What does it sound like?:
Anyone who likes Frank Zappa should know “Apostrophe”; it’s one of his most accessible albums, where he fully demonstrated his mid-70s satirical funk to the amusement or irritation of the TRUE FANS. The track listing, including the unforgettable “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow”, “Nanook Rubs It”, “Cozmik Debris”, and “Stink-Foot” are a statement of intent. This is comedy music, and complementary to the reciting of Monty Python skits to admiring girls in the 4th form, and hoping your hair is starting to get good at the back. These times are now past, and though doubtless there is some adolescent comedy surrealism to take it’s place, I’m not sure there is a modern equivalent of Frank Zappa. Maybe, given Moon Unit’s recent autobiography, that’s not such a bad thing.
The playing on “Apostrophe” is tight, the weirdness is reasonably constrained, and songs become ruder later in the 70s. The band shines; George Duke gives it swing, funk, and soul on keyboards, as does Napoleon Murphy-Brock; a pre-Genesis Chester Thompson beats the crap out of the drums, and on the title track, there is that perrential thing of wonder, a bass solo, here performed by Jack Bruce. The remaster sounds fantastic on my computer speakers, so on a decent hi-fi will be very heaven. In the album is an obscure musical joke, as the “strictly commercial” line from “…Yellow Snow” derives from Lionel Hampton’s 1947 “Midnight Sun”. As always on products like this, there are some earlier versions of the songs which suggest slightly different ways of thinking about the album; I liked the extra minute of gospel organ on “Uncle Remus”, one of the warmer songs made by an artist often criticised for his over-cerebral, “soulless” music.
The package also includes two additional concerts, from Colorado and Ohio. These are tremendous, as the swing, funk, warmth, flashy chops, and general fun is pushed up to 11. Zappa’s concerts in the late 70s and 80s could be a bit guitar-heavy, as he kept long guitar solos going when they had pretty much disappeared elsewhere. By contrast, the concerts from 1974 have lots of horns, jazz-rock keyboard solos, and interesting percussion workouts that make you forget they are actually solos. There are some long versions of tracks, but they generally keep interest (though the 9- and 11-minute versions of “Apostrophe’”, with thoughtfully and considerately extended bass solos may not appeal to all).
There is a smattering of other classics of the era, reminding you that this is the era of “Roxy and Elsewhere” and “Overnite Sensation” (which was clearly already tiring him given his sardonic comments about “Dyna-Moe-Humm” when it comes to that time). “Inca Roads” and “Cheepnis” make welcome revisits. Me, I adored the thrilling, knife-edge-played “Echidna’s Arf/ Don’t You Ever Wash that Thing?” workout, and his revisiting the tracks “Uncle Meat”, “Dog Breath” and “RDZNL” with great arrangements, and an astonishing band miles better than The Mothers (sorry old folks, but it’s true).
What does it all *mean*?
Though I’d love to be proved wrong, these days, I don’t think Zappa is of interest to many outside a coterie of pensioners. One day, he may be rediscovered, and I like to think the generation that do will be very impressed by the 1970s update of Spike Jones, just as I have been when i see Spike Jones himself. The album sparkles, though modern sensibilities may find it too flippant. The concerts convey why he was spectacular sometimes, though maybe also show how as his seriousness increased, the fun was a little bit lost in the more bitter tone of his later humour and tiredness from keeping the show on the road to apparently diminishing returns (if Moon Unit’s book is correct).
Goes well with…
I drank lemonade with an old teabag in it. I’m sure there are better accompaniments. Not grass – Zappa didn’t approve (though it would be a laff-fest if you did).
Release Date:
Out now, pop-pickers
Might suit people who like…
Other Frank Zappa, Parliament, George Clinton, George Duke, Spike Jones
What a great commentary on a re-release of a truly marvellous LP. I’ve no doubt that this is a terrific re-issue set. Apostrophe was one of my earliest Zappa album purchases – for nostalgic reasons, I’ve still got my now slightly battered vinyl copy that I bought back in 1974. I’d got there via several even earlier LPs (inevitably, Hot Rats had first drawn me in). I bought the Zappa Records CD release a few years back – and that’s still available on Amazon for £6.99 – a steal. So we have history, Apostrophe and I.
