working with in secret since 2015 and we’ve just completed
our first three studio tracks which we would love to play live.” [Added: 24 December 2021]
·
To celebrate
Frank’s 81st birthday (and Xmas too, I guess), I stuck most of those
blink-and-you’ll-miss-‘em essays I posted on this
website throughout 2020 in a single PDF file. All have been ever so slightly
tweaked. Grab a copy here
for just a Winston (that’s £5 , or the equivalent in
whatever currency you use – there’s no hidden or shipping costs involved) and
I’ll send you the file then donate one English pound to Prostate Cancer UK. Barg’in! [Added: 24 December 2021]
·
As well as
his Inviolate album in January (which
features guest appearances by Vinnie Colaiuta and Terry
Bozzio), Steve
Vai should also have a solo acoustic guitar/vocal
record out next year. Also in 2022, Steve will be going to Holland “to record about four hours of my orchestra music with
the Metropole Orchestra, and I will be in Finland
recording with their symphony. I should have about four albums of diverse
orchestra music when I’m done with it all.” [Added: 24 December 2021]
·
One-time
Mother and inventor of the wah-wah pedal, Del Casher, has just officially
released the 1966 song Space Boy –
featuring actress Florence Marly on vox and FZ on drums. The song was co-written by
Casher with Marly, and FZ co-produced the recording
with Del. Long associated with the film Queen
Of Blood (in which Marly played a blood-thirsty
vampire), there appears to be no (ouch!)
earthly connection – though Marly did make a sequel
to Queen Of Blood in 1973 titled Space Boy!, for which she re-recorded
the tune. Del's Bandcamp EP features the original 1966 mono mix, “everyone knows from the Zappa bootlegs, but sounding
clean and remastered directly from the master mixdown. Plus a never before heard alternate take which was
done in a more slower paced arrangement. Following
these are brand new mixes (done in STEREO) of both takes mixed by
producer/engineer Jimmy Michaels. And as the last cut, a very experimental and
‘out there’ creation put together by Jimmy & Del called Space Boy Funk Trip.” [Added: 19 December 2021]
·
Check out Pamela Des Barres' Pajama
Party with Howard Kaylan
here.
[Added: 19
December 2021]
·
The planned
first cinema screening of the Zappa
movie, live on stage in London with Alex
Winter next month, has been postponed due to Omicron. “We are rescheduling for another date in '22 and all
tickets will be transferable or refunded.” [Added: 19 December 2021]
·
Ben Watson has uploaded the debut album
by Gabba Zappa Hey! to
t'Internet. Bravo! [Added: 19 December 2021]
·
Dweezil has filed for
divorce from Megan, his wife of nearly ten years, citing "irreconcilable differences". Although the
couple had no children together, they did share custody of three daughters from
previous relationships. Sad stuff. [Added: 11 December 2021]
·
ZappaCast #51 is here:
a celebration of 200 Motels with the
usual suspects…and more to follow in episode 52, with special guests Miss Pamela and Jim Pons. [Added: 11 December 2021]
·
The Zappa Band is playing more gigs at LA’s
Baked Potato Jazz Club: 24-27 February 2022. [Added: 11 December 2021]
·
Just for
clarity, the special dual format edition of the ZAPPA movie (just
released here in the UK) does not feature anything previously unseen: the
extras (on the Blu-Ray disc only) are: the Apostrophe ad; Frank And The Pig;
Haskell Wexler & Uncle Meat; and
an exclusive audio commentary by director Alex
Winter and editor Mike J. Nichols. The DVD is a vanilla version featuring
just the film itself – nowt else. [Added: 11 December 2021]
·
Over at the Steve
Hoffman forum, the Vaultmeister
recently stated “there is a sizeable amount of
Synclavier source tapes in the Vault that will make good future releases.”
I for one would like to hear as many previously unheard compositions as
possible – so, yes please! [Added: 07 December 2021]
·
A fourth
preview track from the 200 Motels
50th anniversary box set is here:
Road
Ladies (Alternate Take). And here are all four bundled together on Spotify (for reasons unknown, the Mystery Roach (Dialog Protection Reel) track is now listed as
‘private’ on YouTube).
[Added: 07
December 2021]
·
Mike
Keneally has posted a blog updating us on the short film being made for three
("five, sir"!) of his new songs. Here.
[Added: 07
December 2021]
·
Currently
reading Steve Jones' Lonely Boy: Tales From A
Sex Pistol. He mentions that Miss Cynderella of The
GTOs took a shine to bassist Glen
Matlock whilst she was still married to John Cale.
Jones later interviewed Cale for his radio show and
says he was so miserable that any woman he was with would probably want to fuck
somebody else. It's a fun read! [Added: 07 December 2021]
·
Book news: If I Could
Only Be Sure: The Life of Nolan Porter by Patrice 'Candy' Zappa is now available from Greg Russo's Crossfire Publications (as a PDF file: hard
print-on-demand copies are available worldwide from Amazon). Additionally, Crossfire
has updated versions of Candy's My
Brother Was A Mother (Take 4),
and Greg's own Cosmik Debris:
The Collected History and Improvisations of Frank Zappa and Ancient
Armaments: The Frank Zappa Singles Project. [Added: 02 December 2021]
·
Dr Dot recently interviewed Don Preston, who told her some great
stories. You can watch their chat here.
[Added: 02
December 2021]
·
Seems the
tracks Steve Vai
dropped earlier this year – Candle Power and Knappsack – were preview pieces from his next
album. And here’s another: Little Pretty. The album, Inviolate,
will be released on 28 January 2022. [Added: 02 December 2021]
·
Zappadan
Zappajam #6 took place last week. Check out the London Zappa Collective's performance of Black Napkins here.
[Added: 02
December 2021]
·
Details of
the ‘total immersion’ Zappa day at London’s Barbican centre can now be found here.
For ease, it starts with a showing of Alex
Winter’s Zappa movie, which is
followed by Guildhall School Musicians
(conducted by Simon Wills) paying
homage to The Yellow Shark, Webern, Stravinsky and Varèse, and ends with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Brad Lubman) playing all but one (Bogus Pomp) of the FZ pieces recorded by
the LSO, plus another one of Igor's boogies. [Added: 24 November 2021]
·
A third
preview track from the delayed “due to
circumstances” 200 Motels 50th
anniversary box set is here:
Magic Fingers (Version B – Mix Outtake).
And here are all three bundled together on Spotify. [Added: 24 November 2021]
·
Turns out
that Lady Gaga sold FZ’s former home
in Woodrow Wilson Drive to Mick Jagger’s
daughter, Lizzy, and her film producer husband
Christopher Behlau. [Added: 24 November 2021]
·
Nice little
article about the amazing Ruth Underwood
here. [Added: 16 November 2021]
·
The January
2022 edition of MOJO magazine (with the Rolling
Stones on the cover) has an article – similar to my own – on 200 Motels. (At least I spelt Martin Lickert’s name
right, though!). [Added: 16 November 2021]
·
Dr Dot has just had another Zoom chat
with Ike Willis in which he updates us
on his health issues and answers a bunch of fan questions (including one from
yours truly). Check it out here.
[Added: 16
November 2021]
·
Somehow
missed that John Parkinson of Treacherous Cretins posted this drum
cover of What Will This Evening Bring Me
This Morning on YouTube.
Nice. [Added: 16
November 2021]
·
As Christmas
approaches, The Idiot Bastard Shop
has reduced the price of ALL of the Zappa-themed CDs IBS has compiled for Cordelia Records over the last 13
years; with each order comes an (almost) immediate free ‘auto-rip’ including
one or more relevant bonus tracks not actually on the CD. Check them all out here.
[Added: 07
November 2021]
·
Release of
the 50th anniversary edition of 200
Motels has been put back to 17 December 2021. [Added: 07 November 2021]
·
The Zappa
movie will be shown on the big screen in London early next year, with director Alex Winter live and in person for an
intro/Q&A. Details here.
[Added: 07
November 2021]
·
Dweezil has posted a video
of his first live performance of Watermelon
In Easter Hay from Halloween 2013. "It was quite an emotional event that night in NYC
at the Beacon Theater," he writes. GZ
reportedly had to excuse herself. [Added: 07 November 2021]
·
Frank Zappa Memorial Day #28 takes place on Saturday 4
December 2021 from 10.00 to 18.00 at Idiots Records, Rheinische
Strasse 14, 44137 Dortmund,
Germany. There will be live music plus photos and rarities from Frank’s last
tour, plus an after-show party at the nearby Cafe Banane.
