(Untitled)

[derekfz]

On the third day of Zappadan, I listened to a 40-minute bootleg called Thing-Fish - The Real Tapes. It consists of tracks from an earlier, alternate version of the Thing-Fish album, including songs that were later cut from the album and alternate mixes. Though various configurations of this material has been in circulation for years, I've never

Comments

[obliterati]

I really appreciate this write-up, it is beyond excellent. I've never come across any alternate versions of Thing-Fish but now I know to keep an ear out.

[derekfz]

Thank you! I appreciate that you enjoyed it.

[peristaltor]

Zappa did that a lot. Have you heard Laether? When he tried to get out of his contract with Warner Bros, he gave them a contract-ending 8 sided album (four LPs). They didn't accept that and sued. Most of the material ended up on Sheik Yerbouti.

In fact, now that I think about it, most of Joe's Garage, YAWYI, Sheik Yerbouti and Laether come from this contractual obligation suit and counter-suit period. It's no wonder tracks got transplanted while the litigants battled.

If I weren't so disgusted with the Zappa Estate suing just about anybody downloading old stuff, I'd try to get that ThingFish stuff. Sounds cool. I mean, I have faves of my four recordings of "The Torture Never Stops," but I like most of them.

[derekfz]

You're right in the sense that FZ did seem to have a lot of early versions and rough drafts of projects in various stages of completion at any given time. On other points, it's a lot more likely that FZ crafted L(e)ather out of material from tapes he had already delivered to Warner Bros. (with some additions and subtractions) after they declined to release what he had given them. While Sheik Yerbouti was produced from live material (with studio overdubs and other such treatments) from the two tours in the midst of the Warner Bros. mess being in full swing, Joe's and YAWYI certainly came later and don't really contain any material produced during the L(e)ather-and-aftermath period. More to the earlier point, outside of about one minute's worth of common material, none of L(e)ather appeared on Sheik Yerbouti, and I could go on and also amend some of the previous but I'm already sounding reeeeeally nitpicky now ;cP

[peristaltor]

I'd like to hear the original L. I suspect some of the reworked tracks that appeared on SY were supposed to be on it. The "re-"release of L instead used different versions of the same songs, like "The Illinois Enema Bandit."

Where'd ya get that ThingFish stuff?

[derekfz]

There isn't any difference between the three-CD L(e)ather and the four-LP set that FZ assembled and played on the radio after he was unable to have it released legally thru Mercury/Phonogram. But there are differences between the way much of the material appears on L(e)ather versus how it appears on Zappa in New York, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites (though the differences are really minor in some cases.)

Sheik and L(e)ather have two tracks in common in "Tryin' to Grow A Chin" and "Broken Hearts Are For Assholes", but they're certainly different recordings from different tours.

I dug up three DVDs that someone gave me a couple years ago full of live shows and other stuff, most of it in FLAC format, which included the Thing-Fish bootleg. There are multiple outlets thru which to get one's hands on such material, but I don't mean to sound condescending by writing that sentence as if I assume that you don't already know that. :) (Some people don't, I mean, I never knew Zappa bootlegs, etc existed until I was in my teens