Ciao 2001 (years 1969-1979)
years 1980-2024 see Ciao 2001 1980+
Automatic
translation: The most discussed group of American pop music,
that of the Mothers of Invention, will come to Europe at the
end of May for a tour in England which will be followed by a
series of performances in other countries, among which, perhaps,
also Italy. (read
more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, the most discussed, followed and criticized pop group in America, has managed to upset even the imperturbable English youth with a series of provocative and desecrating recitals beyond all limits. For some time many have accused him of obscenities, but he continues to explain that he is only trying, through a shocking method, to shake off all the hypocrisy they have inherited from the younger generations. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: The underground from a sociological point of view,
and in more general terms, can today be considered synonymous
with avant-garde. Insofar as it arises from the contrast with
the established society and stands as a determination of anti-institutionality
and of demystification of political, social, sometimes moral
concepts, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention are its most
valid and violent standard bearers. (read
more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: It was one of those days that I believe they will never forget in Beverly Hills. The smog had come down covering the whole region and you could hardly see the tip of the nose, it was so dense and thick. I had an appointment with Frank Zappa and it was not really the case that I gave up this interview, even if it became dangerous to travel in those conditions. I took courage and finally after a lot of wandering I reached the headquarters of Frank Zappa's record company. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Page 49. Automatic translation: Perhaps in 1970 the Italian market, so inextricably linked to traditionalisms and commercial interests, will listen to the underground message that is now passing by word of mouth in the States of America and in Europe. "Underground" does not only mean a certain type of music: it indicates a way of thinking, and therefore of living, very precise and distinct. Cinema, theater, painting, politics have searched underground for new, dialectical and alternative elements to the fat consumer society. Chicaga, Santana, Spirit, the Flock, Fleetwood Mac, Fifth Avenue and many others are perhaps prophets of a new gospel. And to offer our readers the opportunity to get to know these complexes, we have obtained a 500 lire discount on all L.P. of the groups presented in this service.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Poi finalmente l'attrazione del
festival: il gruppo più atteso, anzi l'antigruppo di « Frank
Zappa and Mother of Invention ». Un urlo da parte del pubblico
all'apparire del folle Zappa con il suo baffone, pizzetto e
coda di cavallo. Cominciano a suonare e nessuno di loro ha una
funzione musicale precisa; qualcuno sembra che non ne abbia
alcuna, come ad esempio un uomo sulla cinquantina, dai capelli
quasi tutti bianchi, se sta davanti al microfono fumandosi una
sigaretta, osservando il pubblico e facendo commenti con i suoi
colleghi di complesso. Alla fine però assieme ad un altro individuo,
il grassone entra in azione vocale con falsetti di voce, in
quelle parti del pezzo quando il complesso passa da una situazione
musicale rock ad una ridicola espressione corale con contrappunti
operistici e melliflui, stile « Equipe 84 » oi « Campanino ».
Zappa lancia al pubblico arance ed attacca la satira « American
way » che si trasforma prima nell'inno americano, poi in una
canzone da night club con falsetti melliflui che dicono cose
ufficialmente oscene.
Then finally the attraction of the festival:
the most awaited group, indeed the anti-group of «Frank Zappa
and Mother of Invention». A shout from the audience at the appearance
of the crazy Zappa with his mustache, goatee and ponytail. They
begin to play and none of them have a precise musical function;
some seem to have none, such as a man in his fifties, with almost
all white hair, if he stands in front of the microphone, smoking
a cigarette, observing the audience and making comments with
his colleagues in the complex. At the end, however, together
with another individual, the fat man enters into vocal action
with voice falsetti, in those parts of the piece when the ensemble
passes from a rock musical situation to a ridiculous choral
expression with operatic and mellifluous counterpoints, "Equipe
84" style. or the «Campanino».
