---------------------------------------------------------------- | alt.fan.frank-zappa FAQ Bibliography | | Part 1 of 2 | | | | Maintained by Vladimir (sova@kpbank.kemerovo.su) | | Version 1.12, September 29, 1996 | ---------------------------------------------------------------- ____________________________________________________________ | | | alt.fan.frank-zappa newsgroup | | FAQ | | | | BIBLIOGRAPHY | | | | version 1.12 | | ( 29-Sep-96 ) | ____________________________________________________________ put together by Vladimir Sovetov special thanks to dsmith@world.std.com (David Smith) "Wilson, Andrew F" patrick.gaumond@fsa.ulaval.ca (Patrick Gaumond) Paul Core bazzoli@bsing.ing.unibs.it (Marco Bazzoli) Tan Mitsugu David G. Walley Yes, nice job :-))). But still it's far from been complete and absolutely correct too, so any additions, suggestions or corrections will be greatly appreciated and I hope not only by me ----- Vladimir Sovetov | - Arf she said What's In ========= FZ books _The Real Frank Zappa Book_, _Them Or Us_ Books about FZ _No Commercial Potential: The Saga of Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention"_ _No Commercial Potential: The Saga of Frank Zappa Then and Now_ _No Commercial Potential: The Saga of Frank Zappa_ _Good Night Boys and Girls_ _Mother! Is the story of Frank Zappa_ _Mother! The Frank Zappa Story_ _Die Frank-Zappa-Story_ _Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play_ _Frank Zappa - a visual documentary_ _In his own words_ _Freak Out : Frank Zappa No Seikatsu To Iken_ _Frank Zappa - In eigenen Worten_ _Viva Zappa: Un Alchimiste Delirant - Mode l'Emploi_ _Viva Zappa!_ _Zapzapzappa_ _Frank Zappa_ ( Rolf Ulrich Kaiser ) _Frank Zappa et les Mothers of Invention_ _Frank Zappa y the Mothers of Invention_ _Frank Zappa: Der Rebel aus dem Untergrund_ _Alla Zappa_ _Zappalog: The First Step of Zappalogy_ _On Tour with the Evil Prince_ _Zappa: a Biography_ _The Ballad of Frank Zappa_ _Frank Zappa and Mother Story_ _Frank Zappa : Sztori 1940-1989_ _Suplik piny Zappy a Hratky s Beefheartem_ _Zappa Vox_ _Being Frank: My Time with Frank Zappa_ _Zappa: Electric Don Quixote_ Special magazine's issues _Zappa!_ _A Definitive Tribute to Frank Zappa_ Songbooks _Frank Zappa Songbook, Vol. 1_ _The Frank Zappa Guitar Book_ _Frank Zappa. Plastic People. Corrected Copy. Songbuch_ _Zonx: Texte letzter Hand, 1977-1994_ _Zappa (e piu duro di tuo marito)_ _Real Fake Book_ Reference books _Torchum Never Stops_ _Frank Zappa: cronique discographique_ _Project Documention_ _Recorded Zappa: annotated discography 1961-1995_ Additional materials _Once a Catholic_ _Bat Chain Puller_ _I'm With The Band_ _Road Mangler Deluxe_ _Rock Wives_ _The Age Of Rock : Sounds Of The American Cultural Revolution_ _In Their Own Words_ _The Rock Generation_ Miscellaneous _Chances: And How To Take Them_ (FZ dad's book) _The Real Frank Zappa Book Index_ ( by hhf@euronet.nl (Anzoh Hay ) ) Biblio, Full-Blown ================== Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _The Real Frank Zappa Book_ by FZ and Peter Occhiogrosso, Published by Poseidon Press, New York, 1989, ISBN 0-671-63870-X, 352 pages _The Real Frank Zappa Book_ by FZ and Peter Occhiogrosso, Published by Picador Books, London, 1989, ISBN 0-330-31073-9, 352 pages _The Real Frank Zappa Book_ by FZ and Peter Occhiogrosso Published by Picador Books, London, 1990, ISBN 0-330-31625-7, 352 pages _Frank Zappa: I am the American Dream_ by FZ and Peter Occhiogrosso, Published by Goldmann Verlag, Germany, 1991, ISBN ???? ???? pages (German translation of _The Real Frank Zappa Book_) _Frank Zappa: l'autobiografia_ con Peter Occhiogrosso Arcana Editrice Milano, 1990 ISBN 88-85859-55-0 283 p. (Italians translation of...) _The Real Frank Zappa Book_ by FZ and Peter Occhiogrosso, (translated by Misawa Etsuko) Published by Byakuya-Shobou, Tokyo, Japan, 1991, ISBN 4-89367-210-X, 437 pages Comments ---------------------------------- " One reason for doing this is proliferation of stupid books ( in several languages ) which purport to be ABOUT ME. I thought there ought to be at least ONE, somewhere, that had REAL STUFF in it. Please be advised that this book does not pretend to be sort of 'complete' oral history. It is presented for consumption as entertainement only." The Real FZ book, p.9 From: onthecornr@aol.com (OnTheCornr) ...is an obvious must, but you won't read much about FZ's history after about 1967. This is definitely not an "and then I wrote..." kind of autobiography. In fact it shifts gears roughly halfway through and switches from autobiography to philosophy. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Them 0r Us (The Book)_ by FZ, Published by Barfko Swill, Los Angeles in 1984, No ISBN, 351 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: wygiwys007@aol.com (WygiWys007) "Them or Us [the book]" by Frank Zappa, contains the lyrics to "Flam Bay," "Spider of Destiny" and "Time is Money," (from Sleep Dirt) These were all part of the (unproduced) Hunchentoot stage play. From: brontis@netcom.com (Eddie G.) The book is written in quasi-screenplay style and contains tons of conceptual continuity stuff. It is partly narrated by Francesco Zappa, that obscure 18th century Italian composer, who in the book is now a short, paunchy man in his 50's living in New Jersey. I would have to say that the book is for fan's of Frank's work and it is those people who would find it hysterically funny. Here is the forward, perhaps it can give you some insight: "This cheesy little home-made book was prepared for the amusement of people who already enjoy Zappa music. It is not for intellectuals or other dead people. It is designed to answer one of the more troubling questions related to conceptual continuity: 'How do all of these things that don't have anything to do with each other fit together, forming a larger absurdity?' Your enjoyment of the contents could be anhanced by hearing some of the music described in the text. The albums shown on the back cover contain some of these songs. Other songs derive from 'Joe's Garage' and "Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch'. This is a story book. It is not a rock & roll biography. This is the only REAL & OFFICIAL FRANK ZAPPA BOOK. All other books attempting to trade on my name are unauthorized and full of misinformation. This book is dedicated to all of the fans who have made the last 20 years of large-scale absurdities possible. This book used to be called 'Christmas In New Jersey'." So there you have it, I don't know if this helps any or not, I can only strongly urge you to acquire this book, as it is one of my all-time favorite pieces of literature. The album covers on the back of the book are: "Francesco Zappa", "Them Or Us", "Thing-Fish", and "Old Masters". The front cover is that photo from "True Glove" with the maestro and his oven mitten. From: ivester@utkvx.utk.edu (Stan Ivester) I see the book as kind of a depository for a number of screenplays and theater pieces that Frank was never able to get produced--elements of Thing Fish, Hunchentoot, and a bunch of other stuff all seem to have been worked together into one giant thing that's impossible to categorize. From: Charles Ulrich Barfko-Swill shipped me this book a mere two months after I ordered it. So I thought I'd let you all know what's in it. It's over 350 pages long, though that's with very wide margins. It's reproduced from a dot-matrix computer print-out. (Well, what kind of printer did YOU own in 1984?) Them Or Us (The Book) is in the form of a screenplay. It incorporates the lyrics to "Once Upon a Time"/"Sofa"/ etc., "Billy the Mountain" & "Greggery Peccary", Joe's Garage (through "Keep It Greasey"), "Baby Take Your Teeth Out", "Valley Girl", "Cocaine Decisions", "Debra Kadabra", "Let Me Take You to the Beach", Hunchentoot, and Thing-Fish. These are tied together with one or more screenplays, all woven into one giant conceptual continuity. The stories include the adventures of Francesco Zappa in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, an invention that exploits the non-existence of time to bring the dead back to life, Billy Sweeney's trip to the moon, and the production of the Valley Girl movie by a bunch of coke fiends. In addition to "Time Is Money", "Think It Over" (="Grand Wazoo"), "Flambay", "Spider of Destiny", "Planet of My Dreams", and "Cheepnis", Hunchentoot includes songs that may or may not be titled "The Human Mind Is the Ultimate Power", "We Are the Force-Lings","Hunchentootin' Blues", and "Spider Lady". Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _No Commercial Potential: The Saga of Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention"_ by David Walley. published in 1972 by Outerbridge & Lazard, a subsidiary of E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc. ISBN 0-87690-066-X (cloth edition) 0-87690-076-7 (paper edition) 184 pages (paper edition) _No Commercial Potential: The Saga of Frank Zappa Then and Now_ by David Walley Published by E P Dutton, New York ISBN 0-525-93153-8 1980, 184 pages _No Commercial Potential: The Saga of Frank Zappa_ by David Walley Published by De Capo Press, New York ISBN 0-306-80710-6 1996, 222 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: David G. Walley And I have something for you, a little taste of No Commercial Potential: The following in from the Foreword: This is a story of a man, America in the Twentieth Century, music, lifestyles, Los Angeles in the Sixties, the youth culture and its subsequent exploitation. The story has many characters, plots and subplots. Some of it is funny, some of it is not so funny. All of it is the truth, not the absolute truth, only truth as reflected by the way people view themselves in relation to one man, Francis Vincent Zappa: prime iconoclast, musician, social thinker, philosopher, and chief ugly creative head of a musical assemblage known as the Mothers of Invention, a contemporary music ensemble." From: David.Vinson@launchpad.unc.edu (david eugene vinson) It talks quite a bit about his formative years, and covers his musical career through about the end of 1970. The discography listed in the appendix ends at 200 Motels, if that helps you pinpoint the date a little better. It's not a great book, but it contains some interesting stuff, including lots of quotes. From: natola@coos.dartmouth.edu (Mark A. Natola) I also have a copy of this book (with a purple cover). I saw an updated version about 10 years ago, that updated Franks career to that point. So, there are a couple of versions of that book floating around. From: seth@scoot.netis.com (Seth Adelson) Yes, I know that Frank did not like the book very much. David tells me that Frank was pissed off because Frank was (and I don't mean to be disrespectful here) a perfectionist who was difficult to work with and as much of a publicity-monger as the many victims of his satire. And apparently, Frank did not like hearing this. David told me, "Frank didn't like my book because I held a mirror up to his face." Regarding hearsay, I don't think that's true. I know that David did spend some time in direct interviews with Frank and the Mothers. I also know that David's approach is always to consider EVERYTHING that has been written about his subject. So he probably relied on some secondary material as well. David did NOT write the Zappa biography in Frank Zappa's words; he wrote in his own, and that's probably why Frank didn't like it. From: Valdimir Sovetov But what the fuck? I like David and his book too. The only real problem with it from my ponit of view is that David who greatly appreciate Frank genius and understand many things about him doesn't quite happy with a mode d'emploi of all FZ brilliances. David has his own view of a cultural role of a giant such as FZ. The real FZ doesn't fit very well in David plan, so he is a little bit grudgin' here and there. So you disagree, you want to discuss, you what to think it over. And it's much better I believe than mindlessly swallowing bad-to-your-health lolly-pops of all those Viva! and Bravo! From: onthecornr@aol.com (OnTheCornr) Two significant FZ bios, David Walley's NO COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL (very good, but dated) and Julian Colbeck's ZAPPA: A BIOGRAPHY (useless) are no longer available AFAIK. From: j-makos@uchicago.edu (Jeff Makos) Anyhow, "No Commercial Potential" was written by David Walley. It covers FZ up to about 1970, the "Flo & Eddie" band. Walley had extensive access to FZ but when it was publication time, FZ tried to stop it from being published--unsuccessfully. It's not bad, and mostly good for FZ'c comments and for checking out some of the more negative things said about him by Art Tripp, among others. I think it's pretty fair, compared to the slavish grovelling of "Viva Zappa" (which borrows heavily from Walley), it has some more history in it than in "The Real Frank Zappa book" (still a must read) and avoids the theoretical mumbo-jumbo of Watson's "Negative Dialectics." But not everyone agrees with this opinion, so read 'em all and let me know what you think. BTW (that's by the way--it took me a while to figure that one out when I was a newbie. Power to all newbies!), the book had two editions. The first had a purple cover and the second had a red cover with a more 80s style photo. The second edition had a cursory review of FZ's work from "Fillmore East" through "Baby Snakes" (I think). But basically, it was still the old version. Enjoy! From David Walley Our Bizarre Relationship or The Real Story of Frank Zappa, David Walley and No Commercial Potential (excerpt of letter from DGW to Ben Watson, June 4, 1994) The reasons FZ tried to stop my book from being published in 1972 is a case in point. Here's the story: everything had been going along swimmingly with my own project/object. I'd written it, sent it out to FZ, having previously received written permission to use relevant quotes and been given a price and was in the process of hocking the publisher to cut Herbie a check. Unfortunately my publisher's accountant died and the slip was lost for six months. In the mean time, FZ decided that he didn't like my book, or more precisely, he didn't like what people had said about him and there were some facts that were wrong (the date of the Montreux fire was one of them which you caught). When we spoke about it, I asked him what particular "facts" were wrong and offered to make the necessary corrections. As for the other criticism, I respectfully told him that as an independent writer and biographer, and not his paid publicist, I did not feel inclined to censor what other people said about him because obviously, he had the last word at all times. "But this book is going to be around for a long time," he said. " I didn't write it to be thrown in the garbage, I don't write publicity unless I get paid for it," I countered, and that's the way it was left. Eventually the permission slip was found and the money paid. NCP was published and was well-received. But he was still ticked off at me, and for some years thereafter continued to fulminate publicly against my work. In reality, I was as much obsessed by a true creative vision as he was only he didn't see it like that. He was under the impression that I was going to write a straight publicity bio and not a serious work on a serious contemporary American original composer who although he was working within the confines of the rock and roll world was actually way beyond them. Subsequently when I encountered people from Frank's inner circle they assured me (while cautioning me not to tell Frank) that I'd done any excellent job and of course FZ wasn't going to like it because it was an accurate picture, one over which he had no control. Sound familiar? But I was hurt deeply since I spent a lot of time and effort (four years of research and interviews) in attempting to use FZ's analytical tools to mirror his creative environment, to define the context in which he created what he created. You of all people know what I'm talking about because you've attempted to do that yourself. In some ways I was a little surprised that I even appeared in your work considering FZ's involvement, but then again, we get older and our perspectives change, his especially considering the trash for cash bios that came after mine. From: "TAYLOR H. MARTIN" wrote: Date: Sun, 18 Feb 96 00:47:01 -0700 Don't forget "No Commercial Potential" by David Walley, which has a new edition about to be released. From: scialli@primenet.com (John V. Scialli) NCP [1996 edition] will have a final chapter "I'm Not Satisfied" which will mention this newsgroup and its FAQ's (and its asteroid). Interestingly, Walley sez that Miles and FZ were very good friends. (So the groups *and* the rock critics all lived together, huh?) From: Vladimir Sovetov Here is my original posting to aff-z upon receiving the test pressing of new 1996 edition (that with last chapter named _I'm Not Satisfied":-))) "Just want to tell you that my friend and brother in arms David Walley bestowed upon me the latest (soon to come) edition of his "No Commercial Potential" book yesterday. It has now very cheerfully looking yellow-black cover, additional (well thought and written) chapter, that summarized David views (as eyewitness and contemporary) of Frank's life and works which is very interesting and much more optimistic than his unpublished New Yorker obituary also included. But that's not all! Also included special Internet apppendix! Wow! That's right, you heard it right. The first ever written in english book that glorified Frank now come to be first (in this latest edition) that enshrined alt.fan.frank-zappa newsgroup, our FAQs, Homepages and all of us as an undisputed part of Frank Universe! Qudos, David!" Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Good Night Boys and Girls_ by Michael Gray, published by ???????, England, 1975, ISBN ?????, ????? pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: Pat Buzby I noted the reappearance of this book with amusement when I checked out the local bookstores while on xmas break. Gray's bio was published once around 1975 (which was the only time he interviewed FZ), then updated once in the mid-80's, and again recently to take advantage of a certain unfortunate incident that occured last December. I found some of Gray's speculation on FZ's personal/family life guiltily enjoyable to read (though quite obviously b.s.), but otherwise I wouldn't recommend this book. It's less pretentious than Ben Watson's "Negative Dialectics," but also less illuminating, and contains almost as many factual errors. Hopefully one day someone who actually is well-informed about music will consider writing an FZ bio. (IMO, "Viva Zappa!" by Dominique Chevalier is about as close as anyone's gotten to writing a decent book about him.) Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Mother! Is the story of Frank Zappa_ by Michael Gray, published in 1985 by Proteus Books, ISBN 0 86276 146 8 -paperback ISBN 0 86276 147 6 -hardback 160 pages (paperback) 128 pages (??? hardback ) _Mother! The Frank Zappa Story_ by Michael Gray, Published by Plexus Publishing, London, 1993, ISBN 0-85965-119-3, 255 pages _Die Frank-Zappa-Story_ by Michael Gray, vgs verlagsgesellschaft, Koeln [i.e. Cologne], 1994 ISBN 3-8025-2300-8 ??? pages (german translation) Comments ---------------------------------- From: dsmith@world.std.com (David Smith) Thankz 6 Introduction 7 1. Let's Make The Water Turn Black: 11 Zappa's Childhood & Adolescence In Brown-Shoes-Don't-Make-It America 2. We Got This Car, When It Hits The Wall: 36 Early Attempts At Self-Promotion, Selling Jingles & Earning Money From Music 3. Goodnight Ruben & the Jets: 52 The Metamorphosis Into The Mothers Of Invention 4. Freak Out/Overnight Sensation: 73 Into The International Rock Scene, Smelling Bad And Armed With Vegatables 5. What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning?/ 103 Would You Go All the Way?: More Of The Frank Zappa & The Mothers Chronology 6. Revised Music For Guitar & Low Budget 136 Orchestra/The Duke Loses And Regains His Chops: The End Of The Frank Zappa & The Mothers Chronology 7. None Of The Above/The Ocean Is The 171 Ultimate Solution: The S.S. Zappa Sails Alone 8. Pedro's Dowry/The March To Dupree's Paradise: 188 Orchestral Favorites, Porn Wars & The End Of The Road 9. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore?: 211 More Trouble Every Day, Bamboozled By Love Dizcography 241 From: markus@hurtig.quark.lu.se (Markus Ringner) There's a new edition from 92 or 93 with a couple of extra pages and a picture from a Yellow Shark performance. From: dsmith@world.std.com (David Smith) "Revised and updated 1994" Plexus Publishing Ltd. 256 pages, including index _Mother!_ includes many stories, anecdotes (many of which have been questioned by others in this newsgroup) and photos that I haven't seen elsewhere. From: rmrag@gnu.ai.mit.edu () It was distributed by Cherry Lane Books Company, Inc. PO Box No. 430 Portchester, NY 10019 From: caj@sm.luth.se (Caj Zell) It is a *critical* biography, so towards the end the author lets you know that he's not enirely happy with how FZ treats his friends and relatives. Though I'm not the kind of guy that supports everything FZ have said and done, I do not agree with Gray on this point (at least not on his comments on Zappa's treatment of his wife). I think that two persons emotional relationship should not be judged by people outside this relationship as long as there is no risk of physical/ psychological harm (which is hard to imagine in this case).(What's your professional opinion, John S.?) Ehummmm......back to the book. Well, I definitely consider it worth reading. I haven't found any other *straight* biography on Zappa. From: johnscialli@delphi.com (John V. Scialli) Good point about judging relationships. Sounds like this guy got dissed by Zappa and decided to dump on him in the book. Regarding Frank being emotionally retarded, we all know (and love and depend on the fact that) Frank was a nerd. So what? Ringo Starr said he was the nicest person in show biz. This also points out that Frank was afterall an actor playing the part of an aloof eccentric. I bet Diva sees him differently but her view is not newsworthy so who would include it in a unauthorized bibliog-rape? John S. From: jqc8339@axp2.acf.nyu.edu Michael Gray's Mother! The Frank Zappa Story is a piece of shit. I can't believe how bad it is. As an example: "For eldest son Dweezil, being his own person has meant growing up to be just like dad. Not only a rock-musician/composer: that would be no more nor less understandable than if he'd become a sociology professor. But Dweezil Zappa is a rock-musician/composer who plays lead guitar, who records with his dad's musos, who got his father to produce the debut album that should have been saying, 'This is me!', and who gives his own songs titles that sound like no-one else in the world but his father. If your Frank Zappa Junior, there's not much idependent spirit about calling your songs 'You Can't Judge A Girl By The Panties She Wears' and (the admittedly canny) 'I Can't Fuck Without Falling In Love'" (Page 236). Gray somehow concludes that Dweezil's choice to become a musician like his father was forced upon him by his father. If Gray had done any serious work for this book, he would have discovered that Dweezil was very much interested in becoming a professional baseball player until High School (I forget why he changed his mind). The whole conclusion of the book is that Zappa was a complete control freak with no friends and a wife who didn't like him very much (this is based on a single interview Gail gave to Victoria Balfour): "The only kind of freak Frank Zappa ever was was a control-freak" (Page 239). This might be true to a certain extent, but I also know that Frank liked his musicians to put their own personal stamp on his music and that he encouraged them to bring out their own musical personality. To base an entire conclusion of a book on one interview that Gail gave is bad scholarship (if he based it on other sources there is no indication). Which brings up another interesting feature about this book, Gray never footnotes anything. Even though he uses extensive quotes throughout the book, you can never check his sources because he doesn't give any. Why does Frank have to suffer from such shabby scholarship? If I had the time I would like to research and write a bio myself, but I guess this will have to wait until I get my PhD. From: aup@ddci.dk (Anders Uhl Pedersen) How about this: On page 94 Gail and FZ's wedding at the New York City Hall is described and the paragraph ends thusly: "The proceedings were rushed through just before closing-time by an official who punched in their card on a time-clock sitting on top of what Zappa decribed as 'a cheesoid Formica replica-pulprit'. Two days later, Moon Unit was born." Hmm. I thought I read in The *REAL* FZ Book that he was in Europe when she was born... I continued to struggle my way through this here book and on page 100 it says: "Next day, The Mothers and the entourage flew on to Copenhagen while Tom Wilson and Zappa darted out for a brief visit to Italy, to investigate the possiblilty of being commissioned to write the music for Vadim's movie, Barbarella. Frank flew back to Copenhagen for the third European concert. After that concert, news came through from New York that Gail had given birth." I might have misunderstood something, but this would make Gail a pretty special woman since the time span between the time that "Moon Unit was born" and the time she "gives birth" again