Zappa's Peak?
kpn...@yahoo.com
in Fank's passing is that most composers don't hit their stride until
they reached the age at which he passed. The best was yet to come.
However, I burned a bunch of shows to listen to at work, and while all
have high points: 72 wazoo (all around interesting), 81 solos, etc, I
have finally reached the conclusion that his peak while he was with us
was the Roxy band. Killer songs, no overload of potty-mouth juvenile
subject matter, killer band, Ruth, great great guitar, the list goes
on. The tipping point for me is Brock and Duke handling vocals and the
the fact that the band's eyebrows add a funkiness/soulfulness that is
really lacking from later bands making them sound sterile in
comparison.
As an aside, probably the only tribute/side project I have heard
(including ZPZ) that warrants repeated listening is Ed Palermo's. I
burned one of his Zappa sets, and by gosh, it really is pretty damn
good. Interesting arrangements, tight, good tune selection, and fun.
Kurt
computeruser
>I think I would agree with Vai who said (I believe) that the tragedy
> in Fank's passing is that most composers don't hit their stride until
> they reached the age at which he passed. The best was yet to come.
> However, I burned a bunch of shows to listen to at work, and while all
> have high points: 72 wazoo (all around interesting), 81 solos, etc, I
> have finally reached the conclusion that his peak while he was with us
> was the Roxy band. Killer songs, no overload of potty-mouth juvenile
> subject matter, killer band, Ruth, great great guitar, the list goes
> on. The tipping point for me is Brock and Duke handling vocals and the
> the fact that the band's eyebrows add a funkiness/soulfulness that is
> really lacking from later bands making them sound sterile in
> comparison.
There were no complaints about how he was dressed in the footage that has
been seen from the Roxy era, either.
Martin Gregorie
> I think I would agree with Vai who said (I believe) that the tragedy in
> Fank's passing is that most composers don't hit their stride until they
> reached the age at which he passed. The best was yet to come. However, I
> burned a bunch of shows to listen to at work, and while all have high
> points: 72 wazoo (all around interesting), 81 solos, etc, I have finally
> reached the conclusion that his peak while he was with us was the Roxy
> band. Killer songs, no overload of potty-mouth juvenile subject matter,
> killer band, Ruth, great great guitar, the list goes on. The tipping
> point for me is Brock and Duke handling vocals and the the fact that the
> band's eyebrows add a funkiness/soulfulness that is really lacking from
> later bands making them sound sterile in comparison.
>
I'm with you on this. If I just grab an album at random its likely to be
that band - and don't forget FZPTMOFZ or YCDTOSA 2.
--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |
The old geezer
are just variations on what he already recorded. AND...don't forget
all the musical ideas he *stole* from percussionist Art Tripp!!!!!
The old geezer
ND: Lord Chesterfield Ale
NP : Quiet Music - Steve Roach
Biffy the Elephant Shrew
> I
> have finally reached the conclusion that his peak while he was with us
> was the Roxy band. Killer songs, no overload of potty-mouth juvenile
> subject matter, killer band, Ruth, great great guitar, the list goes
> on.
You make a pretty good case, but I think he was indeed reaching a
different kind of peak right at the time he was taken from us.
Civilization Phaze III is, to me, a culmination of the project/object
that he was building up to his whole life.
Your pal,
Biffy the Elephant Shrew
Les Cargill
+1
--
Les Cargill
Strictly Commercial
> You make a pretty good case, but I think he was indeed reaching a
> different kind of peak right at the time he was taken from us.
> Civilization Phaze III is, to me, a culmination of the project/object
> that he was building up to his whole life.
Twin peaks, then.
Although I agree that Civ III is a fuckin' masterpiece, I too am a
particular fan of the mid-seventies stuff, and I would stretch the
timeframe to include some of the (relatively) stripped-down ("Oh,
Punky!") bands from '75-'77. Most of his most amazing solos are from
that period, and I think this had something to do with the fact that in
the smaller bands, FZ had to carry a bit more of the rhythm load --- he
was more part of the band and not just strictly bandleader / solo god
like he was throughout the eighties. My favourite FZ albums all date
from that period --- Helsinki, SUNPYG, the Uglies/Lather, ZINY come to mind.
Rolf
pbuzb...@yahoo.com
3-31-79 (first show) and I did find myself wondering if FZ ever did
anything better.
Pat Buzby
Chicago, IL
The old geezer
> A couple weeks ago I listened to the "Outside Now" solo from Munich,
> 3-31-79 (first show) and I did find myself wondering if FZ ever did
> anything better???
Yes. "Cruisin Fer Burgers" from MAJNH!!!!!
The old geezer
ND: Ezra Brooks Kentucky Bourbon
NP: The Dream Circle - Steve Roach
Bill
<b6434f8f-2572-461b...@g4g2000pri.googlegroups.com>,
I have to agree with Biffy here.
And it is only the peak to me because it was cut off before it could go
higher.
As far as his guitar-playing, I'd say he reached his peak with Vinnie;
that's not to say if he had spent more time on the road he wouldn't have
reached new heights later. I think very highly of Jeff Beck in this
regard.
Song-writing for the rock genre, his highest peak IMHO was One Size Fits
All, although there are local, not quite as high, rock song-writing
peaks around 1965, 1970, 1978 and 1988.
Bill
--
Bill
Father Haskell
>
> However, I burned a bunch of shows to listen to at work, and while all
> have high points: 72 wazoo (all around interesting), 81 solos, etc, I
> have finally reached the conclusion that his peak while he was with us
> was the Roxy band.
Peak was right between side 1 and side 2 of Fillmore.
Chris West
Bill <bill...@invalid.invalid> writes
>Song-writing for the rock genre, his highest peak IMHO was One Size Fits
>All, although there are local, not quite as high, rock song-writing
>peaks around 1965, 1970, 1978 and 1988.
But the tunes on One Size Fits All were written at various times from
1971, through early 1973 right up to late 1974, so it doesn't really
represent a single peak. I think part of the reason the album is so good
is that it consists of several songs that were changed and moulded over
and over again. Inca Roads in particular went through about half a dozen
arrangements until it reached the final released version. It's a real
contrast to the majority of music which is recorded as soon as it's been
written and never changed from that point on.
(It's interesting, though, that the other tune that lasted right through
1973 and 1974 changing arrangement for every tour, RDNZL, IMHO started
off perfect and ended up rather bloated. Just my opinion.)
--
Chris West
Milhouse G
> overload of potty-mouth juvenile subject matter
With a debateable exception made for the Flo and Eddie period, no era of
Zappa's work had this.
--
Milhouse