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vince wrote: Believe you me, I've heard plenty of his stuff, as I seem to be surrounded by friendly afficionados wherever I go. They look upon me in their inverted snobbery like I'm an idiot for not 'getting it'. I have the same problem with Beefheart at times.
I have 60 odd Zappa recordings gathered over some thirty plus years but I do not consider myself to be a serious fan of his music as most of those records infuriate as much as they satisfy or stimulate. He's one of those artists for which I am still seeking a golden key i. e. a piece of music or an idea that unlocks the rest. I could probably boil those 60 records down to 3 cds of remarkable must-have moments. Must-have for me of course.
I am sure that even with that many records in my collection this atttiude has me down as a Zappa non believer or lightweight.
Find an artist who retains a large audience while being snubbed or undervalued by the media and you will find some element of a defensive elitist snobbery. You should check out the Marillion forum sometime! Not that this is where Deepinder is coming from I don't think.
If Zappa had stopped touring and releasing recordings in 1978 his legacy would be one thing but all the crap he put out in the late 70s and early 80s confuses the issue. Some of his releases are as cynical as a Porkys sequel. Calculated misanthropy being pretty unattractive whoever is doing the shilling and to what purpose. Post 79 only Yellow Shark and Civilization Phase 3 are essential to my ears. And only one of those is really all that listenable. I also quite like the live big band records for their collective musicality but they are no big deal. I have enough Ellington, Evans, Bartok and Webern to not need Zappa's take on those idioms.
So yes Zappa is an important Art Rock figure historically who sold has shit loads of records but his influence these days is pretty meagre and I can't see where or how it will blossom again. We don't need Zappa as a bridge to the world of 20th century composition any more than we need Peter Gabriel to build us a bridge into World Music. And as a guitar player there are others whose influence will last longer and whose approach to the instrument will cut deeper into the culture. Black Napkins (which is probably my favourite FZ guitar moment or collection of moments given the dizzying number of versions and variations available) is a fine thing as a sort of Prog Jazz "Samba Pa Ti". Yet while I can hear him straining like crazy to emote I can't feel it in either the performance or the writing. It's kind of sterile. A "lets write a rock guitar ballad" exercise from a man who doesn't seem to have much love for the form.
And yes I hear you on Beefheart too. Bongo Fury, Bat Chain, Ice Cream are all worth having. Trout Mask is the most unlistened to heavily namechecked record in Rock.
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