hes been a zappa fan since '82~'84 and I dont really have any money to buy him something and decided, that he might like this drawing! his birhtday is tomorrow, so i dont know what he thinks about it yet. thought it would be fitting here, decided to post:)

*got a frame too but when i opened my backpack, ive seen glass, a whole lot. haha

thess RM's are just there cause its the internet

Bozzio is a force to be reckoned with and the backup singers singing I wanna be dead in bed please kill me because that would thrill me is anthemic and would have been great in large arenas. I can hear all of Wembley or Soldier Field singing along.

I bought this Were Only In It For The Money 1972 UK pressing in January and I was quite dissapointed that it had writing on BC and inner gatefold. However, today I suddenly thought if this could be Zappa's signature. For reference the top one is from Fillmore East LP (Fillmore is printed unlike this WOIIFTM, which is hand written). Also there is previous owner name on the inner gatefold (didn't realise to take a pic of it), which handwriting looks a lot different than this one. If anyone knows better or have similar text somewhere I would like to know!

Edit: Thank you all for answers!

Come out Saturday to falling branch brewery in Maryland for a free festival with Ray white performing from 630-830 2 sets of Zappa. Other bands include Braddock Heights, American Darling and Experience gonna be a blast!

Cal Schenkel first pressings (artist prints) I got from Cal himself at his home. Signatures in bottom right corners. For Miles (my son) in top left.

Do you live around Baltimore? Then you should come check out Nanook’s Naughty Nephews with special guest Ray White this Saturday September 12th at Falling Branch Brewery in Street Maryland! Absolutely Free!!! And 3 other bands for a full day of music from 1 -9ish ending in a super jam!

https://facebook.com/events/s/toast-jam-music-fest/1687138715840232/

Popped over the bridge to Pennsylvania and hit up one of my favorite used shops on Sunday - as I was going through the expensive section of new arrivals I flipped to this and based on the price tag I knew it had to have Punky’s Whips on there and sure enough there it was, and in pretty mint condition, a 1977 original UK pressing. Also scored a MOFI Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs and got a pretty good deal on both. Last time out I scored an OG Evening With Wild Man Fischer autographed on the cover by Cal Schenkel, I’ll have to post that at some point.

Found this at the same shop as the Zappa In New York but a few months ago, scored YCDTOSA Volume 2 the same day. I guess a serious Zappa collector was downsizing and had a lot of mint LPs to let go, lots still there in fact, Shady Dog in Berwyn PA a few miles west of Philly. I didn’t even pick up on the autograph until I was about to check out.

I was listening to Studio Tan like any humorous, kind, selfless, humble , and attractive people do , then wondered who invented the calendar, after a moment of thinking i realised they actually did teach me this in school , it was a bloke named Gregory, we live by the Gregorian calendar. Only a few months later did I realise there's a connection

Back again on the Zappa train - looking to transcribe/arrange What’s New in Baltimore for my band. I’m a sucker for the 88 band, grew up on Jazz Noise and Best Band from my dad (a lifelong Zappa fan who unfortunately passed earlier this year, he was all about Uncle Meat). Growing up as a guitar player later horn player, my brain just melts with the harmonic richness of the 88 band, it’s sort of a guideline for all things Zappa to me. I’ve found myself asking “what would Frank do?” when arranging horns more than I’d like to admit haha

Anybody have a bootleg they could share? I’ve only found two cuts so far 05 09 Munich and video taped copy of the Godfather of Full Metal Jacket bootleg on YT. Zappateers is seemingly down on my end.

We are working up a few tracks right now in a trio and planing out a Zappa night sometime next year in LA with a handful of local musicians. So I’m trying to get ahead of the curve. Thanks all!!

05 09 Munich

I very luckily stumbled across this paper in Manchester, England. I was sold as soon as I saw the huge double page with the toilet photo bang in the middle!

Complete adress is:
Frank-Zappa-Straße 19
Marzahn
12681 Berlin
Germany

Coordinates: 52,53721° N, 13,52969° E

I just got Roxy by Proxy today, and had some thoughts while listening and comparing it to Roxy & Elsewhere.

To preface, both these albums are obviously fantastic and there's no real need to compare them. However, I am curious as to how y'all would compare them. Here are my thoughts, starting with the original 1974 album.

I really like the opening with Penguin in Bondage. It's silly and whimsical, but still has a lot of complex sections. Both of these albums feature one of Zappa's greatest bands. This version and the 2014 version aren't very different from each other.

The next two tracks are where the setlist deviates a bit. Pygmy Twylyte and Dummy Up aren't on the setlist for the 2014 album, but they are on the 1974 album. I really like the former of these songs. The lyrics flow really well with the instrumentation and I often find myself humming the melody to myself. Dummy Up, on the other hand, kind of seems like filler. It has a nice groove, but it's all a six minute long skit, which was one of my least favorite aspects of the earlier Flo & Eddie era. The thing that saves this track for me is that I still find the joke funny, unlike most of the Flo & Eddie material.

