The Big Note: A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa

by Charles Ulrich

Music. THE BIG NOTE is the complete guide to the music of Frank Zappa--100 albums recorded over 35 years, the 80+ players on them, each one of 1,772 tracks described in detail, backed up by 1,424 citations. Based on hundreds of interviews, letters, and e-mail correspondences with scores of musicians, singers, engineers, artists, copyists, and others who worked with Zappa, THE BIG NOTE provides the liner notes that every album in the protean and prolific composer's oeuvre cries out for. It is the indispensible resource for any Zappa fan or scholar.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Reference

754 pages, Paperback

Published May 13, 2018

About the author

Charles Ulrich was born in Palo Alto, California, in 1957. He attended Pomona College, where—like Frank Zappa—he was a disc jockey on KSPC-FM. He earned a PhD in linguistics from UCLA and taught at ten universities in the United States and Canada. He published the Frostbite Falls Far-Flung Flier, a zine devoted to Jay Ward cartoons. Since 1994 he has been active in the on-line Zappa fan community—on alt.fan.frank-zappa, zappateers.com, and his own website, The Planet Of My Dreams. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Reviews

[Corey Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a book on Zappa that focuses on what the man was really all about - MUSIC - rather than apocryphal tales of public coprophagy and assumptive guesses as to what he “really meant.” Highly recommended for any and all Zappa geeks.
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the book’s chapters along with the Zappa album they relate to and foresee myself continuing the habit for years to come. I only hope the author continues to update the manuscript as more material is released from the vault. Arf. What a pumpkin.

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensable resource for the Frappa lover in your life (which is probably you).

[Paul Dembina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely one for Zappa completeists. It sent me off to fill some gaps in my Zappa collection (the Joe's Corsaga set, some Vaulternative concert sets and Road Tapes). It's very anal regarding edits made to performances but at least gave, in parts, some interesting background info. Either on the circumstances of the recording or significance of lyrics.
I missed the absence of any sort of critical consideration of the merits (or otherwise) of albums in the vast discography.

[Walter Otto · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Must have" is frequently a cliché, but it is apt in this case if you're a Zappa fan. A veritable goldmine of information, encyclopedic in its scope this is a reference book which is indispensable for knowing more about Zappa's music; how it was composed, recorded, performed and in the case of songs that ended up on on multiple records how it evolved. Plus there is plenty of trivia, and best of all "Sidebars", i.e. short biographies of musicians who played on the albums and some key subjects. The user of this reference book is well advised to read the long introduction first because it explains how the book was written and how to use it, as well as sections on Zappa as a composer, band leader, arranger, lyricist and editor. It also explains how the book is organized, namely alphabetical by album, and then within each album section the tracks in order. Each album section is followed by a list of footnotes, the vast majority of which reference interviews, not other books on Zappa. This is one aspect of the book I really like. You are reading Zappa's and the other musicians words, not some rock journalist. Emphasis in this book is on the music, not the lyrics. The book seems to be well bound, which it needs to be, as most buyers will likely use it a lot. I have paged in it for hours already and only received the book yesterday.
I applaud Charles Ulrich for his herculean task in compiling this reference book. Not only will it expand knowledge and interest in the music, but it will undoubtedly also make fans listen more to the music they are familiar with, and also listen to music they may have glassed over or have not heard yet.

[George Kanakaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Congratulations Mr. Ulrich , what a task this must have been.(The rumour is , it took 15 years).This is not a book to read from page1 to 754.It is more like a encyclopedia where you can find all kinds of details on ALL released tracks from Uncle Frank up to 2018.Who's playing what on each track? When was this recorded? How did FZ put this together? What the heck are we listening to, anyway, and why does it sound so familiar? The biographies added are also very nice to read.To all FZ fans , don't hesitate.

[Per-Olof · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has everything that you might want to know about Zappas officially released recordings (and then some). Apparently it took Charles Ulrich 15 years to write this book but when you have read it you wonder how he could he could have done it in such a short time. An absolutely amazing book!

[Jerry James · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re not a fan, this is tedious beyond tedious, but if you ARE a fan this is absolutely fascinating and one of the funnest things I’ve devoured in a long time. I just lived in this doorstop of a tome for weeks and downloaded music I didn’t have. A blast!

[Chris Bieze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the best Zappa book, with the stories of all his music.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

As scholarly a work as I have read by a single author, in any field.

[Luis Del Aguila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiene la informacion técnica de todos los albums de Zappa, ademas de eso tiene auntes y notas sobre datos biograficos de las personas involucradas en las grabaciones, fechas de acontecimientos importantes y detalles sobre cada una de las canciones. Es un libro escencial en la biblioteca de cualquier fanatico de Zappa.

[Egghead · Rating 5 out of 5]

intensely thorough
now know guitar solo count
each zappa album