After many years away from the limelight, Shuggie Otis has gained lots of notoriety in 2013 as he’s returned to touring and has seen his classic 1974 album Inspiration Information re-issued along with a disc of tracks he’s recorded since that time called Wings Of Love. One of Shuggie’s first big gigs was as bassist for the recording of Frank Zappa’s legendary Peaches En Regalia track from 1969′s Hot Rats LP.

Shuggie and Frank spent lots of time together in L.A. and enjoyed collaborating on jams. Otis’ father Johnny was another music legend and in addition to being a singer, musician, composer, arranger, bandleader and talent scout, Johnny Otis was also a DJ with his own show on Pasadena’s KPPC.

On a November 2nd, 1970 episode of The Johnny Otis Show, Shuggie and Frank Zappa busted out their acoustic guitars for what turned into a transcendent nine-minute jam that showed off the immense talents of each musician. Take a listen…

READ ON

Located in the heart of the “Forever Wild” Catskill Forest Preserve in Big Indian, New York; The Full Moon Resort continues to add events to its already formidable lineup of Music Masters Camps. Three HT faves will be throwing camps at Full Moon this summer as Umphrey’s McGee will present sUMmer School from June 17 – 21, Dweezil Zappa will host Dweezilla Music Boot Camp from July 1 – July 5, while Dark Star Orchestra will lead DSO High School on August 5 – 9.

All three events will feature workshops, performances, master classes, presentations, interactive jams and many other activities all at the comfortable Full Moon Resort. Each act will bring special guests with them to their camps as Umphrey’s will welcome Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band / Flecktones) to sUMmer School, Dweezil has invited a number of “counselors” such as Oz Noy and Chris Buono to Dweezilla Boot Camp, while DSO has Grateful Dead Hour host David Gans, legendary Dead recording engineer Betty Cantor-Jackson and former Grateful Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux signed up for DSO High School. Spots are currently available for all three camps.

As part of our Everybody Wins When We Plug Something And In Return They Offer Us Free Shit To Give Away program, we’ve got an autographed CD for each act for our readers. We’ll let sUMmer School hosts Umphrey’s McGee, Dweezilla Boot Camp host Dweezil Zappa and DSO High School hosts Dark Star Orchestra determine just what CD you’ll get, but they will be signed. Simply leave a comment below telling us which CD you’d like to win and you’ll be entered.

Here’s the fine print…

READ ON

In 1974 Frank Zappa and The Mothers released the live album Roxy & Elsewhere, with The Roxy part of the record culled from a three-night stand in December of 1973 at The Roxy in Los Angeles, with the Elsewhere portion taken from a pair of shows in Edinboro, Penn. and Chicago. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release, Zappa Plays Zappa have lined up a lengthy North American tour, which will see the modern interpreters of Frank’s musical legacy play the album in its entirety. The Dweezil Zappa-fronted act will kick off their 29-date tour on September 2 at Lupo’s in Providence and wrap in early November December nodding to album’s roots with three-night run at The Roxy, roughly a month before Zappa & Co. played on that very stage exactly 40 years earlier.

If you’re not into a night with the Zappa tribute act, then maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…

• Tricky: Summer U.S. Tour (6/8 – 6/22)
• Gogol Bordello: Summer World Tour (5/30 – 9/25)
• Rodrigo y Gabriela: Summer U.S. Tour (7/5 – 8/3)
• Patty Griffin: Summer World Tour (5/30 – 8/17)
• Toro y Moi: Fall North American Tour (10/4 – 11/10)
• Melisa Etheridge: Summer North American Tour (6/18 – 9/10)

Here’s the full list of Zappa Plays Zappa’s Roxy & Elsewhere tour dates…

READ ON

Frank Zappa stuck his foot into the mainstream in 1971 when he appeared as a mystery guest on syndicated game show What’s My Line. The episode aired on September 23rd and featured celebrity panelists Soupy Sales, Arlene Francis, Gene Rayburn and June Lockhart. Zappa emerges to a huge applause from the studio audience before Sales guesses who he is with surprising ease.

