The image to the right depicts the cover of the Complete Works of Edgard Varèse, Volume 1. According to Zappa, this was the first record he ever owned. (And one that changed everything for him!)
The story of how he came to discover the record was well-rehearsed. The following quotation is drawn from an article he wrote for Stereo Review:
I was about thirteen when I read an article in Look about Sam Goody’s Record Store in New York. My memory is not too clear on the details, but I recall it was praising the store’s exceptional record merchandising ability. One example of brilliant salesmanship described how, through some mysterious trickery, the store actually managed to sell an album called “Ionization†(the real name of the album was “The Complete Works of Edgard Varèse, Volume Oneâ€). The article described the record as a weird jumble of drums and other unpleasant sounds. I dashed off to my local record store and asked for it. Nobody ever heard of it. I told the guy in the store what it was like. He turned away, repulsed, and mumbled solemnly, “I probably wouldn’t stock it anyway … nobody here in San Diego would buy it.†I didn’t give up. I was so hot to get that record I couldn’t even believe it. [1]
A number of other sources provide a similar account. Though the details of the Look article frequently change with each retelling, Zappa is consistent in his description that the article was a feature on Samuel “Sam Goody†Gutowitz appearing in Look magazine and that it mentioned the Varèse album in negative terms to highlight Goody’s merchandising prowess. Consider the following quotation from a 1971 interview for Rock Magazine:
The thing that led me to Varèse’s music was an article in Look Magazine saying how great Sam Goody’s record store was. Sam Goody sells records so well that he can even sell a record called Ionizations – they even called the album wrong – it was The Complete Works of Edgar Varèse, Volume I. And they were telling how ugly this record sounded. It was just drums and sirens and nobody would want to own this record and Sam Goody was actually selling it [2]
Or Zappa’s response from an 1981 interview in Down Beat:
How did you first find out about Edgar Varèse?
That’s a very simple story. I read an article in Look magazine in the early ’50s which was a feature saying what a great guy Sam Goody was because he was such an exciting merchandiser and he could sell anything, he could sell any kind of record. And to give an example of what a great merchandiser he was, it said that he was even able to sell an album called “Ionisation” which had a bunch of drums banging, and it described the album in very negative terms. When I read that, I thought it sounded exactly like the kind of album that I wanted to hear because I had been playing drums since I was 12. So I went looking for the album and I finally found it after a couple of months’ search, and I took it home, put it on, and I loved it as soon as I heard it. [3]
These descriptions would all be fine, except no article matching this description ever ran in Look magazine. Several Zappa scholars have suggested the likely possibility that Zappa is conflating memories of several articles. None of them offers any suggestions as to particular articles, so I’d like to point to some potential candidates I’ve found.
To begin with, the November 7, 1950 issue of Look does include a brief (and surprisingly positive) review of the record, but makes no mention of Gutowitz:
The good-things-from-obscure-places department has come up with the following finds. From EMS, the first album of a series which proposes to record the complete works of the fantastically individualistic composer Edgard Varèse. Density 21.5, Integrales, Octandre and Ionisation—a dreamy little episode for 35 percussion instruments and absolutely nothing else—are the titles. Varèse is unlike anything else in music, and well worth knowing. The recording is excellent… [4]
Although the album is reviewed favorably here, the description of the percussion does line up with Zappa’s memory.
Another possible source comes from a feature in The Saturday Evening Post: “Duke of the Disc Dealers.” (The image to the right links to a PDF of the article.)
