The Multi-faceted Frank Zappa

[Rubber Soul]

I think this may have been Zappa's first recording from 1963.

[Guybrush]

That's a great find, RS! Thanks for sharing!

And Psy-Fi, so cool I feel like it's you old timers who should have the honour of starting a Zappa tribute thread, not a mere layman like myself. All I did besides listening is a few LPs (can't even remember which ones, but Joe's Garage and Over-nite and maybe Apostrophe?) and having seen Dweezil when he was doing the Hot Rats anniversary tour some years ago.

I thought this might be a fun addition, though. Here's me with my very rudimentary piano skills playing a very simple version of Uncle Rhemus. I made a previous recording for the discord a while back when we were discussing Zappa and thought of also sharing that here, but it had some audio issues and so I redid it. I probably won't leave it up for long 

[Rubber Soul]

How's Your Bird was part of a soundtrack of the World's Greatest Sinner (also recorded by Zappa- billed as Baby Ray and the Ferns). It was a bizarre cult movie that was written and directed by character actor Timothy Carey, who also starred as the protagonist. The quality of the film is fairly poor but it's definitely rates as a much watch film.

[Janszoon]

I don't know how imporant weird should be. He has great songs.

Weirdness is not a requirement for me, it's just how people typically describe his music so it's the expectation I have going in.

To me, a song written from the perspective of a couch with soulful vocals mixed with Frank's german is weird. I can't think of another artist who would write, make and produce that song.

I mean weird in terms of the music. Harry Nilsson also wrote a song about the feelings of a piece of furniture ("Good Old Desk") which certainly has quirky lyrics, but I wouldn't call the music itself weird.

I also think the description "ordinary music with extra noodling" seems a little dismissive. Depending on what you mean by noodling, if analyzed, it might contain a lot of what I think of as weird, like Tina Turner & The Ikettes sung part in Montana or the beat that's just a little out of tempo on Catholic Girls or pretty much the entirety of OP-mentioned It Must Be A Camel.

I'm not trying to be dismissive, it's just what the music sounds like to me. Joe's Garage was the first Zappa album I ever listened to—loaned to me by a bandmate, based on my then recent discovery of John Zorn's Naked City—and to me it's nowhere near as weird or interesting as it's made out to be by fans. As you said, maybe I should be looking for something else in the music. I'm just not sure what that something else would be. Hot Rats, which I listened to for the first time a few years ago, I like a lot more, and I like the track you posted from it. It has a lot in common with the jazz of its era, which is cool, but it's not an album I've gone back to, so I suspect that my appreciation for it is more intellectual than anything else. 

What you describe as noodling was probably also written down in musical notation as that was his method. He's by far not the only rock musician to write notation, but he played around with it a lot in a way I haven't heard much elsewhere in rock music - like mirroring a run of notes or reusing them in different tempos etc. I think these are ideas that might come to someone who writes a lot and is really comfortable in that medium, but not to someone who does things by ear. The most famous example of such creativity is, of course, The Black Page (so titled because it's sheet music so densely packed with notes it appears as a black page). So I think he brings a kind of composer's creativity to rock music which had not been seen or heard before.

His most dense music may be his synclavier compositions or modern classical music, like The Girl In The Magnesium Dress which he wrote, but didn't think humans could or would perform. To me, that piece of music is weird (though I much prefer this), but to you it might just be orchestral music with extra noodling. If so, it's not like I'm determined to prove you otherwise

Because she's an absolute treasure, I'll sign off with Ruth Underwood telling us some of her thoughts while playing The Black Page on piano.

I liked this stuff more! Maybe I like him more when there's no vocals.

[Guybrush]

I liked this stuff more! Maybe I like him more when there's no vocals.

Sure thing it's a good thing we're not all alike. I rather like Frank's voice as well as his other singers, particularly George Duke and Ike Willis.

As I've gotten older, I slightly wish his late 70s music had a little less sexual themes. I prefer it when he sings about moving to Montana, talking dogs, couches, Indians making landing strips for aliens, etc. Still love most of the songs, though 

[Guybrush]

By the way, it's not THAT long since I finally found out who Chester's gorilla is.. making all those weird sounds towards the end of Florentine Pigen (a song from One Size Fits All).

Chester's gorilla refers to a groupie that drummer Chester Thompson would get cozy with. So it's funny and a little mean, typical Zappa I've since wondered if the gorilla groupie was ever told or figured out that she's the fabled gorilla from this song.

[Psy-Fi]

Here's one from 'Joe's Garage' and, in my opinion, this one is not only one of Zappa's best instrumental tunes but also possibly his all-time best guitar work...

Frank Zappa - Watermelon in Easter Hay

[Lisnaholic]

Yes that's a great track, with Zappa for once allowing himself to be mellow for an extended period of time. Zoot Allures has some nice guitar-centric tracks too. This one is instrumental again, for the benefit of Janszoon and me, who aren't so keen on some of FZ's lyrics:-

[Guybrush]

^Black Napkins is, of course, a classic 🥰

@Janszoon I was wondering if you might prefer some of the Zappa albums people don't recommend so much.

In my first post, I mentioned the sinister dreaminess of Filthy Habits. That's from an album, Sleep Dirt, which is largely instrumental and has some interesting songs. I like the aforementioned Filthy Habits, but this may be my favorite:

Another album mentioned a little more often, but still not that much, is The Grand Wazoo. It's another instrumental album that's fusion oriented.

My favorite from that is Blessed Relief which is one of his more laidback tracks.

[Janszoon]

@Janszoon I was wondering if you might prefer some of the Zappa albums people don't recommend so much.

I like both of those!

[Lexi Darling]

The Grand Wazoo is a great album, probably my favorite of his actually.

[Janszoon]

The Grand Wazoo is a great album, probably my favorite of his actually.

I may give the whole thing a listen.

[Guybrush]

With the notable exception of Hot Rats, these instrumental albums definitely take a backseat to his more accessible, humorous rock albums. They're still great, though 

I discovered The Grand Wazoo relatively late. I'd been listening to Zappa for about ten years or so before I got into it. I fell in love with it and listened to it on repeat as I was refurbishing our house a few years ago.

It's really cool how you can still discover these great albums in his discography, even after being a listener for many years.

[Psy-Fi]

Here's another great instrumental tune from the Mothers. Easily one of my all-time favorites...

The Mothers of Invention - The Little House I Used to Live In

[Psy-Fi]

Here are a couple more from the same album. Easily two of my all-time favorites...

The Mothers of Invention - Holiday In Berlin, Full-Blown

The Mothers of Invention - Aybe Sea