Zappa.com

Don't you just hate it when you laugh at the humour in the previous post and your laughter gets shoved to the top of the next page totally out of context.

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

Wholeheartedly agreed. Any concert by "The Vaudeville Mothers of Invention," as Wiki Jawaka titles them, featuring performances of Billy the Mountain, Sofa/Divan, The Groupie Opera, The Mud Shark, Shove It Right In, and/or live versions of tunes from CR would make me happier than a barking pumpkin

Just going back to the original question of this thread, I LOVE all of Zappa's work apart from the Flo and Eddie period, i cannot stand their vocals and don't really think much of what Zappa wrote for this band, I kind of liked Billy The Mountain and I try to tolerate them on 200 Motels as I love the orchestral music on that album. But the most interesting thing about this period is that after the unfortunate end to this band Zappa went into his best period of work, starting with the Waka/Jawaka & Wazoo and then ONS and Apostrophe (') and then to OSFA and Live In NY, as though Zappa said, sorry about that crap, here have some fucking great music to make up for it..

_________________
http://www.facebook.com/hakantunamusic

I tend to think it was (generally) a progression. The musicians kept getting better and better, until he got to the point where he was using a machine to make music. Which is why I think YCDTOSA 5 was kind of a dick move, unless some of the original Mothers were claiming they were better (which I haven't heard of any of them saying something like that. But I'm not sure.)

_________________
You gotta give the people something good to read, on a Sunday

Not entirely sure what you have in mind here but FZ's notes mentioned that some fans believe the original band was the best, not that the band members themselves thought that.

Oh, I haven't read those in a long time. Of course the 1982 band were better musicians. But in terms of albums that I want to listen to, I think the Mothers have it all over the later instrumentally great players. I still think it's silly for him to point it out.

_________________
You gotta give the people something good to read, on a Sunday

I remember thinking the earlier bands were the best at the time I started buying the YCDTOSAs (this is when I was a kid and still trusted Rolling Stone and such) and I imagine some people still thought that even after hearing those sets. In my case they did get me (very) interested in the later groups.

Thinking about what it was like when and where I grew up, Zappa knew exactly what he was doing at the time. Fillmore East and Just Another Band had a significant part of my neighbourhood rocking their arses off and turning their minds over. That was my introduction to Frank Zappa.

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

Fillmore East is a great recording to sing along with.I love singing the parts that Flo & Eddie & Frank do and "air conducting" my invisable band while I sing.Great fun!!!! Still is!

_________________
I'm getting larger as I walk away.

No they were not. Not even close. They were, in some cases, better schooled and more technically proficient, but they were completely inferior as musicians. It's the only era of Zappa that bores me. It's so lightweight. For example:Ruben And The Jets is heavier than the candy-ass rock of Them Or Us.

That's what I meant. It's like having a blender that just blends, and years later you get one the dices and pulses and juliennes. "Hey, look at all the stuff that this new blender can do!!" Well, yeah, it can do all that stuff, but that's what you were looking for now and that plain blender did a great job for years.

_________________
You gotta give the people something good to read, on a Sunday

Well put.

_________________