| Uncle Meat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Frank Zappa |
| Written by | Frank Zappa |
| Cinematography | Ed Seeman Haskell Wexler |
| Music by | Frank Zappa |
Release date | 1987 [1] |
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Uncle Meat is a 1987 film written and directed by Frank Zappa. It was conceived in 1968 as a vehicle for the Mothers of Invention, [1] but remained unfinished until 20 years after the production began. [2]
The film has been described as an unfinished "non-movie", [2] consisting of three distinct plots, the first of which has been described as "Zappa filming Zappa filming". [2] In the second plotline, a musician named Biff Debris (Don Preston) becomes obsessed with trying to produce a hit single, ultimately failing to achieve his objective before he gets old (and is now played by Stumuk, replacing Preston). [2] The third plot is a love story between Phyllis Altenhaus and Debris as Phyllis works as an operator who falls in love with Debris while watching a video of a 1968 music performance by Debris. Years after, they meet and live happily ever after. [2]
In 1968 Zappa decided to make a film featuring the original incarnation of the Mothers of Invention. Haskell Wexler, who had used two of Zappa's songs in his film Medium Cool , offered five days of his services as a cinematographer for free to Zappa. [1] Financial issues led to the production stopping as Zappa moved on to other projects, but a different form of the film was finally completed and released in 1987. [1]
Uncle Meat juxtaposes concert footage from the Festival Hall in London with a fictional narrative [1] that combines elements of science fiction and road stories inspired by the band's sexual escapades. [3] The second plotline serves as a criticism of the music industry, portraying the efforts of a musician to gain commercial success; this plotline is a political thriller. [2] The film utilizes footage from 1968, 1970 and 1982, as well as studio and live recordings from different concerts and years, which allowed Zappa to complete the film, which reflects on the existence and validity of his music over the course of time. [2]
As in Zappa's previous film, 200 Motels , Uncle Meat explores the separation between documentary and fiction, encouraging the viewer to question whether they are watching real or recreated events. [2] Zappa explores the difficulty of maintaining a career in film as an independent artist outside of the studio system. Having taken 20 years to complete the film, the screenplay had changed from what Zappa had initially planned, due to him adding footage to the project throughout the 20 year production. [2] The character of Biff Debris serves as an allegory for the tensions faced by an artist trying to have his work released. [2] While the dialogue of 200 Motels emphasizes that the film is Zappa's, Uncle Meat is more distinctively the Mothers of Invention's film. [2]
The April 26, 1969 Billboard review of the Uncle Meat album described it as a soundtrack to a film. [4] The double vinyl was expanded on compact disc to include 41 minutes of audio from the film and the song "Tengo na minchia tanta", programmed before side 4 on the second CD (sides 1-3 are on the first CD). Author Ben Watson said that the additional tracks were a detraction from the album's original structure. [5]
We're Only in It for the Money is the third album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on March 4, 1968, by Verve Records. As with the band's first two efforts, it is a concept album, and satirizes left- and right-wing politics, particularly the hippie subculture, as well as the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, and Uncle Meat.
James Inkanish, Jr., known professionally as Jimmy Carl Black, was a drummer and vocalist for the Mothers of Invention.
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.
200 Motels is a 1971 surrealist musical film written and directed by Frank Zappa and Tony Palmer, and featuring music by Zappa. An international co-production of United States and the United Kingdom, the film stars the Mothers of Invention, Theodore Bikel, Keith Moon and Ringo Starr.
Bizarre Records, self-identified simply as Bizarre, was a production company and record label formed for artists discovered by rock musician Frank Zappa and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen.
Cruising with Ruben & the Jets is the fourth album by the Mothers of Invention, and fifth overall by Frank Zappa, released under the alias Ruben and the Jets. Released on December 2, 1968 on Bizarre and Verve Records with distribution by MGM Records, it is a concept album, influenced by 1950s doo-wop and rock and roll. The album's concept deals with a fictitious Chicano doo-wop band called Ruben & the Jets, represented by the cover illustration by Cal Schenkel, which depicts the Mothers of Invention as anthropomorphic dogs. It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, We're Only in It for the Money and Uncle Meat.
The Mothers of Invention was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows.
Mothermania (1969), subtitled The Best of the Mothers, is a compilation album by the Mothers of Invention. While the songs were previously released on Freak Out!, Absolutely Free and We're Only in It for the Money, it contains unique mixes or edits made specifically for this compilation.
Ian Robertson Underwood is a woodwind and keyboards player, known for his work with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
Ruth Underwood is an American musician best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, and other percussion instruments in Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. She collaborated with the Mothers of Invention from 1968 to 1977.
Donald Ward Preston is an American jazz and rock keyboardist. He is known for working with Frank Zappa from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s.
Arthur Dyer Tripp III is an American retired musician who is best known for his work as a percussionist with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band during the 1960s and 1970s. Thereafter, Tripp retired from music. He attended an accredited chiropractic college in Los Angeles from 1980 through 1983, graduating with his Doctor of Chiropractic degree. He currently practices in Gulfport, Mississippi.
The 200 Motels soundtrack to Frank Zappa's film 200 Motels was released by United Artists Records in 1971. The original vinyl release was a two-record set, largely containing alternating tracks of rock music preformed 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.
King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa is an album by French jazz fusion artist Jean-Luc Ponty first released in May 1970 on Liberty Records' World Pacific Records subsidiary label and later released on Blue Note.
The Old Masters is a box set series by Frank Zappa, released in three volumes on Barking Pumpkin Records from April 1985 to December 1987, consisting of studio and live albums by Zappa and The Mothers of Invention originally released from 1966 to 1976 on other labels, as well as "Mystery Discs" which contained previously unreleased material. The graphics on all three sets was airbrush illustrated by Larry Grossman. 200 Motels was not included in the series as it was the only Zappa/Mothers album for which Zappa was unable to secure the rights.
Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood was an American rock musician notable for playing soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, tambourine, vocals and vocal sound effects in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. He appeared on all the albums of the original Mothers line-up and the 'posthumous' releases Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh, as well as certain subsequent Zappa albums. He also appeared in the films 200 Motels, Video from Hell and Uncle Meat.
Bunk Gardner is an American musician who most notably played for the original version of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention until the group disbanded in 1969. He plays woodwinds and tenor sax.
Charles "Buzz" Guarnera was an American trumpet and flugelhorn player.
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).
Edward Seeman is an American artist whose works have spanned disparate fields, from award-winning animated television commercials for children to films of artistic nudity and hardcore pornography. He is also known for his cinemaphotography and for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1960s.