Zappa, a longtime Southern California resident, had a few run ins with the more commercial end of showbiz starting with a 1963 appearance on the Steve Allen Show. He even had a cameo in an episode of The Monkees and also appeared in their Head movie. However FZ’s spot on What’s My Line was the rare instance where he traded upon his fame to help promote a project. In this case the guitarist/composer was shilling for his 200 Motels film. Crystal-clear footage of Zappa’s appearance on What’s My Line has emerged on YouTube thanks to tomtiddler1…

[UPDATE: 12:30PM 2/22 - Wax Poetic has updated their list to reveal more information about the Trey Anastasio 7" Picture Disc. See the entry below.]

Record Store Day returns on April 20th to independent record stores across this country and as we reported earlier Jack White will be this year’s “Ambassador.” Today, the folks at Wax Poetic have given a preview of what we can expect in the way of exclusive RSD releases by posting a list of 144 Record Store Day titles that include releases by some of our favorite artists.

You can check out the whole list HERE, but we’ve assembled some highlights…

CDs:

• Grateful Dead are Cuts & Oddities 1966

This compilation was released on CD in 2005 but seems to be out-of-print

• Mumford & Sons Live at Bull Moose

A live set performed by Mumford at the Scarborough, Maine record store last August

7″

READ ON

Very early in Frank Zappa’s career, way back in 1967, the soon-to-be legendary musician/composer provided the soundtrack for an animated TV commercial advertising Luden’s cough drops. According to the ad’s animator/producer Ed Seeman, FZ was paid $2,000 for his troubles.

The ad went on to win a Clio award for “Best Use of Sound.” Check it out…

Since today marks what would’ve been Frank Zappa’s 72nd birthday, we’re devoting this week’s Full Show Friday column to the legendary composer/performer. Just like Dead fans and Phish fans, Zappaphiles love to argue about which year of FZ’s career was the best. For my money, it’s 1973.

As an example of what makes 1973 such a phenomenal year for Zappa and his band, we’ve got 75 incredible pro-shot minutes of the ensemble in action. Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden on August 21, 1973; this video features the early Roxy band of FZ, Tom Fowler, Bruce Fowler, Ruth Underwood, George Duke, Don Preston, Ralph Humphrey, Jean-Luc Ponty and Ian Underwood. They tackle such classics as Cosmik Debris, RDNZL, Montana and Penguin In Bondage. Happy Birthday, Frank.

01:48 Cosmik Debris
09:49 Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue
10:53 Kung Fu
11:54 Penguin In Bondage
16:02 RDNZL
20:26 Montana
29:01 Dupree’s Paradise
53:44 Join The March And Eat My Starch
54:22 Farther Oblivion

After Gail Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust struck a deal with the major music subscription services in August, over 50 of Frank Zappa’s albums have finally turned up on Rdio, Spotify and Rhapsody today. Now you stream all of FZ’s classic LPs such as Joe’s Garage, Apostrophe and The Grand Wazoo as well as a handful of live releases including the You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore.

Ever since the Zappa Family Trust signed a pact to bring Frank’s music to the streaming services, there’s been questions as to whether FZ would’ve approved of such a deal. Well, considering the legendary performer proposed an idea similar to today’s subscription services back in 1982, we think he’d be all for it. The folks at Rdio has created “An Introduction To Frank Zappa” playlist…

When Frank Zappa came to the conclusion that he had enough of dealing with Warner Bros. Records he decided to form his own label called Zappa Records in 1977 under a deal with Phonogram Records. The first album Zappa Records released that wasn’t one of Frank’s was L. Shankar’s Touch Me There in 1979. Shankar, an Indian-born American violinist, singer and composer, worked closely with FZ who not only provided lyrics for the project but also produced it and contributed some of the music.

