How To Buy...Frank Zappa by Rob H.
The sheer size of the vast Zappa catalogue can often be off-putting for those wishing to discover the output of one of the most talented and diverse artists there's ever been. Running from Rock to Classical through Jazz and Fusion just where do you start with the ever expanding discography...hopefully this guide will point you on the right path!
The music ranges from 60's rock,
through doo-wop to drone/music concrete. Lyrically there are love songs
(normally presented in a doo-wop style...this will be more relevant in a few
albums time, be patient!), anti-love songs, counter culture challenges and even
a protest song inspired by the Watts riots.
The 2nd disc was largely dominated by
the drone like "Help, I'm A Rock" and the side long "The Return
Of The Son Of Monster Magnet" which as legend has it was the result of a
late night jam at which lot of "interesting" characters were invited
in to the studio.
(See also the Project/Object release
"MOFO" which explored the album and sessions in a 4 disc set)
A marked improvement on "Freak
Out", "Absolutely Free" was presented as a segued album with all
tracks running together on both sides.
The music is starting to become more
complex with nods to Igor Stravinsky in places. The opener "Plastic
People" makes it very plain that this isn't another group of longhairs
spouting the Hippy ideal while also challenging those in charge before the
"Duke of Prunes" and "Call Any Vegetable" run where we are
introduced to strange/humorous/abstract lyrical ideas that cover a complex
musical theme, in this case an intimate love of green vegetables amongst
others! Zappa was quoted later in his career that he would have been happy just
releasing instrumental albums (and he released plenty of those) but the music
buying public demanded/expected vocals. Sometimes you will find a bizarre lyric
quickly dispensed with at the start of a musically complex track.
"Invocation & Ritual Dance
Of The Young Pumpkin" is the sides longest song at 7 minutes and is an
instrumental worked around a Zappa guitar solo.
In this digital age of streaming and
CD's etc this is where when listening you might want to do a bit of a running
order change as they have added in 2 bonus tracks between the original side one
and side 2 of the album. The A & B side of the single "Big Leg
Emma" & "Why Don'tcha Do Me Right?" they are probably best
experienced separately...."Big Leg Emma" is a pastiche on tracks like
"Hang On Sloopy" .
Side 2 of the album confronts
American society norms in the 60's "America Drinks"......"Status
Back Baby" (about highschool popularity) and then one of the most iconic
of the early tracks "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" a mini opera of sorts
that includes Congressmen dreaming of incestuous acts with their teenage
daughters. "America Drinks And Goes Home" closes the album with a
loud audience chatting, arguing and drinking while a band tries to play!
"Absolutely Free" was an
important album, it had a much smaller budget than "Freak Out" and
was recorded quickly so the audio reflects this. One of the essential albums
but far from the best!
One of Franks personal faves and a
firm fan favourite too. "Lumpy Gravy" started life when Capitol
Records commissioned Zappa to write and conduct an orchestral album, as his
contract with Verve was as a performer he accepted. Needless to say Verve were
none to happy and a law suit ensued by Verve owners MGM. Verve agreed to buy
the rights to the album which Zappa then re-recorded, edited, changed etc into
the version that was then released.
Fun Fact - The album originally bore
Franks name as Francis Vincent Zappa but was changed after he discovered his
birth name was actually Frank!
This album is fast paced, technically
2 side long songs which were "chaptered" in the digital age in to
their distinct parts. Random dialogue is intercut throughout from "the
piano people" - various people sticking their heads under a cover to the inside
of a piano where their conversations were recorded with the piano strings
reverbing as they spoke. There are orchestral cues, snippets of surf tunes, the
beautiful melody of "Oh No" (which fans would have to wait a few more
albums time to hear the full vocal version) as well as sections speeded up and
mixed with musique concrete.
It provides many a glimpse into
themes that would reoccur throughout Zappa's career and is a keystone release,
also his first solo album although various members of the Mothers of Invention
do appear on some parts. It won't be everyone's cup of tea but it should be
part of your Zappa collection if you want to get a full picture.
Fun Fact - the rear sleeve which
pictured Zappa in top hat and tails had a speech bubble reading "Is this
phase 2 of We're Only In It For The Money?" the title of the next Mothers
of Invention album. That release had a similar bubble reading "Is this
Phase 1 of Lumpy Gravy?" both can easily be viewed as companion pieces.
