I did not intend. . .

. . . for this to become a chronological revisitation of my indoctrination into the school of Zappa, but I must go on a bit.

From the irreverent, unconventional, iconoclastic ’Freak Out!’ I moved onto ‘Just Another Band from LA’, which was also (ironically?) IRREVERENT, UNCONVENTIONAL and ICONOCLASTIC. I remember listening to it, where I listened to all my music, (played in all it’s glorious, vinyl, hi-fidelity on a Westinghouse, console record-player – NO, it wasn’t even stereo – that we inherited from my Grandmother) in the basement, my forerunner to what is now called a man-cave, though mine was more of a musical, adolescent-cave, keeping a watchful ear on the door at the top of the stairway just in case one of my parents should happen to wander down and catch some of the colorful language on the record. [‘Freak Out!’, by the way, contained no objectionable language whatsoever!] And since some of the language was indeed so colorful, I will not post an audio or video clip of any pieces from J.A.B.F.L.A. here, in this family-friendly, [and I am serious, I was all about decorum when raising my children (there is time enough for them to learn those things elsewhere)] blog.

So just to take my education a step further, after J.A.B.F.L.A., and to be able to post a family-friendly excerpt here, I must tell you that I purchased THE GRAND WAZOO which was like something COMPLETELY different from what I had been listening to by Frank. It was ethereal. It was spooky. It was jazzy. It was intoxicating and it was addictive. It was. . .



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The more I listened. . .

. . . the more I heard. From Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears' sophisticated, jazz-inflected arrangements, I branched out, under the influence of newly-gained high school buddies. Now I was listening to Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull and then in 10th grade, with the help of Steph, (Stephen being his full name) I came upon that musical marvel they call Zappa. Frank Zappa. Steph highly recommended the Freak Out! album. Of that release, Wikipedia says:

"Freak Out! is the debut album by American band The Mothers of Invention, released June 27, 1966 on Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, the album is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture. It was also one of the earliest double albums in rock music (although Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde preceded it by a week), and the first 2-record debut. In the UK the album was originally released as a single disc.

The album was produced by Tom Wilson, who signed The Mothers, formerly a bar band called the Soul Giants. Zappa said many years later that Wilson signed the group to a record deal in the belief that they were a white blues band.[1][2] The album features vocalist Ray Collins, along with bass player Roy Estrada, drummer Jimmy Carl Black and guitar player Elliot Ingber, who would later join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band under the name Winged Eel Fingerling.[3][4]

The band's original repertoire consisted of rhythm and blues covers; though after Zappa joined the band he encouraged them to play his own original material, and the name was changed to The Mothers.[5] The musical content of Freak Out! ranges from rhythm and blues, doo-wop and standard blues-influenced rock to orchestral arrangements and avant-garde sound collages. Although the album was initially poorly received in the United States, it was a success in Europe. It gained a cult following in America, where it continued to sell in substantial quantities until it was prematurely discontinued in the early 1970s."

So by the time Steph, and me by association, discovered that magical music of Freak Out!, it was only about seven years old, and Zappa, a mere musical infant. I call it magical, but I believe Frank only improved with age and no matter what he created, or would have created if not for his untimely death in 1993, it would have been interesting, challenging and musical. Freak Out! was, in retrospect, more an attraction to my peers for its unconventionality than any true musical innovation. But clearly, this man Frank Zappa was one musician to watch, or should I say. . . Listen!




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Melancholy. . .

It's a melancholy world when you can't tell the stones from the pearls. You can't imagine what my motives are or what I'm feeling. But the lights are bright on Broadway. And the birds begin to sing as America pours her first cup of coffee. It's a melancholy world.

It's a melancholy world when either it's the big brass ring or the girl. I just can't seem to hold on to the dreams I've worked so hard for. And the crowd is there at midnight where the party's just begun. There's a gold invitation that bears my name but it's gotten lost in the mail.

The mirror holds the same old dour reflection that is used to. And the sun will rise in the morning and the stars will light the night. If they just took the time, listened to my sad song. It's a melancholy world.

MELANCHOLY WORLD
©1994, 2003 Raymond M. Jozwiak



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Did I hear correctly? . . .

. . . Yes, she really said this. Really!

"I'd like to be abundantly clear: My ability to function effectively will not affect my ability to serve as commander-in-chief. . ."

Let me get this straight, she intends to serve as commander-in-chief as INEFFECTIVELY as possible. . . or do we have a 'FAIL-YAH TO COMMUNICATE' heeee-yahhh!?





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“Where there is much desire to learn. . .

. . . there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making.”
-John Milton

The president urged a "balanced approach" in his Monday night speech. He pushed for the two parties to work out an acceptable deal, and called for Americans to demand that their congressional representatives put aside short-term politics to reach a compromise. He also said, ". . . We can't allow the American people to become collateral damage to Washington's political warfare. . . "; '. . .stop-gap deal would only mean the Republicans returning again next year to use the same tactics to seek more cutbacks. . . '; "The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn't vote for a dysfunctional government"; "History is scattered with the stories of those who held fast to rigid ideologies and refused to listen to those who disagreed. But those are not the Americans we remember. We remember the Americans who put country above self, and set personal grievances aside for the greater good."

Milton didn't highlight it, but one word should out in the quote: “Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in GOOD men is but knowledge in the making.

Mr. Boehner said that he, "made a sincere effort"; "I gave it my all,"; "I didn't want 'mano-a-mano' with Obama" (he was overheard to say on his way out of the building); "Obama created the "crisis" atmosphere". Of Mr. Obama's call for a "balanced" approach in the debt limit deal - one that includes both spending cuts and revenue increases - Boehner said it amounts to Washington-speak for "we spend more, you pay more." The Sacramento Bee said, "In his response to Obama's televised address to the nation, Boehner gave no indication of compromise."

Have YOU decided where YOU stand?



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The originator. . .

. . . of the tune, IMPRESSIONS.

Had to post the violin version of IMPRESSIONS on yesterday's blog based upon the last quote from John Coltrane that I listed on the page. But if you're a Coltrane fan, once you hear the tune played by anyone anywhere, you like to go back and hear it done by its creator. At least I do.



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Quotes from Trane. . .

. . . John Coltrane, that is. Forty fours years gone, last week. . .

“I never even thought about whether or not they understand what I'm doing . . . the emotional reaction is all that matters as long as there's some feeling of communication, it isn't necessary that it be understood.”

“All a musician can do is to get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws.”

“Over all, I think the main thing a musician would like to do is give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things that he knows of and senses in the universe. . . That’s what I would like to do. I think that’s one of the greatest things you can do in life and we all try to do it in some way. The musician’s is through his music.”

“You can play a shoestring if you're sincere”

“I’ve found you’ve got to look back at the old things and see them in a new light.”

“Sometimes I wish I could walk up to my music for the first time, as if I had never heard it before. Being so inescapably a part of it, I’ll never know what the listener gets, what the listener feels, and that’s too bad.”

"My music is the spiritual expression of what I am — my faith, my knowledge, my being...When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups...I want to speak to their souls."

"I start in the middle of a sentence and move both directions at once."

“The first violins have the most interesting part.”



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