I've got to admit, part of the charm of Larry King is that he doesn't do his homework and, frequently, has no idea what the hell he's talking about. And he does not disappoint in this interview: right off the bat he gets the title of the book wrong. Three times.
Still better than watching Piers Morgan.
Here's something a bit different: afka.net has a Shick ad from a 1953 Saturday Evening Post that was used as the basis for the Weasels Ripped My Flesh cover.
An ode to Nixon. According to uploader Steve Sparx, this is the debut of the song, from 1973.
Think I'll take it easy on the blog today -- merry Christmas/Newtonmas/Tuesday/holiday of your choosing.
Anyhow, here's a video made by till593, to Xmas Values and N-lite.
Not directly Zappa-related, but here's a Christmas card from The1stGunner, featuring a Steve Vai cover of Christmas Time is Here.
And if you're interested in other tangentially-Zappa-related covers of songs from Christmas specials, check out Dweezil and Ahmet performing You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (which I posted a few months back on Chuck Jones's birthday).
I thought an article called Frank Zappa's not only in it for the money (By Derk Richardson, Bay Guardian, February 2, 1983) would make a nice counterpoint to that talk about the artist as a businessman.
Guess there's not much to it -- it's another piece about Zappa's appreciation of Varèse, with a sort of rote, more-than-slightly-condescending rundown of his career. Still, it's got some good bits and is worth a glance.
Frank Zappa: Portrait of the Artist as a Businessman, by Rob Partridge and Paul Phillips, Cream, 1972. Courtesy once again of afka.net.
Frank discusses the business side of things. He was certainly a much savvier and more thorough businessman than most rock artists, then or now -- but his comments about what a good deal he has with Warner Brothers are an indication that he still had some hard lessons left to learn; he'd be singing a much different tune a few years later.
Philadelphia, 1974; uploaded by Whoaduderighteous.
Video's tough to watch but audio sounds better than the other live recordings I found. Upload by bongolampos, who says it's from a performance in Stockholm in 1988.
I've always loved the nuance, the sort of duality, to Zappa's philosophy on music: he's certainly got strong opinions on what he likes and what he doesn't and that the industry is a bottomless cesspit, but he also believes the bottom line is that people like what they like and that's okay. He writes deep, complex music and lyrics -- but sometimes he writes silly stuff like Dancin' Fool, and he thinks people who overanalyze Jim Morrison's lyrics are missing the forest for the trees.
Ultimately, he's a Serious Musician who has the good damn sense to understand you shouldn't always take music so seriously.