Frank Zappa (1940-1993)
“Information is not knowledge.
Knowledge is not wisdom.
Wisdom is not truth.
Truth is not beauty.
Beauty is not love.
Love is not music.
Music is the best.”
“Information is not knowledge.
Knowledge is not wisdom.
Wisdom is not truth.
Truth is not beauty.
Beauty is not love.
Love is not music.
Music is the best.”
This survivor will be conducted as a discussion/survivor hybrid. Those who wish to discover Zappa don't have to be intimidated by the 100-album discography; as a 26-year Zappafreak, I've curated a list of 169 Zappa songs, and I'll present a few songs every day. Once I've presented all the songs for a "group" and we've had some time for discovery and discussion, voting will begin for that group.
Zappa had many songs that appeared in multiple good versions over many albums during his career. A song will be introduced into the game at it's first appearance, but each "entry" represents all versions of a song. So in some cases, I may present multiple videos for a single song. I encourage those curious about Zappa to check them all out; I think viewing the evolution of FZ's music over time helps understand what he was all about.
Survivors of the first phase:
Group One: "Hungry Freaks, Daddy", "Who Are The Brain Police?", "(More) Trouble Every Day", "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"
Group Two: "Absolutely Free", "Let's Make The Water Turn Black", "The Idiot Bastard Son", "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"
Group 1: Freak Out Absolutely!
Our first group has 16 songs from Zappa's first two albums, from which four finalists will survive. We begin with Freak Out! (1966), an audacious double-album debut from back when double-albums were a brand new thing.
"The Mothers" was short for "Motherfuckers" and everyone around LA knew it. The record company insisted on a change. As Zappa put it: "Out of necessity, we became the Mothers of Invention." Zappa sold his band to the record company as an R&B outfit singing pop songs, and then smacked them with stuff no one was expecting.
The core of the original Mothers of Invention:
Frank Zappa: guitar, vocals, composer/conductor
Ray Collins: lead vocals
Roy Estrada: bass
Jimmy Carl Black: drums ... a Native American, known for his catchphrase "Hi boys and girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black and I'm the Indian of the group."
Hungry Freaks, Daddy
Zappa throws down the gauntlet to the establishment from his very first track.
Once you find that the way you lied
And all the corny tricks you tried
Will not forestall the rising tide of hungry freaks, Daddy...
I Ain't Got No Heart
This isn't the kind of love song the record company was expecting.
Who Are the Brain Police?
Perhaps the most notoriously weird song from this album, though it seems almost normal in comparison to what's coming on Side Four.
Keep trimming those poodles, there's more coming! Discover and discuss.
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