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Post by jk on Aug 12, 2021 12:06:30 GMT
The band from that '88 tour (represented on Make a Jazz Noise Here) was phenomenal. It's a shame they imploded. Frank never toured again.
Going back, really starting with his work on Hot Rats with Ian Underwood, John Guerin, Max Bennett, and Jean-Luc Ponty, he brought in a lot of jazz (or at least fusion) players. The Grand Wazoo is a fabulous album that could only be considered jazz fusion, and is full of jazz players. Yet that sense of humor of his... He famously said in the early '70s, "jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny." ( There is a book about Frank's relationship to jazz. I've never read it but ought to.)
Of course he also spoke ill of doo-wop, and he obviously loved that, too. Strange (but brilliant) man...
I like The Grand Wazoo but it's maybe just a little too weird for jk's longish and possibly well-deserved stay on a tropical island. There's also Frank's love-hate relationship with "Louie Louie"! Now that really intrigues me.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 12, 2021 12:17:09 GMT
The band from that '88 tour (represented on Make a Jazz Noise Here) was phenomenal. It's a shame they imploded. Frank never toured again.
Going back, really starting with his work on Hot Rats with Ian Underwood, John Guerin, Max Bennett, and Jean-Luc Ponty, he brought in a lot of jazz (or at least fusion) players. The Grand Wazoo is a fabulous album that could only be considered jazz fusion, and is full of jazz players. Yet that sense of humor of his... He famously said in the early '70s, "jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny." ( There is a book about Frank's relationship to jazz. I've never read it but ought to.)
Of course he also spoke ill of doo-wop, and he obviously loved that, too. Strange (but brilliant) man...
I like The Grand Wazoo but it's maybe just a little too weird for jk's longish and possibly well-deserved stay on a tropical island. There's also Frank's love-hate relationship with "Louie Louie"! Now that really intrigues me. He loved it, in my opinion. There is just no way he'd incorporate it into that many songs if he didn't! But I think it also worked well for him to represent "big dumb American pop culture." I mean, that riff: bum bum bum / bum bum / bum bum bum / bum bum... Perfect for caricature.
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Post by jk on Aug 17, 2021 19:49:04 GMT
I like The Grand Wazoo but it's maybe just a little too weird for jk's longish and possibly well-deserved stay on a tropical island. There's also Frank's love-hate relationship with "Louie Louie"! Now that really intrigues me. He loved it, in my opinion. There is just no way he'd incorporate it into that many songs if he didn't! But I think it also worked well for him to represent "big dumb American pop culture." I mean, that riff: bum bum bum / bum bum / bum bum bum / bum bum... Perfect for caricature. I'd say The Kingsmen's "Louie" was everything pop culture was not. I never heard it played once on UK radio or even on the much hipper Radio Luxembourg at the time. My two hearings were on a French station at night, fading in and out...
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 17, 2021 19:57:32 GMT
Interesting. I always associate it with the song that every crappy garage band can play, that's in movies like American Graffiti and Animal House, that is almost rock and roll whittled down to its most basic core: I I I IV IV V V V IV IV, bludgeoning you over the head.
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Post by jk on Aug 17, 2021 20:04:49 GMT
Interesting. I always associate it with the song that every crappy garage band can play, that's in movies like American Graffiti and Animal House, that is almost rock and roll whittled down to its most basic core: I I I IV IV V V V IV IV, bludgeoning you over the head. Ah, but no other version has the magic and spontaneity of that recording by The Kingsmen. It all came together perfectly! Of course Frank may have been thinking of all the crappy versions that foilowed...
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 17, 2021 20:10:40 GMT
I think--and obviously this is just pure speculation--that's just it. I think that he liked it (just like he liked doo wop, etc.), but he also saw it as this almost omnipresent song that could be used as a caricature of the sort of mainstream America that he just loved to play with. You could play it straight, you could play it from the pipe organ at the Royal Albert Hall, whatever.
