Feb (2) 2020 Frank Zappa – YCDTOSA Vol.2 (1988)
Feb 16, 2020 17:05:52 GMT
jandl100 and petea like this
Post by ChrisB on Feb 16, 2020 17:05:52 GMT
Frank Zappa - You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2: (The Helsinki Concert).
Released 1988 / Recorded 1974
![[Cover art]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71ic8gnj5hL._SX425_.jpg)
Let’s not kid ourselves – I am a massive fan of Frank Zappa. However, the last time I did an FZ album for an Album Choice type thing was in 2013, when I chose ‘The Grand Wazoo’.
Why is that?
You will really struggle to find a consensus among Zappa fans as to what are his best albums. I always find it difficult when people ask me to recommend a ‘good’ (or typical) album because of the massive range of styles encompassed both within the entire (huge) body of work and within most individual albums.
I have always been utterly convinced that there is something in his music for everyone. But equally, there is a fairly good likelihood that it will be alongside something they hate! In an interview with George Duke, the keyboard player on this album, he tells of how he once asked FZ how he could write the most beautiful, delicate and lovely piece of music and then drop something so jarringly incomprehensible into the middle of it. It’s not always like that though!
‘The Grand Wazoo’ remains a favourite, but over the last few years, ‘One Size Fits All’ has been played a lot on my system and I had intended to use that for this thread. When I started thinking about the album, I kept remembering how utterly breath-taking the band that recorded it were and how tight and telepathic they seemed to be on stage. So, what with petea starting a thread yesterday on live albums that put you in the auditorium with the band, it seemed only fitting to choose this album instead.
It was recorded in Finland in 1974 – FZ recorded all of his performances from very early on. Despite the name, it is actually made up from the best material from 3 shows over two nights. It wasn’t released until 1988, and, while my copy is a first pressing triple vinyl box-set, the ‘You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore’ series was largely only released on CD. YCDTOSA is the reason I bought my first CD player!
This band (actually named The Mothers of Invention) are considered by many to be the best band Zappa ever put together – and throughout his career, he strove to only employ the very best musicians.
FZ – lead guitar, vocals
Napoleon Murphy Brock – saxophone, flute, vocals
George Duke – keyboards, vocals
Ruth Underwood – percussion
Tom Fowler – bass guitar
Chester Thompson – drums
I’ll say now, that there will be things on this album that you will utterly hate but I ask you to stick with it and try to hear past some of that difficult, jarring stuff. I hope what you hear is some incredible musicianship and at least a little bit of beautiful music. There are one or two laughs to be had too. The track 'Inca Roads' contains what many consider to be one of FZ's finest guitar solos.
At this point, it is fitting to share two quotes from FZ:
“The mind is like a parachute; it only works if it is open”.
“Without deviation, progress is not possible”.
Try not to dismiss the whole thing on the basis of just one or two tracks – and if you really can’t bear a particular track, then skip forward within the track – it will likely change drastically in a few minutes! If you still can’t stand it, then move on to the next track.
The album is a pretty good facsimile of a Zappa show. On-stage banter (watch out for, or maybe completely skip, the non-PC ‘Room Service’ track, which reflects the life of a touring rock band in themed seventies).
Spotify:
YouTube Playlist for the album:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k4xOA05K8fm_0YZy3XOKwtEGHlOixgwp8
If you really don’t feel you can sit through the whole thing, I’d love it if you play ‘Inca Roads’ again and then play this video of the same band playing it, just to see the skill and interaction of the players. There’s also some mind-bending and deeply dark clay animation footage from Bruce Bickford.
Suggested further listening:
This band recorded the ‘One Size Fits All’ album. The music on it was written to exploit the incredible talent of percussionist Ruth Underwood and contains the song ‘Inca Roads’ which features in the album above but also the utterly sublime ‘Sofa No.1’.
There is a full concert video of this incarnation of the Mothers of Invention, called ‘A Token of His Extreme’ and all or most of it is available on YouTube – see above for part of it.
Released 1988 / Recorded 1974
Let’s not kid ourselves – I am a massive fan of Frank Zappa. However, the last time I did an FZ album for an Album Choice type thing was in 2013, when I chose ‘The Grand Wazoo’.
Why is that?
You will really struggle to find a consensus among Zappa fans as to what are his best albums. I always find it difficult when people ask me to recommend a ‘good’ (or typical) album because of the massive range of styles encompassed both within the entire (huge) body of work and within most individual albums.
I have always been utterly convinced that there is something in his music for everyone. But equally, there is a fairly good likelihood that it will be alongside something they hate! In an interview with George Duke, the keyboard player on this album, he tells of how he once asked FZ how he could write the most beautiful, delicate and lovely piece of music and then drop something so jarringly incomprehensible into the middle of it. It’s not always like that though!
‘The Grand Wazoo’ remains a favourite, but over the last few years, ‘One Size Fits All’ has been played a lot on my system and I had intended to use that for this thread. When I started thinking about the album, I kept remembering how utterly breath-taking the band that recorded it were and how tight and telepathic they seemed to be on stage. So, what with petea starting a thread yesterday on live albums that put you in the auditorium with the band, it seemed only fitting to choose this album instead.
It was recorded in Finland in 1974 – FZ recorded all of his performances from very early on. Despite the name, it is actually made up from the best material from 3 shows over two nights. It wasn’t released until 1988, and, while my copy is a first pressing triple vinyl box-set, the ‘You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore’ series was largely only released on CD. YCDTOSA is the reason I bought my first CD player!
This band (actually named The Mothers of Invention) are considered by many to be the best band Zappa ever put together – and throughout his career, he strove to only employ the very best musicians.
FZ – lead guitar, vocals
Napoleon Murphy Brock – saxophone, flute, vocals
George Duke – keyboards, vocals
Ruth Underwood – percussion
Tom Fowler – bass guitar
Chester Thompson – drums
I’ll say now, that there will be things on this album that you will utterly hate but I ask you to stick with it and try to hear past some of that difficult, jarring stuff. I hope what you hear is some incredible musicianship and at least a little bit of beautiful music. There are one or two laughs to be had too. The track 'Inca Roads' contains what many consider to be one of FZ's finest guitar solos.
At this point, it is fitting to share two quotes from FZ:
“The mind is like a parachute; it only works if it is open”.
“Without deviation, progress is not possible”.
Try not to dismiss the whole thing on the basis of just one or two tracks – and if you really can’t bear a particular track, then skip forward within the track – it will likely change drastically in a few minutes! If you still can’t stand it, then move on to the next track.
The album is a pretty good facsimile of a Zappa show. On-stage banter (watch out for, or maybe completely skip, the non-PC ‘Room Service’ track, which reflects the life of a touring rock band in themed seventies).
Spotify:
YouTube Playlist for the album:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k4xOA05K8fm_0YZy3XOKwtEGHlOixgwp8
If you really don’t feel you can sit through the whole thing, I’d love it if you play ‘Inca Roads’ again and then play this video of the same band playing it, just to see the skill and interaction of the players. There’s also some mind-bending and deeply dark clay animation footage from Bruce Bickford.
Suggested further listening:
This band recorded the ‘One Size Fits All’ album. The music on it was written to exploit the incredible talent of percussionist Ruth Underwood and contains the song ‘Inca Roads’ which features in the album above but also the utterly sublime ‘Sofa No.1’.
There is a full concert video of this incarnation of the Mothers of Invention, called ‘A Token of His Extreme’ and all or most of it is available on YouTube – see above for part of it.
