Source: slime.oofytv.set

Source: slime.oofytv.set

Review of Zappa: A Biography by Barry Miles.

Source: Fulvio Fiore

Source: Fulvio Fiore

Source: Fulvio Fiore

Source: Fulvio Fiore

A case assessment of the late Wild Man Fischer, foremost clown in Frank Zappa's circus.

After The Turtles, you did a 180 degree turn and you and Mark joined The Mothers 0f Invention. To some that may seem an incongruous match.
Frank always knew something nobody else knew. He was very much Bowie-esque with that. He could see the future. Way back in the 70s he was the first guy who said to us, “Wait and see, nobody’s going to be in a band. There’s gonna be these supergroups where a guy from this group, a guy from this group and a guy from this group are gonna get together and make real music. In every band, there’s only one real player and when those players get together to make music it’s going to be incredible and that’s the future.” That’s what he thought. I know why he wanted Mark and I in the band. He wanted to add a pop sensibility to the Morhers who were always sort of cast off as being the least playable band in music. So when we he heard that The Turtles had broken up – we were friends of his – he asked us to join.
The musicians in Frank’s band were the most shocked. When we walked into that first rehearsal, Jeff Simmons looked at George Duke, looked at Ian Underwood and looked at Aynsley Dunbar, and went, “What the hell is Frank doing?” They knew he was gonna audition new singers. They knew there was gonna be a new Mothers that were gonna make this movie 200 Motels and go to Europe. They were waiting for whoever came through the door and thought it might be someone like Gregg Rolie [Santana] but when it was us there was so much scepticism. As soon as we would leave the room there was all this, “Frank, what the fuck are you doing? Those aren’t the guys! They’re pop idiots and they’re gonna bring the band down.” And Frank said, “I don’t think so, I think they know what they’re doing.”
So he was right. We even questioned his sanity at the time, as did the audience for the first few shows in Arizona and in Europe. And then they saw what he meant. It wasn’t so much the first few shows where we had to do what Other Mothers Of Invention players had done, which was sing new arrangements of Frank’s material.
Fairly quickly it became a tight-knit group who had been through a whole lot of shit together – the fire in Montreaux, Switzerland [noted in Smoke On The Water], the European tours, the Berkeley orgies. All of these things Frank hadn’t done with his other bands: this was different now. We were sharing experiences fand hanging out and he was getting high with us. It was very different and I’m thrilled to have been part of that era because it ended quickly and his distrust for humanity kicked in big time again after that accident in England where he was seriously injured. He was never quite the same and went back to being the cynic he’d been prior to this closeness. I don’t think any band member permeated that again. I know that at the end of his life he asked us back. We reminisced and talked, but he was close to that bunch of Mothers Of Invention and it never really was the Mothers of Inventions again after that. It was different.

Source: Fulvio Fiore

Source: Fulvio Fiore

Review of Zappa And Jazz by Geoff Wills.

Source: Fulvio Fiore

Source: Fulvio Fiore

"Though he could sing like a (rather gruff) bird, Frank Zappa preferred to hear other voices on his records. Some of those voices talk to RC's Alun Hamnett."

Source: Bill Lantz

Record shop racks were once heaving with US underground progressive rock. Kris Needs tells the heavyweight tale of its influences and birth.

Source: Fulvio Fiore

Frank Zappa poster
Only known example which was "wheat pasted" to a wall in the East Village during the winter of 1966 to promote the first ever New York City appearanve of the band, post-Freak Out! release.

See also Hake's Americana & Collectables - MOI Balloon Farm 1966 poster.

Source: Hake's Americana 

Session musician Carol Kaye played 12 string guitar on Freak Out! and Absolutely Free, bass on Lumpy Gravy.

Source: Fulvio Fiore 

The Mothers Of Invention Freak Out
I loved everything about The Mothers Of Invention and Frank Zappa, but especially the satirical attitude. Frank was a friend of mine and his wife is a friend of mine and I will always miss him. I wish he was still alive and still working. He had vision, he could mix everything – R&B, doo wop, blues rock, an orchestra, the avant garde – and create something new. There was nobody like Frank. And I don't think that he could exist today. I just love him.

Hot Rats en regalia: 7½ hours of spoils for 50th anniversary
"As crazed as you can make it," calls out Zappa, leading the band through an early rehearsal of Peaches En Regalia; a track that appears a total of 10 times across this mammoth 6CD set, in a variety of forms. It's fascinating to hear the evolution of this iconic piece of music, and the bare-bones '69 rhythm track is particularly captivating. But that's just scratching the surface, The Hot Rats Sessions features a glut of unheard goodies from the Hot Rats era, including alternate takes and mixes, and primordial versions.
The early cuts compiled here reveal some wonderful surprises. A piano-and-brushes version of Twenty Small Cigars (here simply titled Transition) is – minus the acidity of the overdubbed harpsichord – heady, moody... romantic, even.
Hot Rats is a juggernaut of jazz fusion, and to be able to glimpse Zappa's creative process in this way will be giddying to the point of rapture for any Zappa admirer.
However, there are some holes in the marketing strategy. The Hot Rats Sessions is not available
on vinyl in any form, and at around £100 a pop is prohibitively expensive for a CD box set.

Happy together? Short-lived Mothers line-up showcased
With the doors to the Zappa Vault now seemingly propped open, the releases just keep on coming. The Mothers 1970 captures the short-lived line up of Aynsley Dunbar, George Duke, Ian Underwood, Jeff Simmons and Flo & Eddie (aka Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman), both live and in the studio, with a glut of unreleased material spread across a 4CD set.
The studio tracks are the most compelling. Red Tubular Lighter is a greased up, psych rock and blues jam that reminds a little of Willie The Pimp and is littered with deliciously skittish guitar licks. A further treat is an early, piano-driven Wonderful Wino which effortlessly trumps the Zoot Allures version.
The live material sees Flo & Eddie let loose on early Mothers material, with the band also previewing material from the 200 Motels soundtrack. While the performances do not, on the whole, rival those of Fillmore East – June 1971 and Road Tapes, Venue #3 (2016 release of two July 1970 shows) an instrumental Sleeping In A Jar demonstrates their formidable agility.

One for the dental floss enthusiasts
The golden anniversary of Zappa and the Mothers' 1973 classic is celebrated here with a box set including the 2012 remaster, session tracks, two contemporary live shows, and multiple mixes of the original album (Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround, Zappa's 1973 Quadrophonic mix). Over-Nite Sensation was recorded months after Zappa assembled an all-new Mothers – all virtuosos, including George Duke (keyboards), Ian Undenvood (sax, synths etc) and Ruth Underwood (percussion). The emphasis has shifted to blistering funk-rock with a renewed emphasis on Zappa's vocals and guitar-playing. Extras include the Inca Roads released on The Lost Episodes with newly discovered period vocals and the '73 RDNZL with added Zappa guitar solo. The live shows are breathtaking reminders of the talent Zappa had at his disposal – check the wild Big Swifty from the 23 March '73 Hollywood show or the Uncle Meat selections from 12 May in Chicago.

We also recommend reading the interview with Japanese pianist Hiromi, a big Zappa fanatic, on page 47 and the article about Shankar, an Indian violinist who collaborated with Zappa, on page 126.