Zappa '88….

I was hearing recently about FZ's decision to cancel his last tour, and how Scott 'Thunes' (think thats the spelling) his bass player, was being hounded not only by another member of the band but as a result of a vendetta by that person, almost the rest of the band. Maybe Zappa is showing some fairness and actually quit a lot of moral back-bone as instead of firing the bass player, he shut down the band at, a professed cost of $400, 0000 USD.

So, does anyone know exactly what went on? Cause I don't:

 

I'm not sure of all of the ins and outs but I do know that, as talented as he was, Scott Thunes was/is a grade-A arsehole and pretty much pissed everyone off in that band, Frank included (by the end). He treated everyone else in the band as beneath him, musically at least, but his personality is also just abrasive...that's his nature. He treated the crew and stagehands like ****, too. A big chunk of blame has to go with Zappa, though, because when things came to a head and the rest of the band started crapping on Scott, Zappa took a vote and only he and Mike Kenneally wanted to continue on, while Ed Mann (I believe) led the opposing faction within the band. But if Frank wanted to continue on, as the boss and as the bankroller, he should have called their bluffs and replaced them. Weird situation all around.

It's a shame how that tour ended because not only was it Frank's last, but that was a damn good band and some of those shows (and the 3 live albums that came from the tour) were smoking!

 

Well that doesn't fit in with what Zappa says (the point of this post) that Ed Mann had in Franks words a 'Vendetta' against him. Saying 'It was 'not sufficient that he hated him, he turned everyone else against him' (para). So it doesn't sound like Zappa had a problem with him.

 

There's actually a great book on the '88 tour if you're interested called Zappa the Hard Way by Andrew Greenaway.

I got the impression that it was a number of factors. It seems Scott Thunes has a personality that rubbed a lot of the band the wrong way, and this was exacerbated when Frank put him in charge of rehearsals when he couldn't make it. A lot of the older members of the band (mostly the horn section) really resented being bossed around by some bratty young bass player. I always kind of felt bad about how Thunes was portrayed by the whole incident, but I don't know... he was on a recent episode of the Zappacast podcast, and even on that, he came off kind of smug and off-putting.

I also think a lot of the breakup had to do with the fact that Frank was away from the rest of the band so much doing interviews, handling business deals, etc. and wasn't in touch with the dynamics of his own band.

 

I didn't say Zappa had a vendetta against him, only that it seems that by the end he was exasperated by the Scott situation and pulled the plug. Everything else I said jibed with what you said regarding Mann

 

That book does a good job of laying out the story (which is along the lines of what people have been mentioning, but more complicated). Although it's a shame the tour ended, Thunes and most of the others have gotten past the incident and in fact Thunes and Mann are Facebook pals these days.

 

Right, but… so what you're saying is… he rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way. Doesnt seem much of a reason to break up a band, or indeed hate anyone. Are you saying that Ed Mann is such a bitter *ssh*le that he turned everyone against him and as a result Zappa broke up the band? Cause it sounds like he could have fired him, (Thunes) but didn't want to.

 

No you didn't read my post, not Zappa but Ed Mann had a vendetta. Watch the clip at the head of the post. Zappa talks about it.

 

..and lets face it, Zappa wouldn't have put just anyone in charge of rehearsal but he chose Thunes.

 

I believe Zappa's health was declining by then. This may have been a reason he didn't take a more constructive approach to dealing with the tour's problems.

Regarding Zappa's comment of losing $400,000, I was amused by Thunes's retort in an interview post Zappa's death that the lost money represented a tax writeoff.

 

I read an interview with one of the other band members on the internet recently. I'll look for it.

I was on a big Zappa kick last month (paused now and tbc later -- I stopped as I was getting into his 80s material - coincidence?), and was pleased with how much Zappa material I found out there in the Web.

