11/23/2009

The Entrepreneur: Post Mothers Breakup

Although he had split The Mothers up, Zappa had a lot of extra material recorded and stored. The smart business man that he was he didn’t just let the music sit around gathering dust rather, he continued releasing albums recorded by the original Mothers lineup sort of ‘posthumously,’ hoping to cash in on the fan base they had built without actually having to do any extra work or pay anyone to rehearse, record or tour.


June ’69 saw the release of Hot Rats, what’s been called the first jazz-rock album, and December welcomed Burnt Weeny Sandwich which is a “musical history of Zappa’s life, framed by Doo Wop, followed by a homage to Igor Stravinsky and some of the most beautiful compositions Zappa ever wrote.” [Miles p. 196].





Then, in August of 1970, Zappa put out Weasels Ripped My Flesh, another album with tracks by the original Mothers, but simultaneously began to tour with a new group using the same name. By this point, everyone was confused. Why hadn’t he just reunited the original band? The most likely explanation is that he regretted his decision but was too set in his way to admit he had changed his mind. His Sicilian pride was shining through.


However, in business as in music, Zappa did have his slip-ups as well. One example is when John Lennon and Yoko Ono joined The Mothers on stage one night in 1971 at the Fillmore East and both parties walked away from the performance with a recording of the entire thing. John and Frank personally agreed to each use the tape in whichever manner they pleased, but refusing to take the time and effort required to go through Lennon’s representatives Zappa was pushed out of the deal. John and Yoko soon released the recording and claimed copyrights on it, making it exclusively their own. Perhaps his original feelings toward The Beatles were spot-on.

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