is a great deal below 9 months. But, obviously, when Moon was born was probably not a very significant event in Frank's life, so why worry about when it was? So much for accuracy... From: jaolso6@ix.netcom.com (Jeff Olson) I thought this was an informative book that went into a lot of detail about Franks' early career. It spent a little too much time talking about the legendary suzie creamcheese but I found it a good source of information on Franks' early life and times. It also gave some insight into the loyalty of the musicians in the bands to Frank, and some insight into the break-up of the '88 band (or '84?). From: mbitts@delphi.com (Michael Bitts) Yeah, I bought Gray's book in 1986, I had been listening to FZ for a couple of years, and I knew next to nothing about his life when I first picked it up. Thank goodness the writing was so poor that I just had to think "Now wait a minute". His rag is just so full of mis-information. I can't believe it's still in print and UPDATED! What I would *really* like to see is Matt Groenig finish his FZ bio. I read an interview where he said he had written down 500 pages of notes, supplemented by 1,500 pages of research material, during the time before _Life in Hell_. Sure would like to see him finish it. From: onthecornr@aol.com (OnTheCornr) MOTHER! THE FRANK ZAPPA STORY by Michael Gray is full of biographical detail--sometimes too much, like tour itineraries--although it gets a little sketchy after 1975, which I guess is when Gray interviewed FZ. Not totally factually accurate, includes some gratuitously hateful remarks from Suzy Creamcheese (e.g., expressing a desire to kick the pregnant Gail Z. in the stomach) and the current post-mortem edition (this book has been around in two or three previous incarnations) adds this puzzling, bitter little coda about what a scumbag FZ was. Unfortunately, this piece of crap is the best overview of FZ's whole life on the market. God help us. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play_ by Ben Watson, published by QUARTET 1993, ISBN 07043 70662 597 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: johnscialli@delphi.com (John V. Scialli) A very scholarly work, 597 pages, 2 inches thick, footnotes, no photos. So this is not fluff. Chapters: Origins; Freakdon and the Hippies; Glam Rock and the Market; Music Music; Bizarre to DiscReet; Guitars; Laether; CBS and Corporate Rock; More Guitars; Orchestras and Broadway; Synclavier and Total Control; Stageism, or, Issuing the Oeuvre; Webern vs. Televangelism; Epilogue: Going to Meet the Man; Appendix: A Discography For Non-Fetishists. Last sentence: "Not just a consistent irritant to moralists in any guise, Frank Zappa is a hero for anyone who thinks that the class system, along with its high/low cultural divide, is something that needs dismantling." From: onthecornr@aol.com (OnTheCornr) THE NEGATIVE DIALECTICS OF POODLE PLAY by Ben Watson is simultaneously highly erudite and full of shit. Very amusing if you want a book you can really sink your teeth into. No good if you want FZ's life story, but impressive as a socio-political-exegetical document. Unfortunately Watson doesn't know beans about American popular culture--a must for analyzing FZ--and can't even quote lyrics and titles right. From: jjr@phaedrus.stc.att.com (Jeff Rocca) In the USA, you can mail-order Ben Watson's book _Frank Zappa The Negative Dialectics Of Poodle Play_ from Music Machine 11459 Cronhill Drive, Suite O Owings Mills, Maryland 21117 Tel: (410)356-4567 FAX: (410)356-4693 The cost is $55, plus $4 for shipping. From: dsmith@world.std.com (David Smith) This is *very difficult* to find in the states right now. The only I had an outstanding order with Music Machine (address above), but they couldn't get hold of it. I was finally able to get my hands on a copy from Bill Camarata at Trail's End Music, who can be reached on-line at <76106.674@compuserve.com>. Good news is that this is supposed to be published in 1995 in the US (Can't 'member the expected date/publisher. I'll see if I can dig this up...) From: Pat Buzby I understand that this is going to be coming out in the U.S. sometime soon. My take on it : Ben Watson's expostulations on FZ's music are generally amusing and sometimes illuminating, but the book has two major flaws in my view - it includes loads of factual/interpretational errors, and Watson knows a lot about political theory, but not a damn thing about music. From: alex@grafton.dartmouth.edu (Alex Hartov) I concur. At times Ben Watson has some interesting insights on the "conceptual continuity" of Zappa's work, at others he is downright full of shit. For what it's worth. From: harvey@u-aizu.ac.jp (Harvey Abramson) I agree too. Ben Watson has two religions which damage the book. One is marxism and the other is Cambridge academicism. There are too many political asides, remarks, and attacks in the book, many against obscure and tiny marxist sects. Also, he confuses Frank Zappa's anti-bullshit stance with marxist anti-capitalism. Since FZ is anti-bullshit and since he is American, some of the bullshit which he is against is connected with manifestations of capitalism in America. This is OK as far as Watson's marxism is concerned. However Ben Watson has difficulty dealing with other manifestations of Zappa's anti-bullshit when that is connected with the troubles Zappa had with American music unions. One tenet of marxism is that unions are good, and that anyone who is against them is wrong. Hence Watson has to come to terms with this "paradox" in Zappa's thinking. Watson at one point makes a comment on how good the politics of Lenin were. Anyone who could say that after the collapse of the Soviet Union - when so much more information is available concerning the history of the communist dictatorship - is a total asshole. The other of Watson's religions leads him to make literary comparisions and references which probably would be exciting in the trivial context of seminars and tutorials at Cambridge University, but outside that hothouse atmosphere are just silly and ridiculous. Watson does report that when he went to visit Zappa the Zappas were entertained by his presentation of some of the material in Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, but this may have just been amusement at a creature (Ben Watson) every bit as weird and bizarre as, say, Wild Man Fischer. From: david@parsifal.micro.ti.com (David Thomas) NDOPP is *not* a biography. It is an analysis of the symbolism, the psychological, cultural, and political significance of FZ's music and lyrics. The analysis is heavily tainted by the author's Marxist views, which he uses to create some wild extrapolations from FZ's lyrics (and sometimes even from the cover art on the albums). The author is not a musicologist, so the emphasis is on the lyrics and the packaging. Just as George Bernard Shaw's Jungian analysis of the work of Richard Wagner tells us a lot more about Shaw than about Wagner, Ben Watson's analysis of the work of Frank Zappa tells us a lot more about Watson than about Zappa. This book is terribly flawed, but no one has attempted such an ambitious interpretation of Zappa's work before. Personally, I would rather see a serious musicological analysis. From: white_d@hccs.cc.tx.us (Don White) Actually, Frank and Gail found both it and Watson highly entertaining when he went to their house and showed them parts of it while he was still finishing it. I find it to be entertaining as well. Certainly, there are parts of it that are absolute crap, and some of his facts are simply incorrect, but at least it's more entertaining than David Walley, Michael Gray, Julian Colbeck, or any other hacks who have tried to come up with their interpretation of Frank. I give Watson credit for being original, at least. And I'm not a Marxist, either. Like Frank, I *like* to own things. From: david@pangloss.micro.ti.com (David Thomas) The trick to reading Watson's book is knowing when he is "out to lunch". He frequently carries his analysis far beyond the support of any evidence. Personally, I would like to see a genuine musicological analysis of FZ's work. Watson doesn't appear to be a musician, much less a musicologist. From: spb0377@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu (Pat Buzby) He also knows nothing about music from a technical perspective; most of the time he tries to hide this, and sometimes he manages to make some useful comments anyway, but too often this detracts severely from the quality of his analysis of FZ's work. IMO, at least. