Uncle Meat (The Movie)

[rcarlberg]

Okay, so here's what I know. Please correct me, and add what you may know.

The movie was never officially "finished" so what was released on VHS in Spring of 1987 is more a "making of Uncle Meat" documentary than the actual movie -- but there is more than 100 minutes of material.

To date it has not been released on DVD. The videotapes have gotten rather scarce and expen$ive.

IMDB reviews are scathing:

Only for the true Zappa fanatic. I saw this three years ago, about two years into my newfound love for Zappa's music. To some extent, there is always some joy in seeing your heros on the screen- so I did not regret seeing it. But it's really bad. The movie was begun in the late sixties, and finished in the eighties. If I remember correctly , there are some musical performances which were alright. But there also were numerous lame sequences. A guy expresses his fantasy to be beaten by a toilet brush, somebody eats a cheeseburger while taking a shower, some woman repeatedly returns to the topic of a rubber chicken. Just lots of uninteresting would-be skits. Kind of like being stuck at some unknown relative's house watching home movies, but with even less narrative. Bad.

[Steve F.]

I saw it at least once and maybe I made myself watch it twice, but it’s quite awful.

Like the penalty tracks on the original Uncle Meat CD with penalty video.

And even the play, ‘Progress’, seems more man-spirited and crueler than just the audio alone made me think it was.

As a fan, I’m honestly sorry I saw it.

[profusion]

Never saw Uncle Meat, but can it possibly be more unwatchable than 200 Motels? Love Frank's music to death, but his film-making was dreadful.

[Steve F.]

It IS much less of an accomplishment than 200 Motels, which, for me, has some real brilliance (and some dross too).

[rcarlberg]

Do you recall any redeeming MOI concert footage?

[chalkpie]

Greatest movie ever. Makes Citizen Kane and 2001 seem like Police Academy 6.

[Mister Triscuits]

Do you recall any redeeming MOI concert footage?

The "Progress" suite Steve alludes to is the redeeming MOI concert footage, from the Royal Festival Hall show also documented on Ahead of Their Time. This is by far the highlight of a long and otherwise boring movie. I don't particularly share Steve's negative feelings about this performance, although Jimmy Carl Black comes off as a touch obnoxious. The real mean-spirited and repulsive part of the movie is when Zappa attempts to bully Phyllis Altenhaus into doing a nude scene. Phyllis stands her ground, though, and ends up appearing in the shower scenes fully clothed alongside a nude Don Preston.

[rcarlberg]

Oh, oh, oh. I didn't need to see that. Or even THINK about it. Ouch.

[Mister Triscuits]

Yeah, but if you do have a burning desire to see Don Preston's willy, this is the film for you.

[Baribrotzer]

From the way it sounds, this is yet another example of a well known truth: Great (and not-so-great) artists can also be enormous jerks.

The imagination, single-mindedness, and belief in their vision that give them the ability to conceive of works and see them through to completion can also make them fairly appalling human beings. Indeed, it's been said that artists aren't too far from sociopaths; the difference being that they're focused on painting, or music, or books, rather than on their own personal wealth, dominance, and power. And when it comes to FZ, that side of him seems to appear much more in his movies, where it often comes out full force. As opposed to his music, where it's usually limited to the occasional rude and juvenile lyric.

[Steve F.]

Mr Tris,

The whole trained vs untrained musicians (“The TALENTED members of the Mothers Of Invention”, “Ian! Please! Please let me join you”), came across to me as to what FZ really was thinking, even though the MOI didn’t know it yet....

But, yeah, “Progress” is the only redeeming part, and even so, it bummed me out and made me think that FZ never EVER thought much or had any real appreciation of his amazing band, even from the beginning, and like I said, I’m genuinely sorry I ever saw any of any of it.....

[Baribrotzer]

.....it bummed me out and made me think that FZ never EVER thought much or had any real appreciation of his amazing band.....