But eighty quid for this massive new edition? Sheesh.
After mega indulgence a little while back on the marvellous boxed set that was The Hot Rats Sessions, and with Joni’s next archive trawl only a couple of weeks away, and even with the live concert recordings included, sadly, fiscal reality intervenes and I’m afraid that the temptation for this release has barely managed a flicker on my splurgeometer!
However, if they put out a less ostentatious option, a double CD for twenty quid perhaps, I’d be there.
The “Classic Albums” documentary is good too.
Thanks for the kind comments! Yes, I should have said something about the silly price. SugarMegs has all the FZ bootlegs you desire, from all eras. I realise Ahmet and Diva have to live, and the archive is their only asset, but this is a big sum for familiar material. And Moon Unit and Dweezil are not benefitting, I suspect. David Lee Roth once said “capitalism is about selling you something you didn’t realise you needed”, and this is the case here. But if you’ve got the cash to spend, and want the item, great. People pay £10,000 on a handbag.
“A handbaaaaaaag?”
Didn’t the Zappa Family Trust sell all rights to the estate to Universal Music a couple of years ago? This might have had an impact on the price.
Excellent point.
It is already on streaming at high-quality and sounds great
The Atmos mix is also there if you have the inclination (and the hardware).
About ten years ago, the most notable thing about the ever-expanding Zappa back catalogue was just how inexpensive it all was. The only release I spent any kind of money on was Greasy Love Songs (the update of Cruising with Ruben & the Jets). That was about £20.
While I was quite happy with the £6 Freak Out, a 4-cd set of that LP was pitched at something like £30-40. Pretty good value for such a pivotal record. They’re only about ten releases I’d possibly spend that on, and Freak Out could be one of them.
Even now, there’s a 3-cd 1968 Whisky-A-Go-Go release (a far better bet than Apostrophe for £80, I’d have thought) which Amazon has for £20.
The big bucks (still not as ‘big bucks’ as most other acts) really only seemed to start with that Hot Rats box set.
Personally, I benefitted hugely from the fact that one of the buyers for Bristol’s Park Street branch of Fopp must have been a huge Zappa fan, as pretty much the entire Zappa records CD issues turned up there at extremely good prices while the shop chain was in free-fall. I was working about 500 yards away, and over a number of lunchtime visits, gleefully acquired a huge chunk of the back catalogue that I’d never explored before. I limited each raid to relatively few titles in order to avoid looking like a complete FZ nerd on my return to the office. There are still a few discs in that pile that even now I’ve not yet heard!
You’re not wrong. At one point the Cambridge Circus branch of Fopp had more Zappa than would be good for anyone.
Curiously, my… erm… dealer (a guy who sets out a trestle table at the top of the High Street on random dates) has an alarming amount of the exact same CDs (the numbered ones, i.e. the good ones), and he’s pitching them at £4.
Frank Zappa has the distinction of being a high-profile, prolific and much-respected musician whose records very few people are willing to buy.
Bummer for him. It’s grody to the max. For sure.
Totally – gag me with a spoon…
Just for clarification – that all those Zappa CDs appeared at Fopp’s wasn’t a discount or sale on their part. When Universal had acquired the catalog they decided to reissue ALL the albums (more or less at once) at budget price. They probably figured out that an album-by-album reissue program wouldn’t work when you have more than 70 albums… including the odd one that even hardcore fans won’t buy twice. And the plan worked just fine: all decent record stores still have »Zappa« sections, and anyone curious about the music can easily find what he’s looking for.
(…I still haven’t found what I’m looking for…)
Lovely review. I’m also a fan of the extended version of Uncle Remus, and agree that it is one of his warmer tracks. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s one of his few co-writes.