The opening track of Touch Me There is the bombastic Dead Girls of London featuring vocals from Ike Willis and Zappa. However the song was originally recorded with Van Morrison handling vox. Van The Man was a Warner Bros. recording artist and the label wanted no part in letting his vocals be used, probably to spite Frank after lots of legal wrangling. Thankfully, we can hear the version featuring Van Morrison as it was released on the compilation The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAAAAAM Birthday Bundle 2011. You can always count on record labels to bury great tracks. See if you agree…

Frank Zappa, L. Shankar and Van Morrison – Dead Girls of London

In September we told you about a new series of live archival releases from the Zappa Family Trust called Road Tapes. Today, we’ve found out about the first installment of what looks to be an exciting series. It appears instead of labeling Road Tapes as volumes, the installments will be labeled as “venues.” Road Tapes Venue #1 features a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention performance recorded at Kerrisdale Arena in Vancouver on August 25, 1968 and is expected to ship this week.

This show not only hasn’t circulated among fans, but a setlist isn’t known. So far ZFT hasn’t released a track listing on the pre-order page. The only details are, “Get your ticket to ride! First stop Vancouver. House lights go down, Curtain goes up. You sit down and listen up. Get on the bus.” A look at the only other August show listed on the definitive FZShows site, from NYC’s Wollman Rink in Central Park, features a setlist that includes King Kong, Mr. Green Genes, Big Leg Emma and Baby Love. It’s thought Zappa was backed by the classic Mothers of Invention lineup of Roy Estrada, Ray Collins, Jimmy Carl Black, Art Tripp, Ian Underwood, Don Preston, Bunk Gardner and Motorhead Sherwood, but again there’s no details listed about this previously undocumented performance.

You can pre-order this release HERE for just $15 not including shipping.

Wolfgang’s Vault continues to add killer shows to their massive Concert Vault collection at a blistering pace. One recently added performance that you can stream and download is a rare Frank Zappa performance from 1978. You need to be a member of the Concert Vault to download the Zappa show for free, but anyone can stream the audio and video – and you should do so immediately.

On October 13, 1978 Zappa and one of our favorite bands of his played an early and late show at The Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersy. Joining Frank on stage were one of the best drummers to ever pick up sticks, Vinnie Colaiuta, wacked-out keyboardist Tommy Mars, lead singer Ike Willis as well as Denny Walley (slide guitar), Patrick O’Hearn (bass), Arthur Barrow (bass), Peter Wolf (keys) and Ed Mann (percussion). Wolfgang’s Vault has posted audio AND video of the early gig straight from the soundboard and black-and-white cameras installed in the venue by impresario Bill Graham.

Zappa and his band run through 18 songs from throughout his career including Village of the Sun, Easy Meat, Dinah Moe Hum, Magic Fingers and City of Tiny Lights. Check out the Yellow Snow Suite…

Frank Zappa – Yellow Snow Suite

The Wolfgang’s Team has posted an informative essay on the historic value of this show…

READ ON

Frank Zappa’s widow Gail Zappa has sent out a missive to the Zappa Family Trust mailing list that contains plenty of exciting news. Not only has she given an update on the status of the Roxy DVD and soundtrack that many Zappateers consider the Holy Grail of Zappa releases, but she’s also proclaimed that a new series, of what’s likely to be live archival releases, called Road Tapes is on its way with the first installment aimed for Halloween.

If you missed our story in May, Frank Zappa and one of the best bands he ever assembled played an epic three-night stand at The Roxy in Hollywood, California on December 8 – 10, 1973. The shows were filmed by multiple cameras and after a trailer appeared in the 2003 release of the Baby Snakes DVD were still waiting for the Roxy DVD. Gail’s email claims we’ll have the finished video product in our hands by next year’s 40th Anniversary of the performances and that a “prequel” soundtrack should be available by the end of the year. Of course, we’ll believe it when we see it, but we can’t help but get excited over the progress that appears to have been made.

As for “Road Tapes,” GZ doesn’t reveal too much in her email, but a series of live archival recordings would be extremely appreciated by fans and there’s boatloads of shows for her to choose from. We’d love to hear a full, unadulterated show from ’88 or one from his ’78 band or even the Sydney shows from ’73. We’ll be sure to let you know when more details are revealed.