One Goody customer is a rare and notable exception to this buyer pattern. An old lady in her seventies, she depends on Levin [the store manager] to set aside all records with fortissimo percussion passages. ‘She loves drums, gongs, cymbals and anything that makes a loud banging noise. She has excellent hearing and is not interested in volume, as such. She just gets a particular thrill out of everything which is savage and primitive.’ [5]
This article, however, makes no mention of Varèse
Greg Russo has pointed out that the February 13, 1952 issue of People Today mentions Goody’s skills as a record salesman. [7] The article makes no mention of Varèse, but Russo suggests the possibility that Zappa first read about the record in a Sam Goody catalog. Along these lines, an article from Good Housekeeping (click the image for another PDF) confirms Goody’s merchandising techniques:
Goody believes in aggressive advertising. He floods schools, colleges, libraries, and embassies throughout the world with direct-mail-order advertising. [6]
It seems possible that Zappa may have come across one of the catalogs distributed in this manner. (I’ve sent several emails to Goody’s son in the hope that he might have some of the catalogs, but lost contact with him over a year ago.)
I can’t even begin to tell you how sweet it would have been if I had found an article matching Zappa’s description! (Even if it wasn’t in Look magazine.) Unfortunately, it seems that for now at least the mystery remains.
Connecticut id fake
http://tiandebeauty.com/hjbg.php?id=3j3pqb43.pdfgenerate fake id card
best place to buy fake id
http://thethirdcup.com/mbkhd.php?id=7x0gsp52.pdfworst fake id
minnesota id
http://tiandebeauty.com/hjbg.php?id=6v7rit03.pdffake driver
where to buy fake id uk
http://thethirdcup.com/mbkhd.php?id=9a5khu96.pdfnovelty id cards toronto
Cheap Jerseys
Generally consist of a simple term that can only enter when ordering. One can access files off the web, either free or at a small cost, or could copy tracks off their favorite CDs, to put on the MP3 player and listen to. “Half the time he talks I have…
hermes prix
Les taux en termes réels étaient assez bas, cependant, les organisations withReligious pour la santé reproductive? 14910,1 pour cent des femmes mariées utilisant des méthodes modernes de contraception en 1993 et ​​13,3 pour cent en 1998. Plus de 20 po…
make a id
http://tiandebeauty.com/hjbg.php?id=9j1xbi13.pdffake id western australia
instant fake id
http://thethirdcup.com/mbkhd.php?id=7t0bwf12.pdffake ny id
fake id student card
http://thethirdcup.com/mbkhd.php?id=9h6dbl39.pdffake id nz
where to order fake ids
http://webappsdepot.vitorneves.com/fdssd.php?id=1g3iuu31.pdfwhere can i buy a fake id online
chaussure golden goose
la rupture, l’arrêt, et à la fin shreddingout et se précipitant follement vers le bas. La Garde est battu! La Garde isbeaten! De tout autour de moi, j’ai entendu le cri. Le long de la ligne entière theinfantry tourné leurs visages et les canonniers…
how to fake an id card
http://thethirdcup.com/mbkhd.php?id=7s1hnx86.pdfbest place to buy fake ids online
Sean Couturier Jersey
In advance of yourself scan for spy ware, crank out certainly by yourself enhance the definition documents initial as a result that the computer software can determine the more recent malware upon your pc. In circumstance, you are not conscious of your…
fake id form
http://thethirdcup.com/mbkhd.php?id=2s8wxz60.pdfgenerate fake id
fake id in Kansas
http://thethirdcup.com/mbkhd.php?id=3j6hwe90.pdffake id that scan
how to make a fake student id card
http://tiandebeauty.com/hjbg.php?id=5n0bqg65.pdfRaleigh-Durham-ChapelHill fake id
fake id identification
http://webappsdepot.vitorneves.com/fdssd.php?id=2g6tpa91.pdffake SouthCarolina identification card
sac kelly hermes
deux personnes whoare à la fois si cher. Je sais que votre idée du devoir à votre père, et youare droit de s’y tenir. Mais le cas échéant, je vous envoie mot à venir ATONCE à Lucy, alors ne soyez pas trop anxieux à moins que vous entendez de me.DR. S…
basket golden goose femme
figure littéraire connue ofDimitri Fotiadis, qui est décédé en Octobre 1988.When les émissions a commencé au début de mai 1941, je suis le principalnewsreader. Plus tard, quand Haniotis a été affecté à l’ambassade de Grèce inWashington D.C. comme att…
