Zappa.com

Hi everyone,

I wasn't driven away, just haven't posted for a while!

My original question (am I wrong?) was a tongue in cheek way of asking whether I liked something that was not necessarily popular amongst other fans. I'm not seeking to argue its correct place in the canon, but was genuinely curious about what other fans thought, especially as I know from the Real FZ Book that he was not fond of the LSO stuff.

One thing that I absolutely love about Zappa's music is that I can hear something I may have heard a dozen times before and suddenly I 'get it', it just fits in where previously it was just not doing it for me. LSO suddenly did that for me, and I listened to it more, hence the post.

Who knows, maybe my next revelation will be with Uncle Meat...

There you go.

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The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

Maybe this could warm you up to the quasi-baroque surrealism of Uncle Meat --

http://www.amazon.com/The-Zappa-Album/dp/B0043XQ158/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_title_0

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If I'm not alone... How long have I been asleep?

I too think LSO is a fine album and surely underrated by many fans. Although the rehearsals and recording were unususal and strained, a lot of fine music was made during those sessions. The account of a happy Zappa at the party afterwards is probably true, and it's possible that he believed he had recorded enough to make perfect edits of all the tracks. Only later did he find out that some sections would never be as good as he had envisioned. This is obvious from the notes to the albums, particularly the bitingly acidic comments to Vol. 2 (the LP). During Strictly Genteel the trumpets are way down in the mix in the beginning, which is a compromise, considering that they carry the main melody theme. Of course he couldn't be happy with solutions like that. But still it's a pretty fine sounding record, and there are many classic recordings from the orchestral world with just as many or more mistakes. Leonard Bernstein's own recording of West Side Story comes to mind. It is legendary, but full of audible mistakes from the trumpet section and others.

David Ocker probaly has the most accurate account of what happened during the LSO sessions. His story is well worth reading, if you haven't already --

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andymurkin/Resources/MusicRes/ZapRes/LSO.html

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If I'm not alone... How long have I been asleep?

I don't have a favorite album, just preferred pieces.

Bogus Pomp from Orchestral Favorites
Revised Music... from Studio Tan
Sad Jane from LSO
Perfect Stranger title track
Overture to 200 Motels
Lumpy Gravy... er, maybe I do have a favorite?

You know.....as much as I love the PERFECT STRANGER and Yellow Shark I'm kind of digging the LSO cd right now...
There's something about the new transfer....
I know it wasn't remastered but the "pacing" and "timing" seems better than the RYKO.
I might be listening through the whiskey but it does sound......"clearer" or something.

They did a hell of a good job recording this stuff originally.
It was one of the very first digitally recorded orchestral albums, was it not?

I think the Telarc label had FZ's LSO album beat by several years, but it is a great recording.
I'm happy with my Ryko CDs.

That was a really interesting story, thanks DC Boogers

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

You're welcome, the nosy drip

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If I'm not alone... How long have I been asleep?

There's an old Letterman clip up on YouTube when FZ was a guest plugging the LSO album.

It's a shame you can't get a lot of the original, treated mix of these sessions on CD (to date, I've not been a vinyl listener). I appreciate the general consensus appears to be that the 'remix' is preferred, but, regardless of that, and/or whether I'd, myself, feel the same, I'd like to hear it in this form too.

I'm in love with Sad Jane.

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With your love you can change: all of the fools, all of the hate.

Is Joe the Muffin Man?!