See also : "Lumpy Money Project/Object"
set released in 2009 which also contained the Capitol Records edit of the
album. The piano People would reappear in the 1994 album "Civilization
Phase III"
An absolute classic, the counter,
counter culture album! Whereas American society had been in the cross-hairs on
previous albums Zappa expanded his scorn and derision to include the Hippy
counter culture especially the San Francisco scene.
A lot of people misunderstood the
album title as the Mothers were saying that they were only in it for the money
when actually the title and whole sleeve and package design was a not too
subtle dig at The Beatles or more specifically the image and lyrics that they
were portraying. For "We're Only In It For The Money" Zappa carefully
recreated the Sgt Peppers sleeve. Where the Beatles had their name in flowers
the Mothers had theirs in smashed fruit and vegetables. The Mothers wore ugly
badly fitting dresses instead of the colourful shiny uniforms that the Fab Four
sported. There was even an insert in the original vinyl release that recreated
the Peppers insert but with cut out Zappa moustache etc.... but then someone
got worried at the record company and the gatefold sleeve was folded the other
way so the inside became the outside and the Peppers pastiche didn't feature on
the front cover (until the CD release in the 80's),,,,instead you had the
Mothers in drag against a yellow background,,,,,Zappa appearing on the rear
sleeve with a speech bubble asking "Is this Phase 1 of Lumpy Gravy".
The music has a distinctly 60's feel
(no surprise there) but it has fast cuts, random snorks and dialogue. Lyrically
it challenges the hippy ideal ("Who Needs The Peace Corps?") and the
establishment ("The Idiot Bastard Son") as well as claiming that the
Government planned to reopen the internment camps used in the Second World War
to imprison those with long hair for threatening the American way in
"Concentration Moon"! Quite chilling to think that the following
track "Mom and Dad" foretells the Kent State shooting 3 years before
it happened. It's not all heavy themes (not that musically it ever feels doom
laden) "Let's Make The Water Turn Black" tells the story of a couple
of Franks childhood friends and their odd habits (don't ask!) Most tracks are
short and cut quickly in to the next with the one exception being the album
closer "The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny) which came complete with
the instruction to read the Franz Kafka story "In The Penal Colony"
before listening.
Do you need this one in your
collection? Hell yes!
When preparing the album for CD
release in the 80's Zappa made the very unpopular choice of replacing the
original drum and bass parts using his (then) current bassist Arthur Barrow and
drummer Chad Wackerman. Future remasters reinstated the original parts and
printed the sleeve to the released version with group shot on the front rather
than Peppers cover.
See also "Lumpy Money
Project/Object" which featured the original mix and the 1984 version as
well as versions of Lumpy Gravy and mostly instrumental alternate versions
"Is this the Mothers of
Invention recording under a different name in a last ditch attempt to get their
cruddy music on the radio?" says the speech bubble on the albums
cover..... well no is the answer as it would have given the game away a bit
wouldn't it! "Ruben" is a doo-wop album which you can analyse in
anyway that you want, some have suggested that Zappa was commenting that all
the rock acts of the day were going to be someones nostalgia overtaken by the
latest trends, however you view it it's bloody wonderful!
The doo-wop songs that appeared on
the debut album "Freak Out" are revisited and presented in very
different versions. You have love songs, cheese, satire and it's a total blast!
Another controversial re-edit, remix
and new instrumentation was done when the album saw it's CD/digital release
which changed the sound a fair bit (bass & drums) but there were numerous
edits too. Fortunately the original mix was released as "Greasy Love
Songs" a few years ago with some bonus material so that is personally the
mix I'd choose.
This is the first album that is often
referred to as a jazz album which is probably partially true as jazz is such a
broad genre full of endless sub-genres although Zappa himself didn't classify
it as such.
The line up of The Mothers of
Invention had been changing over the past few releases and the arrival of
players like Ian Underwood and Bunk Gardner added to the musical dexterity
available within the band....in addition "Uncle Meat" also featured
Ruth Komanoff as a guest who was an incredible percussionist. Ruth would become
a full time member of The Mothers as Ruth Underwood after she and Ian married.
She is one of my favourite musicians to have ever performed or recorded with
Frank.
A double album that was released as a
soundtrack to an unfinished sci-fi film...by the time it was finally released
on home video decades later hardly any of the music remained. The CD released
added in large chunks of the films dialogue and a newly recorded track (1982)
which detract from an amazing album...their inclusion was due to space
limitation of CDs and to fit the original double album onto one CD a couple of
minutes would of had to have been lost. Hence bonus material was added to
justify the second disc and keep the album in full. If you get this version or
stream it then edit these tracks out especially as they are placed before
"King Kong", one of the most loved instrumental tracks of Zappa's
career . Alternatively get the Project/Object release "Meat Light"
which has the original mix and more.