golden goose france
le voyage. Le constantpresence de Sir HD est une mine de connaissances inépuisables. Pourtant, après une vive accountof ses aventures avec Sir H, y compris l’escalade du Vésuve dans le gaz sombre et gatheringcoal sous la pluie, il a commencé à admett…
Allen Craig Jersey
All of the facts and figures, not to mention statistics, necessary to make the article accurate and believable are right there within the private label article – it is only the specific wording that needs to be changed in order to make it your ow…
Derrick Shelby Jersey
We tend to take whatever recommendation our physician gives as unadulterated, educated, and well thought through advice that could never be bought or sold for anything as immoral as financial gain.We think it’s all because they are versatile and…
Morgan Rielly Jersey UK
The accessories that one is permitted to use together with their graduation gown are the graduation cap, graduation tassel, graduation hood, and the graduation honor cord.Why we shouldnt resist itWhat you heard above is the view purely from the manager…
Joe Mullen Jersey
McKinney promised that the aspiration lots of other individuals incorporate experienced of national WiFi in just Barbados would sooner or later turn out to be real truth as a result of November 11, 2011, including that it was “an complete motivation t…
Patrick van Aanholt Netherland Jersey
But take a caution from no less a leader than General George Patton: Never tell people how to do things.Reviews of Clean my Mac assists consumers and potential ones to know where they can get inexpensive services which or high quality without having to…
hermes sac de voyage
être marginalisés et contraints dans leur expression la croyance ofreligious. Un point important de discorde entre le Frelimo et la Churchcentered sur le retour des biens de l’Eglise qui avait été nationalized.Sant’Egidio utilisé ses liens étroits a…
Julius Erving Jersey
4. Yourself may possibly far too absolutely select towards hand out People layouts of advertising goods towards the in general community for the reasons of strengthening knowledge of your office and your small business’s purchasers. In reality, when y…
Washington Redskins Bashaud Breeland Jersey
Provide support, as appropriate. Here they are below, along with our self talk that accompanies them:1. I can just hear them now, Oh yeah, and just which part of my job do you expect me to drop in order to do this extra work for you? No, its just less…
Wholesale Basketball Jerseys
This is how it figures to be for Perez over the next several years: Days off will be rare. There is considerably labor involved in making feather skirts, so they are usually pricey, highfashion pieces. No, we will not succumb to paralysis about our mon…
Wholesale Jerseys
They just wanted to play the game even though there were like 20 or 30 people here. Numerous fashion houses began manufacturing feather skirts in 2008, creating the initial designer hard to pinpoint.This is fantastic when you will be weary of hearing y…
Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping
SamMad: “When I opened up the box I could already smell exactly how HEAVENLY the coffee would be.Harvey Reiterates Desire To Pitch In 2014RealGM WiretapThe New York Mets are trying to get Matt Harvey to “back off a bit” in his recovery from Tommy Jo…
chaussures golden goose
aussi je pris offmy chapeau. Il y a des hommes pas plus courageux que les ingénieurs. Puis vint thecavalry, lanciers, cuirassiers, chasseurs et spahis. Pour chacun d’eux inturn je pouvais enlever mon chapeau, sauf que dans la Spahis.The Empereur avai…
chaussure golden goose
soie blanche. Si l’exécution a lieu INTHE maison, ils devraient partiellement retrousser leurs pantalons; si, dans le jardin, ils devraient les placer jusqu’à entirely.The secondes devrait aborder le principal, et de dire, Monsieur, nous avons beena…
Cheap NFL Jerseys Online
When RCA, or the radio Corporation of Usa, obtained the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929, music as identified presently, was started. A lot of the occasions it’s concerning the content material in the ad that makes the difference however so…
Jack Dunn Jersey UK
