“Ulrich has created the ultimate encyclopedia of all Zappa & Mothers
recordings. The details of the sessions and of the musicians who participated
are as fascinating as one of Frank’s best compositions.”
—Art Tripp, Mothers Of Invention percussionist, ’68–’69
“Destined to be the essential Zappa listening companion for the 21st century.”
—David Ocker, Zappa copyist, Synclavier
assistant, and clarinetist, ’77–’84
“Charles’s book will be the next best thing to being in the room with Frank.”
—Scott Thunes, Zappa bassist, ’81–’88
Winner, Best Historical Research in Recorded Rock and Popular Music
—Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 2019 ARSC Awards
for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research
“…a necessarily vast study in which the author’s opinion defers to factual
information leavened with Zappa’s explanations of his artistic conduct…
…[M]y short critique can only do but scant justice to what will prevail as a standard work of
reference.”
—Alan Clayson, Rock ’N’ Reel
“Frank Zappa created and unified his creative life into what he
termed ‘Project/Object’. Everything from his musical compositions and
lyrics—including the recurring characters created within them, the
dissemination of it all through recordings, films, performances, and
other avenues—all formed Project/Object. Everything he did was linked
somewhere in its process. The Big Note illuminates how effective Zappa
was in connecting his life’s work into one massive and impressive
conceptual project.
“… Buying this book for a Zappa collector would be akin to gifting a
dictionary to an aspiring writer, or Gray’s Anatomy to a medical
student. The details within these pages are vast and no one could absorb
all of them—though thankfully Charles Ulrich did. As a book to take in
before bedtime it gets painful at almost 800 pages. But as a reference
tool—wow—absolutely wow!”
—Derek von Essen, BCBookLook
- “Encyclopedic in its scope, this is a reference book which is
indispensable for knowing more about Zappa’s music; how it was composed,
recorded, performed and—in the case of songs that ended up on on
multiple records—how it evolved…
“Not only will it expand knowledge and interest in the music, but it will
undoubtedly also make fans listen more to the music they are familiar
with, re-listen to music they may have glossed over, and seek out music
they have not heard yet.”
—Walter Otto Koenig, amazon.com
- “Charles Ulrich has done a great service to Zappa fans everywhere.
The first 100 or so Zappa albums are dissected and toasted to a
delightful verbiage, filled with just the right amount of technical
information—and an awful lot of really useful information about who
played what when where and even how!”
—Lewis Saul, amazon.com
- “I’ve been a pretty hardcore Zappa fan for decades and this sucker
is loaded with bits of info I had not known about. Simply amazing. This
book is a must buy for any Zappa fan.”
—mcchocchoc,
Steve Hoffman Music Forums
- “… a fetish object of uncompromising detail about Zappa’s process and
attention to detail. The writing is such that it evokes the music as you
read.”
—John Scialli, amazon.com
- “Wow! What a lot of great information and sources. Really well put together and edited.”
—KUIII, zappa.com
- “Truly the most comprehensive book on Zappa imaginable… If you’re
fascinated by the music and the man behind it, this book will be worth
every penny and then some.”
—Zac Marsicano, amazon.com
- “The thing is that FZ’s music does not speak for itself. His
recordings are crammed with obscure references, musical quotes,
in-jokes, cross-references, bits of pop-culture that few in 2018 would
remember, and so on, and Zappa would have been the first to tell you
that the only person who really understood the whole Project-Object was
himself. Well, Charles’s book will get you about as close as a mere
mortal is going to get.”
—Shrewnews, zappa.com
- “The amount of work that has gone into this is mind boggling.”
—James, amazon.co.uk
- “The details are insightful, accurate, and numerous. The fact that
it took fifteen years to acquire and assimilate into this brilliant book
is astonishing. I’m amazed that it didn’t take longer as I work my way
through each album chronologically. Even the smallest of details sheds
more light on this twentieth century genius.”
—swansong, amazon.com
- “Really, who else would have had the patience, the
determination—the obsession?—to do so much work, turn over so many
stones? And not in a search for dirt or gossip or other sensational
material…
“This book is about information, plain and simple, and—just like Zappa’s
incredibly productive musical career as composer, arranger, musician,
lyricist, bandleader, and more—it delivers.”
—Martin Dunphy, Georgia
Straight
- “Mr. Ulrich has shown all us other obsessed Frank Zappa fans what true obsession is.”
—Dan Potter, amazon.com
- “Je durft je niet voor te stellen hoeveel uren van zijn
leven Charles Ulrich heeft besteed aan het leven en werk van Frank
Zappa, maar afgaande op zijn boek The Big Note—A Guide to the
Recordings of Frank Zappa rijst het vermoeden dat hij ’s ochtends, ’s
middags en ’s avonds met niets anders bezig was en er ’s nachts van
droomde.”
—Erik Voermans, Het Parool
- “Zappa sometimes called it the Sinners & Saints and sometimes Saints
& Sinners; sometimes he said it was in Ontario and sometimes in
Montclair. Which was it, and where? Ulrich posed the question to me via
email in 2016. I didn’t know it was for a book. But I checked with the
Ontario Library’s special collections department, and the answer came
back: Sinners & Saints. It was at 1315 E. Holt Blvd. from 1965-67. It’s
no longer standing.
“This gives an idea of how much effort Ulrich put in to get all the
details right. And The Big Note must contain millions of them. It’s a
must for the confirmed Zappaphile.”
—David Allen,
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
- “The Big Note is not only for Zappa fans. Musicians of all genres
will benefit from his approach to creating complex arrangements with
uncommon devices and instruments.”
—Derek von Essen, BCBookLook
- “If you’re thinking of getting into Zappa’s music, then invest in
this book, as well as recordings. Books like this complement and enrich
Zappa’s music. You’ll be going from book to music and from music to book
for hours and hours.”
—Froberger, amazon.com
- “The author’s discussion of the composer’s use of odd meters, nested
tuplets, suspended second chords, lydian modes, and musical quotations is
necessarily technical, but it opens a window on the unpredictable
harmonies and rhythms underlying seemingly silly songs.”
—Geoffrey Himes, Downbeat
- “If you are a fan of Frank Zappa, or just a complete music
nerd… then you will adore this book… [I]ts attention to details
blows my mind every time I pick it up.”
—Darren Charles, musiquemachine
- “The Big Note is a beautifully rendered,
3-dimensional guidebook for the ages. The fact that it includes
excellent internet sources and translates them into print form says a
lot about the publisher’s commitment to old media.”
—John Corcelli, Critics
At Large
- “This is it. This is the big one.
I suspect reading this will take a while.”
—SeanGaffney, zappateers.com
- “One does not simply finish The Big Note!”
—stillbob, zappateers.com
- “Anyone considering him or herself a fan should buy/own/worship this Monster of Invention.”
—jschmo63, amazon.de
- “A tous les fans de Zappa : The big note est un
incontournable, une mine d’infos sur toute la production discographique
du moustachu , une encyclopédie !!”
—Ruben, amazon.fr
- “Het mega-dikke boek The Big Note staat vol met feiten,
wetenswaardigheden en veel, heel veel kennis. Om die reden alleen al is
de ondertiteling A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa een
understatement. De correctie is simpel: vervang A door The. Daarmee
is dan eigenlijk alles al gezegd.”
—Paul Lemmens, Little
Umbrellas
- “Es un libro escencial en la biblioteca de cualquier fanatico de Zappa.”
—Luis Del Aguila, goodreads