Happy Zappadan 2012

yes that's right you heard right the secret word for tonite is...... Zappadan (Dec. 4th - Dec. 21)

yesterday was Bummernacht (Dec.4), the day Frank Zappa departed for his last tour, and we have the next few weeks, until the anniversary of his birth on December 21st, to celebrate the life and work of an extraordinary man.

this is the time to share what is your favorite Zappa-
memory, concert, song, album, quote, pic, whatever...



I saw Zappa in concert many, many times. One of my absolute favorites is when i saw him play at the Philadelphia Spectrum in 1977. I drove to Philly from the Washington DC where i lived, about 2 1/2 hrs drive. The Spectrum holds about 15,000 people, but was divided in half for the show, so about 7,500 people. we had seats in the 5th row, in the center, right in front of Frank. the most memorable part of the show for me was the encore. I don't remember the first encore song but the second one was Black Napkins. it was the most amazing thing i have ever seen. It began with the entire band, but after playing through the theme of the song in the beginning, Frank begins to really get some guitar playing going on, the majority of the band leaves the stage and it is just Frank playing his ass off on the guitar with only Patrick O'Hearn on the bass, and Terry Bozzio on the drums. it seemed like it lasted forever, but probably about a good 10 minutes of stunning improvisation from the three of them. pure bliss!

and so many more memories... i sure do miss Frank. he would have been 72 this year.

Thanks! In memory of the genius Frank Zappa all I can say is, I didn't attend the concert when he visited my town for I was still a bit too young. Later on started to really appreciate his music first by listening to Live at Filmore East with Eddie and Flo, 2000 Motels and Sleep Dirt with that incredible duet where he improvises a fantastic solo and the other guy gets his fingers stuck in the strings... Another aspect of his personality his sense of humour! Later on also saw how he made his first appearance on American TV as a very young avant garde director composer playing bike. Oh nearly forget about his many wise words spoken on many ocassions. When asked by a reporter if since he had long hair if wanted to be a girl, his reply: You have wooden leg are you a table? Hilarious. Surely sad to be seeing him in the poor painful state he was in when he suffered from his illness just before his death. A brave man too. He is surely missed, thanks for bringing it up.

I never got to see Frank play but am a big fan of his music
my fav is hot rats and I could probably listen to it every day, in fact on the drive home from work tonight I'm going to!

i have all kinds of oddball Zappa things...
check this out
it is a punch out card but i kept it unused

Hot Rats, willie the pimp, Dyna-mo hum and of course peaches en regalia. just stunning artistry from a genius. R.I.P Frank.

california has lots of micro breweries. one of the brewers here in northern cali is called Lagunitas, and the owners are Zappa freaks. they made a deal with the Zappa Family Trust and produced 4 editions before the ZFT decided to end the arrangement. i managed to find 3 of the 4. (the other one is the Freak Out album.) the releases were time to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the release of each of the albums depicted.

from the Lumpy Gravy label: According to Mr. Zappa; Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.
from the Absolutely Free label: "Music has alway shown how people think and feel, according John Tasker Howard. He is probably right. The music of THE MOTHERS speaks of the feelings of what might be described as THE VAST MINORITY." FZ

So awesome to see some love for Zappa on this forum. I've been a huge Zappa fan for many years and have always tried to plug him on this forum. I have most of his collection - maybe about 40 albums (he released over 60!) and lots of bootlegs. I never saw him in concert because i didn't really get into him until a couple of years after he died, i was 19 years old on his last tour in 88 and will always regret not seeing him. I don't really have any favorites, although One Size Fits All is way up there, and i love his compositional music like RDNZL. The jazz albums are great too, like Waka Jawaka Sleep Dirt. Hell, i love it all! Long live Frank!