Readily available inside a number of vivid colours, they may be exceptional for that two boys and girls. This will give the marketing as many opportunities as possible to be seen.Trattamenti a base di erbe in possesso sirivelata davvero vantaggioso,woo…
Trevor Rosenthal Jersey
In circumstance, you are not conscious of your distinct crucial models with all the UGG boots, take a look at the following handful of lines. procedure, materials heeled, together with spiked heeled boots demonstrate these are generally substantial. Av…
Raekwon McMillan Dolphins Jersey
assertive you ability be animated to accept to this affectionate of abundant suggestions and I anticipate it is possible to adequately be typically merely mainly because it from sheep, they accept ongoing been accepted with surfers and swimmers, decide…
Carl Jenkinson Jersey
Website assault safety and automated upgrades even the moment just about every 15 minutes.com discuz uchome space. And this way I wont have to spend time coaching and checking up on them. Soon after all, it will be conveniently searchable against the f…
magasins hermes paris
femme a pris Hern. Et onewoman, un sirotant de Hern, elle dit: Le parti avait ses bons pintes, Elmira.Which était la meilleure chose qui avait été dit de Hank dans cette ville fur yearsand years.Old Mis Primrose, elle se piquait d’être toujours honnê…
John Jerry Jersey UK
Your method does not meet up with this have to have consequently the associate will going promote the procedure that does versus a guide yourself developed.These types of four essential benefits show the importance of getting a link building services c…
golden goose sneakers
TradesUnions dans les conditions actuelles absolument impossible. TheConference avait raison. Pendant douze ans, après qu’il n’y avait pas de crise TradesTHE IN RUSSIA44Unions conférences en Russie. Non jusqu’en Juin 1917, trois mois afterthe Révol…
Tyler Ervin Jersey
Have5 fruits per day.Article From Article Directory DatabaseTopps Giving Will Ferrell His Own Baseball CardRealGM WiretapWill Ferrell raised awareness for cancer research by playing several Cactus League games during Spring Training this year. Utilizza…
Chris Owings Jersey UK
Correctly, you might learn diverse varieties of UGG boots readily accessible inside the sector and they have their really own distinct styles and traits.The actual Brief History of Modern Knickers Evolves More than Two CenturiesEnglemann Sawer …
Diego Perotti Jersey
Youve even upgraded your software and tried (unsuccessfully) to re negotiate your job objectives with your boss. Wash your hands with soap beforeyou touch the area surrounding it. They lack the experience. This work typically involves higher level issu…
golden goose soldes
MyFriends et relations? Aucun père avait regardé mes jours de bébé, pas de mère avait blessedme avec des sourires et des caresses; ou si elles avaient, toute ma vie passée était maintenant une tache, un blindvacancy où je distinguais rien … Je suis,…
Luc Mbah a Moute Jersey
Use a healthy diet out of the box most important to get rid of pimples or perhaps prevent it. A hot pair of denim jeans plus a nice top rated forces you to look really good in the gathering. This means that you should not have something on the main pag…
Shaquille O’Neal Jersey UK
You will get apart having dressed in a wide variety seems with one of these boots, regardless of how formal or recreational you are! Anyonedon’t have to often be a cowgirl to appreciate these types of boots! All you have to end up being is usuall…
hermes sayat recrutement
calme, face.Good immeuble! dit le Moo Koe. Ye ne serait pas rêver qu’il étouffe wasabsolutely avec émotion reconnaissante? Nous ne serait pas, dit le animals.But pourquoi sont-ils tous en cours d’exécution en arrière la façon dont ils sont venus? Pi…
dallas cowboys kids jersey
Thank you for the good writeup. It in truth was a leisure account it. Glance complex to more delivered agreeable from you! However, how could we be in contact?
baby falcons jersey
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your web site and in accession capital to assert that I acquire actually enjoyed account we supply cheap nfl jerseys your blog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement yo…