Applied Zappigraphy

[snyprrr]

♫ On the second day of Zappa,
I played an mp3:
"Willie the Pimp"
& "Lonesome Electric Turkey"

haha

[Karl Henning]

Curiously fascinated by 200 Motels (the soundtrack) these days.

[jowcol]

Curiously fascinated by 200 Motels (the soundtrack) these days.

Lately, I've been on one of my Sugarcane Harris binges, and found myself listening to the Zappa and the Hot Rats Live at the Olympic show.  (March 1970)  It is my current understanding that there has never been a legit release of this concert, which is a crying shame, as it was one of only two live shows with the Hot Rats band, with the amazing Sugarcane Harris on the electric Violin, and an epic 24 minute Chunga's revenge, and a hot Willie the Pimp.  There are several tracks on youtube.  I'll just toss in a couple. 

http://www.youtube.com/v/bm6an6N9xwM

http://www.youtube.com/v/6aIRKbwATvM

http://www.youtube.com/v/J-4XzEByfro
http://www.youtube.com/v/UMtd60Ox1z4




  There has been  also in circulation a lower-generation copy  for the show where the sound is much closer to the first clip.   if you get googling for the Hot Rats and Olympic, you might find something-- if this stuff appeals to you.




Okay- wandering off thread into fields of Sugarcane....



Sugarcane was an amazing player-- his work with Zappa is coincidentally some of my favorite Zappa. (In addition to his work on Hot Rats, he also has some choice contributions to Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh (the latter is a classic).  While Jean Luc Ponty was no slouch, (far from), Sugarcane had an emotional edge that just kills me.

He also had major drug issues, and may have been less reliable than Charlie Parker.

Some of Sugarcane's work is coming back into print, but not enough.  His Cup Full of Dreams album has come back out this last year, and the title track is pretty cool. 

http://www.youtube.com/v/hHb2-Ru-MJ8

He did a Live album in 1971 (Sugarcane's Got the Blues) which has some great moments-- despite the title, it's much more Jazz fusion, but the "Song for My Father" is a classic.  I'll admit the title track goes long and doesn't really recover.  Another album to look for (last I checked it wasn't in print, but some rips had been posted) is the New Violin Summit, featuring Sugarcane, Ponty, and two other violinists with a strong rhythm section and Robert Wyatt on drums.  It's worth looking out for if you like electric violin.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks, I'll check those out avec plaisir.

[Karl Henning]

Zappa Plays Zappa in Providence, Sunday. Party!

[Karl Henning]

July came in like a lion.

[Karl Henning]

Talented musician, annoying personality.

As a talented musician, then, he's got the advantage of you.

(* chortle *)

[Karl Henning]

I've been living with King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of FZ for a few days (mostly I've been composing or otherwise working on my own music, so I've been a little lazy with the CD player at home).  Kind of nice, but a little . . . smoothed-out, overall. At the very least, though, worthwhile for the Ur-text of Music for Electric Violin and Low-Budget Orchestra.  Not entirely a bad thing, but the general feel of the album is, Zappa gone easy-listening.  Interesting alternative readings, though the brevity of "King Kong" (which I perforce remember as a massive suite of variations on the fourth side of the double-LP Uncle Meat) I find intrinsically slight.

[Ataraxia]

It appears Zappa's stuff is currently being released again.

[Karl Henning]

Yes. Thinking about the reissue of Chunga's Revenge....

[Ataraxia]

Do you know what these reissues offer as incentive to buy these albums yet another time?

[Karl Henning]

I do not. I missed the first CD issue (and no longer own the vinyl). Of Chunga's Revenge, that is.

[Concord]

Grandmothers of Invention at Sellersville Theater on Thursday, Aug. 9. Anniversary of Nixon's resignation - appropriate, esp. since they played "Son of Orange County." A great set that included all of the Roxy album except "Be-Bop Tango." Personnel consisted of old-time Mothers Don Preston, Tom Fowler and Napoleon Murphy Brock, and (relative) newcomers Chris Garcia on drums and Robert Mangano in the FZ lead-guitar role.

[Ataraxia]

I do not. I missed the first CD issue (and no longer own the vinyl). Of Chunga's Revenge, that is.

Maybe they restored them to the original drums sound-wise. I know Zappa messed with the drums on the previous reissues and fans got pee-ohed. Hm...

[Karl Henning]

Was that a problem with Chunga's Revenge? I read about that controversy w/r/t We're Only In It For the Money.

Ironically ... I fetched in the Lumpy Money project/object, largely for the sake of the ultra-tasty mono remaster of We're Only...  The second disc in this set is the infamous UMRK "tweaked" versions of both Lumpy Gravy and We're Only...

Despite an æsthetic predisposition to dislike them "on principle" ... I have got to admit, they are fun and intriguing. I like them! But ... I should likewise probably have found them (to use a Lumpy Gravy word) "distraughtening" if they were the only version available (or if I had bought them, expecting them to be "genuine reissues").

[Ataraxia]

Was that a problem with Chunga's Revenge? I read about that controversy w/r/t We're Only In It For the Money.

Not sure. It was a problem with more than one I believe.

[Karl Henning]

Not sure. It was a problem with more than one I believe.

Probably with Freak Out! as well . . . I snapped up the Ryko release as soon as it was available, but it left me cold.  Where the MoFO (Making of Freak Out!) remaster is ultra-yummy.

Other objections raised by purists: The Ryko release of Absolutely Free includes two brief pop-ish songs ("Why Dontcha Do Me Right?" / "Big Leg Emma") which interrupt the flow of the CD.  And where theoretically all of the original double-LP of Uncle Meat could be made to fit on a single CD, the re-issue contains some rather long-winded audio excerpts from the-move-which-was-never-made, and a curious song recorded much later than the Uncle Meat material, "Tengo Na Minchia Tanta" (a scatological Italian phrase).

[Concord]

It's almost like trying to keep up with the Bruckner editions.

[Ataraxia]

Superior masterings / sourcing.

Ah! Thanks, James.

[Ataraxia]

http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/vinylvscds/2012hotpoop.html

Thanks again!