Hey Guitarasaurus, you should check out Pojama People who play with Ike Willis and are from Portland. They are great. I'm pretty sure they head down your way once in a while. I've also got my Lagunitas Zappa bottles on display, their beer is excellent. I'm about to crack a Little Sumtin right now

Never saw him play...but my brother never missed him! And as I grew up I saw the genius in the man. I dont like to throw that word around but who else compares?
Anyway, I bought his autobiography....and It was so good, I bought 10 copies and gave them as gifts!!!
I STILL recomend it!!!
So missed. But luckily his soon is a fantastic guitarist! And we will never forget Frank.
GtrGeorge

Zappa Live in Rotterdam May 5, 1980 Joe's Garage Tour

yootoob, full concert, excellent quality soundboard audio with slide show

"a bit of nostalgia for the old folks...."

this pic is with a guitar that was given to Frank, that used to belong to Jimi Hendrix

this is a copy of a magazine advertisement for the album We're Only In It For The Money

Wasn't that Jimi's guitar from Monterey Pop? I'm pretty sure he had it clear coated just like that to preserve Jimi's abuse. So cool he got his hands on that one.

useful useless info link

from the link...
The Hendrix/Zappa guitar is one of the most infamous guitars of all time. Jimi Hendrix burned this guitar at the 1968 Miami Pop Festival, Frank Zappa bought or was given the remains, and after Frank died his son Dweezil got it. It has been repaired to be playable, and Frank Zappa played it on his 1976 album “Zoot Allures“.

In a 1993 interview for Guitarist magazine Frank Zappa was asked about the guitar.

Q: How did you come to own your fire-damaged ex-Jimi Hendrix Strat?

Frank Zappa:

“Well, there was this guy named Howard Parker – they called him ‘H’ – who was Hendrix’s roadie, gofer and general assistant. He stayed at our house for a couple of months in the late ’60s, and he had this guitar which Hendrix had given to him – I thought it was from the Miami concert. He gave it to me and we had it hanging on the wall as a decoration for years and years, and then I met some guys who were capable of putting guitars back together, so I had it done.”

“I’ve used it on a couple of tracks, although I can’t remember which ones off-hand. I haven’t played it all that often, because unless you’re in the right environment and you’re standing in exactly the right relationship to the amplifier, it likes to feed back all the time.”

Dweezil found it in pieces under the stairs at his father’s studio, and set about putting it back together. “When I found it taken apart, in 1991, I told my dad I’d found the Hendrix guitar, and he said I should have it.”

In May 2002, Dweezil finally put the guitar up for auction in the U.S, hoping it would fetch a cool million dollars, but it failed to sell. It was put up for auction again in September of the same year, this time at the Cooper Owen auction house in London. Dweezil lowered the asking price to £450,000 (765,000 Euros), but once again the guitar failed to sell. The highest offer was a telephone bid of £300,000 (510,000 Euros), which was refused by Dweezil.

in the Zappa biography by Barry Miles, he also states that the guitar was burned by Hendrix at the Miami Pop Festival.

this is the best pic i have seen of Frank with Jimi's guitar.
photo credit is Guido Harari. pic taken from Viva Zappa the biography by Dominique Chevalier
it doesn't look to have had any treatment to the roasted finish on the body

I've an article on that guitar somewhere.

Not much is original. Body is from memory but the neck and all parts have been changed.

I'll try and dig it out.

i think it was Monterey Pop Festival actually. it got smashed up as well as burned. i can't imagine much of the electronics survived immolation. in the movie, he throws the neck into the audience.

from Dweezil world....

"Here's the short version of the legend of this guitar. FZ and JH were friends. They played at the Miami Pop Festival. This guitar was likely torched at the Astoria in London and it's remains were given to FZ in Miami by JH's guitar tech." - DZ

and here is a yootoob with Dweezil discussing the guitar at Normans Rare Guitars

how about a little Lumpy Gravy for your earholes?

from "Frankly a Cappella" by the Persuasions, released in 2000.

Zappa signed them to their first record deal in 1969. the first album was called "A Cappella". 30 years later, they pay tribute to Frank with an album full of amazing wonderful versions of FZ toons.

I've seen Dweezil using that guitar... I think it was a doco on Fender.....

"Curves, contours and bodyhorns", it was called....! What a memory!!

If any of you are ever in Park Rapids, Minnesota stop at the Minnesoda Fountain (a restaurant in town there) and check out the men's room. On the wall adjacent to the throne is a life size black and white photo of Frank sitting for some "relief" as the wallpaper with his trousers down 'round his ankles.

