|
Understanding America
''Understanding America'' is a compilation album by Frank Zappa. It was compiled and mastered by Zappa before his death in 1993 and released posthumously in 2012. Despite being released after UMe/Zappa Records had issued most of the albums in remastered form, all of the tracks included are sourced from the original 1986-1992 digital masterings. Track listing Notes and references External links Official page for the album on the Zappa website {{Frank Zappa albums Compilation albums published posthumously Frank Zappa compilation albums 2012 compilation albums Zappa Records albums ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, Virtuoso, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and ''musique concrète'' works, and produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation. As a self-taught composer and performer, Zappa had diverse musical influences that led him to create music that was sometimes difficult to categorize. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention
''Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'' is a 1985 album by Frank Zappa. The album was originally released in two slightly different versions in the US and Europe. The album's title is a reference to the lobby group, the PMRC, who were campaigning to require record companies to put warning stickers on albums they considered offensive, and to Zappa's former band, the Mothers of Invention. Release Following distribution problems with Zappa's album '' Thing-Fish'', which former Barking Pumpkin distributor MCA Records refused to distribute, Zappa made a deal with EMI Records, which would allow ''Them or Us'' and ''Thing-Fish'' to be distributed by Capitol Records in the United States. Zappa wrote a " warning" which appeared on the inner sleeves of these albums, as well as ''Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'', it read:WARNING/GUARANTEE:This album contains material which a truly free society would neither fear nor suppress.In some socially retarded areas, reli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One Size Fits All (Frank Zappa Album)
''One Size Fits All'' is the tenth studio album by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in June 1975. It is the band's last studio album. A special four-channel quadraphonic version of the album was advertised but not released. Band The album features the summer/fall 1974 lineup of the Mothers of Invention, with keyboardist/vocalist George Duke, drummer Chester Thompson, percussionist Ruth Underwood, bass guitarist Tom Fowler and saxophonist/vocalist Napoleon Murphy Brock. “Can’t Afford No Shoes” features James Youman instead of Fowler. When Fowler had broken his hand while on tour, Youman temporarily replaced him. Album content The album features one of Zappa's most complex tracks, "Inca Roads". One of Zappa's heroes, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, guests on two tracks ("flambé" vocals on the out-choruses of "San Ber'dino" and "Andy"). Captain Beefheart also appears under a pseudonym. Zappa stated in the liner notes that the album was recorded simultaneously wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny "Guitar" Watson
John Watson Jr. (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996), known professionally as Johnny "Guitar" Watson, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. A flamboyant showman and electric guitarist in the style of T-Bone Walker, his recording career spanned forty years, and encompassed rhythm and blues, funk and soul music. Watson recorded throughout the 1950s and 1960s with some success. His creative reinvention in the 1970s with funk overtones, saw Watson have hits with "Ain't That a Bitch" and "Superman Lover". His highest charting single was 1977's "A Real Mother for Ya". Early life Watson was born in Houston, Texas. His father John Sr. was a pianist, and taught his son the instrument. But young Watson was immediately attracted to the sound of the guitar, in particular the electric guitar as played by T-Bone Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. His grandfather, a preacher, was also musical. "My grandfather used to sing while he'd play guitar in church, man," Watson reflected ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Them Or Us
''Them or Us'' is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1984 by Barking Pumpkin Records. Album content Its opening and closing songs were not written by Zappa: "The Closer You Are", was written by Earl Lewis and Morgan Robinson and originally released by The Channels; and " Whippin' Post", originally performed by The Allman Brothers Band. "Ya Hozna" includes backward vocals taken from " Sofa No. 2" (from ''One Size Fits All'', 1975), "Lonely Little Girl" (from ''We're Only in It for the Money'', 1968) and unreleased outtakes of "Valley Girl" (vocals by Moon Zappa). "Planet of My Dreams" (featuring Bob Harris on vocals) is a 1981 studio recording taken from the score of Zappa's unrealized 1972 stage musical ''Hunchentoot'' (other titles from this show appear on the first-CD edition of the ''Sleep Dirt'' reissue from 1993). "Be In My Video", described as the best song on the album, pokes fun at the cliches in music videos, particularly David Bowie's hit si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I'm The Slime
"I'm the Slime" is a 1973 single by Frank Zappa and The Mothers from the studio album '' Over-Nite Sensation''. The single version is a different mix and edit from the version on the album. Live recordings of the song can be found on '' Zappa in New York'' and '' You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1'', the latter version having been performed and recorded on the same night as the majority of tracks appearing on 1974's ''Roxy and Elsewhere''. "I'm the Slime" and its b-side version of " Montana" were put on Zappa's best of '' Strictly Commercial''. It was performed in concert from 1973 to 1977 and 1984. Lyrics and meaning The song contains two parts; the first part is a riddle of insults in the form of "what am I?" "I am gross and perverted. I'm obsessed 'n deranged. I have existed for years, but very little has changed. I'm the tool of the government and industry too, for I am destined to rule and regulate you. I may be vile and pernicious, but you can't look away. I m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bongo Fury
