Zappa's first score, 'Mice', was a solo for snare drum: 'Because I used to play snare drum in a school orchestra and we had a year-end competition where you go out and play your little solo.'
(quoted by John Colbert, 'Frank Zappa', Musicians Only, Jan. 28 1980, p. 15.)
Once upon a time when I did not automatically purchase any FZ not in my collection, I came across a massive boxed set which the folks at PDQ Records here in Tucson kept behind the counter. It had 10, maybe 12 LPs in it. I vaguely recall that they may have been colored discs.
My question:
I swear I remember seeing Mice (FZ's first composition for snare drum, I believe) listed, on the same disc which had other "early" efforts--I think the Mt. St. Mary's concert, or something. Damn, I just wasn't insane in those days, or I would have snatched it up--I think it was $200 (before bargaining)....
Anyone?
A) There are three "massive" bootleg LP boxes: History & Collected Improvisations... (10 LPs), 20 Years Of FZ & The MOI (12 LPs) and Mystery Box (10 LPs). None of these was on colored vinyl, although History was noted for its color-coded labels.
B) None of these claims to include "Mice." There may well be some other bootleg that does make such a claim, but all I can think of offhand is the made-up title for an improv, "Warts And Mice," on Dupree's Paradise (a mere 2_LP set).
C) The closest thing to an extant recording of "Mice" in circulation is the Midnight Special appearance where FZ reveals that the piece went "rat-a-tat-tat, ta-tat, ta-tat..."
I started writing music when I was 14. My earliest composition was a piece for snare drum, gong, tune-up machine--which is a little box to put out a constant tone of an E or B flat, depending of what you're tuning up--, and a triangle, I think it was. This was not a popular piece.
I went on from that to something a little bit more dramatic, it was a snare drum solo. The name of that solo was "Mice," and I played this snare drum solo on a competition in my high school. It sounded like this, "Rat-a-tat-tat, ta-tat, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat," but faster. I can't really sing how fast the "Rat-a-tat-tat" was going. They gave me a certificate that said, "Okay."
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