Oh yeah? I’ll see your robot sex and raise you this:
Watch out where the huskies go, don’t you eat that yellow snow ohh ho, a ho-ho-ho . . .
Frank’s the best. He’s the best of us.
The Idiot Bastard Son
The child will thrive & grow
And enter the world
Of liars & cheaters & people like you
Who smile & think you know
What this is about
(you think you know everything… maybe so)
The song we sing, do you know?
Were listening…
The idiot boy!
Oh, fuck, I’m gonna need a truss! --Studebaker Hoch, in Billy The Mountain
Favorite lyrics: Broken Hearts are for Assholes
Don’t forget, though, that Zappa wasn’t just Mr. Funny Lyrics. He was a helluva guitar player and composer, too. That’s why I’m surprised none of the playlists above include his three instrumental albums:
Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar
Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar Some More
Return of the Son of Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar
Quote:
“Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.”
My friends and I do that all the time too. Any time we mention Mexico, Sears, or ponchos.
I got a cheerleader here
Wants to help with my paper
Let her do all the work
And maybe later I’ll rape her
(Oh God! I am the American Dream. . .)
Opal, you hot little bitch! (Yeah, it’s nuthin’ in print, but you gotta hear it. Rent [200 Motels.)
Billy was a mountain. Ethel was a tree growing off of his shoulder.
From “Dumb all over” on “You are what you is”
“You can’t run a country
By a book of religion
Not by a heap
Or a lump or a smidgeon
Of foolish rules
Of ancient date
Designed to make
You all feel great
While you fold, spindle
And mutilate
Those unbelievers
From a neighboring state”
As relevant now as it ever was…
Reading all the favorite quotes confirms something I’ve long believed… more on that in a second.
One of the few times I ever found Zappa likeable was in a brief appearance on the David Letterman SHow, while he was promoting his album with the London Philharmonic. Letterman was very imp[ressed, and asked, “That’s a very prestigious orchestra, isn’t it?” “Yes it is,” agreed Zappa. “And how do you get to work with such a great group of musicians,” asked Dave. Matter-of-factly and without a hint of sarcasm, Zappa answered, “You pay them a lot of money.”
THAT, I suspect, is pretty close to the real Zappa, though it’s far from the guy that teenage smart alecks worshipped.
I never knew the real Frank Zappa, obviously. I know him solely by the music he left behind and by the public persona he showed on TV and in the media. And in my opinion, the public Frank Zappa was pretty much an asshole.
Someone once said that Ernest Hemingway’s least interesting character was “Papa Hemingway,” the public persona he created for himself. In the same way, I think Frank Zappa’s public persona was mostly a put-on, and not a very interesting one. In his public appearances, Zappa was OCCASIONALLY hilarious… but mostly, well, kinda stupid. But I give the man credit- he knew exactly where his fan base lay: with fifteen year old intellectual suburban white boys who think that everybody on Earth is a phony or an asshole, except for themselves and Zappa. And he marketed his work very successfully to that fan base.
If I seem to be dismissive of Zappa, I don’t (fully) intend to be. His strengths were real and numerous. Among them:
-
He was a remarkable guitarist.
-
He had an unmatched ability to discover and nurture talent. A stint with Zappa ALWAYS made a musician much better.
-
He commanded immense respect from top-notch musicians in many genres. He wouldn’t have received or kept such respect so long if he’d really been the snotty, sarcastic prick he pretended to be in public 24/7.
-
His work shows a complexity that most “progressive” rock bands can’t begin to approach.
-
He was one of the most prolific, productive, disciplined, hard-working musicians ever.
And that’s why it blows my mind how little of the music he left behind is any good!
With all the talent he possessed, with all the talent he was able to surround himself with, there’s no excuse for such a spotty, boring body of work.
Yes, I said boring. Listen to his album with the London Philharmonic. That album cost Zappa a lot of money to make. It was clearly a labor of love, that had no chance of making a profit.
And it is dull beyond description. Not annoyingly bad. Not ear-splittingly unlistenable. Just the opposite, in fact. It’s tepid, uninspired, unimaginative stuff.
The light-hearted titles he gave to each piece would lead you to expect something funny or cutting edge. Instead, it’s just vanilla.
When Zappa was rocking, he was sometimes fun in small doses. But he always gave the impression that he was slumming, and that he held much of his audience in contempt. That would be forgivable if the “real” work he was doing was brilliant. Sadly, it usually wasn’t.
I could not disagree with you more. Many moons ago when I was in college Zappa came to the school to give a lecture (for want of a better term). This was just after the PMRC/congress thing and it was advertised as a lecture on the first ammendment. First off the bat he apologized for the bad advertisements, he was there to speak about anything and everything. He was the public Frank Zappa. He was funny, insightful, thoughtful, gracious and charming. He took questions from the audience and treated even the stupid questions with respect. I agreed with almost nothing he said, particularly when it came to politics. But I always respected his opinion and appreciated how he said it.
I’m sort of with you on that but with the sheer amount of stuff he put out if (like me) you only like maybe 5% of what he did that’s more than most rock bands entire output. I read an interview with Steve Vai where he admitted to not enjoying all of FZ’s music. IIRC he was a bit dismissive of “twelve bar blues with politics” which if you extend it a bit covers quite a lot of FZ’s music (make your own list here). These days I mostly go back to the guitar stuff which doesn’t fit in this thread. But I’m going to mention anyway. See if you can find:
Ship Ahoy.
Joe’s last imaginary guitar solo.
Sheik Yerbouti Tango.
Watermelon in Easter Hay.
Blasphemous Astorian!
…though your remarks aren’t far off the mark.I attribute the “assholish” aspect to his being agent provocateur with the cynic’s view.
How many people know he was busted for producing porn?
Judged as one of the composers of all time he is lackluster.Judged against his coevals is another matter.
A comparison to Duke Ellington may be apt in some ways (NOT couth! ),he was a scoring band leader, had a unique voice on his instrument, and brought along a lot of talented people.
One of my favorite songs is The Dangerous Kitchen
and the stuff in the strainer has a mind all its own.
From that album I prefer The Jazz Discharge Party Hats:
Sometimes the milk can hurt you!
Who wants to ride on an ironing board?
I tried me one, they aint no fun.
Hey, now.
“Hey Ethel…wanna eat some clams?”
Wow, I’m glad I never experienced Wild Man Fischer in his natural state!