Absolutely surreal and as accurate an homage to him as any, imho...

from the 20th Anniversary issue of Guitar Player magazine.
i picked this up when it was originally published. of course i took out the soundpage and played it. at least i didn't lose it.

Thats pretty awesome. Isn't that the same recording as YCDTOSA with the Dweez?

hobster wrote:Thats pretty awesome. Isn't that the same recording as YCDTOSA with the Dweez?

right you are!

from the liner notes on YCDTOSA vol.3:
"This was the last concert of the 1984 tour. It was also the first time that Dweezil and I ever played guitar together on stage. He was 15 and had been playing for two years at the time of this recording."

the rest of the band; FZ, Ike Willis, Ray White, Bobby Martin, Alan Zavod, Scott Thunes, Chad Wakerman.

Cool stuff! Love that handgesture Frank makes on that cover,
reminds me of:
https://www.bodypro.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/2370055374_28cf2b922a_o.jpeg

here are some of my other oddball collectables, various buttons i picked up at shows over the years. some official issues, others not...

and here is a silk screen print shirt i made

how about some vinyl....
this is a promo album

these are picture discs

"Baby Snakes - A Movie About People Who Do Stuff That Is Not Normal"

how about more vinyl?
here's a few of my bootleg albums....
Guitar Hernia, a collection of recordings from various places, live and studio.
seems like this material was official recordings and notes. probably the beginnings of what became YCDTOSA because each recording is annotated with comments by FZ. excellent quality recordings

Fred Zeppelin, 2 record set, a collection of recordings from the 1980 tour

No Commercial Potential, 2 record set, mostly live recordings with Flo and Eddie, a few tasty studio ditties too.

Zappa & Beefheart - Metal Man Has Hornet's Wings, mostly live recordings from the sixties and a few obscure studio outtake tracks from Trout Mask Replica

Rubber Slices, 2 record set recorded at Knebworth Hall, England on 9 September 1978

and the big one... The History and Collected Improvisations of The Mothers Of Invention
a 10 record set with booklet. the booklet cover says "10 years on the road with Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention

i'll dig up a few more later....

would y'all like some more-uh
right here on the floor-uh
and how about you fauna, do ya wanna?

this is a 4 record set bootleg version of Lather. after Warner Bros. refused to release the album material that FZ delivered to them, Frank charged them with breach of contract and took his recordings to a local radio station and told everybody listening to whip out their little tape recorders and tape the whole album. he was giving it away for free. in fact, the radio station re-broadcasted the material again many times. even doing one side per night so that nobody would run out of tape while recording. i imagine that is the origin of the recordings on these discs

The Godfather in Full Metal Jacket, live recordings of the 1988 tour, 2 record set

Project-Object, live in new york, 1978. this is an old-school bootleg lp, blank white slipcover with xerox copy page stuck on it, fake label on the disc

and another like it, Conceptual Continuity, live in detroit november 19, 1976. lineup includes: FZ, Ray White, Eddie Jobson, Patrick O'Hearn, Terry Bozzio

Pygmy Pony, live 1974. one of the worst sounding bootlegs ever made, amazing performance, sucky recording. looks like it was done by ToiletBowlRecordingsInc, check out the little logo thingy...

Could This Be Joe's Garage Acts IV and V Live?, Fox Theater Atlanta, GA, April 20, 1980

this is one of the boots that inspired the series of Zappa releases entitled Beat the Boots. historically significant performances in the Zappa story, but usually inferior quality recordings. this one has a pretty well made package compared to most. it seems to be trying to pass for an official release, which is why Zappa did his own releases, to cut the leeches out of the distribution loop.

Tiny Nightmares, recorded at the Felt Forum NYC, October 31, 1977

A Token Of His Extreme Live From KCET-TV in LA 1974, pressed on green vinyl

bootleg release picture disc with interview material only

Chronicle, includes studio material 1964 - 77, live performances from 11/71 and 1975

.... yeah i still have more, if i can find them....