I’ve bought an awful lot of Apostrophes: the vinyl, the rykodisc twofer with Overnite, the single disc ryko and then The Crux of the Biscuit album that came out a few years back. The last is good fun, and has the aforementioned extended Uncle Remus on it too. The concerts would be the selling point, but not at that price.
As regards pensioner Zappa fans, I’m not there yet, but being in my mid 50s, I reckon I’m a member of the last wave of Zappa fans, that came on board in the mid 80s when Them & Us was released and got a bit of a push. Good album, I think if he had done more like that, he may have picked up some fans from the growing metal scene, but he didn’t.
The last wave issue was the one that Dweezil was contesting with Ahmed – the fan base is aging out and repackaging the multitude of albums already out there wasn’t going to win any new fans. by getting out there and playing he was spreading the word. Having gone to 2 of his UK gigs, I think there was an element of truth in what Dweezil said although there was a pretty obvious older demographic.
The popularity of “heritage” acts can go in phases.
Steely Dan are currently attracting the interest of younger music fans, after years of being dismissed in favour of Punky noise, Indie jangle, modern R&B, DJ dance mixes etc. Perhaps a Zappa revival is not far-fetched.
Here’s hoping.
Wow, just imagine, listening might come back into fashion. As opposed to cool-signalling background noise to accompany scrolling, tapping and feeling put-upon.
At 55, three years older than Frank when he died, Dweezil is pretty much part of an older demographic. In himself, he won’t be bringing in new younger fans.
I don’t know if Zappa’s music is gaining new followers, but perhaps popular music will end up going the way of other arts – the artists whose reputations will survive will be those who find advocates in academia, who teach them in one form or another. Jazz may have fallen away from the mainstream and Charlie Parker for example may only be a name known among musicians (perhaps he always mainly was) but I know a couple of people who have taken jazz courses as musicians and there is a canon of artists, like Parker, who they are taught about.
Dylan may have sold his archive for the money, but it will also provide the mulch for future theses and biographies, keeping his name alive when he’s gone, like Stoppard or all those other writers who have deposited their papers somewhere in Texas or Oxford.
Mrs Wells is into music, has good taste and likes most stuff I olay. She arcs up a bit over some more challenging jazz, however theee is only one artist she actively militates to have taken off if within earshot – Uncle Frank.
Most wives of FZ fans are like that, in my experience. At least we have each other.
Some thoughts…
1. It’s so fascinating as always to have the early takes, basic tracks, alternative versions etc. A musical peek begind the scenes
2. The live concerts are just great. The bands with George Duke and Ruth Underwood were so together and absolutely nailed Zappa’s music, both in playing the parts (Ruth) and soloing (George)
3. Regarding price, I no longer buy actual CDs* – I have a subscription to Apple Music, and a basic no-ads sub to Spotify, so I can listen to just about anything there. Or on YouTube, for which I have so far refused to pay. BUT, I would love to have/read the booklets with these re-issues. (I wonder if any nice person has scanned them and put them – er – somewhere???
*Actually the other day I bought my first 2 CDs this year, as I was in the vicinity of one of Sydney’s great record stores, RedEye. One was “Masked Turnip Cyclophony” which is “rare and wonderful gems from the Pal recording studio” – ie very early FZ, some of which I already have. The other was “My Failed Christmas Album” by Andy Partridge, another one of his collections of songs he wrote for others that weren’t released by the artist he wrote them for. But that’s probably another post, unless there’s been one already.
There is a confluence between Zappa and XTC is there not?
If youngsters can like and play this, they can certainly get into Frank Zappa:
Rather good news on the Mothers front, the next Record Collector Special is on Frank, a full 16 years since Mojo did one.
Huzzah! (Air black with hats…)
Absolutely but, alas, not Absolutely Free, it’s about a tenner.
The first copy of Mojo I ever bought was maybe issue no 4? FZ on the cover, he’d recently died (Dec 1993) so it would have been early 1994 (given the time it took for mags to get from the UK to Australia). I found it in the local magazine shop (such things existed back then) – couldn’t believe this magazine existed! Exactly what I wanted to read about. I guess I was the perfect age (then just turned 40)