Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes
By Mike Flynn
Frank Zappa
Baby Snakes
Eagle Vision DVD ★★★★
Adrian Belew (g,
v) Ed Mann (perc) Terry Bozzio (d) Roy Estrada (v) Frank Zappa (g,
ky, v) Patrick O'Hearn (b) Tom Mariano (ky) Tommy Mars (ky, v) Peter Wolf (ky)
and Bruce Bickford (animation)
Filmed: 1979
OK so 'tasteful' was not a word that Frank Zappa was overly familiar with and for those amongst you who can't stomach his excesses both musical and in this case visual this 2 hour and 45 minute film is probably best avoided, but for lovers of his anarchic vision this is an absolute treat. Filmed in New York on Halloween 1979, (the holiest of holies in the Zappa live calendar), he is joined by a crack team of virtuoso jack-asses including guitarist Adrian Belew, bassist Patrick O'Hearn, the awesome Terry Bozzio on drums and the fiendishly talented Tommy Mars on keyboards. At its heart this is a stunning concert film, showcasing Zappa's talents in their prime, his blazing guitar work given extended airtime, but it's Bruce Bickford's metaphysically mad clayamation that takes things into sensory overload. Meshing this between footage of backstage tomfoolery and charged up performances of 'City of Tiny Lites', 'Titties 'n' Beer', 'Muffin Man', 'Punky's Whips' among others this is an unrelenting audio visual assault. Zappa's quasi pornographic tales detract from the complex music, played here with abandon, but his riotous sense of humour saves him from any sense of self-importance. Beautifully packaged, this presentation of Baby Snakes would have made Zappa very proud indeed.