Here’s the full text of Gail Zappa’s e-mail to Zappa fans…

READ ON

Iconic guitarist Frank Zappa embarked on a lengthy world tour in 1988 backed by the self-proclaimed “Best Band You’ve Never Heard In Your Life” which included Ike Willis, Mike Keneally, Scott Thunes, Chad Wackerman, Ed Mann, Bobby Martin, Bruce Fowler, Walt Fowler, Paul Carman, Albert Wing and Kurt McGettric. On May 17, 1988, about halfway through the European leg of the tour, Zappa and his band played at Palacio de los Deportes in Barcelona, Spain for a show that was broadcast on Spanish Public TV station RTVE and subsequently re-broadcast a number of times.

This performance has been bootlegged many times but has never been officially released. It features many classic Zappa tunes such as Black Napkins, Watermelon In Easter Hay and Illinois Enema Bandit as well as a few choice covers, namely Whipping Post and I am The Walrus. Thanks to YouTuber brainphreaky we can watch over two glorious hours of FZ and Co. in action…

Frank Zappa – Barcelona 1988

Songs: Pre-Concert Documentary, Black Page, Packard Goose, Sharleena, Bamboozled by Love, Black Napkins, When the Lie’s so Big, Planet of the Baritone Women, Any Kind of Pain, Jesus Thinks You Are a Jerk, Sofa, Find Her Finer, Big Swifty/Synclavier Instrumental, Ain’t Got No Heart, Love of my Life, Torture Never Stops/Cowboy Burt, Bolero, Watermelon in Easter Hey, Whipping Post, I Am the Walrus, Illinois Enema Bandit, Strictly Genteel (cut from broadcast)

Back in the Summer of ’73 Frank Zappa took one of the best bands he ever assembled to Australia for a three-week tour “Down Under.” Zappa’s band for this tour included violin master Jean-Luc Ponty, trumpet wiz Sal Marquez, multi-instrumentalist Ruth Underwood and innovative keys man George Duke. The Australian Broadcast Company recorded footage of the band rehearsing at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney for a program called GTK (Get To Know) to air in episode that also featured Jim Croce and Peter Quentin. The five-minute Zappa segment from GTK has turned up on YouTube and gives a look at the legendary bandleader/composer in action. Over the course of the clip Zappa and his band perform bits of Over-nite Sensation track Fifty-Fifty, Roxy & Elsewhere’s Be-Bop Tango, the “Pluckin’ The Old Dental Floss” section of Montana and an instrumental stab at Cucamonga.

Frank Zappa Rehearsal 

Zappa Plays Zappa @ House of Blues – Cleveland: July 18

Words: Zach Bloom
Photos: Michael Stein

Dweezil Zappa has formed his band at last. The Frank Zappa progeny blew the roof off of Cleveland’s House of Blues last Wednesday evening with a single set marathon performance. This show had a noticeably high entertainment value that so much resembled the energy of his father’s performances. “Sounds like Frank!” one fan shouted early on, prompting Dweezil to smile and respond with gratitude extolling “that’s our goal… to play the songs like they sound on the record.”

[All Photos by Michael Stein]

Supported by several new inductees to the ongoing ZPZ project, Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa delivered impeccable renditions of many of Frank’s greatest rock and roll compositions and ballads. The show was highlighted by instrumental works and extended jamming featuring lightning speed guitar solos by Dweezil that signify his recent re-dedication to studying the fundamentals of his father’s guitar playing. This metamorphosis was exemplified during a three-song jaunt early in the set that played out from Oh No to the epic Montana, which segued into Let’s Make The Water Turn Black.

Adding a light-hearted approach to his performance, Dweezil engaged the crowd throughout the show by bantering and re-telling the humorous backstories for many of the iconic aspects of individual pieces of music. Singer/Trumpeter Ben Thomas did a tremendous job tackling the vocal arrangements originally sung by Ike Willis, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Frank Zappa while adding his own humorous commentary and stage antics to show that he’s having fun with the music.

READ ON