I was at his last North America full band show. I was kinda young and wasn't very familiar with Zappa's repertoire at the time so I didn't quite get the magnitude of it (and of course it wasn't known at the time that this was to be his last tour and last N.A. show), but I definitely enjoyed it and had a grand time:

88/03/25 Uniondale NY US Nassau Coliseum
Setlist

• Intro
• Black Page
• Ain't Got No Heart
• Love of My Life
• Inca Roads
• Sharleena
• Who Needs the Peace Corps?
• Dicky's Such An *******
• when The Lie's So Big
• Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk
• Sofa #2
• -break-
• Chad's Birthday
• Packard Goose
• Royal March (Featuring the Long Island Ballet)
• Torture Never Stops
• Lonesome Cowboy Burt
• Torture continued
• City of Tiny Lights
• Pound For A Brown
• Brother A. West
• Texas Motel
• Louisiana Hooker with Herpes
• Texas Motel reprise
• Peaches En Regalia
• -encores-
• Stairway to Heaven
• I Am the Walrus
• Whipping Post
• -2nd encores-
• Bolero
• America the Beautiful

Errata
This was FZ's last regular band show in the US, ever. Held at Nassau Colliseum with the "Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life" it was a fantastic show. Can't believe that he came out for two encores, the first of which was all covers, and the second, and last, ends with America the Beautiful. The last song he ever played live in the US in front of a concert audience.

The show was originally billed to have a Jefferson Airplane reunion as the warm up, but only Jack and Jorma showed up. Jorma said to the audience as they began to play "What's wrong with this picture?" (referring to the absence of the rest of the Airplane band members).

 

First I'd ever heard of this. But found this interview. Apparently Scott is quite the prickly dude. http://www.cidanka.nl/keneally/stbp0397.htm

 

Interesting, hadn't read this before. They were touring with an acoustic Hot Tuna at this time and this is what the ticket stub mentions. http://www.tunabase.com/setlists/1988/19880325.html

 

Man, I would have killed to be at that show. I never got the opportunity to see Zappa. Jefferson Airplane was supposed to play in Hickory, as one of the band members married a local woman, but it too was cancelled. I believe that's when Grace took a pop shot at a deputy. That kind of derailed the reunion tour...

 

Here's the interview I was thinking of -- w/ guitarist Mike Keneally.

http://www.keneally.com/reallykeneally.html

 

Yeah, I don't remember it ever being supposed to be Airplane. In fact, I remember clearly expecting it to be Hot Tuna (and you're right it said Hot Tuna on the tix). It must have been changed several weeks before the show.. In fact Hot Tuna was what really swayed me to go to the show. My friend a few years ahead of me (a Zappa freak) had the extra ticket and I wasn't too familiar with Zappa at the time, but was a pretty big Hot Tuna fan so that was the clincher. It was great - we had middle -of-the floor seats (folding chairs on the floor). Perfect for the Hot Tuna set and great for the Zappa show..

 

Woah! How many people would have that kind of back-bone. Clearly thought that Thunes shouldn't be pushed out of the band and instead broke the band up. Incredible.

 

I know that's what I said, too...Mann did. All I said was that Zappa got fed up with the whole inter-band fighting by the end and called the vote. We agree

 

This I believe was the tour where Paul Kantner joined Hot Tuna (on the East Coast at least). And I believe Grace sat in for at least one show, maybe in SF. All of which started talk about the Airplane reunion which happened the following year...but not yet in '88.

 

Oh, thanks man.

 

The book, Zappa the Hard Way by Andrew Greenaway, is a great read. Short book. I read it in a day. Worth picking up if you really want to get in depth. I saw the 3 night stand in Washington DC. Incredible shows! I was fortunate enough to be able to see the band rehearsal and sound check before the 3rd nights performance. Wow! 10 minutes of just Frank working scales and getting warmed up on guitar after he released the band for meal break.

http://www.amazon.com/Zappa-Hard-Wa...1395248423&sr=1-1&keywords=zappa+the+hard+way

 

Great book.

 

I've only ever read the Real Frank Zappa Book (which is a ****in' riot!) so I'm always up for reading more about FZ...looks like I should check that one out, thanks!

 

Maybe Frank never really forgave Ed for "f***[ing] up the lick" in Dickie's Such An A-hole

 

I think I should check that one out too. You're not wrong about The Real FZ Book. Full of great stuff...

Funniest bit: "For the record, folks... the closest I ever came to eating s--t anywhere was at a Holiday Inn buffet in Fayetteville, North Carolina"
Most interesting bit: Frank inventing Napster (or at least a proposal for a remote telephony-based music content delivery system about ten years before MP3 sharing and selling became widespread)

...all brought to life by Frank's unique and liberal use of bold, italics, underline, CAPITALS and various other typographic enhancements and combinations thereof.