Ahmet Zappa Talks Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe (‘) In New Video
Zappa’s Vaultmeister Joe Travers conducts the interview for the latest in a series about the album’s new reissue.
The second installment in the video series celebrating the super-deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of Frank Zappa’s 1974 album Apostrophe (‘) has gone live on Zappa’s YouTube channel. The eight-minute clip features the legendary iconoclast’s son Ahmet discussing the album with Joe Travers, the Vaultmeister presiding over Zappa’s archives.
While acknowledging that he has a special relationship with the album because the face on the cover is the same one that stared back at him as a kid, Ahmet starts with a bold proclamation: “You can pick a bunch of stuff made in the ‘70s that will rock you hard, but I think Apostrophe (‘) might be the tippity, tippity top of rockage.” Later, he adds, “When you look back at how people were recording records back then, this is a pioneering record in terms of sound and production.”
At one point, Travers shares his own experience buying Apostrophe (‘) as his first Frank Zappa album at age 12. When asked why new Zappa listeners seem to gravitate toward that album in particular, Ahmet replies, “The catalog is so vast and dense and there’s so much different kind of music that you can enjoy, but I always recommend Apostrophe (‘) as the starting point.” He cites “the storytelling, the comedy, the groove, just the way the record sounds—especially this edition sounds incredible,” as well as the wealth of bonus material included with this reissue.
That material includes 75 tracks across six discs. There are recordings from concerts in Colorado and Ohio, dozens of fresh mixes, and extensive information about the album’s recording. The super deluxe edition of Apostrophe (‘) is packaged with a 52-page booklet featuring unseen archival stills of album cover photographer Sam Emerson as well as liner notes and essays contributed by Travers and veteran British music journalist Simon Prentis.