This is an album of themes where
essentially 3 distinct themes reoccur throughout...."Uncle Meat",
"Dog Breath" & "King Kong". The album is largely
instrumental but has a few vocal tracks including the perennial favourite
"Cruising For Burgers" and a few interludes from Suzy Creamcheese.
"King Kong" took the whole final side of the original vinyl release
with the theme being explored as a full band, solo interpretations or
combinations of a few different members all adding something different. It also
had briefly popped up as part of "Lumpy Gravy" previously.
"Uncle Meat" is another
essential for your Zappa collection
Simple one this, an 11 track best of
based around vocal tracks released on "Freak Out", "Absolutely
Free" & "We're Only In It For The Money".
Zappa agreed to compile the album
rather than leave Verve to it even though he was out of contract with the
label. It isn't a simple compilation as all the tracks are mixed differently
from their original versions which makes it a great addition to your collection
but probably more a completest purchase.
The album opener "Peaches En
Regalia" is one of Zappa's most endearing tracks. Frank solos on every
track which is something that he hadn't done before including the blistering
solo on "Willie The Pimp" & "The Gumbo Variations" you
had subtler tracks in "It Must Be A Camel", "Little Umbrellas"
and "Son Of Mr Green Genes".
This is an absolute essential
purchase and needs to be in any Zappa collection. The 50th anniversary was
marked with the release of the box set "The Hot Rats Sessions" and a
tour of the album by Franks son Dweezil.
Even though he had disbanded The
Mothers Zappa released 2 albums of unreleased previously recorded material one
that was predominantly studio based and one predominantly live.
"Burnt Weeny Sandwich" was
the former and is instrumental save for the opener and closer both of which are
doo-wop covers "WPLJ" by The Four Deuces and "Valarie" by
Jackie and the Starlites. You again have a few reoccurring themes ("Igors
Boogie" & "Holiday In Berlin") a great Zappa solo with
percussion and accompaniment in "Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich" but
the highlight of the album is the 18 minute "Little House I Used To Live
In" which has a plethora of phases and players including solos from Zappa
and Sugarcane Harris...the track concludes with a concert audience interaction
where an agitated fan is heard shouting about the "uniforms" in the
venue before Zappa replies "Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform,
and don't kid yourself!"
Is it an essential album? For most
no, but if you are looking for a more in depth collection then it's a worthy
inclusion and starts to close the Mothers of Invention chapter.
The second MOI posthumous release,
concentrating on mostly live material, is one of my firm favourites despite it
being fairly challenging for laymen!
This is probably the album that
features Lowell George the most from his brief stint with the Mothers, legend
had it that Frank told him that he was too good and should form his own
band.... he did! With MOI bassist & Vocalist (the now disgraced and
incarcerated) Roy Estrada the guitarist formed Little Feat!
This album has been said to be a
fairly accurate record of what it was like to see the Mothers of Invention
live, you have great vocal tracks such as "My Guitar Wants To Kill Your
Mama" and "Oh No" which an extract had appeared in instrumental
form on "Lumpy Gravy". Then you have the urgency of "Didja Get
Any Onya?" which demonstrates why there are just so many Zappa live
releases with the band adapting on the spot to Franks direction on stage,
changing passages, styles something he would do throughout his career giving
even the most familiar songs very different feels.
Sugarcane Harris delivers a heartfelt
vocal and great violin line over a slow blues vamp on "Directly From My
Heart To You".
The band shows how musical adept they
have become by working through the difficult time signatures of "Toads Of
The Short Forest" while Zappa adds some great solos on "The Orange
County Lumber Truck" before the album concludes with a 2 minute wall of
feedback giving the album it's title track!
Apart from a few archive releases
years later this was the last album by this era of The Mothers of Invention.
From here on albums would mostly be released under Franks name or as The
Mothers but that's getting ahead of ourselves!
Fun fact...this is one of my
favourite album covers of all time!
An essential album but approach with
caution as it won't be for everyone!
There are a few things that marked
this album as a new beginning, it was the first that featured Mark Volman &
Howard Kaylan (rechristened as Flo & Eddie) both formerly of The Turtles of
"Happy Together" fame and also introduced us to the concepts that
would be explored in Zappa's upcoming film "200 Motels". Other
musicians of note include jazz keyboardist George Duke and drummer Aynsley
Dunbar both of whom would feature across many future albums.
