Where do I start with Frank Zappa?

stonevibe

Start here

Blob

jhumber said:

soma1975 said:

Watched that doc on him on Netflix ....

Which documentary is that? Big Zappa fan, just searched Netflix UK and couldn't see anything there. Thanks

There's a couple of Zappa documentaries on Prime at the moment. 

As for albums Hot Rats, Joe's Garage, Shut up and Play your guitar.

Lucky enough to see him in 1988, now that was some gig, like nothing else I've seen before or since.

EricTheWeary

soma1975 said:

EricTheWeary said:

soma1975 said:

So basically all the albums...

Yeh, it's a big catalogue. I don't really listen to Zappa anymore but I'd probably say find the  Zappa Plays Zappa/ Dweezil Zappa stuff that's on YouTube.  A lot of the stuff of Frank on film is really hard to watch whereas the ZPZ stuff is just normal concert footage and it's effectively curated listening so take what you like from that and then go find the original sources. 
Dweezil seems like the nicest guy in the world and anything with him talking about playing or gear or just the world in general is worth watching. 

Strangely I have owned a couple of Zweezil albums but no Frank ones. 

His own stuff not the same as when he does Zappa Plays Zappa ( which is called something different now but I forget) which is only Zappa back catalogue with quite a few of the original musicians either in the band or guesting. He went to a lot of lengths to make it authentic effectively relearning the guitar in the style of his father; in terms of YouTube content it's just much more watchable than stuff of Frank's own period. YMMV etc. 

soma1975

Blob said:

jhumber said:

soma1975 said:

Watched that doc on him on Netflix ....

Which documentary is that? Big Zappa fan, just searched Netflix UK and couldn't see anything there. Thanks

There's a couple of Zappa documentaries on Prime at the moment. 

As for albums Hot Rats, Joe's Garage, Shut up and Play your guitar.

Lucky enough to see him in 1988, now that was some gig, like nothing else I've seen before or since.

Oh it might have been Prime, sorry. The one about him disbanding the original Mother of Invention band

blobb

Start with The Mothers.

Funkfingers

It should be obvious from the replies above that there is no single Zappa album that conveniently encapsulates FZ's entire career.

I suppose that you could go by phases. By modern expectations, the original line-up releases are fairly crude. Hot Rats is when the studio craft really begins to show. The Flo & Eddie period is silly but shot through with tricky musical parts. The Chester Thompson, George Duke, Ruth Underwood period has jazzy leanings. 

Some of the humo(u)r relies on running gags that re-appear across the decades. Conceptual continuity. 

On a complete tangent, I suggest that the DVD, The Drummers Of Frank Zappa from the Drum Channel.com could prove informative. Bozzio, Humphrey, Thompson, Underwood and Wackerman discuss their time in the band and play some of the music. Once you get what the drummers were doing on the compositions, it becomes easier to understand what the other instruments are hanging on top.

soma1975

Woah woah woah I didn't get into this game to listen to what DRUMMERS have to say.. 

brooom

I'd start here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zappa_in_New_York

carlos

brooom said:

I'd start here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zappa_in_New_York

Covered in my 73 to 76 recommendation
An underrated album IMO is Make a Jazz Noise Here. But maybe that's because I'm a huge Kennealy fan.

Sesh

I think it depends on what you like to listen to. Zappa was pretty diverse.
Some of the 70s satirical groupie stuff is a bit weak for me. I prefer hot rats and the early mothers stuff. A best of might be a good primer to choose albums from which songs you like come from. I've just counted. I have 35 zappa albums, and I admit there's a few I can't immediately remember anything about. 

monquixote

I really enjoy some of the Zappa plays Zappa concerts on YT (I don't know if that makes me a heretic)

Also Dwezil Zappa's course on fretboard freedom is superb. Great if you want to get out of the blues cliche box.

Tenebrous

monquixote said:

I really enjoy some of the Zappa plays Zappa concerts on YT (I don't know if that makes me a heretic)

Also Dwezil Zappa's course on fretboard freedom is superb. Great if you want to get out of the blues cliche box.

Not at all! Dwezil is crazy good nowadays, and this performance featuring Vai is one of my favourite cover/live versions out there. The whole band is just insane.

(My personal pick is always going to be Overnite Sensation for albums, though)

fandango

Love Zappa’s music. Have a good chunk of his 100 odd albums. The YCDTOSA series is a good place as any because (as another poster mentions) it spans his career. But it's live. Other live stuff worth considering is the Philly ‘76 and the Hammersmith Odeon releases.

For studio, maybe Hot Rats for the avant garde, but i love some of the stuff on You Are What You Is.

As with any prolific artist, there’s the good and the bad. And there's some great tracks that keep coming back. The Torture Never Stops for instance.

I think my first was Tinsel Town Rebellion or Does Humor Belong in Music?

FZ himself said his favourite lineup was from around 75-76. So maybe start there and work you way out?

Philly_Q

Another vote for the '70s stuff like Over-Nite Sensation, Apostrophe ('), Roxy & Elsewhere, Zoot Allures.  They're probably the most accessible if you're coming to FZ as a rock fan.

I also really like Them or Us, which was the first I bought as a new release - it has a couple of tracks featuring great solos from a very young Dweezil (plus Steve Vai).

beed84

Funny, me and a lad at work were listening to Zappa earlier today, both of us crying with laughter.

Joe's Garage
You Are What You Is
Hot Rats
Apostrophe
Shut Up N Play Your Guitar

It's all good stuff. There's a lot I've not listened to, so I'm gonna have a Zappa fix over the next three weeks. Ike Willis and Ray White are bloody brilliant btw!

DrCornelius

Watched the ‘Apostrophe ‘ Classic Albums documentary on Prime overnight and it was very good , I have to watch this stuff at silly times as the rest of the family can’t stand Zappa !

As far as favourite albums go - Hot Rats and  Overnight Sensation for me.

Sassafras

The one he did with Beefheart, Bongo Fury is worth a listen.

jonnyburgo

Freak out, Roxy and Elsewhere, You are What You Is, . impossible to say really  Check out the Roxy video on Amazon Prime. 

Funkfingers

beed84 said:

Ray White

“The assistant Illinois Enema Bandit.”

thegummy

Strat by taking whichever of his records you choose, snap it in half and throw it in the bin to protect your ears!

Obviously not serious about not giving it a chance. For some reason I really wanted to like him for a long time and kept giving him loads of chances over years but it would always just sound like some of the worst music I'd heard.

I truly think we all get different things out of music and enjoy it for different reasons. I think people who like him must get different things out of music than I do.