Another Real Frank Zappa Book

[SOFA]

It's all about finding people (writers, editors, researchers, illustrators, ... whatever) who are motivated enough to spend a serious amount of their precious time to document the life and times of a single person...

Hello? Did somebody call?

i'm not saying that i'll contribute much, but I'll read it...
... and there we have it: problemo Numero Uno...

"Build it, and they will come..."

[Dunk]

to document the life and times of a single person...
to find a consensus about what to write and how to write it...

This should be interesting

Are we going to say that Zappa was against censorship?

Or are we going to quote Jimmy Carl Black...

...we were partners basically, in this case silenced partners! We didn't have any say in anything.

and...

We didn't have the right to talk to the press or to give interviews. We went to one hotel and Frank went to another. All the journalists adressed Frank, and if one of them had the idea to contact one of us, the roadmanager would step in and stop it right there. "No son, not a word. Shut up and play...

Will the consensus attempt to get somewhere near the reality/truth or simply perpetuate the myth?

[emdebe]

Will the consensus attempt to get somewhere near the reality/truth or simply perpetuate the myth?

The consensus - IMHO - would be to give all the FACTS we can find... and let the reader decide. Most of the stuff we know, most of the time, is HEAR-SAY. We will probably never be in a position to find out the truth and nothing but the truth...

[Chris]

I don't think Frank would've been apologetic about any of that; he always made it clear that he was the boss, and they were playing music he composed. He once referred to his musicians as "tools of the composer." It wasn't some big secret. They could've joined other bands if they wanted equal attention. I don't see any "myth" being perpetuated in the collective discourse.

I'm not crazy about the personalities and deeds of the old Mothers anyway. These days, their interviews are unreliable, because Frank's no longer around to defend himself. This is not the same as fact, and such statements should be excluded. For instance, if you read any of Don Preston's recent interviews about Frank, he makes up all sorts of nonsense. Easy to attack the dead, I suppose. (Does anyone have a link to that apology letter they wrote to the Zappa family after they realized their '80s lawsuit was bullshit? That sure made for interesting reading.)

If we ever wind up doing this, I intend, for my part, to concentrate on the music itself, which is really the only reason any of us are here. Do we really need any more autobiographical trivia about Frank? Seems a bit redundant. Insights about the music and lyrics would be much more worthwhile. So that makes me, SOFA, Emdebe and Barry so far?

[emdebe]

Hello? Did somebody call?

Have I offended someone?

[emdebe]

Do we really need any more autobiographical trivia about Frank? Seems a bit redundant.

Redundancy can be good, especially when it contributes to our learning about the music (lyrics)...

OK, there are many many books, articles, websites, ... but none of them is complete, fully accurate, ... and everything is scattered all over the place... So there could be made an effort to straighten it out... One single, complete-and-accurate-as-it-can-be, access point to all things FZ (like www.zappa.com should have been)... TELL ME I'M NOT DREAMING! Although it looks/sounds a bit overwhelming, I'm serious as a heart attack about it.

A lot of valuable work has already been done (yes, there are a couple of good websites), if only... we could convince these people to step in and recycle much of their material. Now that I come to think of it: it could be a blessed relief for these people...

Let's not take the notion of a book (as in "Another Real Frank Zappa Book") to strict, let's think more "encyclopaedia"-wise (like Barry suggested). Let's jot down data, information, knowledge, and - perhaps - some wisdom, to the lowest detail possible. After that, many books can be written with the same pieces of text, according to one's taste... ;-)

[emdebe]

So that makes me, SOFA, Emdebe and Barry so far?

As I said before: where are all the other Freaks & Motherf*#@%! when you need them?

[emdebe]

We could use this forum to discuss the book's content, structuring, layout...

Dear Mr. Head Cheese, could you please setup a completely new forum category? Name it "About Ancient Eskimo Legends & Other Playground Psychotics" (or something else), and provide us with three new boards:

- "Shut Up And Write Another Real Frank Zappa Book", were we can discuss the "open source" book/encyclopaedia's content, structuring, layout...

