Frank Zappa - Remington Electric Razor
Frank Zappa is one of the most interesting figures in rock history. He was a master guitarist, witty and prolific songwriter, and social gadfly. FZ was also one of the most bootlegged artists of his era. This was in large part a result of his constant touring and tremendous live show. Today I'm offering what I understand is a rare bootleg of Zappa live material, primarily from the late 1970s, titled Remington Electric Razor.
An interesting aspect of this bootleg is that the material is of pristine quality, and was reportedly mixed by FZ and leaked by a band member. Its origins are a bit of a mystery, but the content's sound is on a par with some Zappa live releases. The most famous component of this recording is the title track -- a commercial for Remington electric razors cut by FZ and Linda Ronstadt (yes, seriously) in the late 1960s. Yes, it's as strange as it seems. "Cleans you, thrills you, may even keep you from getting busted!"
Frank Zappa - Remington Electric Razor (bootleg)
Released 1981
2. Jumbo, Go Away [live 3-31-1979]
3. Moe's Vacation [live 9-21-1978]
4. The Black Page #2 [live 9-21-1978]
5. Dong Work for Yuda [live 2-1977]
6. Tricky Dicky ["Dickie's Such an Asshole"]
7. Nite Owl [live 12-11-1980]
8. My Name is Fritz
9. Interview ("What's the Name of Your Group?") [200 Motels outtake]
10. I Can't Get Me No Satisfaction [live 10-15-1978]
11. Remington Electric Razor [commercial; late 1960s; with Linda Ronstadt]
A detailed discussion of this bootleg can be found here about halfway down the page.
For more on FZ, check out Zappa.com or Wikipedia.
Does anybody compare to Zappa these days? It's a damn shame he left us so soon.
posted by Rich at 7:25 PM
6 Comments:
I'd say the closest thing to Zappa nowadays may be Mike Patton.
10:51 PM
Good call.
1:12 AM
I always thought the only comparison to Zappa is George Clinton. Totally idiosyncratic and listening to him requires that attention has been paid to his entire catalogue of work - without that, you don't get half the jokes.
thanks for the tunes.
1:20 PM
I was actually wondering about that when I posted these. To really appreciate this stuff you sorta need a lot of exposure to FZ's catalog. This isn't exactly a "greatest hits" collection, after all. Far from it. I don't know exactly what my readers listen to, but I'm guessing a lot of college-age indie fans probably haven't spent untold hours listening to Zappa.
Btw, helltoupee -- great handle.
1:51 PM
awesome. unbelievably awesome. those who aren't aware of Zappa, and his compositional genius (not to mention his virtuosity on guitar) are unfortunate victims of our pop-culture and their spoon-feeding of disposable music. FZ employed humor, politics, intelligence and phenomenally talented musicians to bring us his creations.
thanks for the post! this will definitely have me regularly visiting your site!
marc
9:58 PM
hey guys! just wanted to let you know that ugly radio rebellion is playing 9/23 at smith's olde bar in atlanta! they are the craziest zappa tribute that i have ever seen! check 'em out on myspace or at www.uglyradiorebellion.com much love and kisses brittany
11:57 AM
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