[Added: 07
November 2021]
·
Lady Gaga has sold the former Zappa home
at 7885 Woodrow Wilson Drive. Google it
and you will see that it was sold in August for $6,450,000. [Added: 01 November 2021]
·
The Mayor of
Vilnius has now promised not to move the Zappa monument in Lithuania. Thanks to
all those who signed the petition!
[Added: 29
October 2021]
·
In March
next year, the BBC Symphony Orchestra
will take “a deep dive into the diverse musical
worlds of Frank Zappa” in one of the Barbican's ‘Total
Immersion’ days. More details will follow next month, but the event
will be livestreamed for those who can’t make the
trip into London.
[Added: 29
October 2021]
·
I mention
below that a revised version of Pauline
Butcher's book will be published next month, provisionally re-titled Freak Out! My Life With
Frank Zappa At The Log Cabin 1968-1971. After Plexus called me a "bloody nuisance", I understand it will
now be published as Freak Out! My Life
with Frank Zappa: Laurel Canyon 1968-1971! [Added: 29 October 2021]
·
Edition #108
of Raw Vision (the world's only
international journal of Outsider Art) features an article about the great late
Bruce Bickford by Brett Ingram, who
directed the Monster Road documentary
about BB. You can get both hard and soft copies (and a preview) here.
[Added: 29
October 2021]
·
The Idiot
now has one of them Linktree
pages, giving ready access to all of his socials and whatnot, should you want
it. Feel free to add to bookmarks/favorites/home
screen, or whatever you jam is. [Added: 29 October 2021]
·
The Zappa Early Renaissance Orchestra’s new
album, Make An Arf Noise Here, is suddenly available to
download/stream on Bandcamp. Physical copies will follow shortly. [Added: 29 October 2021]
·
The
‘Celebrate Zappa’ event with Treacherous
Cretins at London’s prestigious 100 Club has been re-rescheduled and will
now take place on Friday 3 June 2022. See ya there! [Added: 22 October 2021]
·
Up for pre-order
now, a special dual format edition the ZAPPA movie, featuring an exclusive
audio commentary by director Alex Winter
and editor Mike J. Nichols. Comes with four art cards
and an hour and 20 minutes of separate bonus features/deleted scenes. (I asked
Alex about the extended run time advertised, and he told me, “We only made one cut of the film that we thought was the
best story to tell. So there is no longer cut.”) [Added: 22 October 2021 / Updated: 29
October 2021]
·
Top blogger Stuart Penney tells me
that in his new autobiography, Unrequited
Infatuations, Steven Van Zandt claims FZ declined to be on his Sun City record and was rude and
arrogant on the phone: “He muses that he would have
beaten the shit out of Frank if he'd dared speak like that to his face,"
Stuart said. Miami Steve also claims Paul
Simon referred to Nelson Mandela
as a ‘Commie bastard’
until he put him straight. In my humble opinion, Little Steven is
no stranger to being economical with the actualité in
the interests of good publicity, often inferring that he single handedly ended racial segregation in South Africa. In the
wake of Band Aid, he probably saw Artists United Against
Apartheid as a good career move. FZ meanwhile no doubt viewed it all as just
another business oriented bogus charity event/cocaine money laundering scheme. [Added: 22 October 2021]
·
Back in the
late aughts, two ensembles recorded some then
unreleased FZ compositions, with the Zappa Trust's approval. Ensemble Ascolta
covered Samba Funk and Uncle Sam, while the Fireworks Ensemble recorded a whole
album of FZ tunes, probably including Numbers
6-9 (which they had played in concert). Sadly, Gail felt there ‘wasn’t
enough of Frank’s original intent’ in the Fireworks recordings, and they had to
come up with something more faithful if they wanted her consent to continue
with the project. They apparently did re-record the tunes and the album (titled
None Of The
Above) was scheduled for release in June 2013. It didn't happen, of course.
And neither have any of Ascolta's recordings seen the
light of day. While the latter still occasionally perform Frank's music in
concert, Fireworks appear to have been inactive for the last few years. I
wonder if we'll ever get to hear any of these Trust-sanctioned recordings? Probably not now, but the interweb
has some examples of their performances: here's some
excerpts from Reagan At Bitburg (by Ascolta)
and Drowning
Witch (by Fireworks). [Added: 22 October 2021]
·
The FZ bust
in Vilnius may have to be moved, and the plinth destroyed, to make way for an
extension to a nearby clinic. If you don’t want this to happen, sign the petition!
[Added: 19
October 2021]
·
Gizmodrome (that is, Stewart Copeland, Mark
King & Adrian Belew
feat. Vittorio Cosma) have
a live album
coming out next month. As well as a number of tracks from the supergroup's eponymous debut album (the limited edition EP Riff Tricks – The Instrumentals Vol. 1
was better IMHO), it also features their renditions of ditties by The Police, King Crimson and Klark Kent. [Added: 19 October 2021]
·
Dweezil is promising lots of new stuff
coming soon to his website,
now that his home studio has been ‘plugged in’. This will include a further
volume in his Live In
The Moment series. [Added: 19 October 2021]
·
For those
unable to view the making of Freak Out!
episode in the Classic Albums series, shown on Sky
Arts last Friday: it features new interviews with Elliot Ingber,
Terry Gilliam, Matt Groening, David Fricke, Ahmet Zappa, Pamela Des Barres, Joe
Travers, Cheech Marin, Ruth Underwood, Carl Franzoni, Mike Keneally and Del Casher. Ahmet and Travers
play isolated tracks from the original master tapes (lovely to hear just Ray
& Frank's vox on Hungry Freaks, Daddy). There is also rare footage of Frank with his
first wife, Kay. And Mike Keneally plays some riffs and licks from the album.
It's a must watch, made with the full co-operation of the Zappa Trust.
Hopefully it will reach a wider audience soon. Meantime, there's a trailer on Facebook here.
[Added: 16
October 2021]
·
Ahmet is currently co-hosting a show
called ‘Rock My Collection’ on AXS TV, which looks at unique music memorabilia.
In Episode 7, he featured some of his father’s collection – including
handwritten lyrics, Aynsley Dunbar's bass drum head from 200 Motels, Bruce Bickford clay figures and the ‘Baby Snakes SG’. You can see
the trailer here
– but unfortunately not the actual episode. [Added: 16 October 2021]
·
Alex Winter’s Zappa movie will be shown on BBC Four TV on 22nd
October. [Added: 16 October 2021]
·
Mikko
Keinonen is making a ‘short film and music video trilogy in five parts’
for new music by Mike Keneally. You
can back the project here.
[Added: 16
October 2021]
·
Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains has sadly
passed away. As you may recall, Frank met Paddy at the BBC on his last visit to
London in the summer of 1991. You can read a transcript of part of their
meeting here.
After this, Frank invited the Chieftains over to the UMRK, where they recorded
several pieces for their albums, The
Celtic Harp and The Long Black Veil
(see here
for more). It is believed that their rendition of The Green Fields Of
America was played at Frank's funeral. [Added: 16 October 2021]
·
Another
preview track from next month’s 200
Motels 50th anniversary box set has just been unleashed – hear here. [Added: 08 October 2021]
·
Four more
official Zappa Band live albums are now available to stream/download from Qobuz: their recent shows from Boston, Washington DC (which
features guest appearances by both Gavin
Harrison and Jakko Jakszyk of
King Crimson, on What's New In Baltimore?),
Philadelphia and New Haven. There's now a total of 12 releases – see ‘em all here.
[Added: 08
October 2021]
·
Check out this cool version of Chunga’s Revenge by Robby Krieger,
featuring Arthur Barrow, Sal Marquez and Jock Ellis. If you haven’t already, you should also check out
Robby’s The Ritual Begins At Sundown album. [Added: 08 October 2021]
·
New KCET
documentary Con Safos
is a tribute to Rubén Guevara, in
which he recounts his youthful experiences in Santa Monica during the 1940s.
The film also covers his collaborations with Cheech
and Chong as well as his time as lead singer of Ruben And The Jets. Airs on PBS in the US
next week....and hopefully over here at some point. Here's the trailer – and my Rubén essay from last year. [Added: 08 October 2021]
·
In January,
the cream of London’s emerging jazz talent will celebrate the life and music of
FZ at London's Jazz Cafe. Billed as ‘The Genius of Frank Zappa’, it will be
performed by Nostalgic Orange, a
rotating collection of London’s finest improvised players led by Pyjæn’s Ben Vize. Here's Ben playing a section of Inca Roads on an electronic wind
instrument. [Added: 08 October 2021]
·
Just as The Specials unleash their version of Trouble Every
Day comes news that Sky
Arts in the UK will premiere another in its Classic Albums series next Friday (8 October): Frank Zappa: Freak Out!
