Wow, somehow I ended up buying a copy of An Evening With Wild Man Fischer at a local store over the weekend. They were like "we got this weird rare album produced by Frank Zappa" and I couldn't believe it! It's not in great condition but I didn't have to pay any hard cash since I had a ton of store credit.
My opinion of the album has changed a bit after giving it a bit of a relisten. Zappa's production gives the album a very interesting documentary structure...almost exactly like Trout Mask Replica does for Captain Beefheart. Of course, Beefheart and his band more than support themselves musically while Fischer doesn't as much on his album. It's his stories and personality that drive it (for me, it's almost worth the price of admission just so I can compare and contrast it with Trout Mask Replica, which is my favorite album). Hearing Fischer on the streets interacting with people is fascinating as well, great stuff there. Urban field recordings! And hearing Zappa and the Mothers backing up Fischer on those couple of tracks is pretty awesome too.
Not an amazing album but it's unique and I think it has earned its place in my collection. Good to give a listen to every year or so. Definitely going to make an effort to check out his Rhino material...if I can find it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Screen13
The bad blood between Zappa and Fisher was very deep by the A Evening With... went nowhere. The saddest part of the story involved Fisher throwing a jar at Moon Unit (a child then), but there was also accusations that Zappa ripped him off thinking that the album sold a lot while the reality of the situation saw it sell very little - possibly as much as The GTO's album. Even an appearance on Laugh In could not generate interest. I have the DVD From Straight to Bizarre which told the story with a nice amount of detail along with other stories revolving around the Zappa-related labels.
|
I heard about Fischer doing something that endangered Zappas kid. So sad, no wonder that album has never been issued on CD by the Zappa estate. Not that it would sell much even if it was...maybe that's more of the reason! And that derailroaded documentary looks really interesting, as does From Straight to Bizarre...I will have to remember to check them out when I get the chance.
