The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life is a double-disc live album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in 1991. The album was one of four that were recorded during the 1988 world tour; the other three were Broadway the Hard Way (released in 1988), Make a Jazz Noise Here (released in 1991), and Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show (posthumously released in 2021).
Each of the first three accounts of the 1988 tour has a different emphasis: Broadway the Hard Way mainly consists of new compositions; Make a Jazz Noise Here is a sampler of classic Zappa tunes, most of them instrumental; and The Best Band... devotes itself to cover songs. Some of these are unlikely, such as "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, while many are from Zappa's extensive back catalogue. His mid-1970s output is emphasized in the selection, but there is also some material from the Mothers of Invention's late 1960s recordings and one song ("Lonesome Cowboy Burt") from 200 Motels. It was re-issued in 1995 and 2012 along with his entire catalogue.
The album is also notable for its extended section of potshots against American Pentecostal televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who had then just confessed to transgressions with a prostitute on live television; the speech was later dubbed his "I have sinned" speech. "Lonesome Cowboy Burt", "More Trouble Every Day" and "Penguin in Bondage" feature entirely rewritten lyrics to capitalize on and satirize the scandal.
Cover artwork
The original album simply featured a photograph of Frank Zappa and his band against a black background with blue lettering, but upon discovering that the photograph had been used without the permission of the photographer, Bruce Malone, Zappa simply continued issuing the cover with the photograph replaced with an empty black space.
When the album was released in Japan by MSI (Music Scene International) in 1992, it featured artwork created by long-time Zappa artist Cal Schenkel. The Japanese kanji at the top of the sign on this version do not together form any meaningful sentence to a speaker of Japanese, but can be read with the on readings of fu-ran-ku-za-pa, an approximation of Frank Zappa in Japanese sounds.
Schenkel used characters from his artwork on the cover of Zappa's 1972 release The Grand Wazoo, such as Stu (AKA Uncle Meat) and a man playing a Mystery Horn. In addition, there is a red sofa, that while not an exact duplicate, is reminiscent of the red sofa from his art on Zappa's 1975 One Size Fits All. Schenkel's artwork was re-used when the album was remastered and reissued worldwide in 1995 by Rykodisc. In 2012, when the album was reissued for a second time, the cover was reverted to the version featuring a blank space in place of the photograph.
Track listing
The European re-releases of this album omit "Bolero" due to an objection from the rights-holders of the piece.
Personnel Musicians Frank Zappa – lead guitar, computer-synth, vocal Ike Willis – rhythm guitar, synth, vocal Mike Keneally – rhythm guitar, synth, vocal Bobby Martin – keyboards, vocal Ed Mann – vibes, marimba, electronic percussion Walt Fowler – trumpet, flugel horn, synth Bruce Fowler – trombone Paul Carman – alto sax, soprano sax, baritone sax Albert Wing – tenor saxophone Kurt McGettrick – baritone sax, bass sax, contrabass clarinet Scott Thunes – electric bass, Mini-moog Chad Wackerman – drums, electronic percussion
Production Frank Zappa – production, arranging, compilation, editing Bob Stone – engineering
References
External links Release details