Sunday, September 4, 2016

Sunday Jams - Zappa

The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.

-Frank Zappa




11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now you're talking my music language! I first got into Zappa around 72 when i was 15. Muffin Man has one of the greatest guitar solos ever. And he was ahead of everyone in knowing that the TV is a tool of mind control with the song "I'm the Slime"...

idahobob said...

Nuffin like a little Frank to start off the day!

Bob
III

Anonymous said...

When I was in my late teens and early twenties I would make every effort to see Frank and his traveling horde every time they came to Miami, and they came quite often. In my mind, the best part of the show wasn't the music. It was the way Frank would often spend time between sets sitting on the edge of the stage talking to members of the audience. He often said things that I barely understood, but the parts I did understand were deep. As I get older and more experienced I come to understand more and more of what he was trying to explain all those years ago. The line at the top of this blog entry is just one example. The lyric to "Cosmik Debris" is another.

All that becomes even more relevant in this day and age when our leaders invite us to pick the shiniest turd floating in the punch bowl, act as if it's our highest duty, and horrified if we even think to suggest they've perverted what The Founders intended.

Those of you who may be interested in more should watch his interview with MTV's Martha Quinn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eln3J6BxWN0

And for another insight, here's a very young Frank Zappa "The Musical Bicyclist" on "The Steve Allen Show" from 1963.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MewcnFl_6Y

Anonymous said...

Frank Zappa trying to perform Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's masterpiece is borderline sacrilege.

Anonymous said...

"Frank Zappa trying to perform Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's masterpiece is borderline sacrilege."

You nailed it.

On the flip side, I doubt Paige and Plant could do very well with the tracks on "Burnt Weenie Sandwich". If you haven't heard that album, you're missing out.

But he lived his life on the edge of so many things including "borderline sacrilege. OTOH, as Frank often said, "There's no accounting for taste."

He just did stuff for people who liked the stuff he did. If you liked his stuff, he just made more for the people who did like it. If you didn't like his stuff, he just made more for the people who did like it.

He started off a David Letterman interview with a comment about doing something to limit the amount of "brown lipstick" in America's corporate suites. One thing you can say about Frank Zappa:

He wasn't a "brown lipstick" kind of guy.

Anonymous said...

There's two kinds of people in the world - those who think Zappa was a genius, and those who just don't get him...

Moe Death said...

After that great quote about the illusion of freedom, Domino wonders why you didn't include her favorite Zappa opus: "Who Are The Brain Police?"

Scary stuff... I'm more of a "Billy The Mountain" kind of guy.

Bill and Domino
III

Anonymous said...

Zappa claimed he "didn't do drugs". So did Prince. By the way. Cigarette smoking is an addiction. (I wonder who inherited his "Zircon Encrusted Tweezers"?)

Yeh...I listened to a little Zappa in my life. But the recordings never belonged to me and the experience was more a test of endurance than entertainment. To me, The Fire Sign Theater was much better entertainment...along the lines of Zappa era stuff.

Anonymous said...

Attorney General Loretta Lynch Wants to Welcome UN Control & Involvement in U.S. Affairs

http://www.usatwentyfour.com/attorney-general-loretta-lynch-wants-welcome-un-control-involvement-u-s-affairs/#


http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message3278433/pg1

http://www.usatwentyfour.com/attorney-general-loretta-lynch-wants-welcome-un-control-involvement-u-s-affairs/#

skybill said...

Hi Matt,
On Frank's First Album that I bought,"Freak Out!!" ...on the back cover it proported that Frank and the Guys were at the "Whiskey a-go-go" a Club in L.A. somewhere, on New Years' of (1959!!!!) (Where were You!!!!) Among other things said," Frank said, If your childeren knew that you are as lame as you are, They would Murder you in your sleep!!!!!!!! {{
BSBD,
III%,
skybill-out

Anonymous said...

I saw Zappa do Stairway as an Encore at the Orpheum in Boston back in 84 or so..

Great stuff

You either get Zappa or you don't. I'm happy to be counted among those that do.

"Aber beklecker nicht das sofa, sofa..."