SPB PUBLISHING

Welcome one and all to the home of SPB Publishing! Here at SPB we specialize in books that deal with entertainment, though we may be branching out into other areas of interest in the near future. Perhaps one day!

Thank you for visiting. Please enjoy the zen-like sparseness of our web content. it's all very 2008, isn't it?


HOT NEWS!!!

THE MOTHER PEOPLE ANTHOLOGY, VOLUME 1 will be released on March 28th! This reprints the first 13 issues of the (maybe) greatest FRANK ZAPPA fanzine ever, MOTHER PEOPLE! The book is edited by Scott Parker. Grab one now on our PRODUCTS page!


COLD NEWS!

Two years in the making, PREPOSTEROUS, the eighth volume of SP's Live Performances of Frank Zappa series, is now available! This volume covers the live-in-concert exploits of the legendary Baby Snakes/Sheik Yerbouti band, who ravaged the United States, Canada and Western Europe in the fall of 1977 and the spring of 1978. This is one of FZ's most beloved lineups, and this book provides an interesting day-by-day chronicle of a simply incredible live performance ensemble. Includes a full discography from the period. Come one, come all! Pre-orders now being taken on our PRODUCTS page.


DISCORPORATE!



Well folks, it's coming! The follow-up to SP's 2014 book A FREAK OUT IN THE MAKING is now available on the SPB PRODUCTS page!

Frank Zappa could be described as a "pathological contrarian". Far from being a person who aligned himself with the zeitgeist, he was one of rock music's sharpest social critics. In the mid-1960s, as young people were "turning on, tuning in and dropping out" in large numbers, Zappa stood opposed to what he saw as the wasted potential of the hippie movement. This opposition crystallized itself in the third Mothers Of Invention album, We?re Only In It For The Money. Framed as a response to the Beatles? Sgt. Pepper?s Lonely Hearts Club Band, this album was Zappa?s full-frontal takedown of hippie culture, the parents of the hippie kids and their inability to make even the smallest effort to understand the social change occurring all around them.

DISCORPORATE! takes the reader on the road to We?re Only In For The Money, chronicling the studio work of Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention from September 1966 through September 1967, a period during which Zappa assembled not only We?re Only In It For The Money but the second Mothers album Absolutely Free and his first solo album Lumpy Gravy. All of these albums are examined in great detail, including previously-unknown session details and more.


THE WALDO SCRAPBOOKS

From the 1960s through his death in 2015, Walt "Waldo" Quadrato was a hardcore Zappa fanatic -- one of the earliest, in fact. He amassed a huge collection of Zappa records, posters, pictures, articles and other ephemera. Some of you older Zappa fans will remember him as a regular contributor to the MOTHER PEOPLE fanzine.

This new book, THE WALDO SCRAPBOOKS, features a selection of Waldo's collected articles and other ephemera, presented in an old-school "fanzine" style. It is a loving tribute to Walter, as well as the music and musical genius he loved (as we all do).

This book is strictly limited to 100 numbered copies, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society. Get some in our Store today!

OLD NEWS:

Well folks, it is time.

You have waited three years, and the time has come! The next volume of Scott Parker's RECORDINGS OF FRANK ZAPPA series covers the live performance work of American Composer Frank Zappa from the fall of 1975 through to the spring of 1976 (aka the Zoot Allures band).

In this book, Scott takes a look at at perhaps the most maligned band in FZ's career, and casts a new (and overall more favorable) light on what they managed to achieve.

Come and get it now, in our PRODUCTS section. This book will be released in late December 2015.

ZaFTIG is coming!! What is ZaFTIG? It is the Zappa Family Trust Issues Guide! Written by Ed Komara with Scott Parker, this new book takes a look at Frank Zappa's catalog, with a focus on the releases of the various albums in the compact disc format. It details FZ's reasons for making the changes he made to his original albums for CD release, and the process that the Zappa Family Trust went through to restore them to their original glory for the universally-acclaimed 2012 Universal CD reissue series. It also functions as a guide for Zappa newbies, listing the various releases and giving the uninitiated some clues as to what in the heck they have stumbled upon!


This book will be released in July 2015. Pre-orders are now being taken, signed and personalized by Scott Parker. Check out our PRODUCTS page to order!



It is here (shipping in August 2014)! In what maybe a first volume in a prospective FRANK ZAPPA IN THE STUDIO series, Scott Parker takes a look at the making of Freak Out!, FZ's opening salvo and rock's first concept album. We take you behind the scenes, detailing the series of events that coalesced in the making of a powerful opening statement from a genius American Composer. Go to our products page now and get some onya!


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WOODSTOCK DOCUMENTED returns! Now completely revised and cleaned up for the 45th Anniversary of Woodstock in 2014, this book examines the audio and visual documents that captured and preserved this legendary cultural event for generations to come. A fun read for anyone who loves the classic rock and folk acts of the 1960s! Grab it in our PRODUCTS section.

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It's time for some GOOD CLEAN FUN with THE MONKEES! In his new book, Scott Parker takes a look at the audio and visual documents of The Monkees, from their child actor and folk musician roots through their years of mega-stardom to their breakup in 1970. If you are familiar with SP's previous books about artists such as Frank Zappa, The Who and KISS, you know that this book is both thorough and a loving tribute to a group that overcame initial critical savagery to become, in recent years one of the most treasured and respected of all pop music ensembles. Get some GOOD CLEAN FUN in our PRODUCTS section.



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Big news folks! H.T. Brown is back, and he has a new something-something for ya: his new book, Confessions Of A ZAPPA Fan.  In the author's own words:

Okay. You got me. I confess to be being a Zappa fanatic for a very long time. At the time of this writing it will be forty-six years to be exact. Frank?s music has been one of the most important components in my life from the first time I heard Freak Out! in 1966, both musically and for steering me in the right direction politically and in a sense, socially. Though I?ll admit that I was heading down that soon to be ostracized path of resistance before the Zappa prodding incident, but Frank seemed to be there encouraging me to do so, which was a welcome relief. Thank you, Frank Zappa. 

I?ve been writing articles, along with conducting a few interviews about the man and his music for over twenty years. Some have been posted on several sites on the web that no longer exist, while others have been sent in private emails to friends.

You will not be regaled with the listing of endless concert dates, personnel and track listings, nor can I share intimate stories from our childhood together (it never happened). There will be no claims that I appeared on stage with the man, and I would be hard pressed to call him a friend. You will not find a chronological history of the Mothers of Invention nor intimate details of the many bands that followed. There will be no contextual analysis of anything. If you don?t know who Wild Man Fischer is you should read any number of the other Zappa books to catch up. This book is for the hardcores who have already garnered all of the available information about Frank past and present, and don?t necessarily need to hear another version. The stories found within are simply my personal reflections (or confessions if you prefer), of my adventures in and around the world of Zappa. And I have a few. Hope you enjoy them.

In volume five of his RECORDINGS OF FRANK ZAPPA series, Scott Parker examines the available recordings--from both official and unofficial sources--from two important periods in Frank Zappa's career. The Fall 1974 band is considered by many to be the best live performing group that Zappa ever put together, while the 1975 Bongo Fury lineup saw Frank unite with his old school buddy Captain Beefheart for their only tour together.

THE RETURN OF RONDO HATTON also includes a comprehensive discography of releases from this period, a videography and more.

SPB Publishing
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