Should be interesting. [Added: 01 October 2021]
·
A new,
re-structured and updated version of Pauline
Butcher's memoir will be published in a slightly smaller paperback format
this November. Provisionally re-titled Freak
Out! My Life With Frank Zappa At The Log Cabin 1968-1971,
it also adds a dossier of what happened to the cast of characters and a new
chapter about the Tate-LaBianca murders. [Added: 01 October 2021]
·
Four more
official Zappa Band live albums are now available to stream/download from Qobuz: their recent shows from Huber Heights,
Holmdel
(which features a guest appearance by King
Crimson drummer Jeremy Stacey,
on Village Of The Sun), Cleveland
and Milwaukee.
All four include the ‘new’ track, What’s New In
Baltimore? [Added: 01 October 2021 / Updated: 08 October 2021]
·
The 200
Motels 50th anniversary box set has now been officially
announced. Sadly (as forewarned below) it does exclude the film on Blu-Ray and accordingly there’s a slight delay in its
release. Any road up: to get you juiced for it, a first preview track, Mystery Roach (Dialog Protection Reel),
can now be streamed on YouTube
and Spotify (and probably elsewhere), plus there’s my
special 200 Motels article,
interviews and more here.
[Added: 27
September 2021]
·
The softcover version of my FZ88 book with Sergio Albonico
is now available from Wymer UK (or there’s a few
signed copies available from my online store).
For those who bought the limited edition hardback, you don't need this one too:
yes, it has a different cover, I've corrected a few
typos and added the Last US Show to
the discography plus one ‘new’ quote from Chad
Wackerman about how the band was initially put
together for a TV show that never happened. But that's it. Save your money for
gas! [Added: 27
September 2021]
·
Dweezil has gifted another Mini Concert
to Silver Subscribers of his Reward Music thang…but
you can still buy and download the songs à la
carte if you have yet to subscribe. It includes a live in London
2017 version of Manx Needs Women with
the Norwegian Wind Ensemble and two
servings of Who Are The Brain Police? (“the rocking teenage combo
version from the early 70s, and the original Freak Out! style.”). These F.O.H.
mixes have been spiffed up in Dweezil's new home studio. [Added: 27 September 2021]
·
The Girls In The Magnesium Dress – that is, Anna Astesano (harp) and Valentina Ciardelli (double
bass) – are working on their first CD, and you can help them Kickstart it here.
The album, to be called Rūtsu,
will comprise classical repertoire inspired by Japanese culture, with a
rendition of FZ's Cheepnis
as an added bonus track. As many will know, Valentina
(aka Zappawoman) has previously recorded her versions
of Frank’s Echidna's Arf Of You
and Mysterioso, and arranged a number of Zappa pieces
that were performed with Inventionis Mater
and Napoleon Murphy Brock in Hamburg in
2018 (ahead of her appearance at Zappanale #29). The Girls have
their own website here.
[Added: 27
September 2021]
·
L. Shankar is releasing his first ever
holiday album, Christmas From India,
a brand new set of recordings where he recreates some of the most treasured
holiday classics with the sound of tablas, sitar and,
of course, violin and vocals to craft a Christmas album like no other. The
album also includes two original compositions by Larry. He says, “It was a thrill and pure joy to work on my new album. It
brought back fond memories of working on the music for both of the Jesus
movies, first with the legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese and Peter Gabriel on
The Last Temptation of Christ, and
then with Mel Gibson and John Debney on The Passion of the Christ. Christmas From
India is like a third chapter.” [Added: 27 September 2021]
·
The Idiot is
reliably informed that the inclusion of the 200 Motels film on Blu-ray in the 50th anniversary box set has hit a snag.
Hopefully this will get resolved, but if not I’d be happy to see just The True Story… included, with a
standalone release of the movie later. Let’s keep everything crossed, though. [Added: 21 September 2021]
·
A little
more on Alan Clayson's authorised Zappa biography,
from the Little, Brown Book Group: "Mother Superior will cover the early
years – 1964 to 1973. It will both re-assess the old yarns and bring to the
surface new and rediscovered information via an array of interviewees from
every trackway of Zappa's fifty-three years on this
planet. It will draw on a huge archive, some of it quite obscure, from public
domain and personal collections. It will animate not only Zappa but also those
who interacted with him, and the social, cultural, economic and environmental
contexts in which this much misunderstood cultural icon lived and worked."
It runs to 320 pages, and is published next June. [Added: 21 September 2021]
·
Three more
live albums from The Zappa Band’s
guest spot on the recent King Crimson US tour have just been unleashed. Grab ‘em while they’re hot! [Added: 21 September 2021]
·
To celebrate
the 50th anniversary of 200 Motels, I have put together a sort of true story of the
making of the fillum by those involved. It includes a
few previously unpublished quotes. I have also reposted my interview
with Martin Lickert
and The Idiot
Bastard Shop is offering a modest discount on the Would You
Like A Snack? CD (all orders come with a free ‘auto-rip’, including a
mystery bonus track not on the album and digital booklet). [Added: 17 September 2021]
·
Finally,
unofficial confirmation that Zappa Records, UMe and
MGM will present an extensive 7-disc 200 Motels box set next month. It
contains the original soundtrack remastered by Bernie
Grundman along with never-before-heard demos, studio
outtakes, work mixes, interviews and movie ads. Also included is a Blu-ray disc featuring the film in 1080p high-definition
with its intended screen-crop-ratio and the digital premiere of the 1987
documentary The True Story Of 200 Motels. Finally, the package contains a replica
of the movie poster, a custom motel keychain, Do-Not-Disturb motel door hanger
and the original 1971 soundtrack packaging along with new liner notes by Pamela Des Barres, Ruth Underwood and Joe
Travers. (This info popped up on Amazon, then swiftly disappeared.
Fortunately a Zappateer copied it. You can see the
full spiel with tracklist here.)
[Added: 17
September 2021]
·
As noted
down below, The Zappa Band, with
special guests, will play at the Baked Potato in LA this Halloween. The dates
are 28-31 October. [Added: 17 September 2021]
·
Tower and
HMV in Japan are listing a 6CD version of 200 Motels, to be released on 29
October. (And yes, there are vinyl and 2CD editions too!) As reported below, Pamela Des Barres has written the liner
notes for this 50th anniversary reissue. More as and when. [Added: 10 September 2021]
·
Italian
guitarist/songwriter Marco Mattei releases his debut solo album, Out Of Control, in November. It features
Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, Pat Mastelotto and Chad Wackerman. [Added: 10 September 2021]
·
Ike Willis, courtesy of Dr Dot, gives us an update on his
battle with prostate cancer here.
(Winning!) He also reveals that he has been asked to guest with the
(unbanned-from-utopia) Zappa Band in LA later this year. Good news all-around! [Added: 07 September 2021]
·
As well as
catching up with Ike, Dot also had a Zoom chat with the always healthy Robert Martin. Robert reveals that (all
being well) Ike will guest with the Zappa Band at one of its four shows at the
Baked Potato this Halloween. And the pair also have a
burp-off! Check that one out here.
[Added: 07
September 2021]
·
The Zappa Early Renaissance Orchestra has
mixed, mastered, sequenced and shipped off to Cordelia Records its fifth album,
called Make An Arf Noise Here. This features many of the usual
suspects, including Prairie Prince, Ike Willis, Sandro Oliva, Fred Händl – and even yours truly – plus the latest stellar addition to the ZERO auxiliary, Randy Hansen!
[Added: 07
September 2021]
·
The Zappa Band (currently on tour with King Crimson) is capturing performances
in hi-res quality. You can stream (or download, without subscription) a live
album from Saratoga Springs right now, from Qobuz.