Some Zappaphile must have catalogued every instance of it appearing in his music. I'd be interested in seeing such a thing, to get a feel for the context in each instance. I'm guessing it's more often than not while he's making fun of "white bread, '50s America teenagers" or something similar.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Aug 18, 2021 0:55:18 GMT
I suppose I'd choose 10 albums. If I went with an artist, it would of course be the Beach Boys, with Sinatra and the Beatles as my second and third choices.
The Beach Boys - Sunflower The Beach Boys - That's Why God Made the Radio The Beach Boys - Today! The Beatles - Revolver Frank Sinatra - Strangers In The Night Frank Sinatra - Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim Frank Sinatra - Watertown Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour Colony House - Only The Lonely Brian Wilson - No Pier Pressure
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 18, 2021 1:00:05 GMT
Big fan, but Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour Yowza.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Aug 18, 2021 1:05:57 GMT
Big fan, but Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour Yowza. Hmm, yowza could be taken a lot of ways lol. I thought I remembered you really liking the album when it was released, or maybe it was me trying to convince you of it's merits. Either way, I consider it one of the best albums of the 21st century.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 18, 2021 1:08:24 GMT
I do like it, quite a bit! (Though I don't think it's her best.) Top 35 or so of the century, sure, I'd buy that for sure. But Top 10 of all time is quite a claim. Then again, hey, it's you, not me, on that desert island...
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Aug 18, 2021 1:29:03 GMT
It's not necessarily in my top 10, although it would be fairly close. I just wanted to give my list a little more variety and it's one of the few albums in the last 30+ years that I'll listen to in full.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 18, 2021 11:34:48 GMT
Frank Sinatra - Strangers In The Night I was gonna choose a Frank Sinatra album and I was gonna choose Strangers In The Night. It was Sinatra's last album arranged by Nelson Riddle, and the arrangements are one of the best parts of the album. One of the better decisions was to bring that hip organ sound into the songs. I love what Nelson did with "All Or Nothing At All", transforming it from a ballad into a swinging masterpiece. Some of The Wrecking Crew including Glen Campbell, Hal Blaine, Tommy Tedesco, and Bill Pitman played on the album. The only drawback is that the album is short - 10 songs at 27 minutes.
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Post by B.E. on Jan 28, 2024 19:38:53 GMT
Desert island threads are a dime a dozen. (Actually they're "free a dozen.") But I was thinking about this minor twist on the idea: If you could choose either: - Any 10 albums (multi-disc sets are fine if they were original albums, but no best-of comps); or - The entire recorded, commercially released catalog of any one artist or band (but only under that one name, e.g. if you chose Paul McCartney you would not get Paul McCartney & Wings; Frank Zappa would not include the Mothers of Invention; etc.) Which would you choose, and of course, what are the albums or who is the artist/band? Obviously the idea is you'll never have any other music, just this choice, forever. If you feel like explaining, or talking about what your second choice would've been, that'd be interesting, too.
I stumbled upon this thread a couple weeks ago and have been thinking about it ever since. My official answer is option #2: The entire recorded, commercially released catalog of The Beatles. I couldn't live without their music, it's varied, and much more than 10 albums worth of material has been commercially released. So, I'd get the studio albums, live albums, compilations, remixes, all of it. Their music, and story, is the richest of them all. At least it is to me. That said, I think it'll be fun to figure out what my option #1 albums would be. There were some great choices by the participants in this thread years ago. I wonder if any of you would alter your lists any? kds, I noticed you didn't include a Beach Boys album in your list, for instance. If I recall correctly, everyone chose option #1, which I think is pretty interesting. Especially considering The Beach Boys, with their vast catalog, is a strong contender.
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Post by B.E. on Jan 28, 2024 20:52:21 GMT
As I said, my official answer is the Beatles complete catalog, but if I went with option #1 these might be my ten albums (in chronological order):
1. The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night 2. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds 3. The Beatles - White Album 4. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass 5. Carole King - Tapestry 6. The Doors - LA Woman 7. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks 8. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti 9. Tom Petty - Damn the Torpedoes 10. Bruce Springsteen - The River
Four double albums. I considered "cheating" and including a live album. Petty's Pack Up the Plantation was closest to making the cut. Another Side of Bob Dylan was the toughest album omission. James Taylor was probably the toughest artist omission.
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