Zappa throws oranges to the audience and attacks the satire
"American way" which turns first into the American anthem, then
into a night club song with mellifluous falsetti saying officially
obscene things.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1970 December 2
Vol. 2 No. 48
Frank Zappa,
il cantante pazzo (Frank Zappa, the crazy singer)
By Curly Amerin, pp 30-31
Automatic
translation: In 1965 Frank Zappa, one of the most gifted musicians
in pop, founded the group of the Mothers of Invention, which
after various hardships have recently reappeared in the limelight
with an incredible symphonic concert, "200 motels". Many have
approached this protesting group to another avant-garde formation,
the Band formed by Jaime Robbie Robertson and which often accompanies
Bob Dylan. (read
more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: Frank Zappa is first of all a whimsical, crazy,
highly questionable and highly debated man about his openly
provocative attitudes towards the establishment and its music
(including his, therefore), desecrators par excellence of every
traditional concept of formal purity, up to clownish aspects,
like the green mustache of his Mothers. (read
more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1971 December 1
Vol. 3 No. 48
Frank Zappa: "Qual
è la parte più sporca del vostro corpo?"
By Dario Salvatori, pp 12-15
Frank
Zappa - 200 Motels
By Enzo Caffarelli, p 65
Automatic translation: Frank Zappa revolutionized in a new and higher cultural sense. Light music, trying to carry out a research at the level of sounds, thus overcoming the archetype and now worn out system of simple notes. This presupposes exasperation. Collectivizing music, breaking the restrictions of individualistic and bourgeois rationalism, and opening a new listening dimension of a Dionysian character. The tortuous path of the leader of the freak sound from water music to the "chrome megaphones of destiny": from "hot mice" to "grainy sauces". (read more)
Source: slime.oofytv.set
1971 December 15
Vol. 3 No. 50
Lo sconcertante
film di Frank Zappa (Frank Zappa's puzzling film)
By Armando Gallo, pp 32-34
Automatic
translation: "200 Motels", the film written and directed by
Frank Zappa, which is imminent in England, constitutes the triumph
of madness, an irrepressible explosion of the fantastic element
that disintegrates any rational link with reality. Although
difficult to read, the film still represents a very important
cultural fact: and also a very important musical fact: the soundtrack
of the film was in fact recorded in a double album containing
34 motifs, to collect which Zappa took almost four years to
collect. (read
more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1971 December 29
Vol. 3 No. 52
Mothers
Of Invention - Fillmore East, June 1971
By Enzo Caffarelli, p 67
Automatic
translation: First of all, on an album like this, it's nice
to listen to the old dear "Happy together" by the Turtles, a
West Coast classic "choral" by the Beach Boys and Mama's &
Papa's. The presence of the revival is justified by the presence
in the new formation of Zappa's "mothers", also here despite
the indications in the company of their leader, of two former
Turtles, the singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan. (read
more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: Here is the entire original soundtrack of the film
"200 Motels" by Frank Zappa on tape; it must be said that as
a real "soundtrack" it is tastier on tape, where a calmer listening
without balance problems can better revive certain calm atmospheres
that Frank Zappa wants to convey through his records. (read
more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: Taken from Zappa's latest LP «Tears began to fall»
with «Junier mintz boogie» on the back, it shows that the histrionic
Frank is always alive, full of inspiration and imagination.
The two pieces are very beautiful and live up to his fame even
if the musician treads too much hand, on some points, on his
skill and too evidently showing his "being above the fray"
FZ is pictured but not namechecked on page 29.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1972 July 23
Vol. 4 No. 29
Frank Zappa: Grande
pantomima per un re straccione
By Maurizio Baiata, pp 32-36
Automatic translation: "It is not correct to say that I want to destroy the system. I want to modify it to the point that it works properly". Talk about politics within the music phenomenon. The modern is very difficult, because it implies an examination and a complete knowledge of the basic ideals and movements that it is not possible for us to know thoroughly in individual artists and in their music. (read more)
Source: slime.oofytv.set
1972 October 8
Vol. 4 No. 40
Frank Zappa
e il Grand Wazoo
By ?, p 55
Frank
Zappa "Waka / Jawaka - Burnt Weeny Sandwich"
By Enzo Caffarelli, pp 65-66
1972 November 12
Vol. 4 No. 45
Zappa e Beefheart:
La saggia pazzia (The wise madness)
By Maurizio Baiata & Manuel Insolera, pp 32-36
Automatic translation: In the year of disgrace 1955, in a class of a high school in Lancaster, California, two Mephistopheles little children, Zappa Francis Vincent and Van Vliet Donald, constantly put the brains and patience of their unfortunate teachers on the ropes. United by a scholastic logic that the two seemed destined to destroy, the protagonists of this strange fable were already destined to subvert the rules and conventions of sound that good and holy America imposed on them. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1972 December 3
Vol. 4 No. 48
Pop History Vol.
