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Guest Agent of Oblivion

A Frank Zappa Thread.

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Guest Agent of Oblivion

Ok, the guy put out hundreds of songs throughout his career, and I know someone here has to like him other than me.

 

What's everyone got? I have:

 

Freak Out

Absolutely Free

Lumpy Gravy

Apostrophe

Live At The Fillmore

Just Another Band From LA

Joe's Garage

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2

Sheik Yerbouti

Hot Rats

Cheap Thrills

 

The ones in bold I'd all consider seriously friggin' great.

 

I'm stumped on where to go next, though. There's still stuff from the 70's I haven't gotten yet, but I've barely scraped the 80's Mothers.

 

PS: Best Mothers of Invention lineup?

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I've liked Zappa's music almost as far back as I can remember, which is somewhat strange given that I own but two of his albums, Roxy & Elsewhere and Unmitigated Audacity, both of which are live albums oddly enough. Unmitigated Audacity isn't particularly well-recorded, which hampers my enjoyment of it, but Roxy & Elsewhere is great stuff. Thankfully, a used record shop in my town usually has a bunch of Zappa albums on vinyl relatively cheaply, so next time I have some extra money I'm gonna head off there and see what I can find.

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I only know a couple songs (no CDs), but I've liked what I heard

 

Hey Agent, the other day at BB I saw "YCDTOSA Vol 1"

 

Pickup or not?

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Guest Eyeball Kid

All I have is Hot Rats and Burnt Weeny Sandwich, both of which I like. I prefer his fusion period to the more "pop" stuff he started doing in the 70s. If/when I get around to getting another Zappa album, it'll probably be Bongo Fury, 'cuz I like Captain Beefheart so much.

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I'm painfully not with it when it comes to Zappa. I like him, but I'm just not putting any effort into it. Joe's Garage is all I got.

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Shortly after his liaison with the taco stand lady, JOE makes a horrible discovery...

 

Joe:

Why does it hurt when I pee?

Why does it hurt when I pee?

I don't want no doctor

To stick no needle in me

Why does it hurt when I pee?

I got it from the toilet seat

I got it from the toilet seat

It jumped right up

'N' grabbed my meat

Got it from the toilet seat

My balls feel like a pair of maracas

My balls feel like a pair of maracas

Oh God I probably got the

Gon-o-ka-ka-khackus!

My balls feel like a pair of maracas

Ai-ee-ai-ee-ahhhh!

Why does it

Why does it

Why does it

Why does it hurt...when I

Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

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I have:

 

Freak Out!

Absolutely Free

We're Only in it for the Money

Over-nite Sensation

Apostrophe

One Size Fits All

Sheik Yerbouti

You Are What You Is

Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch

Strictly Commercial (better mixes on this one than some of the albums).

 

The best Mothers lineup was the original. How could you NOT love Jimmy Carl Black?

 

"Hi, boys and girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black, and I'm the indian of the group!"

 

-Ben

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Guest Agent of Oblivion
Recommend me some Zappa.

Can't believe I forgot to put down Zoot Allures. That album is sweet.

 

Depends what you're after..

 

His virtuoso guitarist guy albums areZoot Allures, Hot Rats, disc 2 of Joe's Garage. At least that I have.

 

Total weirdass Zappa-Freak Out, Lumpy Gravy, Absolutely Free.

 

If you're going to go out and get just one Zappa cd, it should be Sheik Yerbouti or Freak Out. The former is literally a little bit of everything, the latter is good sixties rock music on the first half, then the acid kicks in on the second and doesn't look back.

 

A couple tracks if you're downloading stuff:

 

Black Napkins

Baby Snakes

Watermelon in Easter Hay (Bar none my favorite guitar solo ever)

Rat Tomago (probably my second favorite solo ever)

Call any Vegetable

Trouble Every Day-Almost a protoplasmic hip hop ooze, with political, racial, and economic commentary presented in a sharp fast-talking manner. It was written during the Watts riot, actually. Great song. If you're going to bother listening to any of this, make it this song. Afterwards, try to realize that it came out in 1966.

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Guest Agent of Oblivion

I don't have it, I don't know. I'll venture a yes. Vol 2 isn't too impressive. The musicianship is really tight, but unless you LOVE secondary jazz percussion, I'd take a pass.

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Well, I ended up picking it up

 

while I've heard several Zappa songs, this is my first actual Zappa CD

 

Informal review forthcoming

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I'm starting guitar and have taken up Zappa as my guitar mentor. I just bought Apostrophe and Bongo Fury (a live album with Beefheart... also got Trout Mask Replica... anyhow, I love all of this stuff, and was thinking of going for Freak Out next (I REALLY want Joe's Garage but I'm hesitant to buy expensive CD's)... but yeah, Zappa/Beefheart-wise... someone advise me. I'll probably end up picking up everything after enough time passes by... hell, is there anything to absolutely AVOID?

 

Oh, and doesn't Zappa have an autobiography, too? Where could I pick up that?

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