''Bongo Fury'' is a collaborative album by American artists Frank Zappa and the Mothers, with Captain Beefheart, released in October 1975. The live portions were recorded on May 20 and 21, 1975, at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. Tracks 5, 6 and 9 (intro only) are studio tracks recorded in January 1974 during the sessions which produced ''One Size Fits All'' (1975) and much of ''Studio Tan'' (1978). Overview The album is a notable entry in Zappa's discography, because it was the last to feature a majority of his early 1970s band, which appeared on ''Over-Nite Sensation'' (1973), ''Apostrophe (')'' (1974), ''Roxy & Elsewhere'' (1974), and ''One Size Fits All'' (1975). Napoleon Murphy Brock's vocals are featured both on the sprawling "Advance Romance" as well as on the three-part harmonies of "Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy". Captain Beefheart, in his only tour with Zappa's band, delivers vocals and harmonica on several tracks, including his two short prose readings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as The Magic Band, he recorded 13 studio albums between 1967 and 1982. His music blended elements of blues, free jazz, rock music, rock, and avant-garde music, avant-garde composition with idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdism, absurdist wordplay, a loud, gravelly voice, and his claimed wide vocal range, though reports of it have varied from three octaves to seven and a half. Known for his enigmatic persona, Beefheart frequently constructed myths about his life and was known to exercise an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians. Although he achieved little commercial success, he sustained a cult following as an incalculable influence on an array of avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental rock artists. A child prodigy, prodi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disco Boy (song)
"Disco Boy" is a single composed by musician Frank Zappa from his 1976 album ''Zoot Allures''. It was featured on Frank Zappa's best of album ''Strictly Commercial''. A sped-up version of the song appears in both the film ''Baby Snakes'' and its subsequent soundtrack, as well as best of album '' Son of Cheap Thrills''. Structure and meaning The song's structure is similar-sounding to previous work by Zappa. However, in this particular song, Zappa satirically added a more pop feel to it to go along with the theme of the song. The song addresses the stereotypes affiliated with the disco era. The vain tone of the song is set by the lyrics, "Leave his hair alone, but you can kiss his comb." The lyrics, "Disco boy, do the bump every night, 'til the disco girl who's really right, gonna fall for your line, and feed you a box full of Chicken Delight" indicate that the disco boy is not looking for love, but just a one-night stand. The lyric "but thank the lord that you still got hands, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zoot Allures
''Zoot Allures'' is the 22nd album by the American rock musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1976 and his only release on the Warner Bros. Records label. Due to a lawsuit with his former manager, Herb Cohen, Zappa's recording contract was temporarily reassigned from DiscReet Records to Warner Bros. Title The title is a pun on the French expression " Zut alors!", which conveys mild surprise. Album information The album was originally conceptualized as a double LP, but Zappa rearranged, edited, and shortened the track listing to what was eventually released as a single album. Zappa played a test pressing of the original album for ''Circus'' magazine in 1976, which reported a radically different, though slightly erroneous track listing that included "Sleep Dirt", "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution", "Filthy Habits", and "Night of the Iron Sausage". The former three tracks eventually surfaced on the 1979 ''Sleep Dirt'' and the posthumous ''Läther''; "Night of the Iron Sausage" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Find Her Finer
"Find Her Finer" is a 1976 single by Frank Zappa from the album ''Zoot Allures''. The song was recorded with Zappa's lips extremely close to the microphone, creating an intimate sound. Roy Estrada provided falsetto vocals to create a comic effect to the song. It was intended to be the lead single for ''Zoot Allures'', but failed to chart, unlike its other single "Disco Boy". A live and sped up jazz version can also be found on the album ''The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life''. It was played in concert in 1976 and 1988. Meaning The song's satirical lyrics suggest that the best way to win a girl over is to show that you are less intelligent than her. His reasoning for this is that women do not care for smart men, but instead a romantic. This parallels the stereotypical belief that men prefer unintelligent women. The songs also metaphorically refers to a clitoris being fingered, extra emphasized by the next track on the album: ''Friendly Little Finger''. Track list 7" A."Fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Over-Nite Sensation
''Over-Nite Sensation'' is the ninth studio album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, released in September 1973. It was followed by Zappa's solo album '' Apostrophe (')'' (1974), which was recorded during the same sessions. Recording Frank Zappa wanted to use backup singers on the songs "I'm the Slime", "Dirty Love", "Zomby Woof", "Dinah-Moe Humm" and "Montana". His road manager suggested The Ikettes, and Ike & Tina Turner were contacted. Ike Turner insisted that Zappa pay the singers, including Tina Turner, no more than $25 per song. However, an invoice shows that they were actually paid $25 per hour, and in total $187.50 each for 7 1/2 hours of service. During the recording sessions at Bolic Sound, Tina brought Ike into the studio to hear the highly difficult middle section of "Montana" which had taken the Ikettes a few days to learn and master. Ike listened to the tape and responded "What is this shit?" before leaving the studio. Ike later insisted that Zappa not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