This is also the point where the
bawdy humour and sexually charged lyrics started....the "Flo &
Eddie" years are often diversive among Zappa fans but "Chunga's
Revenge" is a fairly safe introduction to them.
Of the ten tracks on the album half
are instrumentals including opener "Transylvania Boogie", "The
Clap" which is a percussion piece where Zappa plays all parts and the
albums title track which is about a mutant Gypsy vacuum cleaner (don't ask!).
The vocal tracks are all pretty
straight forward, rock with some blues influences. "Road Ladies"
deals with the loneliness of musicians on the road and the ladies that provide
"comfort" a key theme to the concept of "200 Motels" even
if the songs wouldn't make the final version. Likewise "Tell Me You Love
Me" which would be rerecorded years later (many Zappa songs would turn up
on different albums). "Would You Go All The Way?" is about the sort
of person that would be in the services ("Would you go all the way for the
USO? Lift up your dress if the answer is no") "Rudy Wants To Buy Yez
A Drink" attacks the reps of the Musicians Union before the more
traditional "Sharleena" closes the album (another track revisited in
the 80's)
"Chunga" isn't a bad album
at all, it's just overshadowed by what was to come. It's a worthy of a place in
an extended collection but wouldn't be in my pick for core albums.
A live album with Flo & Eddie to
the fore and none too subtle groupie stories (think pure smut rather than
innuendo) and fans lapped it up!
A shortened version of Little House I
used To Live In" opens the album with Flo & Eddie adding vocal
"stylings" before we get the infamous "The Mud Shark" based
on the true story of a member of Led Zeppelin, a member of Vanilla Fudge and
various road crew "pleasuring" a groupie at a Holiday Inn with a Mud
Shark...the hotel had a deck you could fish from hence the fish which in real
life was purported to be a Red Snapper. Not exactly highbrow but this was the
time of Zappa writing his film "200 Motels" based on touring life
making you crazy. This swiftly leads to "What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We
Are", "Bwana Dik" and "Latex Solar Beef" all
continuing the groupie theme and the vocal refrain of Mud Shark.
There is a break with a predominately
instrumental version of "WIllie The Pimp" presented as "Part
One" and "Part Two" on the original release, "Part Two is
from a different show and is a great Zappa guitar solo. "Part Two"
was dropped from the first CD release but the 2012 version reinstated it.
The filth was only temporarily halted
and "Do You Like My New Car" recounts another true story of a sexual
encounter from The Turtles years where the girl in question refused to continue
until Howard Kaylan sang her his "Big, hit record"! The record in
question being "Happy Together" which The Mothers perform to close
the concert.
"Lonesome Electric Turkey"
is another instrumental piece with some vocal stylings or yelps before the
"Hot Rats" classic "Pieces En regalia" leads us back onto
familiar ground. This version does have some vocal harmony added in which works
well initially but drags towards the end. A more radio friendly track
"Tears Began To Fall" was chosen to close the album and also to be
the supporting single....lets face it, most of this album is anything but radio
friendly otherwise!
So would I recommend this one? To be
honest I've never been a big fan of it, there are better Flo & Eddie albums
in my opinion but it was and is a hugely popular album so check it out and see
if it's for you!
Fun Fact - John Lennon & Yoko Ono
guested on the encores on the last of the Fillmore shows, originally Zappa was
going to add this and make the album into a double but decided against it. The
Following year Lennon released it as one of the live sides on the Lennon/Ono
double album "Sometime In New York City" altering the sleeve of the
Mothers Fillmore East album as a "revenge" for Zappa's Sgt Peppers
parody "We're Only In It For The Money". Zappa would release his mix
of the appearance many years later on the "Playground Psychotics"
album albeit changing some of the track names.
For years Zappa had been writing a
film based around touring life and the excesses on the road (yes there are more
groupie stories!). "200 Motels" was ambitious, shot quickly in
England as they could get a great deal on hiring the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra they quickly ran out of cash so about a third of the script was never
shot leading to some creative editing being needed to shape some form of
cohesive story.
This is the soundtrack to the film.
The film if you are interested is something else, Ringo Starr plays Zappa (or
Larry the Dwarf if you'd prefer), Keith Moon is a sex craved nun and Mother
Motorhead Sherwood is the Mutant Gypsy hoover from "Chunga's
Revenge".....it's a wonderful mess but not a casual watch!