- "The Frank Zappa Memorial Barbecue", a.k.a. "Frank Zappa according to the men with the pencils", were we can speak out about the many books and articles that are/were written about FZ...

- "Surfing With Ruben & The Jets", were we can sheer/rant about the good, the bad and the ugly websites covering FZ...

Or am I going to fast here?

[emdebe]

If there are no alternatives (and I can't think of any right now), then maybe Wiki will be the way to go...

Unless someone knows someone else who knows someone else who can setup a Lotus Notes environment... Anyone?

[emdebe]

Apparently I lost my RADISH status... I've become a PUMPKIN! Am I Gail, now?

[SOFA]

Have I offended someone?

Can't imagine how...

Do we really need any more autobiographical trivia about Frank?

With all due respect to your arena of expertise, Chris, this is where I thrive... I'd be one to play around with that kind of stuff, and leave the analisys end of it up to you

Although it looks/sounds a bit overwhelming, I'm serious as a heart attack about it.

You'll hurt your throat!
I can appreciate the desire for this kind of informative database - and I can't think of one serious zappaphile who wouldn't appreciate it. There is a wealth of stuff out there. Coalating into one area would be a godsend, IMO.

As I said before: where are all the other Freaks & Motherf*#@%! when you need them?

There are a lot of folks out there who've made it a part of their lives to tackle all of these different areas of 'Zappa' interest. It's their own little party...
You can't just suddenly 'announce' that you're throwing a better party and that everyone is expected to attend. That aint how it works.
What you do is: you start the better party and once folks find out it is a better party, they'll want to attend.

"Build it, and they will come..."

I've no clue how to go about this...
But it seems sensible to me that the 'structure' of this wikiwhatieverthefuckitscalledi needs to come first. You're talking about coalating and storing a shitload of information; well then, you need a filing 'system'. You need to have areas to put all of this data.
No?

We could use this forum to discuss the book's content, structuring, layout...
Dear Mr. Head Cheese, could you please setup a completely new forum category, and provide us with three new boards:

I don't know if these forums are the place to start... A place to discuss the start, but not the place to start.

Apparently I lost my RADISH status... I've become a PUMPKIN! Am I Gail, now?

Radish Back Baby...
Radish Back Baby...

Or am I going to fast here?

Too fast? No, I don't think so...
Cart before the horse? Maybe, a little. I think a dash less passion and a little more perspective is in order...
But that's just me.

[UniMuta]

But it seems sensible to me that the 'structure' of this wikiwhatieverthefuckitscalledi needs to come first. You're talking about coalating and storing a shitload of information; well then, you need a filing 'system'. You need to have areas to put all of this data.

Maybe a part of it should be a bit like Chris' Zappology website. Discussing clues and the conceptual continuity of it all in some sort of discographical way:
discography
  ->album
    -> cover artwork
    -> tracks
      -> lyrics
      -> music

But it would also need an alphabetical reference / topic list, like a dictionary, encyzapedia.

-- UniMuta

[emdebe]

We must have found the "G-Spot", 'cause we went in "Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies)"-mode...

[emdebe]

There are a lot of folks out there who've made it a part of their lives to tackle all of these different areas of 'Zappa' interest. It's their own little party... You can't just suddenly 'announce' that you're throwing a better party and that everyone is expected to attend. That aint how it works. What you do is: you start the better party and once folks find out it is a better party, they'll want to attend.

So all we have to do - at least the first thing we have to do - is find a PARTY ZONE... Barry?

[emdebe]

Too fast? No, I don't think so... Cart before the horse? Maybe, a little. I think a dash less passion and a little more perspective is in order... But that's just me.

I started this topic by writing "I have always wanted to write a book (THE book) about Frank Zappa, but I never could find the time for it. I still do, and I still don't..." I can't help being passionate about this, but I promise to build-in a reality check every now and then... ;-)