Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Transcription: both versions of Flower Punk

I can't believe I never posted this. Back in 2017 I transcribed both versions of Frank Zappa's Flower Punk— the original, played by Jimmy Carl Black, on the Mothers of Invention album We're Only In It For The Money, and the version where Zappa had Chad Wackerman re-record the drums, released on The Lumpy Money Project/Object. I was going to do an e-book of Zappa drum transcriptions, but Zappa Corp has such an active legal department, I figured I'd probably get a cease and desist letter, and be forced to take it down. 

I like both versions. The Jimmy Carl Black version is kind of raggedy, but I like the energy with the broken up bass drum. Here are the first two (of four) pages of the transcription:






The Wackerman version is more solid, with some nice tom fills. His drum sound with Zappa is always kind of interesting. I can't recall hearing a sound like that anywhere else. The toms are somewhat reminiscent of Billy Cobham's sound— sort of an 80s version of that sound.






After 10 years I'm starting to feel kind of silly posting so much stuff absolutely free, so let's try something new: if you'd like to get these complete transcriptions, send $3.00 for both to: 

Venmo: @todd-bishop-16
PayPal: toddbishop@[cruiseshipdrummer dot com]  

Include your email, and the thing you want— Flower Punk transcriptions. 

In fact, if you'd like any of my e-books (see the sidebar), and don't feel like going through Amazon, send $5.00 via the above means. Print books you still have to order through Lulu, although I may start carrying them and shipping them myself soon.

1 comment:

bananajou said...

Hey Todd, it's great that you started charging for your work. It was about time!

I just sent you an email, let me know what you think.