[2011-12-21] Frank Zappa "Zappa The Hard Way" paperback by Andrew Greenaway

Linda · 13 Jan 1966

Product Description
'Zappa The Hard Way' is the story of Frank Zappa's last ever world tour that ended in mutiny. In 1988 Frank Zappa toured with a twelve-piece band that had rehearsed for months, learned a repertoire of over 100 songs and played an entirely different set each night. It is why, in Zappa's own words, it was "the best band you never heard in your life" - a reference to East Coast American audiences who never got the chance to see this particular touring ensemble. Zappa appointed bass player Scott Thunes to rehearse the group in his absence. In carrying out this role, Thunes was apparently abrasive, blunt and rude to the other members and two factions quickly developed: Thunes and stunt guitarist Mike Keneally on the one side; the remaining nine band members on the other. The atmosphere deteriorated as the tour progressed through America and on to Europe. Before leaving Europe, Zappa told the band that there were ten more weeks of concerts booked in the USA and asked them: "If Scott's in the band, will you do the tour?" With the exception of Keneally, they all said "no". Rather than replace Thunes, Zappa cancelled almost three months of concerts and never toured again - claiming to have lost $400,000 in the process. 'Zappa The Hard Way' documents that tour. If you think touring can be fun, think again! Yes there were groupies and the usual paraphernalia associated with rock 'n' roll, but there was also bitterness and skulduggery on a scale that no one could imagine. Author Andrew Greenaway has interviewed the surviving band members and others associated with the tour to unravel the goings on behind the scenes that drove Zappa to call a halt to proceedings, despite the huge personal financial losses. This paperback edition includes a foreword by Zappa's sister Candy, and an afterword by Pauline Butcher, Zappa's former secretary and author of 'Freak Out! My Life With Frank Zappa', 'Zappa The Hard Way' might just be the best book you've never read in your life!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1908724005/?tag=imwan-20

Robert Meagher · 30 Sep 2006

A great read -

Best Band You never heard in your life would refer to the west coast and the South East. First leg of tour played the Northeast going west to Chicago, Detroit and Muskegon. Only got as far south as Maryland, Washington DC and PA.

The band played over 80 different tunes and were constantly rehearsing and adding more along the way. Of the 90 some odd shows played - all but 2 (and one encore section) are recorded by someone and traded...so they are available to hear.

This might just have been FZ's best band ever - it had everything... always wonder what might have been.

Also all shows had an intermission - in retrospect FZ might have been having prostrate problems even then - couldn't go more than an hour...

alantig · **Joined:** 20 Sep 2006 **Posts:** 4811

Simply an awesome band - great horn section, outstanding vocalists. Mike Keneally was the new stunt guitarist on the tour, and he became the guy they went to when they wanted to revive a song from the catalog because he had such great recall of Zappa's material. Keneally's web site has his 1988 tour diary posted - very cool reading in there at http://www.keneally.com/1988/1988.html.

Too bad the band imploded on their hatred of bassist Scott Thunes. There was some amazing potential there.

I couldn't decide whether to spend the money on the hard cover version and quite frankly, it slipped my mind a lot. I have the paperback already ordered.

Alan

Dental Floss Tycoon · 16 Oct 2007

Saw this band three consecutive nights in Philly early in the tour. Fantastic shows, and different sets each night. And lots of hilarious shenanigans from the stage. Bought the hard cover edition early this year and have read it twice. Would like to see him write a book on the 1982 European tour, especially the Italian leg (my favorite of all Zappa tours - well that and the '73 OZ tour). Still would love to see a few complete '88 shows released since nearly all were recorded.

I think I posted this at some point in the past, but fits here; the following book contains extensive Thunes interviews on the '88 debacle:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0879109564/?tag=imwan-20

alantig · **Joined:** 20 Sep 2006 **Posts:** 4811

Yep - that's an excellent interview. The interviews with Gene Simmons and Jerry Casale are good, too, but the Thunes one is special.

Alan

[2011-12-21] Frank Zappa "Zappa The Hard Way" paperback by Andrew Greenaway

Who is WANline