BOOK ON ZAPPA BY PAULINE BUTCHER

This new book on Zappa, was written by Pauline Butcher who was FZ's secretary from 1968 until 1972.

Pauline Butcher says:
"The book, Freak Out: My Life with Frank Zappa, tells my story when I worked for Frank from 1968 to 1972. I lived at the log cabin for four months with his wife, Gail, Moon, and the entourage that Frank gathered around him. After that, I moved along Woodrow Wilson Drive, half a mile from Frank and Gail, and worked nocturnally in line with Frank's hours. Although it was forty years ago, I not only kept a diary but wrote frequent 20-page typed letters to my mother. These are the basis from which I've woven the chapters. I could not have done it without them. Some people may not agree with my view of Frank, but I hope I have been fair and balanced."

Here's a nice interview with Pauline:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2005/03/28/me_and_frank_feature.shtml

and here's more data, from Avo's wonderful site:
http://www.afka.net/Books/Freak_Out.htm

BOBBI HUMPHREY

If you want to check out Bobbi Humphrey (Don Preston contributed to the fine "Satin Doll" album), go to
http://muzikholic.blogspot.com/2011/07/bobbi-humphrey.html

-- info: Jan van Kemenade

SHEIK YERBOUTI UPDATE

German band Sheik Yerbouti will be performing the music of Frank Zappa in (open air) concert in Osterspai, Germany, on the 2nd of September !!

2011/09/02 concert 'Burggarten', Osterspai, Germany

HANS ANNELLSSON AT SOUNDCLOUD

Both Soundcloud and MySpace serve as a platform for musicians to share music. Here's the link to Hans Annéllsson's Soundcloud page. It includes the soulful 'Your Tongue', the flash-back in time 'C Anna Brown', and the beautiful 'Letter To Frank', dedicated to FZ.

http://soundcloud.com/annellsson/your-tongue

Check it out!
& if you want more, it's all available from CdBaby, iTunes, Amazon & Spotify.

CABALLERO REYNALDO HAS A NEW ALBUM OUT

• caballero reynaldo y el visionario de lupo: nuevos romances antiguos
  (2011, cd, spain, hall of fame records)

Manoel Macìa and Luis Gonzales have teamed up to produce a new album.
Info & more:
http://www.halloffame.es/en/caballero-reynaldo-y-el-visionario-de-lupa/
(the page is available in english as well)

ROBBY KRIEGER

Don Preston and Arthur Barrow recorded with Robby Krieger in the eary eighties. The results can be heard on "Versions", from 1982, and on "Robby Krieger", from 1985.
Both albums were combined on one CD in 1996, and released by One Way Records. The copy that I have, however, doesn't really have a label, and reads RKRCD-030302/130 on the spine...

Anyway, a picture of the album cover has been added to the United Mutations Archives.

CHICANERY

I finally uploaded the picture of the "Chicanery" album that Neil Carlill / Warren Cuccurullo released last year. To my knowledge, "Chicanery" is / was only available as a download, or as a cdr-on-demand release.
The download had another cover (do downloads have album covers?). The above pic is the cdr-on-demand one.

As for the music, you get another fascinating side of Warren Cuccurullo.
Read Andrew's review over here:
http://www.idiotbastard.com/reviews.htm

A SHORT CHAT WITH HANS ANNELLSSON

In a couple of weeks, The Vegetarians will be performing at Zappanale. The Vegetarians feature Hans Annéllsson on guitar and vocals, so I just had to ask him some questions.

UniMuta : Hello Hans. Zappanale is only about three weeks away. Are you familiar with the festival?

Hans Annéllsson : Yes. I've never been there but I know musicians that have performed there, such as Mats & Morgan Band and Zapway.

UniMuta : You've recorded a number of solo albums, and more recently you've founded The Vegetarians. Can you tell us a bit about how this happened? And is there a big difference between recording under your own name and recording as a band?

Hans Annéllsson : On some of my solo albums I've been doing a lot of covers, mostly sung by John Marshall Gibbs. When we decided to do original material we needed a name and The Vegetarians was born. The Vegetarians is not really a band, it's more of a moniker for my songs in English. Recently I've also collaborated with another American singer, Marc Mollan, and he will be the lead singer at the Zappanale gig.

UniMuta : Everybody knows (or should know) that you have recorded quite a number of Zappa compositions on your albums. Both solo and with The Vegetarians. How did you pick the tunes?

Hans Annéllsson : As with all of my cover songs they're songs I really like and when I get an idea for a different arrangement I try to do a recording of the song.
I also find it quite inspiring to mess around with other peoples music every once in a while, it sort of puts my own composing in a new light.

UniMuta : German band "The Yellow Snow Crystals" will be performing Zappa in German. Is there a chance that we will get Zappa songs with Swedish lyrics? What can we expect from the concert?

Hans Annéllsson : First, I hope they've got the necessary permission to perform the songs. The only song that I've received permission to perform (on record or public) is 'Penis Dimension', 'Penisens Storlek' in Swedish.
We won't perform any FZ songs in Swedish. Our setlist will be a mixture of FZ songs (focusing on some not so often performed), some prog covers (Crimson, Genesis etc.) and original material.

UniMuta : You'll be playing on Saturday at the festival. Do you plan to stay for the entire festival? Do you know any of the other bands that will be playing at the festival? Do you want to see any of them?

Hans Annéllsson : We will arrive late Friday evening and stay until Sunday afternoon. I've heard Project/Object (at BB Kings in NY), I know Colosseum and some of the other bands/performers. I would love to hear the Eddie Jobson Band, but we have to get back to Sweden Sunday evening.

UniMuta : I've been enjoying your records and your contributions to Andrew Greenaway's "20 Extraordinary Renditions" and "21 Burnt Weeny Sandwiches" a lot. I'm really looking forward to catch you live at Zappanale.
Thank you for the interview & see you soon.

The Vegetarians will be playing at Zappanale on Saturday August 20, 2011.
They'll be the first band on Saturday, so make sure to be there on time!!

1966 ZAPPA INTERVIEW (AUDIO)

part 1 of 9

EUGENE CHADBOURNE UPDATE

The next monhts, Eugene Chadbourne will be doing concerts in Canada, the UK, France and Belgium.

He also has a couple of new releases on his Chadula label.

Check it all out at
http://www.eugenechadbourne.com