So..... you're just a little keen, then?! :flower: That's a cracking collection of sounds, buddy!

yeah i suppose you could say that. i was/am a hard-core vinyl junkie, still have a collection of about 2000 lp's

i have been a committed Zappa fan since about 1970 (and when i say committed, i mean like, to-a-looney-bin type committed of course)
i love all the different styles of music FZ has produced over the years. from do-wop to classical, from low-down blues to synclavier computer music, there is a conceptual continuity in his approach to musical composition. it all sounds like Zappa and nobody else. it's amazing.

I like the vinyl, too; you cannot beat the full size sleeve as well!!

Not as heavily into FZ as you are; in fact not really into any artist to quite that extent, though Rush used to come close!

gittarasaurus wrote: it all sounds like Zappa and nobody else. it's amazing.

Yes! Franks music was so versitile and always sounded like him. He even wrote a sorta rap song - "dumb all over" - one of my favs, amazing lyrics and a killer guitar riff. He did write some amazing riffs, but compositionally i've always felt he is a great as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, or any other human who has walked this earth. Some may think thats blasphomy but not to me. He is by far the greatest composer rock has ever known. Frank was into classically composed music as a kid and then got into rock - the opposite road most people take. He loved Spike Jones, and i hear the "cartoony" type influence in his music. All he did was work and sleep. What he accomplished as a writer is staggering, i mean, try to learn one of his compositional tunes and i'll bet it will take you weeks. His likes will never be seen again.

I studied classical guitar at VCU and i remember a world famous composer (damn i'm getting old, can't remember his name right now) doing a master class and he was asked about rock and the only comment he made was about Frank. That will always stick with me. Happy Zappadan!

corsair wrote:So..... you're just a little keen, then?! :flower: That's a cracking collection of sounds, buddy!

I don't think there are alot of casual Zappa fans out there. Most that are into his music are REALLY into his music. And that is an amazing collection of Zappa vinyl !! Very impressive, i've never seen the original Lather album either (have the 3 cd set of course) thanks for the shots! I wish i had more to contribute but all i have that is rare is a very cool poster i got from a buddy who's dad was a poster collector. I'm pretty sure Guitarsauraus has cover alot of ground though.

collecting Zappa stuff has always been an interesting and challenging hobby. in the early days, Frank got screwed around, ripped off and ferked-over repeatedly, so things were very hard to come by, even just the regular albums (not to mention bootlegs etc). especially for some kid living in the plain vanilla suburbs of washington dc. us Zappa freaks were the mutant unwanteds and misfits, and we were proud of it.

in a local radio interview, i once heard Frank describe a performance he did in DC in the mid-60's at a TV station. they wanted a "California Band" to play live on TV and do a Freak-Out live performance. so the audience was instructed to come in the wildest clothing they could find. According to Frank, the most outrageous thing some of them could muster up, was to wear different color sox! (yeah, that much plain vanilla). of course you can imagine the reaction when The Mothers got onstage. (think: cover of We're Only In It For The Money) Freak out indeed!

it wasn't until after many years of legal battles that Frank regained control of his music from "all those record company pricks..." that he was able to break thru the mainstream blockade of his music, and reach a larger audience with his releases and his live performances. Which also led to better official merchandising of collectable stuff, because Frank knew his audience better than any outside company he had to contract with to release his material. he knew what he wanted to produce and he knew there was an audience for it. once the dirtbags were out of the way, Frank became a very successful businessman.

even though i may not like all the things that the Zappa Family Trust has done, for all the hell Frank had to go through in his career and his too-short life, i don't begrudge them anything. i'm very happy that they have made great efforts to show the unique contribution Frank has made to 20th century music, and to ensure his legacy is well preserved.

and after so many years, i hope it still haunts whatever dim wit uttered the now famous words describing FZ's music way back in the beginning,

No Commercial Potential

nobody could have been more wrong!

Wow! Stunning collection there, very nice indeedy.
I have to admit to being a rare "casual zappa fan" 3 or 4 albums is the extent of my zappa knowledge, I did once download his (almost) entire discography once, but got lost a few times trying to hear it all.