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Frank Zappa - A Visual Documentary_ by Barry Miles, published by Omnibus Press, 1993, ISBN 0.7119.3099.6, 112 pages _In His Own Words_ by Barry Miles, published by Omnibus Press, 1993, ISBN 0.7119.3100.3 96 pages _Freak Out : Frank Zappa No Seikatsu To Iken_ (in English: Frank Zappa's life and his opinion) by Barry Miles, (translated by Hamano Akio) published by Blues Interactions, Tokyo, Japan, 1994, ISBN 4-938339-09-9, 277 pages (Japanese translation of _In His Own Words_) _Frank Zappa - In eigenen Worten_ Miles (ed.) Palmyra Verlag, Hamburg, 1996 [Foreword by Vaclav Havel] ISBN 3-930378-08-6 (German translation of _In His Own Words_) Comments ---------------------------------- From: saul+@pitt.edu (Alan Saul) Despite occasional inaccuracies and the overkill of it all, these are nice references and have lots of pictures of interest to FZ fans. For instance somebody was recently complaining about a shortage of Gail pictures. There are maybe half a dozen in these. The two books are somewhat redundant, but they focus on different kinds of information aside from the photos. From "A visual documentary": It was while The Mothers were playing The Trip that Frank met Pamela Zarubica, an 18 year old student who hung out at Cantor's. Frank called her Suzy Creamcheese and began to spend a lot of time at her Laurel Canyon apartment at 8404 Kirkwood Drive. It was not long before he moved in. Pamela's flat Los Angeles monotone was a contributing factor to the popularity of The Mothers' first few albums. (Frank had a tendency to call all girls Suzy Creamcheese and when Susan Ziegler, the daughter of the owner of the Ziegler Ballrooms in Los Angeles where The Mothers often played moved to London, everyone thought that she was the Suzy Creamcheese on the records. The London Suzy Creamcheese was much loved by the English tabloids during the summer of love, both for her name and her very short dresses.) From: zappa@violet.berkeley.edu (Bob Freeland) Well, I'm probably excessively cantankerous, but A Visual Documentary pisses me off. About a third of the book is sixth-grade-level paraphrase of the autobiography that manages to introduce factual errors. Whoever Miles is, he's evidently an idiot. The tour listings are far from complete. I like In His Own Words much better. It's essentially just extracts of old interviews, but it's Frank having fun, often at the expense of the interviewer. As Alan says, there's at least some good reference material in both books, and hard core maniacs will buy them regardless. From: shermy@delphi.com I acquired this volume [In His Own Words] at a record convention here in Austin over the weekend, and I must say that it's a nice read. The book is comprised of quotations from FZ over many years on a variety of topics. (There's also a few nice pix.) It sells for fifteen bucks, and is ninety-six pages in length. This book isn't some slapped-together hunk o' cheese like "Viva Zappa!" is. From: onthecornr@aol.com (OnTheCornr) FRANK ZAPPA IN HIS OWN WORDS by Miles is a book of quotes. Fun. FRANK ZAPPA: A VISUAL DOCUMENTARY by Miles is basically just a fact book, not something you can really read, and as usual, many of the facts are demonstrably wrong. (I own an FZ record that Miles claims was never released! No, not a bootleg, "The Big Surfer" on Capitol.) Terrific pictures, although largely duplicated in Miles' other book, above. Both of these were quick-buck exploitation numbers, published when FZ was on his deathbed, so fuck 'em. From: spb0377@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu (Pat Buzby) The Miles books were part of a series which also included several other major league rock acts, some of whom aren't even dead yet (Clapton, Floyd, etc.), so I don't know if this last sentence is entirely fair. From: Edi Weitz ... [german translation] has some interviews in it that cannot be found in the English version. They originally appeared in the German publications "Der Spiegel", "Frankfurter Rundschau" and "Sueddeutsche Zeitung Magazin" in 1991/92. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Viva Zappa: Un Alchimiste Delirant - Mode l'Emploi_ by Dominique Chevalier Published by Calman-Levy, Paris, France, 1985, ISBN 2-7021-1410-5 127 pages _Viva Zappa_ by Dominique Chevalier Published by Omnibus Press, London, 1986, ISBN 0-7119-0821-4 127 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: patrick.gaumond@fsa.ulaval.ca (Patrick Gaumond) The best book in french available. Lots of pictures never seen before.It has the translation of 2 orchestral absurdities. A mode d'emploi from A to Z with topics like: Argent (money), Discipline, Drogue, Recrutement. After that you have some texts on important musicians ( Belew, Ruth, Ian and Vai). Followed by Discography with impressions. Fillmore: Old fans are sleeping, Wazoo: a master piece, Bongo Fury: It sucks, Zoot: Zappa was too busy playing "all" the instruments and like all the frenchies that had ever listen to Thing Fish, he didn't like it... After that you have maybe 10 articles by Frank. The end of the Mothers, What I listen to and others. At the end you have a bibliograhy, a filmography and some fanzines information. From: "Wilson, Andrew F" Viva Zappa. This is an English translation, by Matthew Screech, of _Viva Zappa: Un Alchimiste Delirant - Mode d'Emploi_. The book starts off with a brief biographical run-through, that peters out at 'Sheik Yerbouti'. Next come some short sections on particular topics and musicians who Zappa has worked with. The main part of the book is a 'critical discography' which describes each LP in turn, from 'Freak Out' to 'Does Humor Belong in Music?'. The next part of the book is by far the most interesting, being reprints of seven magazine articles written by Zappa between 1967 and 1981. Curiously, there is no acknowledgement of Zappa's copyright of these pieces. The text is well illustrated with slightly dark black and white photographs and a small number of colour photographs. This is probably one of the books which Zappa had in mind when he refers in _The Real Frank Zappa Book_ to a 'proliferation of stupid books (in several languages) which purport to be about me'. From: onthecornr@aol.com (OnTheCornr) VIVA ZAPPA by Dominique Chevalier is disjointed and full of inaccurate facts and sloppy translation (unless it was the original writing that was sloppy). Good pictures, though, and invaluable reprints of some of FZ's own writings for various magazines. From: Vladimir Sovetov D'accord :-) I second last opinion. Short and very accurate. From: spb0377@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu (Pat Buzby) In spite of the odd translated-from-French writing style, I found this to be a fairly useful "from one fan to another" type of bio when I was getting acquainted with FZ's music. The album-by-album commentary is worth checking out. Also, I don't recall there being that many inaccurate facts in the book, especially compared to Gray and Watson. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Zapzapzappa_ by Rolf Ulrich Kaiser, Kinder der Geburtagpress, Koln, 1969 no ISBN, 56 pages Comments ---------------------------------- ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Frank Zappa_ by Rolf Ulrich Kaiser, Hoorn, Holland, 1971 ISBN ????, ???? pages Comments ---------------------------------- ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Frank Zappa et les Mothers of Invention_ by Alain Dister, Editions Albin Michel, Paris, 1975 ISBN ???? 186 pages _Frank Zappa y the Mothers of Invention_ by Alain Dister Published by Ediciones Jucar, Madrid, Spain, 1981, ISBN ???? ???? pages ( Spanish translation of _Frank Zappa et les Mothers of Invention_ ) _Frank Zappa: Der Rebel aus dem Untergrund_ by Alain Dister Published by Heyne Verlag, Munchen, Germany, 1980, ISBN ???? ???? pages ( German translation of _Frank Zappa et les Mothers of Invention_ ) Comments ---------------------------------- ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Alla Zappa_ by Urban Gwerder Published by Edition Bucherkarawane, Adliswil, Switzerland, 1976, No ISBN, 82 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: jjr@panini.att.com (Jeff Rocca) I spotted a thin paperback book in my local CD store. [ Mon, 23 Jan 95] It had a black and white cover with a picture of Frank on it and the words "Alla Zappa." That's all I know about it, since it was sealed in cellophane and the store clerk was not willing to open it. From: joe@cs.tu-berlin.de (Johannes Labisch) I bought that a long time ago. If memory serves right, it was a booklet that came out about the time when Zoot Allures came out, so it's not very young. It consists mostly of articles by Urban Gwerder, a austrian or swiss journalist. I don't like his style, it's too much into the "Wow! Great!" direction. The most interesting thing is the layout. It's shape is not like a rectangle! The sides are parallel, but the angles are not 90 degrees. From: DGWALLEY@aol.com (David G. Walley) Urban Gwerder used to be the publisher of an underground newspaper called Hotscha! a very early Zappa 'zine. I've been trying to contact him for years. He was a Swiss from Geneva at one time, and his stuff it terrific, it's just a shame I don't understand Swiss German, but then again there are at least three or four different dialects so they don't understand each other too well. