What's the oddest thing in your music collection?

"the sounds of mental illness

Ladies and gentlemen, We have a winner!!!

If I wanted to hear the sounds of mental illness I’d turn on MSNBC. :-)

In my collection I have some old National Lampoon albums, like "Radio Dinner" and "Lemmings".  Also, I have some Firesign Theatre albums, "Waiting For the Electrician",  "Don't Crush That Dwarf", etc.

Frank Zappa YELLOW SHARK LIVE CONCERT RECORDED IN EUROPE

For most of his life Frank Zappa wanted to be a "serious" "classical" composer. Not only is his rock and fusion music often infused with influences of Varese and Webern but he wrote contemporary classical music throughout. The problem is he could never find anybody he felt was willing to put in the time or effort to play it the way he heard it in his head. Boulez was enough of a believer to conduct some of Zappa's music but Zappa believed even he didn't rehearse the pieces enough for the orchestra to get all of the rhythms right.

Then came The Yellow Shark Project initiated by the Ensemble Modern. They took a year to learn all of the intricacies of the music, not just getting all of the rhythms right, but the feel and emotion as well. Although critically ill, Zappa was able to attend the opening, conducting a few pieces, and hear his music the way he "envisioned" it. He also got to hear the thunderous applause and read the often-times conservative critics' rave reviews. It took him a life time, but he was finally considered a serious contemporary composer by the music establishment.

Oddest thing . . . Hmmm, I would have to say that "An Evening With Wild Man Fischer" produced by Frank Zappa has to be up there in the running!

Hot Rod Charlie Ryan is a fun record. If I'm allowed to, I'll put it on dropbox for anyone who wants it. Joe

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