Love the "fauna" quote, that song will be stuck in my head for days now, thanks

Yeah, Frank was the only musician i know of who won the rights to his own music in court. Its extremely rare for any musician to have the rights to their own music, the record companies rob you of that when you sign a contract. Lets not forgot Frank, John Denver, and good ol Dee Snider fighting censorship and the PMRC. He was probably the most intelligent guy in that entire room. I still remember Tipper Gore holding Def Leppards Pyromania album and saying "burn, burn burn". Its laughable to think that was so offensive when you listen to todays music (especially rap). I remembered that when Al Gore ran for pres - didn't vot that year.

I grew up in the DC burbs as well, Mt. Vernon NVA. Where were you?

another great Frank lyric-

Republicans is fair if you're a multimillionare, Democrats is fair if what you own is what you wear, Neither of thems really right cause neither of them care ..........

What they do in Washington, they look out for number one. Number one ain't you, you're not even number 2!

i lived in Rockville Maryland. i went to Robert E Peary high school. Peary was an Arctic explorer and so naturally our school mascot was the Husky!

i was in high school when the Apostrophe album was released, so our not-so-official school motto immediately became; Watch out where the Huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow!

Frank was a gifted poet. he was a keen observer and an unashamed commentator. his lyrics are as finely crafted as his intricate musical arrangements.

a song that is still one of my favorites is Trouble Comin' Every Day. there's incredible lyrics throughout the Freak Out album. i love his lyrical songs like; Dumb All Over, Tinsletown Rebellion, Drowning Witch, Be In My Video, Planet Of The Baritone Women ... and on and on...

Happy birthday Frank!!

Happy Birthday Frank

Broadway The Hard Way

this show was the last time i saw Zappa perform in concert. it was a freeking awesome concert.
and from youutoob, here is an audio recording from that night (not mine)...
Stairway To Heaven

i saw him do 3 nights at the Warner Theater in DC at the beginning of the tour in February, then this one at the end of the north american tour. it think this was the last show or the next to last show on the tour. which also turned out to be the last concerts he ever played in the USA.
the band did a European tour next, but due to conflicts within the band, another tour of the USA after the European tour, got cancelled.

gittarasaurus wrote:collecting Zappa stuff has always been an interesting and challenging hobby. in the early days, Frank got screwed around, ripped off and ferked-over repeatedly, so things were very hard to come by, even just the regular albums (not to mention bootlegs etc). especially for some kid living in the plain vanilla suburbs of washington dc. us Zappa freaks were the mutant unwanteds and misfits, and we were proud of it.

in a local radio interview, i once heard Frank describe a performance he did in DC in the mid-60's at a TV station. they wanted a "California Band" to play live on TV and do a Freak-Out live performance. so the audience was instructed to come in the wildest clothing they could find. According to Frank, the most outrageous thing some of them could muster up, was to wear different color sox! (yeah, that much plain vanilla). of course you can imagine the reaction when The Mothers got onstage. (think: cover of We're Only In It For The Money) Freak out indeed!

it wasn't until after many years of legal battles that Frank regained control of his music from "all those record company pricks..." that he was able to break thru the mainstream blockade of his music, and reach a larger audience with his releases and his live performances. Which also led to better official merchandising of collectable stuff, because Frank knew his audience better than any outside company he had to contract with to release his material. he knew what he wanted to produce and he knew there was an audience for it. once the dirtbags were out of the way, Frank became a very successful businessman.

even though i may not like all the things that the Zappa Family Trust has done, for all the hell Frank had to go through in his career and his too-short life, i don't begrudge them anything. i'm very happy that they have made great efforts to show the unique contribution Frank has made to 20th century music, and to ensure his legacy is well preserved.

and after so many years, i hope it still haunts whatever dim wit uttered the now famous words describing FZ's music way back in the beginning,

No Commercial Potential

nobody could have been more wrong!

How well spoken! Can't help thinking youth in the world back in the day seemed to have a tiny bit more critical ability's but only few were aware of a corporate fascism scheme as seems more overwhelmingly evident now. Less revolt, a terrorist before you know it. Here comes dystopia. What a fan-tastic read, fun items and pics in this topic you started to honour a friend. RIP Frank Zappa. Thanks!