I hate to sound like Tom Hanks in the movie Big but “I don’t get it”.

On December 21st, Frank Zappa’s estate released The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAAAAAM Birthday Bundle 2011 which is a digital-only release of Zappa covers and previously unreleased live recordings by Zappa himself. The “challenge” with this compilation is that there appears to be no unifying theme linking either the tracks included or the selection of cover artists. Without this – this compilation comes off as a random hodge-podge of songs.

Here is how this compilation breaks down – you have nine cover tracks by predominately little-known artists. The two “known” artists are Van Morrison and Serj Tankian who respectively cover “Dead Girls of London” and “Yellow Snow”. “Dead Girls of London” dates from a 1979 recording session and was “originally supposed to be sung by Van Morrison, but since Morrison was signed to the Warner Bros. Records record label who Zappa was in a legal dispute with at the time, Zappa was unable to release the song on his label with Morrison's vocals, and so they were re-recorded. This early version was heavily bootlegged before its official release.” (Wikipedia) Serj’s version of “Yellow Snow” is ‘middle-of-the-road’ as his straight-forward cover noticeably lacks the vocal timing of the original. The remaining tracks are straight-forward covers as well with no particular stand-outs with the exception of “Bobby Brown (Se Upp För F-N)” which is bizarrely sung in Swedish.

There are two Zappa originals that have been digitally ‘played with’ by members of the family. The first, “Wowie Zowie”, takes the original Freak Out track and overdubs vocals from Zappa granddaughter Mathilda Plum Doucette Zappa. The second, “Cosmik Debris”, adds Frank’s guitar and vocals to the ZPZ lineup. Remembering the Jim Morrison and Marc Bolan spoken word sessions later set to music after the artist’s death (bad idea) and Natalie Cole superimposing herself alongside her passed-away father in the video “Unforgettable” (unforgivable), I firmly believe this sort of digital slicing and dicing completely violates the artist’s integrity.

Lastly, there are two previously unreleased Zappa tracks. The first is “Another Variation of the Formerly Secret” which was recorded at The Palladium on 10/30/80. Personally, I always thought Frank’s Tinsletown Rebellion band was one of his strongest post-Mothers lineups so I’d love to hear the full show. The second track is a stellar live recording of “Peaches” which was recorded in Vienna on May 8, 1988 with the jazzier Broadway the Hard Way lineup.

Aside for the two live tracks from Frank Zappa and the Van Morrison cover, caveat emptor.

“Wowie Zowie” by Frank Zappa
Artist: Mathilda Plum Doucette Zappa
Produced by Gail Zappa
Vocals Recorded & Mix by Jared Lee Gosselin for UMRK
Lead Vocals – Mathilda Plum Doucette Zappa
All Background Vocals – Joe Travers
Original Track Produced by Frank Zappa:
Guitar – Frank Zappa
Rhythm Guitar – Elliot Ingber
Tambourine – Ray Collins
Xylophone – Gene Estes
Bass – Roy Estrada
Drums – Jimmy Carl Black
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Bobby Brown (Se Upp För F-N)” by Frank Zappa
Artist: Lise & Gertrud
Vocals – Lise Hummel & Gertrud Stenung
Cello – Gertrud Stenung
Lyrics by Lise & Gertrud by permission of The Zappa Family Trust © 2009 ZFT

“Yellow Snow” by Frank Zappa
Artist: Serj Tankian
Engineered, Produced & Mix by Jared Lee Gosselin
Backround Vocals – S Gonzalez, B Thomas, C Norton
Guitar – Orbel Babayan, Jamie Kime
Horns – Scheila Gonzalez, Ben Thomas
Keys – Chris Norton
Vibes – Billy Hulting
Bass – Kurt Morgan
Drums – Joe Travers
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Magic Fingers” by Frank Zappa
Artist: Rama Duke
Engineered, Produced & Mix by Jared Lee Gosselin
Vocals – Rama Duke
Guitar – Orbel Babayan
Keys – Zoux
Bass – Kurt Morgan
Drums – Joe Travers
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Dirty Love” by Frank Zappa
Artist: The Dirty Diamond
Engineered, Produced & Mix by Jared Lee Gosselin
Lead Vocal – Sam Babayan
Background Vocals – Rama Duke
Guitar – Adam Schalke, Orbel Babayan, Sam Babayan
Keys – Zoux
Bass – Narek Pogosyan
Drums – Shay Godwin
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?” by Frank Zappa
Artist: Pancho and Sancho
Engineered, Produced & Mix by Jared Lee Gosselin
Guitar, Vocals – Orbel “Pancho” Babayan
Guitar, Vocals – Alexy “Sancho” Yeghikian
Trumpets – Brian Garfield
Saxamaphone – Colin Kupka
Trombone – Craig Kupka
Keys – Sandro Rebel & Chris Norton
Bass – Artyom Manukyan
Drums – Mike Schron
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Dead Girls of London (vm)” by L Shankar & Frank Zappa
Artist/Producer: Frank Zappa
Lead Vocal – Van Morrison
Background Vocals – Vicky Blumenthal
Acoustic & 5 string Electric Violin – Shankar
Acoustic & Electric Guitars – Phil Palmer
Fender Rhodes, Organ, Acoustic Piano, Synthesizer – James Lascelles
Bass – Dave Marquee
Drums – Simon Phillips
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Another Variation Of The Formerly Secret” by Frank Zappa
Artist: Frank Zappa
(Recorded live at The Palladium, NYC, 30 October 1980)
Produced by Frank Zappa
Mixed with Bob Stone at UMRK, ca. 1981
Original Recording Engineer: George Douglas
Digitally transferred from original 1/4″ analog stereo mix master at 96K 24B by Joe Travers, UMRK
Players:
Lead Guitar – Frank Zappa
Rhythm Guitar – Steve Vai, Ray White, Ike Willis
Keyboards – Tommy Mars, Bob Harris
Bass – Arthur Barrow
Drums – Vinnie Colaiuta
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Peaches (Vienna 88)” by Frank Zappa
Artist: Frank Zappa
Recorded Live at Stadhall 8 May 1988
Produced by Frank Zappa
Mixed with Bob Stone, UMRK
Transferred from 1630 digital mix master by Joe Travers, UMRK
Players:
Guitar – FZ
Guitar, Keyboards – Mike Keneally
Keyboards – Bobby Martin
Trumpet, Flugel Horn, Synth – Walt Fowler
Trombone – Bruce Fowler
Saxes – Paul Carman
Tenor Sax – Albert Wing
Baritone Sax, Contrabass Clarinet – Kurt McGettrick
Percussion – Ed Mann
Bass – Scott Thunes
Drums, Electronic Percussion – Chad Wackerman
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Cosmik Debris” by Frank Zappa
Artist: FZ with DZ/ZPZ
Vocals, Guitar – Frank Zappa
Guitar – Dweezil Zappa
Guitar – Jamie Kime
Vocal – Ray White
Sax, Keys, Vocals – Scheila Gonzales
Keys – Aaron Arntz
Percussion – Billy Hulting
Bass – Pete Griffin
Drums, Vocals – Joe Travers
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Sleep Dirt” by Frank Zappa
Artist: Pete Griffin
Recorded, Produced, Mix by Pete Griffin
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Evelyn, A Modified Dog” by Frank Zappa
Artist: Jamie Kime
Mix by Jared Lee Gosselin, UMRK
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

“Love of My Life” by Frank Zappa
Artist – Jerry Lawson
Produced by Gail Zappa
Recorded, Mix by Jared Lee Gosselin
Mastered by John Polito, Audio Mechanics

Links:
Frank Zappa