Frank Zappa 1966 to 1979: On Track Paperback – 22 Aug. 2019

I've been a Zappa fan since the mid '70s. I can't claim to have all his releases, but I do have a fair few!This On Track book follows the usual format of the On Track series, giving a summary by a fan of each track of albums in chronological order. This is intelligently written book. It's an easy read in straightforward language, which is a relief because it could so easily have been overblown with pompouslanguage. I like the interesting facts accompanying most tracks and even a little music theory - after all, Frank Zappa was an extraordinarily technical musician.The book covers albums from Freak Out to Joe's Garage. And that's it. None of the later releases or Shut Up and Play volumes for example, but I suppose the author had to stop somewhere. I think that, given Zappa's extensive catalogue of official releases and his strong fanbase, a second volume of the book is needed with all the missing tracks / album .Don't expect much outright damning criticism of tracks, because the author is obviously a fan. That's not a problem, because I bought the book to revel in the enjoyment of Frank Zappa and his musicians, rather than be made uncomfortable by someone slagging off our hero.There are a few colour photos of album covers and band members in concert . Nothing special about the image / print quality, but that's not the point of the book, which is about the music itself.In summary, Yes, I'd buy this book again, and I want to see Volume 2!

I've found the On Track series very informative and this is no exception. I realise Zappa was so prolific, so I can understand why the book stops at 1979. But, as a result, it does miss out some fine early 1980s albums such as Tinseltown Rebellion, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, and You Are What You Is.But for the period 1966-79, this book is very informative. As well as a good read, it is a valuable reference source when you are listening to Zappa's music and thinking of what to listen further to.

Brilliant

Well, this isn't the worst book about Frank Zappa that I've ever read but it's far from being the best either. There's something about the author's writing that doesn't quite gel. It's just slightly awkward and jerky and doesn't flow smoothly. He seems knowledgeable enough about FZ's music but is irritatingly repetitive and doesn't seem to quite know for whom he's writing. Clearly, any book about Frank is going to attract at least a few musicians as well as us regular folks, and in fact they might be well-served here because for almost every song or piece, regardless of style, the author delights in telling us exactly which exotic scale is being used, whether it be Lydian, Mixolydian, Dorian, Phrygian, and even one of which I'd never heard, Locrian. He also insists on listing every single time signature that a tune progresses through, though without mentioning in how long a period, so those of us who can't instantly work out a signature from listening to a piece won't know when a change occurs from one to the next anyway. Consider this entry from Echidna's Arf (Of You) from Roxy And Elsewhere: "Here you get a 4/4 melody played over 11/16 segments in a way that creates dramatic variations and conflicts. Zappa often did this in tracks such as King Kong, in which 3/8 melodies play out on 4/4 music and in Cruising For Burgers in which 6/8 plays out over 24/32. In this fast-paced instrumental, Frank mixes Lydian and major scales, including B minor and B Dorian while playing 3/4, 12/8, 4/4, 6/8, 2/3, 12/8, 3/2 and 2/2 at various times". I doubt whether he's faking this knowledge but does a standard audience for an On Track book really need to know this stuff for seemingly every track in the book? The whole book is like this to a greater or lesser degree, with much less detail being expressed about the sociological contexts in which Zappa wrote.Another thing he does repeatedly is call Frank's lyrics dirty, filthy and smutty and then ask himself out loud whether certain songs that contain them are sexist, concluding every time that it depends on the sensibilities of the person listening. This is not insightful writing. And for many albums he quotes Robert Christgau, the US music critic who, to paraphrase Frank, wouldn't know good music if it came up and bit him on the backside. He seems to sit on the fence about disagreeing with Christgau, but why quote the guy's tedious cloth-eared opinion in the first place, over and over again?I don't want to do the author down, as he's clearly done a lot of work, and I wouldn't say the book is a waste of time, as there is much info contained therein (though it shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as Charles Ulrich's The Big Note, just like Captain Beefheart doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Frank). However, there's no escaping the fact that it's an awkward and uncomfortable read sometimes.The writing isn't helped by the presentation. As in every On Track book that I've read so far, which is about 7 or 8, there are typos, bad grammar, bad spellings, inappropriate punctuation, and just bizarre print events on virtually every page. At one point, diatonic is spelled 'dianoetic'. How does this happen? Clearly, the publisher, Sonic Bond, doesn't feel as though investing in the services of a proofreader is worthwhile. If any of the Sonic Bond board are reading this, please let me know, as you definitely need an upgrade.

Not a greatly written book and hasn’t a great deal of new info. May be useful to a novice Zappa fan but not as interesting or extensive as The Big Note which is far more comprehensive.

So so