Says Mike Keneally, “More shows coming soon! Follow the sound from town to
town! No post-show mixing or fixes possible! Hear the unalloyed reality of the musics we are creating on this very tour at this very
moment!” [Added: 05 September 2021]
·
Zappa book
news: Podmeister Scott
Parker's PREPOSTEROUS! Frank Zappa On
Stage 1977-1978 should finally start shipping in September; Peter Van Laarhoven's The Others Of Invention books are now readily available via
print-on-demand through Amazon; Candy
Zappa is writing a book about her time with Nolan Porter, called If I
Could Only Be Sure, which will be published by Crossfire Publications
(Crossfire will also be reissuing updated versions of Candy's My Brother Was a Mother (Take 4) and Greg Russo's Cosmik Debris in December); the Chicago Press Review has now cancelled
publication of Paul Zollo's Zappa On Zappa tome; and finally, out next month is the affordable softcover version of FZ88 (the visual documentary of FZ's
final tour) – pre-order now,
and save a fiver! [Added: 26 August 2021]
·
Ed Mann recently removed his Facebook posts about his two Gonzo Today articles, commenting that he was going away for a while
as he was "stunned" about
something. It very sadly transpired that his 27 year old daughter Anaïs had passed away. My sincere condolences go to Ed and
the family and friends of Anaïs. How terrible. [Added: 26 August 2021]
·
More sad
news: those of you who attended Frank’s 1984 shows at London's Hammersmith
Odeon will know of PR man Roland Hyams. (You can hear FZ's opening spiel about him from
the 24 September late show here;
this followed an article by Alan Rusbridger in the Grauniad.) Well,
poor Roland today really is in deep shit – his wife posted on Facebook: “Roland was diagnosed
with cancer last year. He had his cancer operation March this year and was
making a remarkable recovery. He went into hospital two weeks ago for a small
procedure. Two days later he had a cardiac arrest and a massive stroke. He
won’t be able to walk again. All we can do now is pray. I am devastated and
heartbroken.” Here’s hoping for a recovery of some sort for the poor
chap. [Added: 26
August 2021]
·
The Specials will release a new album, Protest Songs – 1924-2012, on 24
September. It includes 12 new versions of protest songs by artists like Bob
Marley, Leonard Cohen, and...FZ's Trouble
Every Day! [Added: 19 August 2021]
·
Chapter Two
of Ed Mann’s Hired by Frank Zappa tale is here.
A great read. [Added: 19 August 2021]
·
The 15-piece
Stinkfoot Orchestra has re-scheduled it’s San
Jose gig, with special guest Napoleon
Murphy Brock, which was planned to celebrate Frank's 80th last year: it
will now take place on September 11. Read a new interview with Napi here,
and visit the ensemble’s website
for more. [Added: 19 August 2021]
·
The virtual
Zappanale has been…but it’s not gone. If you want, you can still check out my
personal highlight: Patrick O’Hearn‘s solo bass
rendition of Twenty Small Cigars – here! [Added: 14 August 2021]
·
Interesting
new article here
about Tom Wilson and his move to
MGM/Verve and working as producer on albums by the Mothers, The Animals and The
Velvet Underground. And who can forget Pamela
Zarubica's
reminiscences here? [Added: 14 August 2021]
·
Australian
pianist Michael Kieran Harvey, who
previously recorded Ruth Is Sleeping and 48 Fugues For
Frank: A Homage To Frank Zappa, has a new FZ influenced project. Catalogue des Errances
Bibliques/Bible Stories, for eight keyboardists
and four percussionists – together with spoken narration, written and spoken by
Arjun von Caemmerer
– has just been released on CD. Check it out here
– and over here
also. “The influence of Zappa – both on the music
and text – exceeds that of frozen beef pies,” says Arjun.
[Added: 14
August 2021]
·
Cherry Red
subsidiary él Records will release I’d Love to Turn You
On, Vol. 2, a 4-CD set, in October. It “explores
the relationship between 60s pop and classical music, free jazz and the
avant-garde; providing many examples of how popular music evolved, matured and
became liberated under the influence of apparently deeper, more expansive
genres.” Representing FZ's influences, it collects together Igor Stravinsky’s L`Histoire du Soldat, Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16 by Arnold Schoenberg and selections from Music On The Desert Road: A Sound Travelogue
by Deben Bhattacharya. (Vol. 1
included Varèse's
Hyperprism.)
[Added: 14
August 2021]
Lukewarm
Poop
·
Check out this behind the
scenes footage of preparations for the 2019 Bizarre World…/Hologram tour, featuring Frunobulax
- and FZ, in many animated forms! [Added: 30 July 2021 / Spotter: Corné
van Hooijdonk]
·
Typically gonzo article
by Ed Mann about how he finally got
hired by the ‘evil and demonic’ FZ. [Added: 30 July 2021]
·
Ben Watson played three tracks from the Would You Like A Snack? album
on his 30-vii-2021 OTL Show on Soho
Radio. Check it out here.
[Added: 30
July 2021]
·
Read about an almost lost episode when in 1974 Frank and the Roxy band went to Westminster College in
Salt Lake City (where Albert Wing
and Walt Fowler were students) here.
[Added: 24
July 2021]
·
The Ed Palermo Big Band's
full headlining set from Zappanale 2019 – with special guests Napoleon Murphy Brock and Candy Zappa – is now up on YouTube with remastered
audio. Give you eyes and ears a treat. [Added: 24 July 2021]
·
Chato: “This
Sunday (25/07/2021) at 7pm German time, my composition In Memoriam, Frank Zappa will be released on YouTube as a premiere!
It's my tribute to my greatest hero Frank Zappa. Because of him I wanted to
compose and it's no wonder it's in a similar style as his. I had the post-solo
section of Sinister Footwear Mvt. 2 and Black
Page #2 in mind when I wrote this. It would be great to watch this
together, so here is the link.”
[Added: 24
July 2021]
·
The Spanner Big Band livestreamed their gig at the Gunners Pub in North London
last week, and paid tribute to the then imminent virtual Zappanale festival by playing a splendid version of Waka Jawaka. Check
it out here. And don't forget you
can listen to their version of Son Of Mr Green Genes over here (full album available from my webshop!). Oh, and Dan
Spanner’s solo rendition of Daddy,
Daddy, Daddy from the new Would You Like A Snack? album
was part of the virtual Zappanale
too! [Added: 24
July 2021]
·
Suddenly available (in good time for the 50th anniversary): Would
You Like A Snack? – an
album of choice cuts from 200 Motels,
as performed by a bunch of my Zappa friends. Buy it here.
Read all about here.
Listen to the title track here.
[Added: 14
July 2021]
·
A number of you responded to the quiz below re. the
FZ references in Simon Prentis's book promo vid. I can
now reveal the winner. Step forward Corné van Hooijdonk. And here is what Corné
spotted (in order of appearance in the video):
o Arf! (The ever
recurring theme of the dog barking)
o Stinkfoot: "Here
Fido!" and "This is the dog talking now"
o I'm
So Cute!
o Stinkfoot: "Bring the
slippers!"
o Arf Arf Arf!
o Arf?
o Honey
Don't You Want A Man Like Me: "She had an Irish setter!"
o The
Poodle
o The
Radio Is Broken
o Muffin
Man
o I'm
Using The Chicken To Measure It
o Greggery Peccary, little
pig.
o Penguin
In Bondage: stitched up little penguin.
o Lumpy
Gravy: "I hear you are having trouble with Pigs & Ponies!"
o The
back-cover of One Size Fits All
o Mudd Club: "And
all the rest of whom for which to when
o So
ever of partially indeterminate bio-chemical degradation
o Seek
the path to the sudsy yellow nozzle of their
o Foaming
nocturnal parametric digital whole-wheat
o Inter-faith
geothermal terpsichorean ejectamenta"
o Fido
again.
o Scratch
& Sniff
o Florentine
Pogen: Chester's Gorilla
o The
Blue Light: "You can't even speak your own fucking language"
o The
adventures of greggery peccary: "What?"
o The
Grand Wazoo
o Inca
Roads: "Did a vehicle come from somewhere out there?"
o Shall
we takes ourselves seriously?
o The
Crystall Ball sound from "Cosmik
Debris"
o Dinah
Moe Humm: Do you know what I'm really telling you -
Is it something that you can understand
o Fido
- again
o I
ain't got no heart: "There Ain't
No Such Thing As Love"
o Jumbo
Go Away
o The
whistle in the beginning of "Find Her Finer" (Which I inserted during
the Rotterdam May 3rd performance, that caused FZ to give me a fowl look)
o I
Don't Even Care (from FZ Meets The Mothers of Prevention)
o The
Air (we breathe)
o Sofa:
"FZ: A light shines down from Heaven, a dense ecumenical patina at the
right hand of God's big sofa."