11 Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention
By Enzo Caffarelli, pp 67-68
Automatic translation: The new five of Phonogram's Pop history, certainly the final one for the Italian market, presents the collections of Frank Zappa, Booker T. Jones, Grateful Dead, Medicine Head and Lovin' Spoonful. The same series has taken on much more showy proportions in some countries where Polydor has a greater share of the market, especially in Germany, but it has not been published in the United States or in England. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1972 December 17
Vol. 4 No. 50
Le "Mothers"
di Zappa: La fine delle madri
By Alberto Gioannini, pp 36-37
Automatic translation: We remember the many protagonists of one of the most revolutionary groups of our time, the Mothers of Invention, created by the "crazy" Frank Zappa in the far 1966 now. Their personal mark to the band which in the various formations has produced about ten interesting albums. But let's go back in time ... (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: Concluding the service that we dedicated to Frank Zappa last June, we hoped that soon a Sleeping Ugly would be able to wake the madman from his disastrous artistic lethargy that had managed to produce a painful and tired work like "Just another band from LA", the his album released in those days. And miraculously, the immediately following months proved us right: Zappa has risen, and with him all the perfidious and megalomaniacal power of his art (or anti-art, to be precise). (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1973 September 2
Vol.5 No. 35
Tutto quello che
avreste voluto sapere su Frank Zappa ma non avete mai osato
chiedere
By Dario Salvatori, pp 26-41
1973 September 9
Vol.5 No. 36
Tutto quello che
avreste voluto sapere su Frank Zappa ma non avete mai osato
chiedere (2)
By Dario Salvatori, pp 33-38
1973 September 16
Vol.5 No. 37
Frank
Zappa in esclusiva il nuovo LP (Frank Zappa exclusive
- the new LP)
By Manuel Insolera, pp 12-14
A tavola
con Zappa (At the table with Zappa)
By Dario Salvatori, p 14
Sotto le note ... (The Legend Of Cleetus Awreetus-Awrightus &
the Grand Wazoo in Italian)
Ed. by Fiorella Gentile, pp 26-27
In this issue we have:
- review of Over-Nite Sensation
- article on Zappa's visit to Italy
- translation of
The Legend Of Cleetus Awreetus-Awrightus & the Grand Wazoo
in Italian
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: Considering the potential level of the musicians involved in Zappa's latest European tour, and which are roughly the same as on this record, something more consistent could have been expected. Alongside Frank and his inseparable right arm Ian Underwood, who now devotes himself exclusively to wind instruments, alongside names more recently included in the Mothers, the two very welcome returns: the French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and the black pianist George Duke . (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1974 April 7
Vol. 6 No. 14
Per le strade del rock (On the streets
of rock)
By Manuel Insolera, pp 29-31
1974 April 21
Vol. 6 No. 16
Frank Zappa
sublime li sogghigno (Sublime Frank Zappa grin
at them)
By Manuel Insolera, pp 12-15
Googlr translate: Shocking ... insane ... unhinging genius ... alchemist of the bizarre ...: these are just some of the most characteristic epithets with which the "galactic" press (and very often myself) has always gratified Frank Zappa , who, in any case, really is a genius, perhaps the only exponent to emerge from the world of rock music who can really boast this title in the most literal and universalizing sense of the term. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: Talking about Frank Zappa becomes an increasingly difficult task. Because beyond what was naively created around the character, he remains a man, and an artist with an incredibly multifaceted personality, in a continuous alternation of surprising ideas, in a programmatically sought-after escape at all costs from any definition, to any crystallization. In the meantime, to understand his music, you need to know him thoroughly. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1974 May 5
Vol. 6 No. 18
Captain Beefheart: La porta della pazzia
(The door of madness)
By Manuel Insolera, pp 25-27
1974 July 28
Vol. 6 No. 30
Captain Beefheart: La montagna (non
e' piu') sacra (The mountain is (no longer) sacred)
By Trashman, pp 52-54
Automatic translation: Frank Zappa's grin began to be known (and infamous) one day in 1967, when we randomly leafed through the glossy records of the first "gold rush" we found Absolutely Free and that photo made legendary: he's magnetic eye and the words "Kill the Ugly Radio! ". (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1974 September 22
Vol. 6 No. 38
Allora, Mr. Zappa,
chi sei?
