The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | April 16, 1991 | |||
Recorded | February 14 – June 6, 1988, at Munich; Würzburg; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Rotterdam; Brighton; Strasbourg; Binghamton, New York; Grenoble; Linz; Modena; Philadelphia; London; Pittsburgh; Teaneck, New Jersey; Poughkeepsie, New York; Syracuse, New York; Detroit; Vienna; and Florence | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 131:13 | |||
Label | Barking Pumpkin | |||
Producer | Frank Zappa | |||
Frank Zappa chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life is a double-disc live album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in 1991. The album was one of four that were recorded during the 1988 world tour; the other three were Broadway the Hard Way (released in 1988), Make a Jazz Noise Here (released in 1991), and Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show (posthumously released in 2021).
Each of the first three accounts of the 1988 tour has a different emphasis: Broadway the Hard Way mainly consists of new compositions; Make a Jazz Noise Here is a sampler of classic Zappa tunes, most of them instrumental; and The Best Band... devotes itself to cover songs. Some of these are unlikely, such as "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, while many are from Zappa's extensive back catalogue. His mid-1970s output is emphasized in the selection, but there is also some material from the Mothers of Invention's late 1960s recordings and one song ("Lonesome Cowboy Burt") from 200 Motels . It was re-issued in 1995 and 2012 along with his entire catalogue.
The album is also notable for its extended section of potshots against American Pentecostal televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who had then just confessed to transgressions with a prostitute on live television; the speech was later dubbed his "I have sinned" speech. "Lonesome Cowboy Burt", "More Trouble Every Day" and "Penguin in Bondage" feature entirely rewritten lyrics to capitalize on and satirize the scandal.
The original album simply featured a photograph of Frank Zappa and his band against a black background with blue lettering, but upon discovering that the photograph had been used without the permission of the photographer, Bruce Malone, Zappa simply continued issuing the cover with the photograph replaced with an empty black space.
When the album was remastered and reissued worldwide in 1995 by Rykodisc, it featured artwork by long-time Zappa artist Cal Schenkel that had been created for the album's original Japanese release. The Japanese kanji at the top of the sign on this version do not together form any meaningful sentence to a speaker of Japanese, but can be read with the on readings of fu-ran-ku-za-pa, an approximation of Frank Zappa in Japanese sounds.
Schenkel used characters from his artwork on the cover of Zappa's 1972 release The Grand Wazoo , such as Stu (AKA Uncle Meat) and a man from the playing a Mystery Horn. In addition there is a red sofa, that while not an exact duplicate, is reminiscent of the red sofa from his art on Zappa's 1975 One Size Fits All . In 2012, when the album was reissued, it returned the cover to the version featuring a blank space in place of the photograph.
All tracks by Frank Zappa, except where noted. The European re-releases of this album omit "Bolero" due to an objection from the rights-holders of the piece.
