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6K views 47 replies 17 participants last post by  newbieguitarmaker 
#1 ·
Shame on you guys!!! Frank Zappa hasn´t been talked about for a looooong time here.
Without him, we probably wouldn´ t have been sitting here today, discussing guitar and guitar-sounds. Not only was he a guitar oriented inventor, he was also the last centurys largest musical geniuos, in the world, in all categories.
We must NEVER forget Frank for what he did for the music and we must NEVER forget his guitar´solos. There has not been, and there will most likely never be another, being able to play the guitar Frank did.

WE MISS YOU FRANK!!!!!
 
#3 ·
I will never forget Frank! He was the first artist outside of the Beatles that I collected albums from. I guess that started in 1973. Before that, I had Beatles albums and everything else was 45 rpm singles. Then someone played Zappa's "Montana" on a Baltimore progressive rock radio station and I was hooked. The guy at the record store thought it was cool that a 12 yr old kid was buying Zappa records.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Maybe I am completely stupid, but I found out recently that he did not drink or do drugs. I am totally surprised by that considering that so much of his material is so - trippy? Like 200 Motels the whole thing is like an acid trip.

Is that true, that he didn't drink or do drugs?

Dig this on You Tube:
 
#14 ·
Vai was telling a story once about recording at the UMRK with Frank. When asked if he ever gave Dweezil lessons, he replied that he had shown him a few things, but Dweezil was jamming at Ed Van Halen's house most of the time. He even brought EVH over to the UMRK a time or 2.
 
#15 ·
I bought a handful of Zappa albums in the late 90s but in the last year or so have become much more immersed. My lady and I have become major fans and it's been so much fun delving further and further into Zappa's music together. My collection is by no means exhaustive: Here's what I've got.

Apostrophe
Broadway The Hard Way
Freak Out!
Hot Rats
Jazz From Hell
Make A Jazz Noise Here
One Size Fits All
Over-Nite Sensation
Sheik Yerbouti
Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowing Witch
Strictly Commercial
Trance-Fusion
You Are What You Is
Zappa In New York
Zoot Allures

Plus, on DVD,
Classic Albums: Over-Nite Sensation/Apostrophe
Baby Snakes
Dub Room Special
200 Motels (bought it online, turns out it's an unauthorised boot)

Can anyone recommend something to get next? My favourite stuff is in the vein of St Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast, Inca Roads, Andy, Punky's Whips.
 
#24 ·
Well, here´s my Zappa collection on vinyl;



Freak out
Absolutely free
We´re only in it for the money
Lumpy gravy
Ruben & the jets
Mothermania
Uncle Meat
Hot rats
Burnt weeny sandwich
Weasels ripped my flesh
Chunga´s revenge
Fillmore east
200 motels
Just another band form LA
Waka Jawaka
Grand wazoo
Overnite sensation
Apostrophe
Roxy & elsewhere
One size fits all
Bongo fury
Zoot allures
Zappa in new york
Studio tan
Sleep dirt
Sheik yerbouti
Orchestrial favourites
Joe´s garage I
Joe´s garage II, III
Tinseltown rebellion
Shut up ´n play yer guitar 1, 2, 3 3 single album
Shut up ´n play yer guitar 3box sealed/mint
You are what you is
Ship arriving too late
The man from utopia
London symphony orchestra
The perfect stranger sealed/mint
The perfect stranger
Them or us Dubbel
Thing-fish Trippel
The mothers of prevention
Does humor belong in music
Jazz from hell
You can´t do that on stage Vol 1 Dubbel
You are what you is (Clean cut)




20 years of Frank Zappa 12 record set
The history and collected improvisations
of Frank Zappa 10 record set
Clowns on velvet -81
Drowning witch -81
Standing room only -81
Things wayne newton never told you -80
Dupress´s paradise -74 dubbel
Anyway the wind blows -79 dubbel
Transparancy -66
Chronicle -64- -77 dubbel
At the circus -78
At the Ark -68
Object Project -78
A token of his extreme -74
Pappa Zappa -76
Conceptual continuity -76
Pa´s nose fell off at breakfast.. -76
Wax flags -77
No commercial potential -70 dubbel
Fred Zappelin -80 dubbel
Leatherette -78
Metal man has hornets wings -63- 69
Rustic protrusion -63- -69
Joe´s garage, acts 4&5 -80 dubbel
Titties and beer -76
Incognito -69- 71
Godfather meets the untouchables -88 4 record set
Easy meat -79
The worst of the mothers -68
Remington electric razor 74- 81

Baby snakes picture disc -77 unplayed
You are what you is picture disc -80 sealed/mint
Picture disc (un-identified) ????? unlpayed

Grandmothers -80
Grandmothers:
Looking up Granny´s drees -82
Jean-Luc Ponty
King Kong/Plays the music of FZ -70

Then I have some hundreds hours of tapes + all the CD´s and DVD´s and stuff. Frank is keeping me busy....
 