By Maria Laura Giulietti & Manuel Insolera, pp 42-45
Automatic translation: Frank Zappa is back in Italy. He has seen it, he has felt it. But it has not yet been possible to focus on the image of this man who has been moving in the world of notes for many years. Is he the transgressor of the rules, the genius, or the mystifier, the crafty one in search of lots of money? Zappa escapes these judgments and still remains a milestone from which, for better or for worse, we have not yet finished leaving aside. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1974 November 3
Vol. 6 No. 44
Jean Luc Ponty: Un gregario
di lusso (A luxury wingman)
By Dario Salvatori, pp 42-45
Automatic translation: Frank Zappa live, almost muted, with a double LP recorded, as the title indicates, at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood, a small temple of American superstars, and elsewhere: to be precise at Mothers day, the 10th anniversary celebration of mothers, held in Chicago and Pennsylvania. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1974 December 8
Vol. 6 No. 49
Frank Zappa / Mothers Of Invention discografia
(parte I)
By Enzo Caffarelli, p 66
1974 December 15
Vol. 6 No. 50
Frank Zappa / Mothers Of Invention discografia
(parte II)
By Enzo Caffarelli, p 44
1974 December 22
Vol. 6 No. 51
Frank Zappa / Mothers Of Invention discografia
(parte III)
By Enzo Caffarelli, p 79
Automatic translation: FRANK ZAPPA: universally
appreciated above all as a great musical creator in a general
sense, Zappa is undoubtedly a genius of the guitar, even if
this aspect of his sometimes tends to overshadow the public's
consideration. A great innovator especially on the rhythmic
level, and a pioneer in the use of the wah-wah pedal, Zappa
is an. than an excellent soloist, especially where he revolutionizes
the blues scale in a more experimental sense.
(FRANK ZAPPA: «Absolutely free», «Hot rats», «Burnt weeny sandwich»,
«Grand wazoo»).
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: Court, again, for Frank Zappa (in the photo): the
dispute against the London Royal Albert Hall, "guilty" of having
canceled a concert by the artist about three years ago, has
ended. Frank lost the case and the court costs. Along with the
vacation in Europe more than twice as much as he had asked for
compensation. The contract stipulated by the theater provided
for the possibility of canceling the Engagement for "reasonable
objections": in this case the obscene and indecent texts of
Frank and his Mothers. The English judge was forced to listen
to Zappa's records in the courtroom, on a hifi system (and that's
the funniest thing of the whole affair). Solomonic the verdict
of him: not obscene texts, but good faith of the responsible
of the Albert Hall. In short, Miss Marion Herrod, manager of
the theater, was proved right. But also Bizarre Records and
Zappa said they were satisfied. "We had come to discuss the
obscenity claims," said Herb Cohen, Frank's manager - and
the judge ruled that our songs are normal in rock music. Therefore
our point of view has been accepted ».