So we have orchestral overtures,
vocal accompaniment and straight rock tracks....we also of course have Flo
& Eddie! In the full context of the film the sexual content is much less in
your face than it was on "Fillmore East - June 1971" even though it
is more graphic on tracks such as "Penis Dimension" and "Shove
It Right In". Former Mother Jimmy Carl Black turns up to deliver the
Redneck anthem of "Lonesome Cowboy Burt". The longest run of Chorus
and Orchestra tracks appear near the end of the film/album but is interrupted
by the fuzz blues of "Magic Fingers".
The closer is the sublime
"Strictly Genteel (The Finale)" which is a prime case of ignore the
vocal and chorus lines and listen to what the music is doing, it really is an
astonishing track.
Fun fact - "200 Motels" was
the only album not to get a re-release in 2012.
Do you need it? Yeah, you really do.
It's not always a straightforward listen but it combines many of Franks sides
and is the first major exploration of his classical writing.
See also: "200 Motels - The
Suites" by The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra released in 2015
The final album (except for archive
releases) in the Flo & Eddie years and it's another live album.
The album starts with the 24 minute
pseudo rock opera "Billy The Mountain" which tells the story of Billy
(a picturesque postcardy mountain) and his wife Ethel (a tree growing on
Billy's shoulder). It's as wonderfully preposterous as it sounds and like many
Zappa tracks or artwork it all links within a grand scale of conceptual
continuity.
Of the other four tracks on the album
we have new versions of "Call Any Vegetable" and "Dog
Breath" both of which suit Flo & Eddie well. "Eddie Are You
Kidding" is a pastiche of local commercials while undoubtedly the most
controversial track of the album is "Magdalena" a lustful fantasy of
a Canadian man having incestuous thoughts about his daughter which is offset
against a jaunty upbeat musical backing.
Do you need it? Not really, it's a
great album but "Billy The Mountain" will be a marmite song for most.
#15 "Waka/Jawaka" Frank
Zappa
The end of 1971 hadn't been kind to
Zappa, firstly someone had let off a flare gun at a gig in Montreux resulting
in the venue burning down inspiring Deep Purple to write one of THE rock
standards of all time. (Fun fact: this show was released as part of the Beat
The Boots series under the title "Swiss Cheese/Fire") then after
hiring replacement equipment the tour continued to England. During the show at
the Rainbow in London someone ran on stage and pushed Frank into the concrete
floored orchestra pit leaving him badly injured and wheelchair bound for the
next year.
Without being able to tour Zappa
returned to the studio recording what can easily be seen as a sequel to
"Hot Rats" even the cover art has taps/faucets one displaying the
word Hot and the other Rats.
"Waka/Jawaka" is a fine
album of jazz/fusion done Zappa style made up of two long complex instrumentals
with two shorter vocal tracks sandwiched in the middle.
The vocal tracks are mostly
forgettable but the instrumentals are stunning and worth the price of the album
alone (or in this digital age maybe you could grab just these).
Firstly you may see this listed as a
Mothers album, through it's different releases it has had various names on the
spine and label including The Mothers, Frank Zappa and even Zappa/Mothers. As
this was recorded pretty much at the same time as "Waka/Jawaka" with
a very similar sound I'll call it a Zappa album.
This is another jazz/fusion release
albeit with more of a big band feel. There is a story to the album (which is
mostly instrumental) featuring an Emperor and his army of unemployed musicians
so if you want to look into that you can find it at https://www.zappa.com/music/grand-wazoo
It's much more consistent than it's
predecessor, "For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)" is the only
real vocal track and while still feeling superfluous to the rest of the album
it is musically interesting enough. The high points are the title track, the piano
& guitar duel of "Eat That Question" and the closer "Blessed
Relief" which shows off a much more subtle solo from Zappa.
A fantastic release with many
layers...so if you're in the mood for something that is a distant cousin of
jazz with amazing themes and melodies then this is worthwhile!
See also "Wazoo" a live
album archive release that has the majority of the "Waka/Jawaka" and
"Grand Wazoo" players albeit you only get one track from each release
amongst other music of course!
After the previous two releases
explored fusion and were predominantly instrumental affairs "Overnite
Sensation" is much more straight forward and also every track features
vocals.
The Mothers line up is amazing on
this album, Ruth & Ian Underwood, George Duke, Tom & Bruce Fowler,
Ralph Humphreys, Sal Marquez accompanied by renowned violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.
