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Saturday, April 11, 2009

I said to say this but not to say that he said it

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Gail Zappa, widow of Frank, appears to be going a little crazy with a flurry of cease-and-desist orders to any cover band that dares to play a Frank Z tune without sending Gail Z a royalty check. This, from NPR:

"Many fans point to a message that was left on the hot line for Zappa's record label shortly after he died of prostate cancer in 1993. The message says, in part, 'Just play his music if you're a musician. And otherwise, play his music anyway. That will be enough for him.'

"The message was read by Zappa's daughter, Moon Unit. Gail Zappa insists that it's not what some fans and musicians have made it out to be. 'We wrote something for Moon to say on the hot line,' she says. 'But it was not a statement made by Frank. He never said that. He never told anyone that.'"

True — he never said that; his family said that. The family that is now matriarched by Gail Zappa. So, um, WTF?

Let the cover bands cover, Mrs. Z; who knows, some currently nameless guitar player in one of them might turn out to be the musical genius who can truly fill Frank's huge footsteps.

1 comment:

Some Guy said...

Music wants to be free. Or is that information that wants to be free? I am so confused. Sincerely, Studebaker Hawk.