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: FRANK ZAPPA EXCLUSIVELY REVEALED TO ME this week
that he has everything ready for the release of the legendary
"set" of 10 long-playings which should collect an unreleased
anthology of the Mothers. Frank hopes to have the "set" in stores
by Christmas where he will sell it for $ 50 at least here in
America. The WEA, distributor of DiscReet, is still not very
convinced about the possible sales of the "set" due to the too
high cost of the collection. "We've already had 5,000 orders
in Europe," Frank told me. "It's not a large number, but considering
that the ten albums have always been given a somewhat mysterious
publicity, the figure surprises me."
The collection contains the best live versions of the Mothers'
music selected from the large archive that Frank keeps at home.
The oldest engraving dates back to 1958 when a very young Captain
Beefheart was engraved in a classroom. Also recorded is the
police raid during the recordings of "Uncle Meat" for the excess
sound claimed by the neighbors. Anyone who wants to help the
"case-Zappa" and give a push to convince the WEA for the distribution
of the "set" can only write to: WEA Italiana, "Frank Zappa 10",
Galleria del Corso 4, Milan.
For the next gigantic tour in October, Zappa told me he had
changed line-up again which sees the return of Roy Estrada,
the original Mothers bassist who left the band in '69 to become
a truck driver.
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART MADE a surprise appearance at Roxy in Sunset
Bled. And what a surprise it was. The Captain made a sudden
leap to the "crazy" times of "Trout Mask Replica" by bringing
back the fun, hostility and confusion of his best performances.
Beefheart turned out to be a great contemporary poet again and
in a very simple scene, when he threw peanuts to the audience,
he proved in an instant that he was at least ten years ahead
in the zoo of the future? ...
Some old names and well-known faces were present, such as the
Drumbo button on one of the two drums, Winged Eel Fingerling
on guitar and Bruce "Fossil" Fowler on trombone-bass.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1975 August 24
Vol. 7 No. 33
Frank Zappa –
Impegni da superman
By Armando Gallo & Maria Laura Giulietti, pp 36-37
Automatic
translation: "Frank can see you tonight at 10," DiscReet press
agent Barbara De Wit told me over the phone, half an hour after
asking her for an interview with Frank Zappa. Surprised? Heck,
I had been trying to approach Zappa for years without any positive
results and succeeding so easily now did not seem logical. (read
more)
Automatic
translation: FRANK ZAPPA, VERY ACTIVE IN THIS period, has composed
a series of contemporary classical music pieces that he will
play with the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra
at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles). The concert
will be recorded for a possible album to be released in the
coming months. Zappa is also preparing to face a long American
tour that will begin on October 1st. To coincide with the tour,
a new album will be released, "Bongo Fury", recorded a few months
ago by Zappa and Captain Beefheart in Austin, Texas. The album
will be released as Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart and
represents one of the best recordings of the two crazy Californian
geniuses. Frank Zappa will be in Europe in February, but Italy
has already been excluded as it is now "Off-Limit" for all the
big American names. If a photo of the new Mothers can cheer
you up in the meantime, here it is: from left to right the names
are Roy Estrada (bass) returned to the Mothers after having
been a truck driver for a few years, Frank, Robert "Frog" Camarena
(guitar and vocals ), Novi (violin, clavinet and synthesized
strings), Terry Bozzio drums), Denny Walley (slide guitar) and
in the foreground there is Napoleon Murphy Brock (winds, keyboards
and vocals). Three days after this photo another element was
hired by Frank. This is keyboardist André Lewis in the past
with the Buddy Miles' Band.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: Perhaps one of the most interesting concerts of
the year was offered a few days ago by Frank Zappa and a very
strange, but excellent orchestra of 37 elements. The name of
the orchestra, also very strange, is: The Abnuceals Emuukha
Electric Symphony Orchestra! and don't ask me what it means.
Even Captain Beefhehart, present in the audience, wondered what
the hell that meant. In a rare appearance without his faithful
"Mothers", Frank was pleasantly transported to a concert of
contemporary classical music. He also explained to the public
that the concert was only possible for the money collected from
a single that happened to be released in America and by chance
also went to the charts. The money "stolen" from the "hit parades"
was immediately invested by Frank to pay the musicians of the
Electric Orchestra (37 mouths to feed "And they're all married!")
