The Big Note: A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa Paperback – May 13, 2018

Great , incredible detail

This book is a revelation of important and fascinating information in the making of every album Frank Zappa recorded. Even including much of the releases after his passing.The details are insightful, accurate and numerous. The fact that it took fifteen years to acquire and assimilate into this brilliant book is astonishing. I’m amazed that it didn’t take longer as I work my way through each album chronologically. Even the smallest of details sheds more light on this twentieth century genius.If you are a completist of Frank’s work then this book is required to truly understand just how gifted he was. Not only as a musician but as a master of the studio as well.I believe this book is important enough that it should have been released in hardback. I constantly find myself putting the book down mid sentence to research my collection to see if my copy has the same number or order mentioned in that particular chapter.I recommend this to anyone who is really into the details of this man and his vision. There is no other book available with such detail, and I thank the author and the enormous work that went into this remarkable book.UPDATE after reading....Now that I have completely read this wonderful book I have to add to my review.There are a few typos on a few dates where the numbers were inverted like 1969 reads 1996, but that is a minor issue considering the expansive nature of this work. I was very impressed with the large number of mistakes found in the booklets within the released CD’s, like wrong dates and locations as well as names misspelled. This brilliant book gives you all the correct information which helps connect the dots, including different sequences of songs from LP to CD. One of my favorite parts were the “Beat The Boots” box sets which had little to no information. Here you get locations, dates, actual band members playing and even the correct song titles. It makes listening to those recordings with a new appreciation.Throughout the book there are inserted biographies of every band member that played with FZ as well as studio staff and also details on unreleased albums and other projects Frank never finished.Even some of the “Best Of” releases have variations, and edits on certain songs that differ from the originals. For example, on “Understanding America”, several songs are unique to that release including different edits and different mixes, as well as completely different takes.Having been a Zappa fan since Freak Out, this book has surprised me, educated me, and reaffirmed my respect and love for this 20th century genius. I’m quite sure that there will be a updated version in the future as the Zappa Family Trust continues to release new and unreleased music including the soon to be released 40th Anniversary of Zappa in New York in March.

"Must have" is an often used cliché, but it is apt in this case if you're a Zappa fan. I knew I had to have this book, a veritable goldmine of information. Encyclopedic in its scope this is a reference book which is indispensable for knowing more about Zappa's music; how it was composed, recorded, performed and in the case of songs that ended up on on multiple records how it evolved. Plus there is plenty of trivia, as well as "Sidebars", i.e. short biographies of musicians who played on the albums as well as some key subjects. The user of this reference book is well advised to read the long introduction first because it explains how the book was written and how to use it. There area also sections on Zappa as a composer, band leader, arranger, lyricist and editor. It also explains how the book is organized, namely alphabetical by album, and then within each album section the tracks in order. Each album section is followed by a list of footnotes, the vast majority of which reference interviews, not quotes from other books on Zappa. This is one aspect of the book I really like. You are reading Zappa's and the other musicians words, not some rock journalist. Emphasis in this book is on the music, not the lyrics. The book seems to be well bound, which it needs to be, as most buyers will likely use it a lot. I have paged in it for hours already and only received the book yesterday.I applaud Charles Ulrich for his herculean task in compiling this excellent reference book. Not only will it expand knowledge and interest in the music, but it will undoubtedly also make fans listen more to the music they are familiar with, re-listen to music they may have glossed over and seek out music they have not heard yet.Review by Walter O. Koenig

I have no idea how the writer did it, but this book is incredibly comprehensive within the scope it claims to cover (and even covers a bit more than it claims).Just to go over some of the content, this book certainly does contain most of Frank's material sorted by album (alphabetically) then song (track list order). Most of the content deals with:personnel - who performed on what instruments, includes later retrackingequipmenttracking - who doubled on vocals, who laid originals and maybe was retracked over laterdates/location - often songs on albums where recorded in multiple locations and timessong writing - who wrote/co-wrote songs or contributed sectionsrecurring themes - poodles, ponchos, perverted melodies, and referencesinfluences - one of the cooler sections, this writer did their homework and points out some interesting borrowing and inspirationsother recorded versions of the song - he'll tell you where to jump to nextband member interviews - one of the coolest aspects, band members talking about that recording sessionThere is also some content up front about Zappa's life, career and methods as well as plenty of short musician biographical information scattered throughout. It's totally worth it for a Zappa junkie

Se vc gosta de FRANK ZAPPA, comprar este livro vai lhe deixar muito feliz!!!Chegou bem antes do prazo e vale cada centavo!!!

zappa fan...get the book...

La cosa está así, el buen Ulrich se aventó la chamba de entregar una obra que revise los detalles tanto técnicos, como de personal, como temáticos de toda la obra oficial de Zappa hasta el año 2014. Una obra ciclópea (más de 800 páginas), perfectamente organizada (alfabética, con Zappa la cronología lineal es prácticamente imposible dada la multitud de conceptos, grabaciones póstumas, discos rearmados y reediciones de aniversario) y con datos que te permiten experimentar la obra del Maestro de una forma, si cabe decirlo, más completa. Ni por asomo lo he terminado, sobre todo porque decidí escuchar cada disco después de dar lectura al capítulo correspondiente. Siendo así, en estos meses he podido regalarme la dicha de ir revisando la obra zappiana poco a poco, en lectura y sacando el disquito de su caja, remitiéndome a la experiencia de los que amamos el formato físico y reescuchando discos que hacía tiempo no sonaban. Estoy por escuchar FZ:OZ (letra F, página 174) y debo decir que he disfrutado cada página. Una experiencia completa.El libro llegó bien empaquetado, sin ningún defecto en el manejo y - hasta el momento - en la fabricación. Es pasta blanda pero bien reforzado en el lomo, está en inglés y es una maravilla. Me falta adquirir algunos libros sobre Zappa, pero este fácilmente se encuentra en el Top 3 junto al Real Frank Zappa Book y al Pooddle Dialectics.

Très complet, extrêmement détaillé, une mine de renseignements.

Todos los discos comentados canción a canción. Pero comentados desde el punto de vista tanto técnico como anecdótico: relaciones en las letras, quién toca qué, comentarios de los músicos involucrados... Es un gran tocho pero necesario para todo fan de Zappa.