o Church
Chat (the organ sound)
o The
Poodle Story: God created man, wooo-man, and the poodle.
o Bobby
Brown: "Women's liberation, came creeping all
along the nation".
o The
Big Note: FZ's take on the Big Bang theory.
o Ding-Dong:
the doorbell from "The Perfect Stranger"
o The
Illinois Enema Bandit: "No pooh-pooh jokes!"
o Wino
Man
o The
Poodle
o In
France
o Greggery Peccary: The
construction of a thrilling new trend: The Calendar! Monday, etc.
o Punky's Whips:
""He's a little fond of chiffon in a wrist array-ee-ay-ee-ay"
o Ko-Ko the female gorilla
was also able to communicate. FZ dedicated TRFZ book to her.
o Bark:
Barking Pumpkin Records
o Gibson
SG guitar on stage
o Sound
of a cow: used in the Yellow Shark
o 1348:
the year of the plague, on the skull of the backcover
of Uncle Meat
o Bamboozled:
"Bamboozled By Love"
o Aura:
Dinah Moe Humm
o Bizarre:
"Our Bizarre Relationship", "Bizarre", the record label.
o Wazoo: "The Grand Wazoo"
o Yellow
Snow (Dog on the brink of peeing in the snow)
o What's
The Ugliest Part Of Your Body: "Some say your toes"
o "We
Are Not Alone", Man From Utopia
o "Hope
you enjoyed the show!": many times, FZ ended a
concert with those words, or similar.
Simon sez,
“He pretty much spotted everything (and a few I
hadn’t noticed myself!) – the only notable lacuna in his list being that the
Morse code message being tapped out at 0.26 actually spells
F-R-U-N-O-B-U-L-A-X. Of course it does!” Very well
done, Corné. [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
Chato’s performance of Marque-son’s Chicken at Zappanale in
2017 can now be obtained via Bandcamp. And here’s the video of said performance. [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
Ed Palermo (of Big Band fame): “I’m so happy to announce the release of our 2019
headlining performance at the Zappanale Festival in Germany. We'll premiere the
entire gig (with newly remastered audio) on the 2nd
anniversary, Tuesday, July 20th, 2021. Meanwhile, enjoy a stroll down Inca Roads
with our special guest, Napoleon Murphy
Brock. Crank it up, the sound quality is out of
this world!” [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
The 2012 remaster of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band’s
Trout Mask Replica is finally being
unleashed on streaming services. To tie-in with this, the Duck Foot Brewing company has produced a limited edition (wait for it) Stout Mask Replica beer. [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
Interesting li’l nugget for yez: the Bruce
Bickford exhibition currently happening in New York (see below) is curated by artist Eric
White. Some time after FZ passed, Eric befriended
Gail Zappa and she wrote an essay
for his book of paintings, It Feeds
Itself (2003). He in turn provided the cover artwork for the posthumous
Zappa releases, Trance-Fusion (2006)
and The Dub Room Special (2007). Eric
today is the boyfriend of actress Patricia
Arquette. I just felt you needed to know this. [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
A couple of people have written to me to point out that Zappa 88: The Last
US Show went straight into the German album
charts at number 9. How mad is that? I seem to recall Ahmet
commenting on the number of sales of some of the other recent releases too.
There’s hope for the future! [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
The Married Widow: My Journey With Bob Zappa by Diane
Papalia Zappa is now available from Amazon (in
paperback and on Kindle). It includes a chapter on 'Frankie And
Bobby' as well as one on 'Hanging with Moon and Dweezil'. Says Dick Barber, “Read
how Diane was able to cope with a cruel turn of events and turn her life from
loss to a loving memory of her husband Bobby.” [Added: 14 July 2021]
·
From the Zappanale
website: “What can you expect next year
at Zappanale #31? Here are some clues: Co
de Kloet ... Lisa
Popeil ... Valentina Ciardelli ... Marco Paccasoni Group ... John McLaughlin ... Mike Keneally ... Robert Martin & Zappa All Stars Band ... HILO feat. Dweezil Zappa.” See you there? [Added: 09 July 2021]
·
The Muffin Men: “Roddie
is taking a break from gigging this year. He’s having a bit of trouble getting
his kex on, so in the interest of public decency,
we’ve got new boy Phil Oakes to stand
in for him. Phil’s a great player and a massive Zappa fan, and he jumped at the
chance to play with us. We’ve been rehearsing all through spring and are very
much looking forward to playing some old favourites and some new stuff at the
few gigs we'll be doing this summer.” Keep checking the Bastard’s Diary
for the dates. [Added: 09 July 2021]
·
Here's a
little ditty from my tenth collaboration with Cordelia Records – the title track from the Would You Like A Snack? album, a selection of
choice cuts from 200 Motels recorded
by friends old and new. The track is performed by Johnny Hawk & The Pavement Oysters, and features Sam Ward (guitar/engineering), Kevin Crosby (bass), John Parkinson (drums), yours truly
(vocals/whistling), and artwork by ArtForDinosaurs. The full album will be available from the Cordelia
Record Shop next week. Full details on the album can be found here. [Added: 09 July 2021]
·
Chanan Hanspal: “I've
just uploaded a video to YouTube
on Zappa's concept of time and space in which I talk about xenochrony,
fractals and the subliminal, I thought it might be
something of interest to you and your readers. I've also recently completed an
album called Culture Sculpture which
follows a similar conceptual framework to Lumpy
Gravy. It can be downloaded from Bandcamp where the buyer can nominate the amount they
wish to pay for it. It features jazz musicians John Medeski and Jeff Lorber.” Impressive stuff! [Added: 09 July 2021]
·
Dweezil will be uploading a live album –
“Dweezil Kn'Evil”
LIVE in Kansas City 2018 – to his website.
Pre-order it now to save $10, and at the end of July you'll have access to 32
songs – both audio and video. [Added: 04 July 2021]
·
The virtual Zappanale later this month will include three bands (Jazzprojekt Hundehagen Trio,
Die Reise
and Coogans Bluff) performing live in front of an
audience in Bad Doberan. The online programme is divided into pre-recorded
videos (throughout 16-18 July) with the live concert taking place on the
Saturday evening. Some info can already be found on the revamped Zappanale
website here, with more detail to
follow. [Added: 04
July 2021]
·
You can now watch the Don
Preston Trio performance mentioned below on YouTube. [Added: 04 July 2021]
·
The Uplands, Bruce Bickford’s first ever solo exhibition in New York, opens on
12 July at the Andrew Edlin Gallery & Electric
Lady Studios. [Added: 04 July 2021]
·
Earlier this week, I conducted a short
interview with the director of 200
Motels, Mr Tony Palmer. [Added: 30 June 2021]
·
The Don Preston Trio
will play a virtual concert at The World Stage on 2 July 2021. Read all about
it here.
[Added: 30
June 2021]
·
Listen to Umphrey’s McGee playing Dirty Love at the Red Rocks Ampitheatre
on 19 June 2021 here.
[Added: 30
June 2021]
·
Fred Händl, best known for his unique
renditions on solo piano of the works of FZ, has just “launched
a Kickstarter campaign for my new solo piano album, TOVARISHCHI. My goal is to raise €1,900
which will allow me to fund production, artwork and sound engineering.”
See if you can spare him a dime. [Added: 30 June 2021]
·
Adam Minkoff, and three other members of Dweezil's Hot Rats Orchestra, have made
an EP in honour of the late great Bernard Herrmann’s 110th birthday. Check out
Citizen Herrmann here.
[Added: 30
June 2021]
·
Some of you older folk may remember an image of FZ as Batman that
I provided for the back cover of Issue 10 of the British Zappa Fanzine, T'Mershi Duween, in
November 1989. Well, I have just recycled it for use on the front 'cover' of Fred Händl's new ‘single’ on Bandcamp. This is a revised reading of FZ's little known
gem, Boy Wonder, I Love You. This
version, unlike the one on the Lost Meat
album (currently on sale at a modestly discounted price in The Idiot
Bastard Shop!), features lead vox by the
affable Mark Watson. The Idiot also
makes an appearance. Check it out here
– and buy and download a copy too! [Added: 20 June 2021]
·
Dutch newspaper Het Parool
recently spoke with Ahmet Zappa who
revealed that as well as the 200 Motels
set scheduled for later this year, there will also be a Bongo Fury box (“ear melting stuff”),
a Synclavier project (“with a visual component”)
and much more. Says Ahmet, “I could easily spend
the rest of my life doing this!” (Thanks to Daniël
Janssen for this.) And you can watch Mark Ellen and David Hepworth ask Ahmet, “What's life like when Frank’s your father?” here. [Added: 20 June 2021]
·
The long-awaited official FZ bio may finally appear in June next
year. The working title ('Project X') seems to have been replaced by Mother Superior: The Saga of Frank Zappa and
the Mothers of Invention: The Authorised Biography. 320 pages written by Alan Clayson.
