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Is there any evidence when Bognor Regis was recorded, and with whom FZ is playing.

I know its supposed to sound like the Hots Rats sessions, but what proof is there?


The existance of the recording 'Bognor Regis' had been known a long time before Jeff Dexter and Andrew Sclanders talked about, and sold the disc; I would like to know how it happened to be knowledge in the public domain before this period. I say this as I sent the MP3 to someone, and he is certain that he is on the recording.

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A Blanket in my Muesli. A Blanket in my what??

He's a CEO for Chrissakes!

Sounds like Ansley Dunbar on drums.

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Arf you out of your fucking mind.

from zappa patio:

Sharleena / Bognor Regis Single

1. "Sharleena" (02:54)

2. "Bognor Regis" (04:45)

From Geir Corneliussen:

An on-line friend of mine that has a web site has an old friend that visited his web site and this guy, I can't tell you the name of this guy, but, anyway, the first guy I mentioned asked me if I know something about this so he could tell his friend, whose name will remain a secret, if I knew anything about this. This happened some time ago, and I never found out. Here is what the friend of my friend asked my friend with that web site to ask his visitors about, not that I am a visitor, but a friend. It looked like this:

Looking through my old boxes ... I came across a record Frank gave me some years ago ... a single edit of "Sharleena" ... on the B-side is "Bognor Regis". Would you see if any of your guests have any idea of its origin, as it does not appear in any of his catalogue and is not registered with BMI or ASKAP.

From an anonymous trader (I know who he is, but he has asked to be kept anonymous):

The A side, "Sharleena", is just an edited down (2:54) version of the Chunga's Revenge track. "Bognor Regis", on the other hand, seems to be a leftover from the Hot Rats sessions, the ones that spawned "Willie the Pimp", "Li'l' Clanton Shuffle" and others. Basically, it's "Merely a Blues in E", Zappa and Sugarcane Harris soloing over the tasty accompaniment of Underwood, Guerin and Bennett (the last two are guesses). 4:45 min of great jamming, and one must wonder, why wasn't this on The Lost Episodes?

Note: Bognor Regis is a town in the UK.

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Who's this dude with his hair straight back?
His new white socks, 'n his pants all black
His T-shirts rolled His watch is gold
A '55 Chevy that his brother just stoled

stretching all the way from Belfast to Bognor Regis.
Once Upon A Time YCDTASA vol 1.

Sounds like A ian Dury lyric

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Arf you out of your fucking mind.

I presume the anonymous source must have been Jeff Dexter - but how long ago was this?

I met Mr Dexter a month ago in London, he claims that he sent Gail Zappa a message if she wanted to use the acetate, but no reply came back.

If FZ recorded and cut the acetate in the states, then why did he call it Bognor Regis??

I strongly suspect the item was recorded in the UK.

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A Blanket in my Muesli. A Blanket in my what??

He's a CEO for Chrissakes!

from http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/songs/Bognor_Regis.html


From: Manning Bartlett (affz, May 3, 1999):

If said tune exists, then there are a number of reasons why Zappa would have
called it Bognor Regis. Bognor Regis is a well known village for a number of
reasons, mainly because it is dank, dirty, tiny and has a funny name. Most
British people would know of Bognor Regis for this very reason, and I know it
gets mentioned in at least one Monty Python sketch.

Its humour value comes from a number of sources. For one, 'bog' in British
english is slang for a toilet. The "Regis" part means "royal", which is quite
amusing, as it vaguely implies "Royal shithouse". Additionally the expression
"Bog off" is equivalent to "screw you". Plus "Bognor" is just a funny word, like
'enema', 'bondage', 'dacron' and 'echidna'.

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Who's this dude with his hair straight back?
His new white socks, 'n his pants all black
His T-shirts rolled His watch is gold
A '55 Chevy that his brother just stoled

I don't believe that it is Dunbar. For the first minute or so before Frank's guitar becomes the lead instrument in the tune it is very difficult to tell who is on the drums, but then when Frank takes over it becomes clear that it is John Guerin. He starts playing those off beat pea soups on the high hat just as he does for a couple of bars during Frank's guitar solo on Willie the Pimp. It's little personal traits like that that give things away

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"drums are too noisy, 'n you've got no corners to hide in"

i belive my theory before you say it sounds l9ike a diffent drummer when the FZ plays

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Arf you out of your fucking mind.

I wish I understood that

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"drums are too noisy, 'n you've got no corners to hide in"

it doesn't really have that finess that aynsley had. it almost even sounds like the same drummer from son of mr. green jeans, ralph humpfry.

also, aynsley wasn't in the hot rats band with sugar cane

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Who's this dude with his hair straight back?
His new white socks, 'n his pants all black
His T-shirts rolled His watch is gold
A '55 Chevy that his brother just stoled

I know he still could be on there though,

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Arf you out of your fucking mind.

The Acetate was manufactured before some point in 1970 or 1971. I am a bit vague as this is another plea for information. When did FZ arrive in England to work on 200 Motels? It was during this period that FZ asked for Bognor Regis to be played on the Roundhouse PA. FZ then gave the disc to Jeff DExter. Dexter used to spin discs on a Thorens 125 at a regular gig called "The Implosion" at the Chalk Farm Roundhouse. There is every possibility that this has Aynsley Dunbar, as FZ met him during October 1969 at Amougies.

_________________
A Blanket in my Muesli. A Blanket in my what??

He's a CEO for Chrissakes!

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There is a violin in there - it may not be Sugarcane (thats what I am hoping)

_________________
A Blanket in my Muesli. A Blanket in my what??

He's a CEO for Chrissakes!

Dont you mean

Paul Humphrey

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Arf you out of your fucking mind.

yes sir! i was reading it on http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/musician ... mphreyPaul

and ralph's name is right underneath it. oops!

as far as when zappa was in england in 70, according to zappateers- MOI toured the US till early november. then headed overseas in the end of november and toured europe till mid december which is when they started working on 200 motels.

the violin is definately sugercane

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Who's this dude with his hair straight back?
His new white socks, 'n his pants all black
His T-shirts rolled His watch is gold
A '55 Chevy that his brother just stoled

Bognor Regis existed in a US archive, not soley retained by Jeff Dexter after the incident at the Roundhouse.

_________________
A Blanket in my Muesli. A Blanket in my what??

He's a CEO for Chrissakes!

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Hahahah!

Just had a closer look at the label, it says Bongor Regis (Royal Bongor) instead of Bognor Regis

_________________
A Blanket in my Muesli. A Blanket in my what??

He's a CEO for Chrissakes!

During a Q&A at the recent Roundhouse Zappa weekend Jeff Simmons remembered that when they were over in the UK playing the Bath Festival in 1970, Zappa and the Mothers, Canned Heat and Dr John were all taken to Bognor Regis for a press conference. I would guess that was where the name for the tune came from.

Why Bognor Regis I can't imagine - it is about 100 miles from Bath.

Jeff Simmons said he personally was obsessed with the name Bognor and on a later trip to the UK made a special visit - only to find that the average age of the populace was around 70 years and it was not exactly a happening town !

The exhibition of Zappa album covers etc. in the Roundhouse foyer had an item retelling the story of how Jeff Dexter was given an acetate of the tune.

Von Mek

BANGOR RELIST

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Arf you out of your fucking mind.