In Frank's defense, though, that would have been hard to appreciate. He was too close to the issue. Zappa was trying to realize the music he heard in his head, and may have only seen that Roy, Jimmy, Motorhead, etc. had severely limited chops, couldn't read or read very poorly, and could only play odd meters stiffly if at all. No matter that they played with a unique hard-won feel, a feel that better-trained players might not. And the way they forced him, as a matter of practicality, to simplify his fussier ideas - seeing that as a strength, as making his music more direct, as adding an imperfection that gave it a quality of its own, would again be hard to do. Especially for a guy as egotistical and as driven as FZ.

[Trane]

Never saw Uncle Meat, but can it possibly be more unwatchable than 200 Motels? Love Frank's music to death, but his film-making was dreadful.

my thoughts too.... but I'll take steve's word that UM is worse. Don't feel the need to verify

[pb2015]

FZ wrote in the Ahead Of Their Time liner notes that Roy's comments from Progress? about not being good enough to be in the band were things Roy had said to FZ multiple times earlier.

[flowerking]

Do you recall any redeeming MOI concert footage?

There's a european or british 1968 tv appearance that is decent to good. You are exactly right though on your original post, Uncle Meat was released on video consisting of the play and a bunch of extra stuff thrown in including a video of Mr Green Genes, filmed in what looks like the Garrick Theater maybe? Its a real shame that the rest of Ahead of Their Time wasn't filmed. The play has some decent music but the rest of that CD really cooks.

[Steve F.]

Its a real shame that the rest of Ahead of Their Time wasn't filmed. The play has some decent music but the rest of that CD really cooks.

Just because it wasn’t / hasn’t been released, doesn’t mean it wasn’t filmed!!

[Steve F.]

In Frank's defense, though, that would have been hard to appreciate. He was too close to the issue. Zappa was trying to realize the music he heard in his head, and may have only seen that Roy, Jimmy, Motorhead, etc. had severely limited chops, couldn't read or read very poorly, and could only play odd meters stiffly if at all. No matter that they played with a unique hard-won feel, a feel that better-trained players might not. And the way they forced him, as a matter of practicality, to simplify his fussier ideas - seeing that as a strength, as making his music more direct, as adding an imperfection that gave it a quality of its own, would again be hard to do. Especially for a guy as egotistical and as driven as FZ.

Everything you say is logical and probably true and it doesn’t change the fact that all these aspects I mention bummed me out.

[chalkpie]

There's a european or british 1968 tv appearance that is decent to good. You are exactly right though on your original post, Uncle Meat was released on video consisting of the play and a bunch of extra stuff thrown in including a video of Mr Green Genes, filmed in what looks like the Garrick Theater maybe? Its a real shame that the rest of Ahead of Their Time wasn't filmed. The play has some decent music but the rest of that CD really cooks.

When Sussman and I had the idea to play FZ/Mothers music in local bars in Long Island to a bunch of people that didn't know it or like it, this is the album that we learned most of that stuff from. I still love the "normal" part of that album - absolutely stellar recording.

[unclemeat]

Do you recall any redeeming MOI concert footage?

Paris (10' excerpt) and Bremen 1968 are available on DVD. Ed Seeman has released a DVD of his silent footage from the 1967 tour.

This has just surfaced :

[Steve F.]

This has just surfaced :

That was interesting! In his autobiography, JCB talks about being moved from the drums to play trumpet, but all the footage I’d seen before shows the double drumming of JCB and Art.

Thank you.

[Steve F.]

10 pm tonite!

In COLOR!

[rcarlberg]

This has just surfaced

Conceptual continuity with Steve Allen.

[arturs]

^^^ Watch the film clip... It is quite a find. The music alone can't capture the complete insanity going on. I have the Bremen DVD and that is great, but in terms of the stage show it is nothing compared to this. Can't even imagine what all those WOR viewers must have thought when they tuned in at 10 pm.

[unclemeat]

Newport 1969



Essen 1968



London 1968

[unclemeat]