No. | Title | Recording venue and dates | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Heavy Duty Judy" | Carl-Diem-Halle, April 22, 1988 The Ahoy, May 3, 1988 | 6:04 |
2. | "Ring of Fire" (Merle Kilgore, June Carter) | Carl-Diem-Halle, April 22, 1988 | 2:00 |
3. | "Cosmik Debris" | Carl-Diem-Halle, April 22, 1988 | 4:32 |
4. | "Find Her Finer" | Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, May 9, 1988 | 2:42 |
5. | "Who Needs the Peace Corps?" | Carl-Diem-Halle, April 22, 1988 | 2:40 |
6. | "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" (George C. Cory Jr., Douglas Cross) | Carl-Diem-Halle, April 22, 1988 | 0:36 |
7. | "Zomby Woof" | Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, May 9, 1988 Muhlenberg College's Memorial Hall, March 19, 1988 | 5:41 |
8. | "Boléro" (Maurice Ravel) | The Ahoy, May 3, 1988 | 5:19 |
9. | "Zoot Allures" | Brighton Centre, April 16, 1988 | 7:07 |
10. | "Mr. Green Genes" | Hall Tivoli, May 23, 1988 | 3:40 |
11. | "Florentine Pogen" | Hall Tivoli, May 23, 1988 Palasport, June 6, 1988 (guitar solo) | 7:11 |
12. | "Andy" | Stadthalle, May 26, 1988 | 5:51 |
13. | "Inca Roads" | Stadthalle, May 8, 1988 Carl-Diem-Halle, April 22, 1988 | 8:19 |
14. | "Sofa No. 1" | Beethovensaal, May 24, 1988 | 2:49 |
No. | Title | Recording venue and dates | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Purple Haze" (Jimi Hendrix) | Sporthalle, May 28, 1988 | 2:27 |
2. | "Sunshine of Your Love" (Pete Brown, Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton) | Sporthalle, May 28, 1988 | 2:30 |
3. | "Let's Move to Cleveland" | Palasport, June 5, 1988 Le Zenith, May 18, 1988 | 5:51 |
4. | "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" (Ernest Ball, George Graff, Chancellor Olcott) | Broome County Arena, March 17, 1988 | 0:46 |
5. | ""Godfather Part II" Theme" (Nino Rota) | Broome County Arena, March 17, 1988 | 0:30 |
6. | "A Few Moments with Brother A. West" (Brother A. West, Zappa) | Tower Theater, February 14, 1988 | 4:00 |
7. | "The Torture Never Stops, Pt. 1" | Wembley Arena, April 19, 1988 Carl-Diem-Halle, April 22, 1988 | 5:19 |
8. | "Theme from "Bonanza"" (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) | Wembley Arena, April 19, 1988 | 0:28 |
9. | "Lonesome Cowboy Burt" (Swaggart version) | Syria Mosque, February 25, 1988 | 4:54 |
10. | "The Torture Never Stops, Pt. 2" | Rothman Centre, March 20, 1988 | 10:47 |
11. | "More Trouble Every Day" (Swaggart version) | Mid Hudson Civic Centre, February 23, 1988 | 5:28 |
12. | "Penguin in Bondage" (Swaggart version) | Mid Hudson Civic Centre, February 23, 1988 | 5:05 |
13. | "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue" | Royal Oak Music Theatre, February 28, 1988 Landmark Theatre, March 21, 1988 Stadthalle, May 8, 1988 | 9:18 |
14. | "Stairway to Heaven" (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) | Stadthalle, May 8, 1988 Palasport, June 6, 1988 Wembley Arena, April 18, 1988 | 9:19 |
Uncle Meat is the sixth album by the Mothers of Invention, and seventh overall by Frank Zappa, released as a double album in 1969. Uncle Meat was originally developed as a part of No Commercial Potential, a project which spawned three other albums sharing a conceptual connection: We're Only in It for the Money, Lumpy Gravy and Cruising with Ruben & the Jets.
Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1969. It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original version of the Mothers of Invention. Five of the six songs are instrumental, while "Willie the Pimp" features vocals by Captain Beefheart. In his original sleeve notes, Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears".
Waka/Jawaka is the fourth solo album, fifteenth album counting the work of his band the Mothers of Invention, by Frank Zappa, released in July 1972. The album is the jazz-influenced precursor to The Grand Wazoo, and as the front cover indicates, a sequel of sorts to 1969's Hot Rats. According to Zappa, the title "is something that showed up on a ouija board at one time."
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is the seventh album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, and the ninth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. It consists of both studio and live recordings. Following the Mothers' split in late 1969, Zappa assembled two albums of unreleased recordings by the band - this album and its follow-up Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Burnt Weeny Sandwich focuses mostly on studio recordings and tightly arranged compositions, while Weasels Ripped My Flesh focuses mostly on live recordings and loose/improvisational pieces. Both albums also include some outtakes/leftovers from the sessions for Zappa's 1969 solo album Hot Rats.
Calvin "Cal" Schenkel is an American illustrator, graphic designer, animator and comics artist, specializing in album cover design.
