The Old Folks At Home

Don't you wish there was a Frank Zappa record you could play at any time, from your son's B'rit Milah [Britney/Miley pop duet album - Ed.] to your own funeral? Something nice n' easy, like Sunday morning? Something that wouldn't bring a blush to the cheeks of the gurl next door? Well, this ain't it, but it's close. No lyrics, so nothing sweat-inducing here. No actual rawk music, nothing atonal or challenging. Almost.

This is a single-track compilation/mix/edit of Frank's chamber music pieces, the sweet little melodic moments he'd throw into the mix just to show he could do this stuff standing on his head. You try standing on your own head sometime, and you'll get a glimpse of his genius. Being Frank, of course, there's still beaucoup of weird-ass chord changes, time signatures more complex than algorithms, and tunes that sound as if they're being played sideways by tin toys.

The cover - one of my very favorite images of Frank - was taken as part of a Life magazine photo-feature about rock stars and their parents. There was a swell shot of Grace Slick with her mom in their palatial home, too. I could be wrong about all this.

Anyway, here's thirty minutes - Verve album length - of Frank's cocktail audio. A little nostalgia for the old folks.