#25 ·
This thread inspired me to go out and get
"The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life". What a great concert album!!! It would be great to see some members of the 80's band if Dweezil does another ZPZ; like Ray White and Ike Willis (together) and maybe even Mike Kennealy! Mike is a sick guitar player!
Also, any thoughts on the "posthumous" albums? I got "Trance-Fusion" (thinking "a moustache made of dolphins? how can you go wrong?"). It was kind of boring.....
Always nice conversing with other Zappa fans! ;)
 
#27 ·
I was hoping Mike Keneally would get picked to go out with ZPZ too. MK's an awesome player and he has that weirdness about his music that FZ, Vai and DZ have about them. He absolutely "gets" Frank's music.

Who knows? Dweezil asked Bryan Beller to come back into the Zappa fold after the "Z" falling out, maybe Mike will make it back if schedules coincide.
 
#29 ·
My collection has expanded a bit now, but still looks pretty light compared to what's out there:

Absolutely Free
Apostrophe
The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life
Broadway The Hard Way
Fillmore East – June 1971
Freak Out!
FZ:OZ
Grand Wazoo (bought it today, haven't listened to it yet)
Hot Rats
Imaginary Diseases
Jazz From Hell
Joe’s Garage
Make A Jazz Noise Here
One Size Fits All
Over-Nite Sensation
Sheik Yerbouti
Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowing Witch
Strictly Commercial
Trance-Fusion
The Yellow Shark
You Are What You Is
You Can’t Do That On Stage Any More Vol 2
You Can’t Do That On Stage Any More Vol 4
You Can’t Do That On Stage Any More Vol 5
You Can’t Do That On Stage Any More Vol 6
Zappa In New York
Zoot Allures

Bootlegs:
Chicago, March 3, 1988
Chigaco, March 4, 1988
Stockholm, May 1, 1988

Plus, on DVD,
Classic Albums: Over-Nite Sensation/Apostrophe
Baby Snakes
Dub Room Special
200 Motels
Does Humor Belong In Music?
 
#32 ·
Just got "Broadway The Hard Way". It's fun, not only listening to the music but listening to the band burn on Swagart and Falwell. Even Sting gets in on the act with a cool version of "Murder By Numbers".
As the problems we had in the 80's! How insignificant they seem now.
I REEEEEEEEEEAAAAALLLY wish we still had Zappa around today!
Not just for the music.....
 
#33 ·
I love Zappa, I need to buy more of his albums but my dad might have them ;)
The very first song I transcribed was Muffin Man, that was when I was on my first guitar (yamaha telecaster) and I had only been playing guitar for about a year. I started off with Zappa and SRV then because of Zappa and my Billy Sheehan bass I learned about Vai.

I think the rhythms for the percussion are amazing in every song zappa does
 
#34 ·
Great thread, I'm a total Zappa newb (I'm not familiar with ANY of his stuff, just recognize some titles) and need some recommendations. I'll take a look at the youtube links when I get home (darn work -lol), but I've been thinking about diving into some Zappa after reading the interview w/Dweezil in the new GW. So what CDs should a total Zappa newbie start with? I know he has a rep for doing some way out there stuff, so preferably something more straight-ahead rock to start with (if he has any such music -lol). Thanks in advance!
 
#36 · (Edited)
I started with "Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch" and "Broadway The Hard Way," both of which are probably pretty bad 'first Zappa' choices. The song "Drowning Witch" is great, but the other stuff on the album might be a bit hard to get into for newbies. Luckily I was already a huge Keneally fan so I could digest some of the weirder stuff on "Drowning Witch" (Keneally's not on it, Vai is, but I just mean that the weirdness of Mike's music prepared me for Frank's).

If I cleared my brain and started again I'd probably begin with "Apostrophe" and "Overnite Sensation," as zappa2k2 says, then I'd go for "Zappa In New York," "One Size Fits All," "Hot Rats" and "Make A Jazz Noise Here."
 
#37 ·
I started with "Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch" and "Broadway The Hard Way," both of which are probably pretty bad 'first Zappa' choices. The song "Drowning Witch" is great, but the other stuff on the album might be a bit hard to get into for newbies. Luckily I was already a huge Keneally fan so I could digest some of the weirder stuff on "Drowning Witch" (Keneally's not on it, Vai is, but I just mean that the weirdness of Mike's music prepared me for Frank's).

If I cleared my brain and started again I'd probably begin with "Apostrophe" and "Overnite Sensation," as zappa2k2 says, then I'd go for "Zappa In New York," "One Size Fits All," "Hot Rats" and "Make A Jazz Noise Here."
Then, when you're hooked: Waka/Jawaka, Grand Wazoo, Joe's Garage and Shut Up And Play Your Guitar, etc, etc, etc
 
#38 ·
I forgot to check the music on my computer. When my neighbor moved 2 years ago, he gave me about 40GBs of music (which I'm still sorting through) and I just thought to check for some Frank. There is one Zappa album, As An Am, which I just started playing. It appears to be live, I'll let you all know what I think. The file info says it's from 1981, so it should have Vai on it, right?
 
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