For the rehearsals of the concert. Zappa presented "Pedro's
Dowry", music he originally composed for a ballet. During the
performance of the piece Zappa retired behind the mixing desk,
leaving the baton to Michael Zearott, a well-known classical-contemporary
musician, who also helped Frank in writing the musical scores.
Later Zappa performed from the orchestra director's box choreographing
an exceptional jam-session. The concert was recorded for a "live"
album.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1975 December 21
Vol. 7 No. 50
Questo nostro
vecchio, grande amore Bongo Fury (This great old
love of ours, Bongo Fury)
By Maria Laura Giulietti, pp 34-35
Automatic translation: What a part of musical America has been able to give birth to in the last twenty years of evolution is truly incredible, and, despite the forced secrecy on the part of industry and authorities, it has been possible to spread it throughout the world with a consequent increase in followers and of loyalists dedicated to a certain type of new and adventurous sound, strictly linked to popular styles (country, folk and blues) yet avant-garde and free. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: Still crazy after all these years,
one could say by taking up the tasty title of Paul Simon's latest
LP. Frank Vincent Zappa and Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart
are back together after several chapters of collaboration. The
first of which, around a 4-track mixer and a more than artisanal
system, and with rhythm & blues material, should be documented
in a few days by a historic album, for collectors. (read
more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: A real avalanche of news and novelties, reproaches and praise filled my mailbox. Many have responded to my "appeal", but only a few have kept to the main theme of my desire to communicate: the musical discourse. I see that many of you are politically involved and thus lose the best attraction of rock music: the fun. How can you ask me such questions: «... is Frank Zappa a fascist? »I refuse to answer such nonsense, but I will be happy to tell you what Zappa is preparing musically. I see that there is total political confusion: «The songwriters are capitalists ... David Zard is a capitalist ... The biggest British and American bands are capitalists because they don't want to play for 1000 lire ...». Absurd things, true Vincenzo Dotti, closely accompanied by another Vincenzo, this time Valentini. It is not the Italian organizers who have put you on a fast with concerts, but it was the behavior during these concerts that made the various artists and ensembles decide to leave Italy alone. " It's not worth it! ". It's the answer I get from everyone. The Van Der Graaf recently accepted: the first complex of a certain stature that goes on tour after the famous events of Lou Reed. What happen? They steal his instruments (Thanks to Mauro Poletti who wrote it to me and then added with amusing philosophy: «... But there is no need to despair if no one comes to Italy anymore; there is always Pippo Baudo, the good Claudio Villa and Peppino Gagliardi... ").
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: Frank Zappa has just finished a long US tour that began in Santa Barbara and ends tonight at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles. In mid-November Zappa interrupted the tour to accept the invitation of Tito's government to play two concerts in Yugoslavia. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: Frank Zappa is preparing a new concert series and composing the material for a new 33 rpm. The formation of the latest edition of the Mothers of Invention has also been defined, unusually small for Zappa. The guitarist said that the musicians were chosen with extreme care, and that in any case he wished to have more space available for his instrument than him. These are the names: Roy Estrada on bass, André Lewis on keyboards, Terry Bozzio on drums and Napoleon Murphy Brock on saxophone.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: Frank Zappa is visiting Europe and his concerts are sold out weeks in advance. The public, even the youngest, runs to listen to what Zappa has to offer him for the year '76 and takes part in the crazy sound of the guitarist with enormous enthusiasm. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1976 July 18
Vol. 8 No. 28
Flo & Eddie, due tartarughe
felici di vivere insiem
(Flo & Eddie, two turtle happy to live together)
By Maria Laura G. Giulietti, pp 60-61
