Zappa Recommendations ?

Thanks to all for your suggestions!!!

I will check them out. 

Well, I found "Yellow Snow" hilarious back in my stoned HS days but now it's just. . . irritating. 

@edgewear:

I recently watched a documentary about FZ where he said something to the effect that, in his view, "the absurd" was the primary reality. 

No doubt, this was a major factor that determined the flavor of the vocals he felt were "necessary" to provide to meet the dermands of "Pop culture" (if that phrase isn't an oxymoron, I don't know what is). 

I suppose this could be viewed as something somewhat akin to Dadist art. My BA is in studio art so I've been exposed to many styles but although I can appreciate what the Dada artists were doing, the work itself doesn't appeal to me, aesthetically and this is the exactly the issue I encounter with the vocals in Zappa's music.  Although I share many of his opinions regarding the aspects of american culture he delights in poking fun at, I don't as a rule enjoy satire as a fundamental focus of music. The best adjective I can think of to describe how the vocals in Zappa's music sound to me is "cartoonish", which is not a quality that I find esthetically appealing.  In other words, I'm unable to regard the human voice "as just another instrument" where Zappa's music is concerned. 

When listening to music with vocals, I want to be able to idenitify or at least empathize with the story the singer is telling and with Zappa's music, this cartoonish quality has the effect of constantly undermining any such identification, which, to be honest, I find pretty frustrating.  

That's an interesting question, tvad. I've never thought about that! 
I suspect I somehow manage to ignore that aspect to some degree. 
In any event, Fagan's delivery is still that of a "conventional" singer, delivering a "conventional" narrative. I don't perceive the aspect I referred to as "cartoonlsh" as present in the music of Becker and Fagan. 

I'd never heard "Cousin Dupree" so I just listened to it. In this case, the lyrics are simply so blatantly sleazy that I don't see how the meaning could possibly be misconstrued. 

My greatest issue with Steely Dan is the slickness of the music, beginning with Aja. Last night, I watched one of that series on the making of Classic albums that focused on Aja and it was illuminating to hear Fagan and Becker talk about, for example, their loser would-be hipster protagonist in "Deacon Blues". When they talked about this character, I felt much more able to relate to him, than when I listen to the song, itself. There's something about the degree to which the music has been fastidiously groomed that I find offputting or alienating. I much prefer the CTE, PL and KL albums. 

And this is not because I don't like Jazz!  I listen to more Jazz (50's to present) than anything else. Because of this and the fact that I've played guitar for many decades, I can really appreciate the high level of S. Dan's musicianship. But the Jazz elements in their recordings beginning with Aja sound very cheesy/lounge-y to me. They may be hip but they are so highly polished that they fail to engage me, emotionally. I dislike most prog and a lot of Fusion for the same reason. I'm afraid I'm rather myopic in this regard-- music that doesn't engage me emotionally doesn't interest me, period. 

When it comes to S. Dan, the recordings I like, I really like and I listen to them regularly. 

When it comes to explaining my musical preferences, it's really just guess-work. I can come up with reasons why I think I may prefer X yo Z, but I suspect a lot of this stuff really has very little to do with rationality. . . 

@middlemass:

"How can you exclude "Don't eat The Yellow Snow" Hello Hello.. Don't go where the huskies go, don't be eatin' that yellow snow.. Hello Hello.."

Yeah-- when that came out I was in HS. . . we used to listen to that one often when we were high. I haven't done either for decades, now. . . 


@onhwy61:

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm not a fan of Doo Wop but I'll check out the Filmore recording. 

I meant to type:

"... but NEITHER do they consist of a series of jokes..."

@tvad:

I can appreciate the unique capacity for comedy to unearth truths.

@tuberist: 

"Hot Rats which is a terrific intro to Zappa's world"

In fact, I began listening to "Hot Rats" last night. I enjoyed the instrumental portions but the vocals in "Willie The Pimp", no. It's a perfect example of the "cartoonish" aspect that I find so unappealing. 

@edgewear:

"Does Humor Belong in Music? You bet"

I can't possible make a case against this.

All I can say is that I prefer a more straightforward, sober point of view. You sound like a very well-read person so I'll mention that my favorite author is Wendell Berry. His novels are certainly not without humor but either do they consist of a series of jokes, which is how Zappa's lyrics strike me. And once I've heard a joke, why would I want to hear it over and over? 

It's entirely possible I'm simply too literal-minded and unsophisticated to appreciate Zappa and that's OK.  

@roxy54 and bigtwin: 

I'm liking "Waka Jawaka" and "The Grand Wazoo"--  perhaps because they're quite jazzy.

I can actually envision buying these.

I'll check out the numerous other recommendations made throughout the thread. . . 

@edgewear:

"I assume FZ would have been highly amused by the very idea that a person might consider himself too UNsophisticated to appreciate his stuff".

What I had in mind when I suggested I might be too unsophisticated was my difficulty enjoying the juxtaposition of a high level of musicianship with, to borrow your phrase, "deliberate crudeness". 

@edgewear:

"Zappa considered his social commentaries to be ’antropological field studies’, describing situations and characters pretty much as they appeared to him in real life"

Can't say I've personally encountered many such characters/situations in real life. Can't say I regret that, either!  

@chetatkins:

Skimmed through SU&PYG and liked enough of the tracks to add it to my "to buy" list. 

@heretobuy:

Thanks for the suggestions. 

@edgewear:

"There are many reasons to hold FZ in high regard as a musical force, but his complete disregard and rejection of the high culture/low culture divide is certainly one of them. These cultural categories are associated with class, status and power within our society"

Thanks for providing useful context. 

My Dad considered european classical music superior to all others, so I can relate to the "highbrow" attitude. Having grown up a poor, marginalized Jewish kid in NYC, no doubt this attitude was part of his strong desire to improve his "class, status and power".   

"His job as a composer was to ’organize the material’ towards an intrinsic musical logic. For Zappa that logic was ultimately ’anything as long as it sounds good’. If that meant putting a Stravinsky quote next to a doowop line, than so be it.  The sounding result doesn’t fall inside any established or accepted cultural category".

This irreverence regarding common stylistic boundaries is one of the things with which I struggle the most, listening to Zappa. To me, it more often sounds jarring than "logical". 

 "...so whether you like it or not is entirely up to you".

I'm not convinced our aesthetic tastes are a matter of conscious choice, if that's what you're suggesting but that's a debate for another day. I very much appreciate all of your contributions to this thread!

port this

@pfeiffer:

Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo are two Cds I plan to buy.

I haven't checked out Chunga's Revenge, yet. . .