(Simmons/Sanctuary, June 8, 2004)
Gene Simmons--bass
& lead vocals
Dweezil Zappa--lead guitar,
vocals
FZ--guitar & voice
Gail Zappa--vocals
Moon Zappa--vocals
Ahmet Zappa--vocals
Subject: ZFT Licenses Unreleased Zappa Music Under Extraordinary Teamwork
(UPI) Gail Zappa, widow of the musical iconoclast Frank Zappa, has announced the launch of Extraordinary Teamwork, a limited concern that allows music producers and artists to license unreleased music by Frank Zappa.
"Those interested may license and incorporate the music into their own work, as long as Frank gets co-writing credit for the song or composition. There are other stipulations as well in the licensing agreement .... These renewable licenses get Zappa music to the public who may not have otherwise heard his music," informs Gail Zappa.
"The first licensee in Gene Simmons [of KISS] who is using sections of a live performance - including Frank's vocals - into a work Gene is calling "Black Tongue". Other licensees at this time are George Clinton [of Parliament/Funkadelic], Steve Albini [producer for Nirvana and the Pixies], Brian Eno [ producer for U2 and the Talking Heads], David Foster [producer for Whitney Houston and Celine Dion], and we are in negotiations with several others whom I am cannot discuss at this time."
Frank Zappa and GENE share co-writing credit on "Black Tongue" and the Zappa Family, Dweezil, Ahmet, Moon, Gail and Frank Zappa himself sing and play guitar on the song . (...) One of the album's most memorable tracks, "Black Tongue" deftly reconfigures a previously unreleased Frank Zappa guitar riff and transforms it into a gargantuan aural beast. It's a trippy psychedelic freakout that would make the late rock icon proud. SIMMONS explained, "I've always admired Frank Zappa. He invited me over to his house right before he unfortunately passed away. We had a real heart to heart. He said some very kind things to me and showed me his library of tapes, things that had never been released. After his death it struck me that a lot of material wasn't going to see the light of day. So I called up his wife, Gayle Zappa. I told her about my album and said, "Are there any bits of songs that Frank never finished. I would be honored to write a brand new song around a theme of some kind. His son, Dweezil, got involved early on and he played me about ten different pieces. I was immediately struck by this piece, it's a sample of Frank talking ("Alright kids, here's a real rock and roll song") and then the descending riff is the basis of the song, which was ironically called 'Black Tongue.' Almost the entire Zappa family, Gayle, Dweezil, Ahmet and Moon and I sang the background vocals on the chorus. Dweezil found some guitar solo bits that his father had done and was able to extract that. So the song actually has some lead guitar playing by Frank as well as talking in the song." (...)
"I played bass, and sang lead, Dweezil Zappa played lead guitar. The Zappa family sang the choruses with me and Frank Zappa spoke and played some lead guitar licks on the original piece of music. Dweezil included the guitar bits into the song. I wrote the lyric in the studio."
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