Automatic translation: Since our last appointment with Frank Zappa many things have changed for the unstoppable Sicilian-Greek-Arab-but-mainly-American guitarist. And let's go in order: at the end of June, checking some administrative records, Frank realized that he had been robbed of a few tens of thousands of dollars by Herb Cohen, his "faithful" manager and collaborator - at least this was thought - by over a decade. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: Every day news of some new enterprise of Frank Zappa, composer, guitarist, singer, arranger, sound engineer. We could go on. Indeed, it seems that Zappa's policy is that of "I do everything and I do it well". (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic translation: New Yorker interview with Frank Zappa who with wife, arms and luggage, left sunny California to go east. A series of concerts and his desire to amaze. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1977 April 3
Vol. 9 No. 13
Frank Zappa e' vero,
sono un genio (Frank Zappa is a true genius)
By Manuel Insolera, pp 63-65
Automatic translation: Besides being one of the masters of rock music, Zappa is a mysterious, two-faced character: genius or mystification, communist or capitalist, lucid or crazy? In Europe for a big tour, Frank tries to answer these questions. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: "Zappa in New York", the new live album already
announced several times, is always at the center of a colossal
legal controversy that sees Zappa, his former manager Herb Cohen,
the DiscReet label and Warner Bros. months the lawsuit drags
on, acquiring new connotations, and new figures of expenses,
royalties and counterparts increasingly confused emerge. The
latest rumor is that the guitarist's album would even quadruple,
and that it would be released at the end of December by Mercury.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1978 February 5
Vol. 10 No. 5
Ma questo
è Captain Beefheart! (But this is Captain Beefheart!)
By Manuel Insolera, pp 66-67
Automatic translation: Trying to briefly define who, or rather "what" Don Van Vliet is, better known by lovers of "freak-music" as Captain Beefheart, is certainly not an easy thing. When Fugs and Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention began to put riot happening, satire and madness in rock, Captain Beefheart rose to the rank of one of the main 'bum princes' of this new type of music. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1978 February 19
Vol. 10 No. 7
Quel geniale signore
che si chiama Frank Zappa
(That genial gentleman named Frank Zappa)
By Aldo Bagli, pp 10-12
Automatic translation: Even if he is not badly risen to overwhelming peaks of popularity, Frank Zappa can be placed with tranquility in that small circle of musicians, artistically born in the sixties, who still today keep up with the times with dignity, without falling into pathetic or guittesque ideas. (read more)
Source: slime.oofytv.set
Automatic translation: "Zappa In New York" is the brand new album by the mustachioed American guitarist engaged in a long legal tussle with his own record company. Disputes aside the record will finally come out... (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1978 November 12
Vol. 10 No. 45
Sfrontato e geniale torna Frank Zappa
By Maria Laura G. Giulietti, pp 19-20
Automatic
translation: After leaving the WEA group, which continues to
publish old material of the artist, including the recent "Studio
tan", which did badly in the foreign charts, Frank Zappa is
completing the first LP for the new label which simply carries
his last name. Working title of the disc is «Martian love secrets».
Among the "secrets" of the mustachioed Californian guitarist,
a piece in pure disco music, and a brilliant parody by Peter
Frampton, "I have been in you". The Zappa label will be distributed
by Phonogram. Another Frank project concerns a documentary film
on his concerts and the background of the stage: it should be
developed in the first months of '79.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1979 March 4
Vol. 11 No. 9
Instantanea Zappa
(Instant Zappa)
By Maria Laura G. Giulietti, 2 p
Jean-Luc Ponty: Il violino parlante
By Federico Balanti, pp 18-20
Automatic translation: «We are pleased to announce that Mr. Frank Zappa has signed the contract with us and that, consequently, soon there will finally be a new album, finally wanted by him». With these words, only opaquely controversial, a spokesman for the American CBS announced the new bond that unites the great record company with the famous guitarist / composer Frank Zappa. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: Warner Bros., the record company to which Zappa
has been linked for about nine years, has released a second
LP of unreleased clippings, or rather of unreleased rejects:
it is called "Sleep dirt", and should belong to the period of
"Hot rats." », One of the happiest for the Californian artist.