Keep them fingers crossed. [Added: 20 June 2021]
·
As we cautiously but irreversibly emerge from lockdown, I have
been able to update the Bastard’s Diary a
tad. [Added: 20
June 2021]
·
Dweezil has recently added a bunch more
songs on his website,
including a few from his Hot Rats Live!
tour. [Added: 20 June 2021]
·
The latest episode of the ZappaCast
features an incredibly revealing interview with the wonderful Chad Wackerman
– ahead of the imminent release of Zappa
'88: The Last U.S. Show (here's another preview track, by the way: I Am The
Walrus). Chad mentions that Frank allowed Allan Holdsworth to use UMRK where Mark Pinske
remixed three of his Road Games tracks;
these can be found here.
[Added: 13
June 2021]
·
French FZ tribute band Zappy Birthday Mister Frank are playing two FREE concerts
this summer: July 2nd at La Guinguette Blois (41)
Loire Valley, and August 14th at Longwy (54) North
East. Get there if you can. [Added: 13 June 2021]
·
“King Crimson
will be accompanied by the Zappa Band
for the whole of the second leg of the tour from 22nd August-11th September,
and also for the concerts in Concord and Los Angeles on 5th and 6th August.” Details here. [Added: 09 June 2021]
·
Watch Alice Cooper and Pamela Des Barres take part in a discussion
about Miss Mercy's new book,
Permanent Damage: Memoirs of An Outrageous Girl. (My review of the book can be found here.) [Added: 09 June 2021]
·
Simon Prentis, ‘The Semantic Scrutinizer’ (see
Läther, The Crux Of The
Biscuit), has a new book: SPEECH! How
Language Made Us Human. Check out this promo video and see how many FZ references
you can spot. (Send your lists to me and I'll forward them to Simon – the one
who spots the most will get a free signed copy of the book!) [Added: 09 June 2021]
·
GoldmanT at Zappateers has
posted a lovely bunch of high school snaps of Zappa alumni here. (Tap and scroll up –
or click and select i – to reveal the names of any
you're unsure of.) [Added: 01 June 2021]
·
Zappawoman Valentina Ciardelli now has some v nice FZ shirts
for sale, here.
[Added: 01
June 2021]
·
Dweezil has just revamped his website, adding new music (including
tracks featuring Ray White) and merch. He has also announced a new series of audio
documentaries about his own albums and music – coming soon. [Added: 01 June 2021]
·
L. Shankar: “Darlene is a song I wrote for my solo
album Touch Me There in 1979,
produced by Frank Zappa for Zappa
Records. This is a different
version I recently did.” Three more 'different versions' of songs from Touch Me There can be found on the
Cordelia Records album, Lost Meat
–available here!
[Added: 28 May
2021]
·
Listen to Dr Dot (a
member of The Long Island Ballet Company!) in conversation with Ray White here.
Ray answers questions from, inter alia, Scott Thunes, Robert Martin, Steve Vai and the Idiot Bastard (although he didn't actually
have an answer for me). He also chats about the song he wrote for FZ’s
children. Great listen. [Added: 28 May 2021]
·
Hear Mike Keneally and Joe
Travers talk about the imminent Last US Show album – as well as the fact that the Trust is working
on two anniversary releases for this
year (we know about the 200 Motels
set, for which Miss Pamela has
written liner notes: could t'other possibly be
Fillmore East related? I expect we'll learn more after 18 June. [Added: 28 May 2021]
·
You can now pre-order Podmeister Scott Parker’s next book here.
Says Scott: “This one follows the exploits of the
beloved Baby Snakes/Sheik Yerbouti
band as they levelled North America and Western Europe with some of the greatest
live performances of Frank Zappa’s (or anyone else’s) career. This was an
amazing era for Frank, who triumphed despite nearly drowning in legal troubles
during this period.” [Added: 28 May 2021]
·
Here’s my review
of former GTO Miss Mercy’s book,
which is due out next month. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
On Sunday May 23, Radio
Venice does Zappa! Guests include Chris
Opperman, André
Cholmondeley and Gerry Fialka. Go here.
[Added: 22 May
2021]
·
Chad Wackerman has just been interviewed for a
future ZappaCast episode. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
To celebrate next month's release of Zappa '88: The Last US Show,
I am offering some modest discounts on ‘Broadway’ products at my webstore. You can also now get another taster from the
album here. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
Double-bassist Valentina Ciardelli now has just launched her new range of Zappawoman t-shirts, here.
More will be added soon. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
I am very excited to announce that this Idiot has been invited to
take part in this year’s virtual Zappanale
(#30.75) – by two different bands!
Stay tuned for more closer to the time. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
Vinnie Colaiuta has released another
streaming-only album via Extreme Music
– this time in cahoots with film composer Mark
Isham. [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
Everybody Loves Me is a book of photos taken by
bass legend Leland Sklar.
It features – among many, many others – Michael
Brecker, Dweezil
Zappa, Steve Vai
and Howard Kaylan,
all flipping Leland the bird. For those of you who might not know, Sklar's first band, Wolfgang, featured one Ricky Lancelotti.
You can hear Leland reminisce about Ricky here.
And if you’re interested in Zappa-related artwork, check this piece
out by ‘Mr Natural’! [Added: 22 May 2021]
·
Dweezil says he “was
forced to re-invent my whole approach to creating a sustainable way to support
my family” as a result of the pandemic. He writes in a new blog
that he will soon have his own ‘Sound Laboratory’ that will enable him to “create new music, collaborate with different artists,
perform live stream concerts and one off events with multi-camera set ups
paired with studio quality audio.” He also says he'll “be able to mix live concert audio like never before and
create Live Concert Specials (the equivalent of DVDs) from years of filmed
shows. I'll also be able to complete What The Hell Was I
Thinking?” Here’s hoping he finally does! [Added: 08 May 2021]
·
You can now pre-order the softcover
version of FZ88: A Visual Documentary (Zappa's Final Tour) here
– and save a fiver! [Added: 08 May 2021]
·
Last September, I mentioned 3DD Entertainment’s Birth Of Invention
TV programme (go on, have a look below). Well, Sky Arts finally aired it for
the first time in the UK on Thursday 6 May 2021. For those critical of Alex
Winter condensing FZ’s life in his two hour movie, compare it to this half hour
programme which additionally covers the work of Captain Beefheart and King Crimson .
Contains nothing we didn’t already know (as well as a few factual errors); you
can check it out again on Sunday. See here
for more. [Added: 08 May 2021]
·
The June 2021 issue of Guitarist
magazine celebrates the life and music of FZ (across eleven of its pages), with
the help of Ahmet, Alex Winter, Guthrie Govan, John
Etheridge, Steve Vai
and Mike Keneally. And here’s a bonus article
from Co de Kloet.
[Added: 02 May
2021]
·
On June 18, Zappa ’88: The Last U.S. Show will
be Official Release #119. The 2 CD/4LP 180-gram vinyl box set features Frank's
final American show at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY on March 25, 1988. The
renditions of Whipping Post and Stairway To Heaven
with Dweezil as special guest have
been replaced by earlier recordings from the tour; the Trust says, “We honoured Dweezil's wishes to remove his
performances.” (Brother A West’s monologue during Pound For A Brown has gone AWOL too – more
can be found on him in Zappa The
Hard Way.) The album is notable for containing the first
official release of The Beatles Medley,
and also includes liner notes by Chad Wackerman (who celebrated his 28th birthday on stage
that night). Having written two books (ZTHW
& FZ88)
and curated an album (On Broadway:
Covers Of Invention) commemorating the
tour, I can say I am officially excited! Here’s the press release.
[Added: 24
April 2021]
·
“One thing that can be said about the Ensemble Modern is that there hasn't
been anything that I've presented to them which they can't play. And that's
amazing.” So said FZ
at the press conference launching The
Yellow Shark concerts in 1992. I have just interviewed five members of
Frank’s last ‘band’ about their time working with the maestro. Wanna read it?
Answer Yes or No. Well, it's here.