One Size Fits All is the fourteenth album by the Mothers of Invention, and the twentieth overall album by Frank Zappa, released in June 1975. The album reached #26 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart in the United States in August 1975.
Broadway the Hard Way is a live album by American musician Frank Zappa recorded at various performances along his 1988 world tour. It was first released as a 9-track vinyl album through Zappa's label Barking Pumpkin Records in October 1988, and subsequently as a 17-track CD through Rykodisc in 1989.
Bongo Fury is a collaborative album by American artists Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and Zappa's band the Mothers, released in October 1975. The live portions were recorded on May 20 and 21, 1975, at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. Tracks 5, 6 and 9 are studio tracks recorded in January 1975 during the sessions which produced One Size Fits All (1975) and much of Studio Tan (1978).
Läther is the sixty-fifth official album by Frank Zappa. It was released posthumously as a three-CD set on Rykodisc in 1996. The album's title is derived from bits of comic dialog that link the songs. Zappa also explained that the name is a joke, based on "common bastardized pronunciation of Germanic syllables by the Swiss."
Does Humor Belong in Music? is a live album by Frank Zappa.
Zappa in New York is a double live album by Frank Zappa released on his own DiscReet Records label, distributed by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded in December 1976 at a series of concerts at the Palladium in New York City.
Make a Jazz Noise Here is a live double album by Frank Zappa. It was first released in June 1991, and was the third Zappa album to be compiled from recordings from his 1988 world tour, following Broadway the Hard Way (1988) and The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life (1991). The album's cover art was made by Larry Grossman.
The Lost Episodes is a 1996 posthumous album by Frank Zappa which compiles previously unreleased material. Much of the material covered dates from early in his career, and as early as 1958, into the mid-1970s. Zappa had been working on these tracks in the years before his death in 1993.
200 Motels, the soundtrack album to Frank Zappa's film of the same name, was released by United Artists Records in 1971. The original vinyl release was a two-record set, largely containing alternating tracks of rock music performed by the Mothers of Invention and symphonic music performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Elgar Howarth, all composed and orchestrated by Zappa. The album peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard 200, though reviewers deemed it a peripheral part of Zappa's catalog. Like the film, the album involves the theme of a rock band on tour and a loose storyline about The Mothers of Invention going crazy in the small town of Centerville and bassist Jeff quitting the group, as did his real life counterpart, Jeff Simmons, who left the group before the film began shooting and was replaced by actor Martin Lickert for the film.
Wazoo is a live album by Frank Zappa, posthumously released in October 2007 as a 2-CD set consisting of the complete concert given by "The Mothers of Invention/Hot Rats/Grand Wazoo" 20-piece big band on September 24, 1972 at the Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the third installment on the Vaulternative Records label that is dedicated to the posthumous release of complete Zappa concerts, following the releases of FZ:OZ (2002) and Buffalo (2007).
Tinsel Town Rebellion is a double live album released by Frank Zappa in May 1981. The album was conceived by Zappa after he scrapped the planned albums Warts and All and Crush All Boxes, and contains tracks that were intended for those albums.
One Shot Deal is an album by Frank Zappa, posthumously released in June 2008.
The **** of the Mothers is an out-of-print compilation album of early works by The Mothers of Invention, an American rock band. The album features a gatefold featuring some of the contemporary band members such as Ian Underwood, Art Tripp, and Motorhead Sherwood. This was the first of numerous repackaged "Best Of" LPs put out by MGM that were not authorized by Frank Zappa; Mothermania is the only one that Zappa worked on and approved.
Meat Light is a 3CD compilation of Frank Zappa's Uncle Meat recordings. It is project/object #5 in a series of 40th Anniversary FZ Audio Documentaries, following MOFO (2006), Lumpy Money (2009), Greasy Love Songs (2010) and The Crux of the Biscuit (2016).
Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show is a live album released June 18, 2021, by Frank Zappa. It contains mostly previously unreleased recordings of the last concert he would ever play in the US at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.