But in the meantime Frank has signed for CBS, and this house
will publish the guitarist's new album next week, entitled "Skeik
your booty": it is a double LP, there is a third front on which
Zappa is committed: it is his; new label, distributed by a third
record company, Phonogram. For Zappa Records he is recording
L. Shankar, former Shakti violinist with John McLaughlin, with
the production of Frank himself.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1979 March 18
Vol. 11 No. 11
Dietro le quinte del rock'n'roll (ci
sono le groupies) (Behind the scenes of rock'n'roll (there
are groupies))
By Aldo Bagli, 3 p
Automatic translation: It is a typically American phenomenon. Groupies are those girls who hang out – often with difficulty and no small amount of trouble – with American and British rock'n'roll stars simply so they can tell people about it. There is also a very famous one: Velvet Lace. She told us what it's like to be a groupie...
Source: Fulvio Fiore
Automatic
translation: After "Sleep dirt", old material fished out by
WEA, now CBS releases the new official LP of the Californian
guitarist. It's called «Sheik Yerbouti», and it's a linguistic
distortion that sounds like «Shake your booty», an idiom of
English (and musically speaking a hit title in the club for
the K.C. & Sunshine band). In the new script, it is instead
the name of a sheikh, and in fact Frank Zappa is represented
dressed as an Arab on the cover. Nothing less than a real camel
was invited to the press presentation in New York. Zappa has
meanwhile taken care of the production for an album by the Indian
violinist L. Shankar, ex Shakti. His next LP is already scheduled
for June: but it will be a third repechage of the DiscReet label
(after «Studio tan» and the aforementioned «Sleep dirt»).
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1979 May 20
Vol. 11 No. 19
La ballata
dello sceicco furbo (The ballad of the cunning
sheikh)
By Maria Laura G. Giulietti, pp 13-15
Automatic translation: Frank Zappa's new / real record is titled "Sheik Yerbouti" and re-proposes his musical blend made up of orchestral suites. Dance songs, rock'n'roll and avant-garde, however filtered by the inexhaustible sarcastic vein of the now legendary Californian musician. Which once again hit the mark.(read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1979 June 10
Vol. 11 No. 23
Frank Zappa dirigera' l'orchestra a
Vienna (Frank Zappa will conduct the orchestra in Vienna)
By ?, 1 p
Automatic
translation: Next week, Californian musician Frank Zappa will
take the baton for a concert of music he composed himself but
performed with a classical orchestra, the Vienna Symphony. As
many as 120 elements will participate in the event, filmed by
Austrian TV and organized by the City of Vienna. It is not known
if an album will also be extracted from the concert.
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1979 June 24
Vol. 11 No. 25
Frank Zappa
"Sleep Dirt" "Orchestral Favorites"
By Maria Laura G. Giulietti, 1 p
Automatic
translation: Despite the release of the long-awaited new album
by Frank Zappa, the brilliant «Sheik Yerbouti», the flurry of
records that the former record company publishes with evident
gluttony continues. «Sleep Dirt» is already a few months old,
while «Orchestral Favorites» is out just in these days. Naturally
the works are ingenious and continue to highlight the versatility
of the musician and his incredible prolificacy. (read
more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1979 July 22
Vol. 11 No. 29
Frank Zappa
qua, Frank Zappa la (Zappa here, Zappa there)
By Maria Laura G. Giulietti, pp 66-67
Automatic
translation: In recent times the name of Frank Zappa has had
a brand new polish and has been revived with voracious firmness.
Zappa and the new record, the squabbles smoothed out, old tapes
returned to the surface, Zappa and his thousand thoughts, Zappa
and jazz, rock, the great orchestra, the new label, the group
in the cellar to rehearse, Zappa and the explosions of head.
Zappa here, Zappa there. For this reason, having heard of one
of his very silent Swiss stops, I thought it best not to visit
him. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore
1979 October 21
Vol. 11 No. 42
Il Grande
Inquisitore (The Central Scrutinizer)
By Federico Ballanti, pp 27-28
Automatic translation: With the brand new LP, "Joe's Garage", the mustachioed guitarist returns to mockery and social satire. The best weapons of him. We present the disc. An album-concept, and some controversy and significant Zappian statements. (read more)
Source: Fulvio Fiore