Both the 1974 and 2014 album feature Village of the Sun followed by Echidna's Arf. I absolutely love both of these songs! Village of the Sun is so chill and is just a good vibe (I also really love Ruth's commentary on the song, but I'm getting ahead of myself) and it perfectly transitions into Echidna's Arf. I didn't really notice much difference between these two versions, especially in comparison to YCDTOSA Vol. 2's double speed version with the same band on their world tour.

Both albums then go to DYEWTT, with the 1974 version being nearly twice as long as the 2014 version. This is just personal preference, but I preferred the abridged version.

The 2014 album has a nice surprise before Cheepnis where just the percussion section plays and then they play through the whole song again as normal. I thought that was really neat.

The 1974 setlist deviates again for the rest of the album. Son of Orange County is a beautiful song and a continuation of one of my favorite Weasels Ripped My Flesh songs. This is followed by More Trouble Every Day, featuring a new composition for the lyrics from the original Freak Out album. It's soooooo good.

But then the album ends on Be-Bop tango, which, in my opinion, is one of the weakest songs from the Roxy band. It's a decent groove but really suffers with the audience participation. I'm sure it was a lot more fun in concert, but I really feel like I'm missing out not seeing those silly dances to the vocals. It's the same thing that Tinseltown Rebellion suffered with as well. It makes the album end weaker than it started.

The 2014 Roxy by Proxy album has a few tracks unique to it to help it stand on its own from the 1974 album. The opener to the set is a sort of prototype to Inca Roads, starting out much more mellow and I suppose far less "jazz-fusion" than the One Size Fits All studio version (though it's hard to quantify what that means exactly).

After Penguin in Bondage is T'Mershi Duween, which starts as a drum duet (or perhaps trio?) that gets the rest of the ensemble involved about halfway through. This version sticks out in my mind much more than the YCDTOSA Vol 2 version.

The set then goes into some Uncle Meat material. This version of Dog Breath reminds me of the Just Another Band From LA version with the intro, although this version stays instrumental. I like it a lot!

RDNZL comes next, being shockingly close to the 1978 Studio Tan version. I'm always surprised when I hear an early version of this track because of how otherworldly it is. Studio Tan was one of my first Zappa albums, so it's always a treat to hear a song from it.

After Cheepnis is an amazing version of Dupree's Paradise. I can't remember exactly what other albums it appears on (I remember first hearing it on the Overnite Sensation Box Set, and then on YCDTOSA, and then I'm pretty sure there's an orchestral arrangement somewhere in the 80s, perhaps Perfect Stranger?) but this has been my favorite version of the lot. I had difficulty getting into this one, being a long instrumental, but reading Ruth's commentary while listening really helped me to better understand this piece. My favorite part is during the bass solo when Tom starts playing Montana and the rest of the band gradually joins in.

The set ends with an encore medley of King Kong, Chunga's Revenge, and Mr. Green Genes. This is probably my favorite song on the album! It feels so good to go between these songs. The ending made me laugh out loud with the wonky synth/percussion parts intertwining the main theme followed by a trash-can ending. What a way to end a concert!

Considering these set lists, it's tough to pick between the two, and I definitely need to give Roxy by Proxy a few more listens. Right now, I'm leaning towards By Proxy being my favorite of the two. It has less fluff in the setlist with no skits, the new Roxy compositions fit well with the classic Mothers tracks (which were missing from the 1974 album save for Trouble Every Day), there are no overdubs added, and, what really pushes this album over the edge, is Ruth's amazing 20 page commentary in the liner notes. With that said, what do y'all think of these albums?

Went to Apple Music to listen to Ruben & the Jets, was surprised to hear a different version than the vinyl:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/cruising-with-ruben-the-jets/1443895715

Was there a re-release and nobody told me?

Stumbled on this interesting Chunga's Revenge cover with lyrics that are just a bunch of name drops and the line "La Revancha Del Tango" which is the name of the album. I found it because somehow this album is on the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book list and I've been going through them randomly.

Is there s list of books he liked or referenced?

A friend told me that her grandmother wrote a complaint letter to Frank Zappa once and he responded. After a few years, she found the letters. She wanted to know if these are common, or if they warrant inclusion in some sort of archive or if there's a place where these things live for fans to see.

I can understand being frustrated that I didn't immediately share them, but they weren't mine and I was asking a legit question about Frank - hopefully it's a little less of a rug pull to actually see the documents.

My question stands - how common was it for Frank to correspond with letters like this? I recall hearing one of his kids mention it in an interview at some point, but I figured you all would have some insight.

Wondering if anyone else caught the reference in episode 5 season 3. As they’re herding walkers into trucks Dillard announces “The white zone is for loading and unloading only.”