[Added: 20
April 2021]
·
Here’s my review
of the fab second album from Orange Claw Hammer. [Added: 20 April 2021]
·
With the paperback version of FZ88 coming out later this year, Wymer has now sold out of its limited edition hardback
version (in custom-made presentation box with a set of prints). The Idiot Web
Shop still has a few left if anyone is interested. [Added: 20 April 2021]
·
Drumbo's marvellous book, Beefheart: Through The
Eyes Of Magic, is being reissued in hardback and digital formats on
April 23. His City Of Refuge solo
album (featuring ex-Magic Band members Bill
Harkleroad, Mark
Boston, John Thomas and Greg Davidson) is also being reissued
with new artwork – including on vinyl, for the first time. [Added: 20 April 2021]
·
Sadly, Zappanale #31
has again had to be postponed. “Unfortunately, we
were unable to obtain all the necessary permits. However, we are working for
you on “Zappanale # 30.75” in July.” All being well, the next
Zappanale-proper will happen on 15-17 July 2022. [Added: 04 April 2021]
·
Ahmet and Travers reveal a little more-a about the hi-res
re-releases of 29 official Zappa albums currently appearing on Qobuz here. [Added: 04 April 2021]
·
An update on Ike Willis'
prostate cancer diagnosis from his manager, Hank: “Ike
has been to several doctors and has been told that this is not a terminal condition.
Ike will be taking medication as directed. The need for radiation or
chemotherapy is also not required. Ike is however experiencing some body pain
and is taking steps to relieve the pain and discomfort. Ike would like to thank
Dr. Dot for her help with the recent Go Fund Me drive on Ike’s behalf. The
drive was a great success and Ike thanks each of you who contributed. Also Ike
wants everyone to know that all of your best wishes and kind words are
uplifting and positive, giving him support in this time of need. He is resting,
and anxious to return to the road as soon as possible.” [Added: 04 April 2021]
·
Scott Parker's new book will be coming out in
June. The title is PREPOSTEROUS! Frank
Zappa On Stage Volume 8, 1977-1978. [Added: 04 April 2021]
·
Co de Kloet's Frank
And Co is now available as an eBook.
My review of the book is here. [Added: 04 April 2021]
·
Mats Öberg's Frankful is now available on double vinyl as a numbered
limited edition. Grab one here.
[Added: 04
April 2021]
·
Ike Willis needs our help: he has just been
diagnosed as having prostate cancer. He obviously hasn't been able to tour for
over a year and has no funding to buy the medication needed to fight this.
Please contribute what you can here.
[Added: 26
March 2021]
·
Ronnie Williams, the man who saved his numies on a window in his room and introduced FZ to Paul
Buff, has sadly passed away. He latterly became a Tik-Tok
sensation it seems – here’s some
highlights from his grandson. Find more here.
[Added: 26
March 2021]
·
ZappaCast #49 features the wondrous Robert
Martin reflecting on his early career playing classic Philly soul, his
audition for Frank, the 88 tour and more. [Added: 26 March 2021]
·
There has been a lot of confusion and misinformation about the Zappa
movie from the get-go, and that seems to be continuing right up to the end. For
your info, the bonus material on the backer DVD/Blu
Ray comprises: four Vault nuggets (FZ demonstrating the Synclavier, Haskell Wexler & Uncle Meat, Frank and the pig, and The
Way It Was); three interview outtakes (with Mike Keneally, Steve Vai and Ruth Underwood); the TV ad for Apostrophe ('); and a Q&A Zoom session featuring Alex Winter and associate producer Mike
Nichols, moderated by “Weird Al” Yankovic. And here,
from our friends at IINK, is a breakdown of the various soundtrack releases.
Hope that helps clear a few things up. [Added: 26 March 2021]
·
Later this year, Wymer UK plans to issue
in paperback the visual documentary of Frank's final tour, FZ88,
featuring ooodles of previously unseen photos by Sergio 'Milo' Albonico. But you can still get
the original limited edition hardback (in its custom-made presentation box and
a set of prints) for just £30 here.
[Added: 26
March 2021]
·
Hi-res versions of the 2012 UMe Zappa
albums are now appearing on HDtracks and Qobuz. [Added: 26 March 2021]
·
Serious FZ 45 collector (and former Chicago guitarist), Dawayne Bailey, has revealed his part in the
Cucamonga-era compilation, Rare Meat: “Harold
Bronson, the president of Rhino, called me explaining that they had just
acquired Bob Keane’s archives, but couldn't find the master tapes for the early
Zappa stuff. They knew I had the cleanest 45s and asked if I would take those
to a studio in Redondo Beach to have them recorded so they could release them.
I did as they asked, but I told Harold to not include my name on the back cover
in the credits because I had just been to Zappa’s home and his rehearsals and I
did not want to burn a bridge with him as I had a feeling Zappa was going to
sue Rhino as soon as that album came out.” Which of course, he did – but
for using artwork by David McMacken (who did the illustrations for Over-Nite
Sensation & 200 Motels, and sadly passed away a couple of years
ago), creating an album cover that looked too much like an official Zappa
release. For those of you who might not know the full
story, look here.
[Added: 20
March 2021]
·
While recovering from trigger finger surgery, Steve Vai decided to write something for
one hand only. His new song, Knappsack, is here.
[Added: 20
March 2021]
·
The latest in the Allan Holdsworth live series features Allan at the Leverkusen
Jazztage Festival in Germany on October 16, 1997,
accompanied by drummer and long-time collaborator Chad Wackerman. Chad also wrote the liner
notes for Leverkausen '97, and is featured in a bonus interview on the DVD. [Added: 20 March 2021]
·
The bonus material on the Zappa movie backer DVD/Blu Ray comprises four Vault nuggets, three interview
outtakes (with Mike Keneally, Steve Vai and
Ruth Underwood) and the TV ad for Apostrophe ('). Hope to get my copy real
soon. [Added: 09
March 2021]
·
You may have heard FZ read The
Talking Asshole from William
Burroughs' 1959 novel, Naked Lunch,
But have you actually seen him read it? You can now.
[Added: 09
March 2021]
·
The Arf Society is still planning for a
'live' Zappanale in July. “At the end of March, the board will meet to be able to
react early to the current situation. After this meeting we will inform you.”
Realistically, should the event go ahead, it is unlikely to have any overseas participants. But I live in hope. [Added: 09 March 2021]
·
I have just interviewed Karen
Sperling, who had a relationship with Frank
between 1971 and 1975. They met during his annus horribilis (at a recording of What’s My Line?) and she was with him in Montreux and at the Rainbow. She is mentioned in a number
of books about FZ, but no one has spoken to her about this period before. Read
all about it here!
[Added: 24
February 2021 / Updated: 28 February 2021]
·
Mike Keneally has clarified the title of one
of the 'new' FZ pieces performed on the Bizarre World/Hologram tour, which was
alternated with #2 each night, and
was previously thought to be called Van Moldred. It is in fact titled, "Piano
Transcription Van Morrison
<phone number>, which was a printed out score of some music Frank had
written – I don't know the origin of the piano that was transcribed, or why Van
Morrison's name and phone number were part of the title. I'm assuming it was
written around the time that Van was doing vocals on Dead Girls Of London, and somehow his info leaked into the title…[it] is really suitable for performance by small
ensemble." [Added: 28 February 2021]
·
The first three albums by Missing
Persons (that is, Zappa alums Warren
Cuccurullo, Patrick O'Hearn, Chuck
Wild and Dale & Terry Bozzio) have been reissued as a
limited edition box set, wittily titled The Album
Collection. [Added: 28 February 2021]
·
New Beef Dreams! by Orange Claw Hammer suddenly available
from Bandcamp. All Beefheart, including a live vershum of Willie The Pimp! [Added: 28 February 2021]
·
Irresponsible RockNRoll
Shenanigans - Live in Texas by The Chadbourne/Gonzalez
Collusion (featuring Eugene Chadbourne, of Jack
& Jim Show infamy) includes a cover of Who Are The Brain Police? (plus a pair of
Beefheart songs). Listen on Bandcamp. [Added: 28 February 2021]
·
Alex Winter’s Zappa movie can now be viewed in the UK and Ireland – here!
The fillum has received positive reviews from the Grauniad , Stuart Penney
and Mark Kermode.
[Added: 24
February 2021]
·
Fellow Webmeister Peter Van Laarhoven (of United Mutations fame) has
compiled a book or three! The Others Of Invention lists bands and artists who have recorded
and released compositions written by FZ. It also includes recordings that Frank
contributed to and more. Available in three volumes. Read all about it direct
from PvL’s ‘pen’ here.