(Fun Fact: Ponty had previously released "King Kong : Jean-Luc Ponty plays
the music of Frank Zappa" an album of Zappa covers which featured Frank
himself on the albums only non Zappa track.)
Lyrically the album deals with a
broad range of subjects including TV violence in "I'm The Slime" but
most deal with a sexual theme..."Camarillo Brillo" talks about a
liaison with a witchy type and also references the Toads of The Short Forest
which of course was a track on "Weasels Ripped My Flesh", "Dirty
Love" is fairly self explanatory but the stand out has to be
"Dinah-Moe Humm" in which two sisters make a bet that the songs
protagonist can't make them cum. The sexual themes in Zappa's work would never
disappear and were mostly done with a humorous slant but would always prove to
be fairly controversial. The album closes with the wonderful
"Montana" about farming dental floss....yes, I am being serious!
"Overnite Sensation" is a
great starting album as it is full of great musicianship, is lyrically
accessible and there is very little not to like about it. An absolute essential
one for your collection!
Fun Fact! Backing vocals on the album
were by Tina Turner & The Ikettes although they couldn't be credited as
such.
Cut very much from the same cloth as
"Overnite Sensation" with virtually the same band but with the
addition of the wonderful Napoleon Murphy Brock and a guest appearance from
Cream legend Jack Bruce who jams on the albums title track.
This is another essential album, the
lyrical themes are more humorous and less sexually themed.... The album opens
with some sage advice "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" and "Nanook
Rubs It" leading to a brilliant Ruth Underwood workout on "St.
Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast".
"Cosmik Debris" is one of
my fave Zappa songs which for those following conceptual continuity references
the dust of the Grand Wazoo.
There are some great FZ solos on this
album from the fuzztones of "Excentinfugal Forz" to the flowing and
understated playing on "Uncle Remus" which addresses destroying racially
offensive caricature jockeys displayed on lawns in rich neighbourhoods.
The album closes with one of those
songs that casual fans will often have heard - "Stinkfoot" where a
mans dog suffers the odour of his owners feet.
This is another very accessible album
and was one of Zappa's most commercially successful releases with good reason.
Essential!
An incredible live album from the
bands run at the Roxy in December 1973 (with a few bits sourced from other
venues hence the elsewhere of the title.)
This album has become iconic for a
lot of fans for many reasons. Firstly the band is just incredible (Chester
Thompson had now been added as a second drummer) and the playing is both
sublime and fun! Secondly the performances were filmed but then sat in
production hell for many years as there were issues with the sound and picture
not syncing correctly and wouldn't be released until years after Franks
passing.
Such is the demand from fans for more
from these live recordings that you have various related releases including
"Roxy By Proxy" and the 7 disc "Roxy Performances" set.
Fans of smut have "Penguin In
Bondage", fans of the past have "More Trouble Every Day" and
"Son of Orange County" and those wanting some humour have the
affectionate ode to bad horror B-Movies in "Cheepnis". There's even a
look back to Franks life pre-Mothers of Invention in "Village Of The
Sun" and as if that wasn't enough you have the 16 minute "Be-Bop
Tango (Of the Old Jazz-Man's Church)".
I love this era and "Roxy &
Elsewhere" is another essential pick for me!
This album opens with "Inca
Roads" ....even if every other track proved to be crap it would still be
worth it just on the strength of that one track! Everyone shines on it, George
Duke and Zappa both put in great solos and there is a jaw dropping Ruth
Underwood passage...you know by now that I love her playing!
Luckily the rest of the album is
great so you don't have to worry about justifying it on the strength of one
song! "Sofa No.1" and "Sofa No.2" had been around since the
Flo & Eddie days, No.1 is instrumental where you can fully appreciate it's
majestic melody whereas No.2 is sung entirely in German. Johnny
"Guitar" Watson one of Franks blues heroes guests on both "San'
Berdino" & "Andy" and would appear on various albums
throughout Zappas career. Beefheart fans will also be pleased to hear the
Captains harmonica skills although he is credited under the pseudonym of
Bloodshot Rollin' Red.
Chester Thompson and Napoleon Murphy
Brock are now fully integrated in to the band and add their personalities to
the group dynamic especially in "Florentine Pogen" and
"Andy"
"one Size Fits All" is
often seen as a good starting point album, I think it is a great album and
definitely one you should have but not necessarily my pick for a "My First
Zappa" album!
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