Post by Tin on Aug 20, 2010 14:57:03 GMT -5
Warren Cuccurullo played with Frank beginning in 1978, even though the two had known each other for several years. Cuccurullo and several other Zappa alumni went on to form the widely-acclaimed cult band, Missing Persons. From there, Warren took over guitar duties with the former Duran Duran, who are enjoying a new stage of their career with Cuccurullo contributing his Zappa-inspired songwriting to the former pop idols. Cuccurullo can be heard on Joe’s Garage (I, II, III), Tinsel Town Rebellion, and Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar.
“I was first exposed to Frank Zappa with the Hot Rats album. I liked his style of playing, the way he would go from blues type stuff to very complex fusion-like pieces. When I heard Overnite Sensation I decided I had to see this guy live. I finally saw him at Brooklyn College in 1975, and I couldn’t believe that anyone playing guitar in an ensemble could sound like that. It was phenomenal.
“For about two years I was going to his shows, and at one of them I met his sound guy. I would hang around talking to the sound guy after the shows. One night we were talking and he was saying stuff like, “You know how Frank is.” And I said, “No, I don’t. I’ve never met him.” He was really shocked – I’d been hanging around enough that the sound guy naturally assumed I knew Frank. So he introduced me to him at Frank’s next New York City show. We talked for a while and Frank told me to stop by at some of his other New York Stage gigs. So over the next year I kind of followed him around, taping shows so that I would hear stuff that he hadn’t released yet.
“In the meantime, I was trying to learn his stuff on the guitar. I never even thought of playing in his band though, because a lot of his guitarists were singers and I didn’t sing. One day, Frank approached me about working for him – as a radio promotions guy. He knew how enthusiastic I was about his music, and he thought I’d do a good job of talking him up to New York radio people. The turning point for me as a guitar player was when I was out to dinner one night with Frank in New York. We were sitting in this little place and William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg were at the next table, and Frank starts making introductions. He introduced my friend as “This is Malcom, he’s a taxi driver,” and then he said, “This is Warren, he’s a guitar player.” I just went, “Wow.” I mean, I was a truck driver, and Frank was introducing me as a guitar player. After that I spent a lot of time just practicing in my basement. Frank had moved back to California and one night in 1978 I get a call from him saying that he was going to do a European tour, and would I like to try out for it. I left California the next day, and then the next thing I knew I was playing the Hammersmith Odeon – plucked right from the basement to the big stage. Frank was really a motivating force in my playing, especially because I wanted to better myself as a musician when I was playing with him. He exposed me to composers like Edgar Varese and Stravinsky. I mean, where else are you going to hear those guys? I didn’t know a fraction of what I know now before playing music with Frank. And with Frank, it’s all about music. If you were conscious, had a talent that he could exploit, didn’t come in stoned or drunk – which he wouldn’t tolerate – and he had enough of a personality that you could provide him with episodes and anecdotes he could use in a song or in his writings, then you could learn a f___ of a lot from him. Like, I had written some stuff on my own that I showed to Frank and we ended up using pieces of them in Joes’ Garage. He was just amazing when it came to splicing stuff together. There’d be a bunch of different guitar parts that didn’t seem to have anything to do with each other conceptually, and Frank would just make them fit together.
“But, Frank’s bands have a way of changing personnel a lot, and it got so that I wanted a more permanent band situation, as well as one where we would play to a wider audience. That’s when Terry Bozzio and his wife (Dale) and I decided to form Missing Persons. We wanted to do something cutting edge, like Blondie, the Motels, or the Cards, but with more of the kind of musical twists that Frank had taught us. Frank was behind us 100 percent. He even let us use his studio which had just been completed. We were the first band to ever record in the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen. That’s where we did Spring Session M.”
guitarinternational.com/wpmu/2010/08/20/frank-zappa-franks-garage-close-encounters-with-five-guitarists-of-the-zappa-kind/
“I was first exposed to Frank Zappa with the Hot Rats album. I liked his style of playing, the way he would go from blues type stuff to very complex fusion-like pieces. When I heard Overnite Sensation I decided I had to see this guy live. I finally saw him at Brooklyn College in 1975, and I couldn’t believe that anyone playing guitar in an ensemble could sound like that. It was phenomenal.
“For about two years I was going to his shows, and at one of them I met his sound guy. I would hang around talking to the sound guy after the shows. One night we were talking and he was saying stuff like, “You know how Frank is.” And I said, “No, I don’t. I’ve never met him.” He was really shocked – I’d been hanging around enough that the sound guy naturally assumed I knew Frank. So he introduced me to him at Frank’s next New York City show. We talked for a while and Frank told me to stop by at some of his other New York Stage gigs. So over the next year I kind of followed him around, taping shows so that I would hear stuff that he hadn’t released yet.
“In the meantime, I was trying to learn his stuff on the guitar. I never even thought of playing in his band though, because a lot of his guitarists were singers and I didn’t sing. One day, Frank approached me about working for him – as a radio promotions guy. He knew how enthusiastic I was about his music, and he thought I’d do a good job of talking him up to New York radio people. The turning point for me as a guitar player was when I was out to dinner one night with Frank in New York. We were sitting in this little place and William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg were at the next table, and Frank starts making introductions. He introduced my friend as “This is Malcom, he’s a taxi driver,” and then he said, “This is Warren, he’s a guitar player.” I just went, “Wow.” I mean, I was a truck driver, and Frank was introducing me as a guitar player. After that I spent a lot of time just practicing in my basement. Frank had moved back to California and one night in 1978 I get a call from him saying that he was going to do a European tour, and would I like to try out for it. I left California the next day, and then the next thing I knew I was playing the Hammersmith Odeon – plucked right from the basement to the big stage. Frank was really a motivating force in my playing, especially because I wanted to better myself as a musician when I was playing with him. He exposed me to composers like Edgar Varese and Stravinsky. I mean, where else are you going to hear those guys? I didn’t know a fraction of what I know now before playing music with Frank. And with Frank, it’s all about music. If you were conscious, had a talent that he could exploit, didn’t come in stoned or drunk – which he wouldn’t tolerate – and he had enough of a personality that you could provide him with episodes and anecdotes he could use in a song or in his writings, then you could learn a f___ of a lot from him. Like, I had written some stuff on my own that I showed to Frank and we ended up using pieces of them in Joes’ Garage. He was just amazing when it came to splicing stuff together. There’d be a bunch of different guitar parts that didn’t seem to have anything to do with each other conceptually, and Frank would just make them fit together.
“But, Frank’s bands have a way of changing personnel a lot, and it got so that I wanted a more permanent band situation, as well as one where we would play to a wider audience. That’s when Terry Bozzio and his wife (Dale) and I decided to form Missing Persons. We wanted to do something cutting edge, like Blondie, the Motels, or the Cards, but with more of the kind of musical twists that Frank had taught us. Frank was behind us 100 percent. He even let us use his studio which had just been completed. We were the first band to ever record in the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen. That’s where we did Spring Session M.”
guitarinternational.com/wpmu/2010/08/20/frank-zappa-franks-garage-close-encounters-with-five-guitarists-of-the-zappa-kind/