Funky Nothingness

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This song is also, in many ways, a template for a completely different song that came later on Chunga’s Revenge, “Road Ladies” — a ripping electric blues with some comical, sexually charged lyrics not all that far removed from Slim’s original as played here, when you stop to think about it. Music Superstar YOSHIKI Will Become First Japanese Artist to be Immortalized in Cement at the World-Famous TCL Chinese Theatre Hollywood In a way this explores a technique Zappa dubbed “Xenocrony,” which according to the Wiki “is executed by extracting a guitar solo or other musical part from its original context and placing it into a completely different song, to create an unexpected but pleasing effect.” At this point, even the Frank Zappa faithful have reason to be wary of another vault bonbon: There’s been a steady stream of historical and live-performance releases, many of them interesting primarily to collectors. Zappa was restless and impossibly prolific, and the sheer volume of material runs the risk of diluting his legacy. Because, let’s be real, not every posthumous title adds substantially to the understanding of an artist and his work. Side one (presumably) ends with a lengthy workout of “I’m A Rollin’ Stone,” an old Lightnin’ Slim side. Over a slow, swampy groove, Zappa tears off some searing leads and jokes around: “Come in and make yourself comfortable… right over here by the Silvertone 45RPM imitation stereo record player,” his grin practically audible.

On The Go

The original material is similarly arresting. A hypnotic "Chunga's Revenge" recorded in the basement of Zappa's Laurel Canyon home and subsequent "Basement Jam" debut here; an edit of the recording was released in surround sound on the 2004 DVD-A release QuAUDIOPHILIAc. Indeed, much of the material here would make sense on an expanded edition of 1970's Chunga's Revenge. "Sharleena" closed that album. Former Turtles Flo and Eddie took the lead vocals, lending it their trademark pop sound. (That rendition was intended to be released on 45 RPM but the single never materialized.) The liner notes here reveal that Zappa described this Record Plant take as "the funky version." It's an apt tag as it leans more heavily into the blues than the released recording and features Sugarcane Harris' bluesy vocals. It's also nearly three times as long, featuring an extended improvisation with incendiary solos from Harris and Zappa before the proper song is restated. (This "Sharleena" was issued on 1996's The Lost Episodes in a remix; Funky Nothingness presents Zappa's original 1970 mix.) Was the guitarist and composer’s aesthetic fully formed out of the gate, from those ribald first works with the Mothers of Invention? Or was there some sort of galvanizing moment a bit later on, as Zappa’s skills fell into alignment with his ambition, when his intentions clarified and his options multiplied? And then, in the middle of all this output, Zappa assembled another band and carved out time for something that might seem curiously extra: jamming. The more I consider the contents of Frank Zappa’s new 2LP set Funky Nothingness, the more I realize these once-buried archival recordings are not just the components of a lost album, but really are an insightful transitional link into Zappa’s compositional mindset. Made in the aftermath of FZ’s October 1969 landmark jazz fusion masterpiece Hot Rats, this new album also connects many musical dots from there to October 1970’s Chunga’s Revenge — and beyond.

a b "Frank Zappa's Incredibly Rare Recordings, Believed to Have Been Planned for a Potential Sequel to His Iconic Hot Rats Album, Have Been Unearthed from the Vault and Compiled as New Collection, Funky Nothingness". June 30, 2023 . Retrieved August 25, 2023. But for Zappa, things moved fast in those days. By May he’d thrown together a group with some of the Mothers and played a few shows in New York, then did a one-time performance with the LA Philharmonic at the end of the month. A month later, he’d hooked up with two-ed Turtles and was on a completely different path, one that’d lead to a movie and a near-death experience. This brief period in his career was maybe just a blip, but it’s nice to finally have more than just a few performances from it. | r milner Another awe-inspiring jam is Tommy/Vincent Duo II, showcasing the magic between Zappa and Dunbar in their earliest days together. An unedited version, which stretches to nearly 22 minutes long, appears on Disc 3. Travers writes, “By 1970, Frank had worked with some great drummers between The Mothers and the L.A. studio scene… (but) Aynsley took things to another level. It’s easy to understand how Frank would be excited to see where their chemistry would take them musically. Here is audio proof.” In the same vein as "The Clap" are a trio of brief pieces that close out the bonus discs. "Halos and Arrows" is a segment of a freeform, surprisingly relaxed, and gentle piece played by Zappa which was otherwise erased. "Moldred" was assembled by Zappa from the jams with Dunbar; he overdubbed himself on bass. The closing, under-a-minute-long "Fast Funky Nothingness" is just that - another blues-based piece at a faster tempo than the one which opened the first disc of the set. Let’s Go! – weekly SiriusXM show with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray – makes Season 3 debut on September 4Offiziellecharts.de – Frank Zappa – Funky Nothingness" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 2, 2023. Some of these songs will be familiar to Zappa devotees. "Chunga's Revenge," included in Funky Nothingnessin three separate versions, was refigured as the title song from Hot Rat's follow-up, a cover of 1950s bluesman Lightnin' Slim's "I'm a Rollin' Stone" transformed into "Stink-Foot" from 1974's Apostrophe and Chunga's Revenge's closing song "Sharleena" is featured inan earlier 12-minute version. Posthumous releases of Zappa's music have been a mixed bag, ranging from band rehearsals with less than high fidelity sound, expanded reissues which include works in progress prior to overdubbing and editing, expanded versions of previously issued albums and CDs or CD sets of completely unreleased (or mostly so) music. This collection falls into the latter category and is a release which long-time Zappa fans have dreamed of being discovered. Dutchcharts.nl – Frank Zappa – Funky Nothingness" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 2, 2023. Bose Announces New QuietComfort Ultra Headphones And Earbuds With Bose Immersive Audio For The Most Realistic Sound Ever

