Frank Talk: The Inside Stories of Zappa's Other People

Tomo sobre gente que tocó o conoció a Frank. Las entrevistas tratan no solo la relación de cada uno con el músico, sino con su trayectoria particular. Entretenido al máximo.

In the Summer of 1966 I borrowed "Freak Out" from a friend and, like everyone else, tried to make sense of the long list of Other People on the album jacket. At the age of fourteen I became a fan of Zappa and Beefheart and later through life's twists and turns, found myself backstage in 1975 during the Bongo Fury tour with both of my heroes at the Winterland. I bought this book, "Frank Talk", because I know several of those "Other People", and greatly enjoyed the author's interest in and passion for the music and people that influenced me. I met Jimmy Carl Black during the time he had his band, Geronimo Black with Denny Walley, who is my friend to this day. To be honest, I bought this book to read what Denny had to say about his time with Frank! Buy this book - it's a fun read for fans of Frank.

When it comes to the study of the music and life of Frank Zappa, there can be few scholars who show such inexhaustible energy and such detailed knowledge as Andrew Greenaway, as anyone who visits his Idiot Bastard website will know. Frank Talk contains a comprehensive selection of interviews wirh Zappa alumni and associates that cannot help but increase our knowledge of the subject, and Greenaway is simultaneously a benign, good-natured interviewer and a keen investigator with an instinct for a killer question. In this respect, the contributions of Essra Mohawk and Lorraine Belcher make fascinating reading. He also provides a subtle contrast between his entertaining interviews and his precise, detailed footnotes. Highly recommended.

Ha! Yeah....there are a lot of "gap filling" anecdotes here. It's a fun and quick read....I only got hung up (or disillusioned) with one or two interviews , as in the people that were interviewed were a bit of a "head ache" even for me to read! Most folks here are people you'd like to meet , and could be people you could talk to yourself....but a few seem very ..."ummm'...aggravating, maybe? But over-all it was a cool book. It does show you all the diverse people that Frank was involved with. This is one for the real fanatics out there.

This book is great to read in one sitting or to save as a reference book.The interviewer asked all the right questions. Even if you know Frank Zappa'swork, you will learn something new.