Customer Reviews

Frank Zappa's Jukebox

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great audio quality abounds on this CD. Some of these original recordings can be found on other compilations but in this collection they are the best audio quality I have ever heard. Many are from primitive sources but the restoration is startling. This reminds me of the the type of work for which ACE is so famous. The disk also contains a nice booklet with rare period photos and an intelligent dissertation on why the songs were selected and how they related to Zappa and his muse. The CD runs 79m. and is programmed so that Pop, Blues, Jazz, DooWop and Classical tracks roll into one another with ease. For the fan this is a welcome collection and a great audio clue into what went into the making of the man known as Frank Zappa.

I was tempted to give it just four stars, because (a) this material is relevant only for us true FZ fans and (b) one CD is ridiculously insufficient and I could do with two or three CDs of the stuff. Still, the release is certainly brilliant -- especially, the liner notes which neatly summarize the place these songs have had in Zappa's aesthetic upbringing. Especially cool is the ability to compare the obscure originals to their magnificent covers by FZ himself (e.g. Bacon Fat, WPLJ, The Closer You Are, etc.). Definitely worth buying if you're fascinated by Zappa and the origins of his immortal music. P.S. Varese, Stravinsky and Webern are rightly added for completeness's sake, but if I were to compile such a release, I would probably include more than the two minute long snippets.

Well, I do feel somewhat guilty for buying this. This Chrome Dreams release out of the UK is not a Zappa Family Trust release; the copy states this CD is not authorized by the estate of Frank Zappa. So, as a self-appointed FZ prophet, I feel somewhat the backstabber for buying what is merely a Zappa-related collection of recordings--his name and face are all over it, but there are no FZ tracks--without any of it benefitting the ZFT.

Although not a Zappa album, this is a must-have for any dedicated FZ fan. You've got 26 tracks, which span 1950s R&B/boogie-woogie and black underground pop, Varese's musique concrète, classic blues, pure classical, and 1960s bebop/avant garde jazz. There are so many little holes that will be filled in your knowledge, so many connections made to the things you've heard on so many FZ recordings.

You've got Richard Berry providing an early, very smooth R&B take on "Louie, Louie" (FZ's "Plastic People"). Frank's "Great googly moogly!" exclamation from "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" is presaged by The Cadets with "Great googa mooga!" on "Stranded in the Jungle" (which FZ covered on tour in 1976, available on the Philly '76 release). There's also "WPLJ," which Frank covered as the opening track on Burnt Weeny Sandwich, and "Directly from My Heart," which Frank covered on Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Frank's "play your harmonica, son" from the original "More Trouble Every Day" track is right there on Lightnin' Slim's "My Starter Won't Start." Frank's "Love of My Life" is evident in "The Closer You Are" from The Channels. And if you aren't hearing Captain Beefheart in Howlin' Wolf's "I Asked Her for Water (She Brought Me Gasoline)," then there's no hope for you.

Somewhat surprisingly, given Frank's clear expressions of how much Edgard Varese influenced him, there is only one Varese track, "Ionisation" (although this is the one single track that FZ himself mentioned a number of times). It's complete with sirens, sleigh bells, wood clackers, etc, dissonant, discordant, purely Zappa. You can really hear some of FZ's work in this stuff. The same is true of the two Webern tracks; I'm really hearing snippets from Frank's "Greggary Peccary," among others.

And now you'll actually have some context on "Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue" from Weasels Ripped My Flesh, as this CD offers Dolphy's "Out There."

The track order is a bit screwy, the two Webern and two Stravinsky tracks are paired but not grouped together, and both are separate from the Varese track. The order is not chronological, nor is it by genre or theme. "Nite Owl" as the closer is a good choice, but Dolphy's "Out There" and Cecil Taylor's "Song" ought to be back to back.

The 12-page booklet notes are extensive and informative, actually quite good, with FZ interview outtakes and sourced excerpts from FZ biographies forming making up the bulk of the content.

As I said in my review of the rip-off Transmissions release, the FZ photos are pretty bad. The cover looks like he's addled, more likely caught in mid-blink. One of the inside photos appears to have captured him on the street, and the shutter speed was insufficient for the motion, making his hand and arm a blur. The only other FZ photo looks like a throwaway from a Baby Snakes photo shoot, and is the only clear photo. As a non-Zappa album--that has his name and his likeness all over it--it appears these are the only photos they could get permission to use.

Bottom line: this is a Frank Zappa album without any Frank Zappa music. This CD is a good reference collection, for diehard Zappa collectors and for those wanting to know more intimately what drove FZ and his music.

Loaded with the original versions of some Zappa faves. Worth the price of admission if you're a true ZappaFan.

a wonderful compilation of tracks which inspired frank zappa in one way or another...a must for every music lover...great line notes, and the fact that the zappa estate has nothing to do with this release is just for its best...this cd is my new favourite...buy it