Listen closely to these recordings, and you can hear the sound evolving before your very ears, going right from that Hot Rats fusiony vibe to the Chunga feel. Actually, if you listen really closely, you can also feel the embryonic compositional palette Zappa fine-tuned further when Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles (a.k.a. Flo & Eddie) joined the band some months later.The Clap" (CD3: Zappa/Hot Rats '70 More Session Masters & bonus Nothingness - Unedited Master - part I) Finally, there’s a few weird odds and ends: “Halos and Arrows,” a fragment where Zappa overdubs himself with layers of guitars (it’s perhaps a cousin to “Nine Types of Industrial Pollution”), “Moldred” which is a slowed-down and overdubbed bit from “Tommy/Vincent,” and “Fast Funky Nothingness” which bookends the set with another bluesy guitar jam. Reed, Ryan (June 30, 2023). "Frank Zappa's Funky Nothingness Is Full of Meandering, Revelatory Jams". Spin. Disc Two includes a nearly 15-minute long unedited version of the full take of “Sharleena” which includes an alternate vocal part, additional overdubs and a longer guitar solo than the version first heard on The Lost Episodes collection!

Funky Nothingness, as an album, is special in that it features at least three written compositions, three cover versions and multiple instrumental jam-oriented segments, all previously unreleased,” Travers explains. “It’s very rare to find that amount of music from one set of sessions that has gone unheard for such a long period of time.” Disc three opens with two lengthy percussion pieces: “The Clap” parts one and two. They’re not essential, but it’s nice to have them in full. There’s another version of “Chunga,” this time going long enough to take up a whole LP side. And there’s also the full version of “Tommy/Vincent Duo” which at 20 minutes is enough to satisfy any Zappa fan who wants to hear him and Dunbar really cutting loose with the tapes rolling. You don’t really get this freewheeling experience on any of the records he released at that time. Another awe-inspiring jam is “Tommy/Vincent Duo II,” showcasing the magic between Zappa and Dunbar in their earliest days together. An unedited version, which stretches to nearly 22 minutes long, appears on Disc 3. Travers writes, “By 1970, Frank had worked with some great drummers between The Mothers and the L.A. studio scene…[but] Aynsley took things to another level. It’s easy to understand how Frank would be excited to see where their chemistry would take them musically. Here is audio proof.” Mark Smotroff is an avid vinyl collector who has also worked in marketing communications for decades. He has reviewed music for AudiophileReview.com, among others, and you can see more of his impressive C.V. at LinkedIn.)Together the group recorded hours’ worth of original compositions, inspired covers and extended improvisations that drew from Zappa’s R&B and blues roots, while blending influences of the emerging jazz fusion scene. Largely instrumental, these recordings showcased the guitarist’s virtuosity, while offering what could have easily been the sequel to Hot Rats, had it ever been released. The Funky Nothingness sessions — built around the steady groove of drummer Aynsley Dunbar and bassist Max Bennett — catch Zappa in harvesting-ideas mode. The group explores vintage swamp blues (Lightnin’ Slim’s “I’m a Rollin’ Stone”) and early R&B (covers of Hank Ballard’s “Work With Me Annie” and “Annie Had a Baby,” sung by Don “Sugarcane” Harris), as well as whimsical originals built on older styles (the doo-wop send-up “Sharleena”). It’s joyriding, lane-changing music — the atmosphere is loose and easygoing (for a Zappa project). There are few conceptual overlays to manage. From here, one gets into the meat and bones of this set: two hours of alternates and outtakes. There’s a little bit of everything: unedited takes of “Sharleena” and “Transylvania Boogie” (which originally appeared in 1970’s Chunga’s Revenge), and alternate versions of “Chunga’s Revenge” and “Twinkle Tits.” The alternative version of “Chunga’s” has more heft than the take on disc one with strong soloing from Zappa; it also runs over 16 minutes, which is maybe why it didn’t fit in there. It’s of a piece with “Willie the Pimp” from Hot Rats in showing how Zappa’s guitar playing was growing with leaps and bounds in the late 1960s. With Dunbar’s drumming, it might even top that performance. The version of “Twinkle,” meanwhile, shows a more stripped down take – no overdubs, so it’s like being a fly on the wall at these sessions. Zappa/Hot Rats ’70: Session Masters & Bonus Nothingness” spans the second and third discs. Among these outtakes, alternate edits, unreleased masters of songs from the period, and improvisational recordings is “Tommy/Vincent Duo III (Unedited Master),” which finds Zappa and Dunbar squaring off on nearly 22 minutes of guitar/drum improvisation. With this welcome offering of three and a half hours of unheard studio Zappa that follows one of his most celebrated albums, one can’t help but wonder what else might eventually escape from the Zappa vault. ( www.zappa.com) Funky Nothingness, as an album, is special in that it features at least three written compositions, three cover versions, and multiple instrumental jam-oriented segments, all previously unreleased,” vaultmeister Joe Travers said in a statement. “It’s very rare to find that amount of music from one set of sessions that has gone unheard for such a long period of time.”