Charles Ulrich's The Big Note

[Bice]

I finally got around to buying a copy of Charles Ulrich's book, "The
Big Note - A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa". I had it on the
Amazon wishlist that my relatives use for Xmas shopping since it first
came out, but no one took the hint so I finally just ordered it for
myself for my birthday.

This book has got to be the most encyclopedic set of information about
Zappa's albums ever gathered in one place. So far I've read the
introduction and the chapters on Absolutely Free and Ahead of Their
Time (while simultaneously listening to the albums), and I've already
learned at least a dozen things I had never known before or never
noticed in the music before. I'm really looking forward to continuing
this reading/listening process for an album or two each week over the
next...well, few years probably.

My only minor complaint is that I wish the albums had been listed
chronologically by release date instead of alphabetically by title.
It's explained in the introduction why the book is organized the way
it is, but I still think listing the albums by release date would have
made more sense. But I guess there's nothing stopping me from reading
the chapters in whatever order I want (apart from the fact that I've
already read the first two alphabetically).

Anyway, if you're still reading alt.fan.fz Charles, thanks for doing
the mind-boggling amount of research and work it must have taken to
put this book together. It has definitely rekindled my interest in
Zappa's music.

-- Bob

[Bice]

Post by Bice
I finally got around to buying a copy of Charles Ulrich's book, "The
Big Note - A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa".

I read about and listened to Apostrophe and Baby Snakes over the
weekend, and since I had the day off today I read the chapter on The
Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life while listening to the CDs this
morning.

The most interesting bit that I learned about BBYNHIYL is the section
of The Torture Never Stops Part 1 from 3:03-4:56 quotes the theme
songs from a bunch of old TV shows: I Love Lucy, My Three Sons,
Mission Impossible and The Addams Family. I'm pretty sure I had
caught the Mission Imposible reference before, but somehow I had never
noticed the other three. I'm particularly embarrased about never
noticing the Addams Family quotes before - that's one of my all time
favorite TV shows, I even own the whole series on DVD.

It was also interesting to read about all the edits and quotes in The
Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue. Trying to put it all in order while
listening to the track was like doing a jigsaw puzzle.

Lots of quotes from Keneally posts in a.f.f-z in that chapter. I
actually remember reading some of those posts back in the day.

-- Bob

[Dixon]

Post by Bice

Post by Bice
I finally got around to buying a copy of Charles Ulrich's book, "The
Big Note - A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa".

I read about and listened to Apostrophe and Baby Snakes over the
weekend, and since I had the day off today I read the chapter on The
Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life while listening to the CDs this
morning.
The most interesting bit that I learned about BBYNHIYL is the section
of The Torture Never Stops Part 1 from 3:03-4:56 quotes the theme
songs from a bunch of old TV shows: I Love Lucy, My Three Sons,
Mission Impossible and The Addams Family. I'm pretty sure I had
caught the Mission Imposible reference before, but somehow I had never
noticed the other three. I'm particularly embarrased about never
noticing the Addams Family quotes before - that's one of my all time
favorite TV shows, I even own the whole series on DVD.
It was also interesting to read about all the edits and quotes in The
Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue. Trying to put it all in order while
listening to the track was like doing a jigsaw puzzle.
Lots of quotes from Keneally posts in a.f.f-z in that chapter. I
actually remember reading some of those posts back in the day.
-- Bob

Funny, I just started reading the book with the intention of doing the same. The group was mentioned in the acknowledgments and I haven't looked in on usenet/Google Groups in donkeys years so I came to see. I feel like a baton is being handed on...

[Bice]

Post by Bice
I finally got around to buying a copy of Charles Ulrich's book, "The
Big Note - A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa".

And this morning I finished the appendix on the Beat the Boots series,
the last part of the book. Took me two years and a month to make my
way through the whole thing, listening to each album while reading the
chapter about it.

Excellent book, I learned a ton about FZ, his music, his history and
related subjects.

Now we need a volume two to cover the posthumous releases that have
come out since the book was originally published.

-- Bob