Damn you, Moriarty...
Got King Kong and some other JLP on vinyl - gotta get me one of those USB turntables...
Zappa was a genius, period. Listening to him again on Youtube reminds me of he easily he could go from rock to jazz to classical idioms. I think his eccentricity - which I liked - was what kept him from being more widely appreciated.
Boy that interview was painful to watch...
Zappa was before his time musically in many ways, and the sentiment behind his quirky lyrics was always dead on the nuts.
His song
Trouble Coming Every Day keeps going thru my head a lot lately - great lyrics, pretty relevant today. I can't do more than 30 minutes
max anymore of news TV and end up turning on music instead. Although the lyrics were written in the '60's, not a whole lot has changed:
Frank zappa (lead guitar, vocals)
Lowell george (guitar, vocals)
Roy estrada (bass)
Don preston (keyboards)
Buzz gardner (trumpet)
Ian underwood (alto saxophone)
Bunk gardner (tenor saxophone)
Motorhead sherwood (baritone saxophone)
Jimmy carl black (drums)
Arthur tripp (drums)
Well I'm about to get up sick
From watchin my t.v.
Been checkin' out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friend
Is anybody's guess
So I'm watching and I'm waiting
Hopin' for the best
Even think I go to praying
Every time I hear them sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' everyday
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
Wednesday I watched the riot
I've seen the cops out on the street
Watch them throwing rocks and stuff and choking in the heat
Listen to reports
About the whiskey passin' round
Seen the smoke and fire
And the market burnin' down
Watched while everybody on his street would take a turn
They stomp and smash and bash and crash and slash and bust 'n burn
And I'm watching and I'm waitin hopin' for the best
Even think I go to prayin'
Every time I hear em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' everyday
You can cool it
You can heat it
Cause baby I don't need it
Take your TV tube and eat it
And all that phony stuff on sports
And all those unconfirmed reports
You know I watch that rotten box
Until my head begin to hurt
From checkin' out the way
The newsmen say they get the dirt
Before the guys on channel so and so
And further they assert
That any show they litter up
They bring you news if it comes up
They say that if the place blows up
They will be the first to tell
Cause the boys they got downtown
Working hard and doin swell
And if anybody gets the news
Before it hits the streets
They say that no one blabs it faster
Their coverage can't be beat
And if another woman driver
Gets machine gunned from her seat
They'll send some joker with a camera
And youll see it all complete
So I'm watching and I'm waiting
Hopin for the best
Even think I go to praying
Every time I hear them saying
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' everyday
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
Well I've seen the fires burnin'
And the local people turnin'
All the merchants and the shops
Who use to sell their brooms and mops
And every other household item
Watch the mob just turn and bite em
And they say it serve them right
Because a few of them are white
And it's the same across the nation
Black and white discrimination
Yell and you can understand me
And all that other crap they hand me
In the papers and t.v.
And all that mass stupidity
That seems to grow more everyday
This time of year some %$%$%$%$%$%$%$ say
He wants to go and do you in
Cause the color of your skin
Just don't appeal to him
No matter if it's black or white
Because he's out for blood tonight
Man, gotta get a USB turntable and convert all my Zappa vinyl -
Hey, BTW, Paul - I thought you'd start this thread the very first week...