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Zappalog: The First Step of Zappalogy_ by Norbert Obermanns Published by Nobbi, Frimmersdorf, German, 1981, ISBN ???? ???? pages _Zappalog: The First Step of Zappalogy_ by Norbert Obermanns, published by Rhino Books 11609 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 second edition, 1982 ISBN ????, (none) 128 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: Paul Core Zappalog is essentially a discography with graphics. Lots of pictures of single labels, picture sleeves, album covers (including the German Weasels Ripped My Flesh cover), inserts, and other visual aids. Before resources like alt.fan.frank-zappa were available, books like this were invaluable. Concise and believable information on Zapppa releases. Even the legit stuff was not always easy to find in some places (small to medium sized towns - Centerville) and you sure didn't hear about it on the radio. Having a source of information on bootlegs was even more valuable. The information in this book is similar to that in the FAQs for alt.fan.frank-zappa and in fact much more up to date information (minus the cool pictures) is available here than in Zappalog. Still, for it's time it was GREAT. On the down side, the photographs are not reproduced well, especially photographs of color materials (The book is completely black and white). For a while, this edition was available through regular Rhino distribution channels in the U.S. I got my copy at a local record store in Baton Rouge, LA. Zappa sued Rhino (or threatened to sue, I don't recall any details of the suit) and got distribution stopped. I have no idea how many copies were distributed before the law intervened. Contents of the Zappalog are: 1. A list of 52 singles including their title, catalog number, and release date (most only give the year). Includes German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish releases. The last listing is Goblin Girl/Pink Napkins 12" picture disc (Barking Pumpkin w 99 02616). Photos of 15 single labels, 14 picture sleeves, and the Goblin Girl/Pink Napkins picture disc are included. 2. A list of 35 lp's with the country of issue, and catalog number for each country (169 separate catalog numbers for the 35 albums). Musicians, songs, recording info, etc. is included for each album. Alternate versions (i.e. Zappa in New York with a version of Punky's Whips) are listed. The last listing is Shut Up'N Play Yer Guitar (3 lp set, CBS - europe - 66368) Photos of album covers (including the German cover of Weasels Ripped My Flesh) and inserts are included. 3. A list of 10 unreleased projects. The list includes projects which were never released in their original form even though they were at least partially officially released at a later date. Project description/history included. Projects are: Lumpy Gravy Sink Trap/Gypsy Airs single (includes photos of the hand written label of the 8" test pressing on Capitol). Our Man In Nirvana The History And Collected Improvisation Of The Mothers Of Invention (includes original titles of the 12 lps in the box set) Four Generation Of Mothers (that's how it's listed in the book, honest) Zoot Allures (double lp) Zoot Allures (single lp) Lather Warts And All Crush All Boxes 4. A list of 57 unreleased compositions (songs, instrumentals, orchestral pieces and ballets). Since this book appeared many have been released (Cocaine Decisions, In France, We're Turning Again, etc.). And of course Frank's compositions had a way of changing names. Other compositions from this list MAY (only Frank knows for sure) have been released under another name. 5. A list of 17 compilation (various artists) albums which include some Zappa/Mothers material (Zapped, The Big Ball, Underground, etc.). Lists album title, catalog number and Zappa songs included. Photos of six album covers, including two different "Zapped" covers, are included. 6. A list of 47 bootleg lp's and box sets. Song list, musicians, and recording information included for most entries. Last listing is 20 Years Of Frank Zappa - 12 lp box set (Mud Shark MZ 4801-4812). A cross listing of the box set that a single bootleg albumn is included with is provided (for bootlegs that were released as part of a box set and as a single album). Photos of 18 album covers and one picture disc are included. 7. A list of 24 singles with contributions by Frank. Pictures of ten labels are included. Artists include Ned & Nelda, The Hogs, Burt Ward, etc. Last listing L. Shankar, Dead Girls Of London (Zappa Records MK 114). Cross listing of bootleg lps where songs from singles can be found (if available on a bootleg) is provided. 8. A list of 45 lp's with contributions by Frank. The title, catalog number, and Zappa's contribution are listed. A cover version of a Zappa song is enough to get mentioned here. Of course it also includes albums Frank produces, plays on, etc. Photos of 13 album covers included. 9. A list of the output of Bizarre Productions (3 singles/6 lp's), the Bizarre Label (7 singles/12 lp's), the Straight Label (10 singles/16 lp's), the Discreet Label (15 singles/17 lp's), Zappa Records (4 singles/7 lp's including promo and unreleased lp's), and Barking Pumpkin Records (1 single/8 lp's including promotional lp's). These all include the artist, title, catalog number and year of issue. The last listing is "You Are What You Is" (Promotional lp) AS 1294, 1981. Photos of L. Shankar - Dead Girls Of London 12", Frank Zappa - Shiek Yerbouti Clean Cuts, and Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage Promotional lp covers are included. 10. A list of 15 "Oddities". Includes radio spots, interviews, bootleg singles, etc. Most just have the name and a brief description. Includes a photo of the Nova Convention (various artists) lp cover showing Frank with William S. Burroughs (GREAT photo though the reproduction is only fair). 11. A list of the first 9 bands Zappa played in (Ramblers, Blackouts, Boogie Men, Joe Peerino And The Mellow Tones, Soots, Muthers, Soul Giants, Captain Glasspack And His Magic Mufflers). Includes brief histories and personnel for most bands. 12. Misc. information about several projects. Bicycle Concerto For Two, I Was A Teenage Maltshop, Mt. St. Mary's College lecture, Contempo '70 w/ Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestral Favorites at UCLA 1975 are listed. Very brief descriptions. 13. A list of 14 books about Frank Zappa, most not in english. The only english language title which I have never seen is "Good Night Boys And Girls - Frank Zappa In Words And Pictures" by Michael Gray, England 1975. Photos of 9 book covers and 4 tour books are included. Interestingly, it only lists the 1981 first edition of Zappalog here (though it is the second edition). 14. A list of 12 video projects from Run Home Slow (1959) to Baby Snakes (1979). Entries provide a brief description, including Zappa's contribution (example: Head - This is another film by the Monkees. Zappa appears as a critic, keeping a cow on the lead.) 15. A list of 225 musicians who have played with Zappa. The list includes instrument(s) played and the date(s) they played with Zappa. Also includes other bands with which each artist has played (32 entries for Don Preston, 63 entries for Victor Feldman, etc.). 16. A list of 332 songs released (through Return Of The Son Of Shut Up'n Play Yer Guitar) by Zappa - including singles. A key to the album(s) on which each song appears is provided. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _On Tour with the Evil Prince_ by Rene de la Salle, Published by ???? in Canada, 1990, ISBN ???? ???? pages Comments ---------------------------------- ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Zappa: a Biography_ by Julian Colbeck, Published by Virgin Books, London, 1987, ISBN 0-86369-156-0 190 pages Comments ---------------------------------- ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _The Ballad of Frank Zappa_ by Jay Al Sandford, Published by ????????, 1991, ISBN ???? ???? pages Comments ---------------------------------- ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Frank Zappa and Mother Story_ by Otto Oboril, Published in Czechoslovakia, 1991, ISBN 80-900281-4-4, ???? pages Comments ---------------------------------- ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Frank Zappa : Sztori 1940-1989_ by Csaba Andras Dezsi, Published by Gyor Megyei Lapkiado Vallalat, Budapest, Hungary, 1989, ISBN 963-7247-01-7, 203 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: Juhani Heinonen I bought Dezsi's book december 1990 from a book/record store in Budapest. It was on display in the window and I was quite surprised when I saw it. It cost 110 forints (approximately 1,5 USD). Since my hungarian vocabulary is extremely limited (I can order a beer in restaurant but not much more) I haven't been able to read the book. In spite of this limitation I try to give you some info about it. The hole title in the first page of the book is as follows: Frank Zappa es az OTLET SZULOANYJAI Szori 1940-1989 A rough translation of the title might be something like Frank Zappa and the idea of motherhood, story 1940-1989. The book is a biography with emphasis on the recorded works of FZ. First chapters deal with Frank's childhood, youth and Varese. The following chapters introduce all offical albums from Freak Out! to Broadway The Hard Way. There are pictures of all album covers and some hungarian translations of song lyrics (Trouble every day, Plastic People, Sharleena, Fifty-Fifty, etc). At the end there is a discography and a list of films and videos. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Suplik piny Zappy a Hratky s Beefheartem_ by Petr Doruzka, Published ????, 1993, ISBN ????, ???? pages Comments ---------------------------------- ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Zappa Vox_ Supervised by Yagi Yasuo Published by Byakuya-shobou, Tokyo, Japan, 1988, ISBN 4-89367-131-6 Total 164+475 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: Tan Mitsugu _Zappa Vox_ is a box set which contains two books: #1) Japanese translation of _Viva Zappa!_, #2) _Zappa Breath, in the year of the Plague, Vol.1_ by Yagi Yasuo. The former (_Viva Zappa!_) was translated by Uchibori Yuko, who had been a translator of FZ lyrics in the era from Zappa In New York to The Man From Utopia, making many in-correct, too funny translations. This book is not a exception....she did a very bad translation again. The latter book gathers the liner notes of Japanese FZ lps which were written by Mr Yagi (who is originally a graphic designer / illustrator). It also has his newly written articles and graphics, and two exclusive FZ interviews by Simon Prentis (occured in '82 & '86), who later became 'the Semantic Scrutinizer', overseeing the translation of Zappa's lyrics into Japanese. (See _Zappa!_, p.86-87.) Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Being Frank: My Time with Frank Zappa_ by Nigey Lennon. California Classics Books (P.O. Box 29756, Los Angeles, CA 90029), 1995. ISBN: 1-879395-55-X, 154 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: onthecornr@aol.com (OnTheCornr) ...is the memoir of a woman who claims that as a teenager she was FZ's lover and even toured as a part-time member of the Mothers in 1971. Not much real info on Frank here, the veracity of the whole affair (so to speak) has been hotly debated on this board [aff-z], and it's a real short book--you can get through it in an hour or two. From: Charles Ulrich According to her book, Nigey Lennon toured with Zappa in 1971 as sort of an understudy guitarist and sexual partner. She played on stage a few times during this tour. She hung around rehearsals for Grand Wazoo, Apostrophe ('), and Over-Nite Sensation. She had a falling-out with FZ during the One Size Fits All era. She says that the songs "Andy" and "Muffin Man" are addressed to her, with the title character of the latter being Ray Collins. Nigey Lennon says she wrote and sang the backing vocal lines to "Dirty Love", but that she sounded too white, so they were re-recorded by "Mrs. Ex-Big R&B Singer". She never reveals this singer's name, but she does mention that "A few years later, Mrs. Ex-Big R&B Singer left her husband, struck out on her own, and became a household name singing Top 40 pop. A feature film was even made about her life and struggles." Let's see, who could it be? She also writes about "Mr. Dip", whom I assume is Ricky Lancelotti. One case where she provides a name that FZ omitted is when she reveals that Ray Collins was the Mother who said that Zappa should go to Big Sur and take acid with someone who believes in God. I was fairly skeptical when I started reading the book. "How come I've never heard of her before?" But by the end I figured she must be real. While I'd take some of what she says with a grain of salt, that didn't stop me from enjoying the book. (The same goes for Watson's Negative Dialects of Poodle Play.) It's nice to read something by someone who knew FZ personally, though inevitably it suffers to a certain degree from the "He was great when I knew him, but he was never as good afterwards" syndrome. (The opposite, of course, is the "Everything he ever did was flawless" fan mentality.) I just wish someone would write a book who was still on good terms with FZ until the end. Did I read somewhere that Matt Groening was working on a book? From: drumguy@aol.com (Drumguy) Has anyone else out there read Nigey Lennon's book "Being Frank" and thinks (like I do) that most of it is pure B.S. ?? One example: She mentioned FZ taped a Johnny Carson show in New York in the early '70s -- I know of no such appearance. She also thinks the song "Andy" was written about her... Yeah, like Frank would be so enthralled with a girl that looks the way she does on the back cover of the book...... From: sandell@sparky.parmly.luc.edu (Gregory J. Sandell) According to Nigey's book...and I believe her...in 1970 or so she was a Zappa-struck 16-year old who boldly approached Zappa to produce her music. Zappa was apparantly intrigued by the lass, either sexually or musically or personally (or a mixture of all three) and eventually invited her to be an understudy musician for the Mothers (i.e. to stand in if someone was too stoned to play) for a particular tour. On this tour she became Zappa's mistress/girlfriend. They also remained friends and were occasionally intimite for some years after. The detail on hidden aspects of Zappa's personality, sexual life, and most interestingly, seduction technique, are given an unprecedented exposition...nothing I've ever read before goes into this stuff. It's written all lovingly and respectfully, I think (although still not enough to keep Zappa's widow from getting pissed off, I'm guessing). She's a hell of a good writer, too. Perhaps her style and expressions are a bit *too* influenced by FZ, but I have to say, she's mastered the dialect pretty well. Most importantly, she is a musician herself with enough background to talk very effectively about the nature of Zappa's musical genious. From: sandell@sparky.parmly.luc.edu (Gregory J. Sandell) Nigey's book is written respectfully and has the insight of a musician who really understands the genius of Zappa's music. Okay, sure, there's a slightly prurient flavor to the few passages that describe the moments of intimacy. But Nigey's aim is not sensationalism. One thing I really like about the book is its candidness and intelligence. It does not sink into blind fan worship and follow some "company line" of presenting the status quo image of Zappa (as in Victor Bokris' book on Keith Richards). Anyone who was a fan of Zappa's in the early 70's will recognize that stamp of authenticity in her description of the scene at that time. Admittedly there's not much in there for those readers who admire Zappa's later period (say post 1980) primarily, since the book covers only the period of the seventies and the author has a preference for Zappa's music of that period. There are few fans out there, I think, who fully appreciate the totality of Zappa's output, so the book should not be dismissed on that basis. Being a Zappa fan in the early 70's was a statement in itself; to openly like Zappa's music really set you apart as a non-conformist and made you a little odd. Nigey's book really captures that feeling dead-on, I think. What's more, she writes extremely well. So, while I honor your right to think of Nigey's book as an "ugly kiss and tell book", I'm surprised that that's all you see in it. From: Charles Ulrich wrote: After Nigey Lennon's book Being Frank was published, several posters expressed skepticism about her identity and her relationship with Frank. I professed faith in most of her claims, and John Scialli verified that she really did have untorn ticket stubs from the Mothers concert allegedly dedicated to her. Anyway, today I asked Ray Collins about her. He remembers her. He knew of the book but hadn't read it yet. He imagined (wrongly) that the book goes into sensationalistic details of their (NL & FZ's) physical relationship. So I don't think there can be any doubt that Nigey Lennon was involved with FZ in more or less the way she claims to have been. Whether "Andy" is about her or not remains open to debate. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Zappa: Electric Don Quixote_ by Neil Slaven Omnibus Press, London, Sept.1996. ISBN: 0-7119-5983-8, ???? pages Comments ---------------------------------- ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _Zappa!_ Guitar Player Magazine, Special 1993 issue, ISBN ????, 104 pages Comments ---------------------------------- From: Steven@cadenza.demon.co.uk ("Steven M. Hill") I have this issue of GP entitled "ZAPPA" All I can say is get it, get it now, get it quick. The photography is excellent. The interviews with FZ are great. There is a host of info on all matters pertaining to FZ, his live performances, his studio setups, his biz.,his family, his compositonal techniques, loads of folklore and interviews with many associates. It's one of the better recent (1yr appx.)tributes. You can check out the intended art work for Civilisation III, or thrill to the insider folklore of his closest working colleagues etc. Index : Frank Zappa :- The Mother of all Interviews Zappa Music to Make your skin crawl :- "The girl in the Magnesium Dress" (a transcription,yes!) "The (Unanswered) Cluster 1a" "Insight from stuffed shirts, tight collars, and old geezers" Nicolas Slonimsky :- The Century's preeminent Lexicographer nails FZ down Kent Nagano :- Premiering Zappa with the LSO Andreas Molich-Zebhauser :- Preparing Ensemmble Moderne for the Frankfurt Fetstival Warren De Martini :- Ratt guitarist turns Zappa stylist Aynsley Dunbar :- Former MOI drummer Dweezil,Ahmet,Moon&Diva Zappa :- Like Father like Munchkins Matt Groening :- The Simpson's Creator:"Frank was my Elvis" "Barking Pumpkin Records,Munchkin Music,Barfko-Swill, Frank & Gail Zappa,Proprietors" How it all works with Gail Zappa - Wife,Mom,Fighty-Biyey's feeder, Music Mogul "The Utility Muffin Research Kitchen" Dave Dondorf :- In the URMK:It breaks,He fixes Spencer Chrislu :- Engineer of the right formulas in the Baby Milk Factory Ali Askin :- Just another Bavarian Music Preparation specialist Todd Yvega :- Software surgeon,Sample Trimmer,Smarter than a Synclavier Simon Prentis :- Hmmm...How show "Yellow Snow" in Japanese? Marque Coy :- Head Mechanic in Joe's Garage Harry Andronis :- Mixmaster outside the kitchen Van Carlson :- Emmy-winning electronic photographer On vinyl,tape,cd - The first authorized Complete FZ Audio/Visual catalog Significant others - Joel Thorme & Beverly D'Angelo From: cca13@cc.keele.ac.uk (G.D. Pratt) Frank Zappa on the recording of Trout Mask Replica and The Blimp - from 1993 ZAPPA! Special from Guitar Player [GP:] What do you think of Don's [Van Vliet's] music? [FZ:] The best of it is unbelievable, and the worst of it is under the influence of some really bad AR people at Warner Brothers. But there are things on Trout Mask Rephca that are unbelievable, and on Clear Spot also. [GP:] Is there more from the Trout Mask period. [FZ:] There are some other things. Yes. [GP:] Do you think those will ever come out? [FZ:] I don't know. There were things in the original sessions that he didn't want to have used. The original plan for the album was to do it like an ethnic field recording. He and his group lived in a house out in the [San Fernando] Valley, so I wanted to take a portable rig and record the band in the house, and use the different rooms in the house as isolation--very slight. The vocals get done in the bathroom. The drums are set up in the living room. The horn gets played in the garden, all this stuff. And we went over there and set it up, and did tracks that way. I thought they sounded good, but suddenly he was of the opinion that I was just trying to be a cheapskate producer, and not do any studio time. So I said, ``Well, you want to go in the studio? Let's go.'' So-- [GP:] There's a little bit of it on the a1bum, isn't there? [FZ:] Yeah. There's some stuff off of a cassette machine that we wanted to have in there--``Dust Blows Forward, Dust Blows Back.'' [GP:] And ``The Blimp.'' That's yours. [FZ:] I was in the studio mixing some other tapes, and the band that's playing on ``The Blimp'' is actually the Mothers Of Invention. The vocal on ``The Blimp'' was recorded by telephone. He had just written these lyrics, and he had one of the guys in the band recite it to me over the phone. I taped it in the studio, and recorded it onto the piece of tape that I had up at the time, which was my track. So, that's how that came about. [GP:] And now your version of ``The Blimp'' is out on the re-release version of Weasels Ripped My Flesh, too. [FZ:] It's also going to be on this new episode of ``You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore''. The piece is called ``Charles Ives.'' We used to play it on the '68-'69 tour. Title Origins -------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _A Definitive Tribute To Frank Zappa_ Best of Guitar Player Miller Freeman San Francisco, May 1994 ISSN 1063-4533 88 p. Comments ---------------------------------- From: bazzoli@bsing.ing.unibs.it (Marco Bazzoli) It's a periodical publication based on Guitar Player and Keyboard, six time a year (trust me: I'am a librarian) :-) Miller Freeman: phone: (415) 905-2200, fax: (415) 905-2233 From: s012msg@desire.wright.edu (MARC S. GREENBERG) wrote: Guitar Player Magazine, in their "Best of Guitar Player" series released an entire issue devoted to FZ entitled: "A Definitive Tribute to Frank Zappa". This was released in the Spring of 1994. Try 415-905-2200 From: Paul Remington You can get back issues of "A Difinitive Tribute to Frank Zappa" and also "Zappa", which is also an issue devoted to Frank containing tons of interviews with Frank, his family and work associates. If you call to order "A Difinitive Tribute...", also ask for the "Zappa" issue, it's well worth it! From: sysman@brstr2.enet.dec.com (brstr2::sysman) I just picked up the may issue of Best of Guitar Player", titled: "A DEFINITIVE TRIBUTE TO" "FRANK ZAPPA" "IN HIS OWN WORDS" "Outspoken interviews with modern music's subversive genius" It has these interviews: - "One Size Fits All" by Steve Rosen, jan 1977 - "Little Band We Used To Play In" by Michael Davis, jun 1980 - "Sidemen Mars/Wolf/Barrows" by Michael Davis, jun 1980 - "Not Exactly Duane Allman" by Tom Mulhern, feb 1983 - "The Sin In Synclavier" by Dan Forte, jun 1986 - "Jazz From Hell" by Robert Doerschunk & Jim Aikin, feb 1987 - "The Mother Of All Interviews, part 1" by Don Menn, apr 1992 - "Part 2. Belgian Waffles In Plastic" by Don Menn & Matt Groenig, apr 1992 - "Endpaper" by editor All in all 88 pages of excellent (small print!) interviews. From: lantz@primenet.com (Bill Lantz) It is in the Interview called "One Size Fits All (1977) and is in the Miller Freedman's A Definitive Tribute to Frank Zappa. Steve Rosen: What about the contemporary heavies, like Jeff Beck or John McLaughlin? Frank Zappa: I like Jeff, yeah. I've listened to "Wired" [Epic], and there are a couple of solos on there that I like. And I like some of his stuff on "Rough and Ready" [Epic]. A person woud be a moron not to appreciate McLaughlin's technique. The guy has certainly found out how to operate a guitar as if it were a machine gun. But I'm not always enthusiastic about the lines I hear or the ways in which they're used. I don't think you can fault him, though, for the amount of time and effort it must have taken to play an instrument that fast. I think anybody who can play that fast is just wonderful. And I'm sure 90% of teenage America would agree, since the whole trend in the business has been "faster is better."