Published on Feb 25, 1998
There is no doubt that composer/musician Frank Zappa lived for
the concert stage… at least until 1988, when he retired from the
concert scene. Armed with simple tape recorders to massive sound
boards designed to capture every note, Zappa preserved a good
portion of his musical output on tape – providing those of us who
never had the opportunity to see him live the next best
alternative. The six-volume, twelve-disc set
You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore could be seen as his live
masterpiece, the ultimate “best-of” packaging almost every aspect
of his live career into about thirteen hours.
We’ll be taking a look at the entire
You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore series throughout 1998,
and the beginning is always the best place to start –
YCDTOSA Volume 1 could well be the best in the series, and
is cohesive from start to finish. If anyone wants to know where
they should begin when trying to build up an interest in Zappa,
this is the album.
Every aspect of his musical culture is here, from the doo-wop,
early rock that he grew up with (“You Didn’t Try To Call Me” –
though in a version not like the
Freak Out! track), to parodies of rock “anthems”
(“Ruthie-Ruthie” and “Plastic People,” both done to the tune of
“Louie Louie”), from jazz and be-bop-influences (“”The Dangerous
Kitchen”) to all-out band performances that could have been
classically influenced (“Sofa #2”), Zappa absorbed every style that
touched his ears, then poured the whole mish-mash into his
songwriting and guitar playing.
But as much as one would be tempted to call even this first
volume a “greatest hits,” the term is incorrect. If anything, this
first volume serves as a portrait of life on the road, both real
(“The Florida Airport Tape”, “Diseases Of The Band”) and staged
(“The Groupie Routine”). It also captures things that can
thankfully go wrong – check out the poetry recitals during “Don’t
Eat The Yellow Snow”.
Many of Zappa’s better-known songs can be found here – “The
Torture Never Stops” is good, but the guitar solo is not as chunky
as the one lifted to create “Rat Tomago” on
Sheik Yerbouti. Especially interesting is the three-song set
lifted from an early MTV broadcast, though songs like “Heavenly
Bank Account” demonstrate Zappa’s distrust of not only
televangelists but organized religion as well. In the liner-notes,
Zappa slyly wonders if such a thing would ever happen again; with
such wonderful cuts like “Dumb All Over” and “Suicide Chump,” I
don’t think the network would want to take such a chance. Too
bad… (If you’re disappointed that tracks like “Stinkfoot” and
“Dancin’ Fool” haven’t been mentioned, be patient… we still have
five volumes to go.)
Especially interesting on
YCDTOSA Volume 1 are early tapes of the Mothers Of Invention
from around 1969. The three-song medley led off by “Let’s Make The
Water Turn Black” is a great example of how musically adept Zappa’s
bands were – though I wonder if the song was performed as an
instrumental or if the vocals just weren’t captured.
If I had to pick one performance as kind of a “clunker”, I’d
have to choose either the aural orgasm of “Sweet Leilani” or “The
Groupie Routine,” which is a number not recommended for the
kiddies. Having said this, I’d still go so far as to say this is a
set that is entirely well-construed, crafted and arranged; each
song seems to be a natural progression from the other.
Frank Zappa may be gone, and it may be a decade since he played
his final concert, but
You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Volume 1 is an excellent
treasure chest of what this man and a team of crack musicians could
accomplish on stage. It makes you want to run out and pick up the
other volumes… but we’ll have to wait until April until we look
at the second volume.
1998 Christopher Thelen and “The Daily Vault”. All rights
reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without
written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of
Rykodisc Records and Zappa Family Trust, and is used for reference
purposes only.