[Added: 24
February 2021]
·
Co de Kloet’s fab book, Frank & Co, is now available from G&S Music in the UK. [Added: 24 February 2021]
·
Well Festival MOO-AH isn't happening on 19/20 March, but Fred Händl will still be playing the
music of FZ on solo piano then. Click
and go! [Added: 24
February 2021]
·
There seems to be some confusion online regarding the 5LP vinyl
version of the Zappa – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. It is (and always
was) scheduled to be released in May. The CD version is available now. [Added: 24 February 2021]
·
On Facebook, Miss Pamela said she's writing the liner notes for the 50th
anniversary reissue of 200 Motels. [Added: 15 February 2021]
·
An Italian language version of Geoff Wills’ excellent Zappa And Jazz book has just been published by Auditorium Edizioni.
[Added: 15
February 2021]
·
Here’s my review
of the audio version of Pauline Butcher’s
Freak
Out! My Life with Frank Zappa. [Added: 15 February 2021]
·
Say what you like about Steve
Vai, he doesn't just churn out instrumental
guitar records. The Sound Theories
series is set to continue ("I've got about
four hours of orchestra music. Once it's recorded, I'll have enough for probably
Vol. III, IV, V, VI...maybe VII. I'm really excited about that."), plus he is
planning an acoustic vocal record ("Just me
playing acoustic guitar and singing. Whenever I come across a song idea that
falls into that category, I kind of put it on the shelf under a different
category. I have a whole bunch of these, so that's what I'm working on.").
Looking forward to both. [Added: 15 February 2021]
·
Hal Leonard is now offering FZ guitar tabs for instant download here.
[Added: 15
February 2021]
·
Zappa movie global release dates (UK excluded) can be found here.
[Added: 06
February 2021]
·
Here’s my review
of the book, Frank Zappa – The Nordic Stories. [Added: 06 February 2021]
·
Very sad to learn that R&B singer/songwriter Nolan Porter – who married Frank’s
sister ‘Candy’ in 2007 – has
passed away. Nolan's 1970 debut album No Apologies featured former Mothers Jimmy Carl Black, Roy
Estrada and Lowell George. His
follow-up album, titled simply Nolan
(1973), spawned the UK northern soul hit If
I Could Only Be Sure – which featured Johnny
“Guitar” Watson on guitar and background vocals. At one time, Nolan was
related to Napoleon Murphy Brock: he
told me, “My mother was married to his uncle, between 1959-1961. So it was just by marriage.” In
2005, Nolan appeared alongside Napoleon (though not on the same tracks) on Greg Russo’s Neonfire album, which also
featured contributions from Candy, The Tornadoes and the late Nigey Lennon. He was a very nice guy and will be much
missed. My sincere condolences go to Candy and all of his family and friends. [Added: 06 February 2021]
·
Night pianist, and all round good egg, Fred Händl has written this lovely opened
lettuce to the lovely Ruth
Underwood. [Added: 06 February 2021]
·
Rolling Stone just posted this fantastic interview
with drummer Chester Thompson, in
which he talks at length about his time with FZ (as well as a bunch of other
interesting stuff). [Added: 06 February 2021]
·
ZappaCast, Episode #48 sees AZ/JT answer all
your questions on future video releases and such. And I can answer the
question, ‘why wasn’t Ed Mann on the
1984 tour?’: Ed told me, “I
was touring with Shadowfax a little bit – beginning
to write some, teaching at Cal Arts, and playing live locally in LA quite a
bit. I saw that band play live at the Palace in Hollywood. They were good, but
of course I thought it would sound better with marimba!” [Added: 02 February 2021]
·
While he’s selling some of his guitars, here you can see some of the ones Dweezil is keeping – including a few
that belonged to his dad. Interesting watch. [Added: 02 February 2021]
·
Pamela Zarubica wrote this tribute
to the late Phil Spector.
[Added: 02
February 2021]
·
Dweezil is selling a selection of his
guitars, amps and pedals, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Feeding
America charity. “I have some really great things
that haven't been out of the case in about 10 or 12 years, so I figured why not let somebody else
enjoy those things.” Included is his green Charvel
S-Type, of which he said, “Under normal
circumstances, I would keep that guitar but like most musicians, I'm not immune
to the problems related to the live music shutdown stemming from Covid.” Visit his shop here. [Added: 28 January 2021]
·
The Zappa movie will be available to purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray in the US in early March, and can be pre-ordered
now from many outlets. Digital and physical Kickstarter
copies of the movie will be sent to backers at the same time (this version will
contain exclusive bonus material not included in the publicly available
version).For those outside the US, the roll out is starting in theatres and
digitally beginning in February in certain territories. [Added: 28 January 2021]
·
Edinburgh based tribute band Pygmy
Twylyte have re-scheduled some shows for later
this year. Check the Bastard’s Diary…and
keep everything crossed! [Added: 28 January 2021]
·
Zappawoman Valentina Ciardelli has just produced this homage
to Frank: Questi Cazzi di Bicordo.
[Added: 28
January 2021]
·
In 2020, I wrote 12 essays that provided answers to some of those
questions that no one ever asks me! While researching these FUQs (Frequently
Unasked Questions) I learnt a lot – including: the identity of the girl at
Frank's feet on the cover of Roxy &
Elsewhere (Joan Lou Gatt, mother of Lala Sloatman); that Frank’s
composed an unreleased 'doo-wop rocker' for Ruben And The Jets; the name (and
nationality!) of the lady who played The Countess in the Uncle Meat home movie; where Dweezil took the photo on the cover of
Zappa In New York (from one of the
World Trade Center towers), and a whole bunch more. I
hope you did too. In case you missed FUQ #4, about Zappa’s London, here ‘tis.
I will happily send one of any of the other FUQs to anyone who purchases a
Zappa’s London map from my new webstore! [Added: 23 January 2021]
·
Spot the Idiot: here's a great little vid of the band EAK (Eric Trøim, guitar/Armin Beck,
drums/Kevin Crosby, bass) playing Zoot Allures. [Added: 23 January 2021]
·
Tubist/baritone saxist Howard Johnson, who was the live band conductor
of the Saturday Night Live Band in
the 70s, has passed away. He can be seen and heard on the Halloween DVD-A, and was apparently FZ's first choice to play the
title role in his planned Hunchentoot musical. RIP. [Added: 23 January 2021]
·
The Official Keith Emerson
Tribute Concert
– which featured performances by Eddie
Jobson, Vinnie Colaiuta
and Joe Travers – will finally be
unleashed on DVD and Blu-Ray (with a bonus 2-CD set)
in March. Pre-order here.
[Added: 23
January 2021]
·
Here’s my review
of Co de Kloet’s excellent new book, Frank & Co. [Added: 12 January 2021]
·
A lengthy but interesting Zoom interview with Mike Keneally and FZ techs Bob
Rice, Thomas Nordegg
& Merl Saunders Jr
can be viddied here.
As well as lots of great Zappa tour stories and such, Keneally also reveals
that he’ll release his first new solo album in five years in 2021, which will
feature special guest appearances by the likes of Steve Vai and Gentle Giant’s Malcolm Mortimore, plus some archival stuff from the last 20 years
(including material with his Euro friends Jaan Wessman and Schroeder) that will be repurposed into a lengthy suite, featuring
narration by David Ossman
from the Firesign Theater. In
the meanwhile, MFTJ – Mike’s ‘band’
with Scott Schorr – has just unleashed its second
album, My Mom's
Getting A Horse. [Added: 12 January 2021]
·
The death of British-American rapper and record producer Daniel Dumile – aka MF DOOM
– was announced by his widow on the last day of 2020. For those who may not
know, Dumile sampled Would You Like A Snack? on the track Gumbo
from his 2004 album Mm..Food and Sleeping In A Jar
on Meat Grinder
from the Madvillainy
album he created with producer Madlib that same year.
He is also featured on J Dilla’s Mash's
Revenge, which samples Dance
Contest, on the 2007 Peanut Butter Wolf compilation, 2K8 B-Ball Zombie War. And then in 2013, Grip Grand produced an MF DOOM remix album, which saw his song Melody renamed But How? (Jesus Pizzas), and added a sample from Peaches En
Regalia. May Doom rest in peace. [Added: 12 January 2021]
...coming
soon!
Contact: disco.boy@blueyonder.co.uk