The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa: A Record Store Day Story
Until today (Saturday, April 13), I have never been able to attend Record Store Day, the very special day when hundreds upon hundreds of special albums — new, old, and in between — are pressed and distributed to independent record stores around the world. It has typically been the third Saturday in April, unless Easter was the next day, which is why it was today and not the 20th. The Wanee Music Festival was also the third weekend in April, and I went to 12 of them. Of course, Wanee folded its tents after the 2018 fest (and the magnificent Suwannee Rising arose in its place last weekend).
So I hit two stores in Tampa today (Sound Exchange and Mojo Books and Records). My primary goal was The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa. I had not researched the album in any way; I just knew I wanted it. There were a few things from the master list I did not find in either store (nobody could have ALL the titles), but I scored the Zappa.
We were camping at All World Acres in Plant City for the weekend, and I knew that Jeff Guynn is a huge FZ fan, so I decided not to open it until I got back and could show him. When I pulled it out of the bag, he immediately said, “Oh, I have that.” Me, all cocksure, said, “No. It just came out today.” At which point he flipped the album to the back cover and said, “THAT’S what I have!” He had the original cassette from Guitar World Magazine from 1987!
BANG!
