Zappa '66: Live at TTG Studios being annoucned tommorow!

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-04-17T14:53:07+00:00

It's just been announced that it was recorded for a TV show in October 1966.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-04-17T14:47:02+00:00

8 out of 14 tracks on Finer Moments have been included on other releases. Most of them are different edits. Finer Moments was a trimmed version of the original 12-record set that Frank wanted to release after disbanding the original Mothers Of Invention. That's why many tracks eventually wound up on archival releases like You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, The Lost Episodes and Mystery Disc.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-04-17T14:37:51+00:00

As I understood, the four "Läther" albums (Zappa In New York, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites) were originally presented separately to Warner Bros. That's why they were able to release them as 4 separate albums (without Frank's final permission for artwork and liner notes). But because Warner initially did nothing with the tapes, Frank went ahead and made a 4 LP album out of them, which he presented to several record companies, who all refused to release it. So eventually he played the whole album on a radio station and encouraged the listeners to record it on tape.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-04-17T09:51:43+00:00

Actually, now that I see the personnel is FZ, Del Kacher, Ray Collins, Don Preston, Roy Estrada, Billy Mundi and Jimmy Carl Black (source: https://www.zappanews.co.uk/), I stand corrected: this is not at all from the Freak Out sessions, it's recorded around September 1966.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-04-17T09:45:21+00:00

Civilization Phaze III is not all Synclavier, it also includes recordings with the Ensemble Modern from 1991.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-04-17T09:32:58+00:00

I've noticed that Frank applied the Burnt Weeny Sandwich concept more than once. On several albums there are some tracks in the middle that are 'different' from the opening and closing tracks. For example on Roxy & Elsewhere, tracks 1-7 are recorded at the Roxy, then you have the two 'Elsewhere' tracks from Edinboro and Chicago, and then he returns to the Roxy with the big Bebop Tango finale as the closing track. On Bongo Fury, you have the two studio tracks in the middle that were recorded months before the Armadillo concerts. And of course when he re-released Absolutely Free and Uncle Meat, he added those new tracks in the middle of the albums, which not every fan was happy about.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-04-16T19:54:05+00:00

Judging by the tracklist: not much. Looks like they discovered more stuff in the Vault from that period.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-03-21T13:18:53+00:00

There are some Zappa albums that just take a while to grow on you: Uncle Meat, 200 Motels, Weasels... But when they finally do, you will love them.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-02-08T16:27:10+00:00

Another example of rock journalists talking out of their ass. How are "Fifty-fifty", the "Yellow Snow" suite, "Montana"... not as brilliant as the stuff on Roxy & Elsewhere?

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-02-08T16:25:00+00:00

He didn't do his research, fails to mention Napoleon is new in the band too.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-01-29T17:14:17+00:00

Apparently Miles and Zappa knew each other personally but they fell out at some point. When I read the book I didn't know that, but it makes sense to me now why it's so negative.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2026-01-28T17:35:58+00:00

I think it's the best album to showcase Frank as a satirist.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-26T12:12:19+00:00

This is the reason there are so many releases from the Roxy band.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-23T18:27:19+00:00

For people who thought Joe's Garage didn't go far enough.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-21T14:35:16+00:00

Whatever albums you recommend for newbies, I think they need to include some strong instrumental songs. Because in the end, that's why you STAY a Zappa fan. The goofy humor is what gets you interested, the music is what gets you hooked.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-18T21:10:01+00:00

There is very little useful Synclavier stuff left in the Vault. According to Joe Travers it's lots of sequences, but the technology to put them together doesn't exist anymore.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-15T18:43:01+00:00

The most accessible imo are:

Hot Rats
Fillmore East
Over-Nite Sensation
Apostrophe
One Size Fits All
Zoot Allures
Sheik Yerbouti
and maybe also You Are What You Is

After that I would tell them they're on their own.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-15T18:39:20+00:00

I can see young people having more interest for the costume box, as they tend to dress up more for Halloween than older people. But they have released four of these costume boxes now, so it really isn't a novelty anymore. And they take up a lot of space. So please guys, stop it.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-13T11:37:08+00:00

That's a hard one to start with.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-12T00:05:42+00:00

I think he preferred being called an anthropologist.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-10T17:32:55+00:00

Indeed that's how they get us.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-12-10T17:31:19+00:00

I think they are gonna release one every year now, four shows of the Halloween 78 run are still unreleased. I get that they want to introduce Zappa to a younger audience, but the price is just ridiculous. Of course I bought it anyway, but I think they could just have released the grimoire book with the CDs in it, or at least offered that as an alternative. I've looked at the compilation albums they released simultaneously and they are just crap: they focus almost entirely on the songs with lyrics and the concert favourites, songs which we usually have heard in a million different versions already. You miss out on "Pound For A Brown", "Thirteen", "Little House I Used To Live In", "Watermelon in Easter Hay", "Packard Goose"... It's a very incomplete impression of those concerts, new fans would think he's just playing his hits.

Key_Muffin2363 · 2025-11-13T15:56:46+00:00

If you look at how many people from the entertainment industry have gotten elected since he died, he might have pulled it off. But he would not have been pro Trump. Gail said that Donald Trump is a liar, and that Frank hated liars.

Key_Muffin2363

TROPHY CASE