Hey Ace! Almost everything you hear, as in every detail of every instrumentalist playing in that band had their individual parts written out by Frank Zappa. He wrote some of the most challenging material ever and hired some of the best instrumentalists he could find to play in his band. Most of his music is either funny, weird, bizarre or whatever but it is all absolutely incredible and he was a very prolific artist. I saw him live around 1981 and to this day have never witnessed a better live band. At times he would get in front and act as a conductor for the band through particularly difficult parts. An absolute musical genius.
Camarillo Brillo, Dynah Moe Humm, Apostrophe (the whole album), Mud Shark, Cheepnis, Penguin in Bondage--Frank's got a deep and wonderfully weird rabbit hole!
Humor belongs in music, so laugh all you want;) And welcome to the rabbithole Frank Zappa! There is so much more to laugh, listen in awe and be surprised by his musianship, and creativity. And offcourse the groups of wunderfull musicians he surrounded himself with.
Zappa was not trying to be funny , he was just tired of the normal , boring stuff everybody hears all the time . Zappa would write everything out , note for note , then hand to his band and say play it . Yes , he was a musical genius ! He is in my top 5 of guitar gods , which he does not get the credit for being a fantastic guitarist . Just wait until you check out Don't Eat The Yellow Snow , The Suite !
@IDriveAnAudi I was lucky to see him in Memphis when Apostrophe hit. It was amazing to see the group actually replicate those arrangements and in some cases do them even tighter and better.
You are at the beginning of a very fun ride. You will love some of his songs, you will hate some of his songs,(or love them a little less) but you will never be bored. Frank was a genius, and he did all he could to share that genius with us. Not everyone appreciates his genius, but few who know anything about music will try to deny it. He had many master musicians cycle through various incarnations of his backing bands, they had to be good to play Frank's music. When you have time, Google George Duke and Chester Thompson, both of whom appear in this video, to get an idea of the quality of the players he surrounded himself with. Have fun!
And by the way he writes modern 20th and 21 Century Classical music 🎵🎵 while traveling,at his Hollywood hills home, since he was a teenager chamber music piano pieces,voice you name it, back in the day of records, cassette and VHS tapes his stuff was the only material that had classical music in the rook section of a record store with no rock band rhythm section,Londion Symphony Orchestra/Zappa/ Kent Nagano Conductor/ Chad Wackermen featured on orchestra drumset.
Every artist needs a hook and Frank's was being bazaar. He was actually a musical genius. When he was younger he got on the most popular late night television show by playing a bicycle on live TV.
Ace, to answer your question: Zappa has 60 Published Albums. He plays all types of music, and maybe even invented a couple of categories along the way. While his Lyrics are often lacking a serious story, the Music is always 100% perfection and Frank never plays the same guitar solo the same way twice. Try "I am the Slime", and try "Zombie Woof" if you want to try something else that is Fun and blow your doors off at the same time...!
The key to understanding the lyrics to this song is the fact that the lyrics are describing the music itself. The horse is the rhythm, the tweezers are a particular sound, and yes, the dental floss is the guitar solo.
Frank Zappa deserves admission to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a great guitarist, songwriter, creator of concept albums, comedian, talent scout, doo wop expert, social critic and avid misanthrope. He was one of those rare forces whose genius extended far beyond his main medium-composing music (Zappa released 62 albums in his lifetime, a prolific feat rivaled by few others)- into politics, philosophy, and advocacy.
Frank Zappa's first television appearance was on the popular Steve Allen Show (The Tonight Show), performing a piece of musique concrète titled "Music for Bicycle, Pre-Recorded Tape, and Piano." In this performance, Zappa played a bicycle as a musical instrument, accompanied by pre-recorded tape sounds and piano. He's been a genius for a long time. I talked with him in the '80s about "Joe's Garage" and some German lyrics contained therein. Endless are his offerings.
This album was recorded in Ike Turner's studio. For an extra 25 bucks, Ike threw in Tina Turner and the Ikettes for backup vocals. You can really hear her on "Dirty Love".
Frank and The Mothers had such a huge breadth and depth of creativity that they can't be pigeon-holed. You really should listen to the albums, _Zoot Allures, Sheik Yerbooty, Joe's Garage,_ to get a good picture of them.
Try The "Yellow Snow" suite. It's the First four tracks from Apostrophe ('), "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow", "Nanook Rubs It", "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast" and "Father O'Blivion".
it’s ok / encouraged to laugh - after all, laughter is a fundamental part of the human condition. look - it’s about not taking things so seriously, with Frank. the guy was an absolute GIANT in music - and many people and other bands cannot stand him / his music, you might be surprised at how many / which artists / performer *you* like absolutely *love* Frank’s music. now - the contrast here is… funny / silly lyrics, etc. (say as opposed to it being what… the 1 millionth love song?), take note at the quality playing, by the band, the interesting composition, layered harmonies, Frank’s unique (and cool AF) guitar playing. my point, no… this is not “novelty” / Weird Al”… if you heard the whole concert of that you’d get that it’s deadly serious in terms of rehearsal and readiness for Frank to change dimensions of the tune literally on-command / in real-time… the tempo/time-signature, rhythm, style, etc. his bands were F’ing scary! :-) seanM
In the studio version Tina Turner and the Ikettes did the backing vocals. You should check out the Zappa songs Dirty Love, The Slime and Cosmic Debris.
@AceTheHeart I noticed ages ago you mentioned house music is one of your favorites, and I need - NEED - for you to give the dubstep group ganja white night a listen!!
Listen to " More trouble coming everyday" I feel it wAs the first rap song 1965. Frank was a pioneer in sampling as well. Listen to joes garage acts 1,2,and 3. A tale about Joe,a young man from Canoga falls,wh becomes corrupted and p4everted by music.which is illegal.
Frank Zappa, the lead guitarist/singer, is a genius songwriter and musician with only the best band mates. His lyrics are often strange, sometimes lewd, but the music is first rate, a kind of jazz/rock fusion. This song comes from the early 1970s. Zappa was also politically active. He appeared on many 'serious' political TV shows and debated politicians and other politicos. Frank sadly passed away from prostate cancer several years back.
More Zappa! You will find very different kind of music and often silly, provocative or non sense lyrics (but I prefer the instrumentals), and all kind of genres - usually mixed. Some may be frustrating, at least initially, but never boring! Zappa started compose at about an age of 12 and continued constantly to his death. Suggestions may be Chunga's revenge or Zomby Woof.
like quite a lot of Zappa, the song segues with no break into something else. Here it's something called Approximate (the verb) where all the rhythm is set but none of the pitches. You could foot stomp your part or whatever.
Dude there was nothing made-up its all writen down by Frank Zappa on paper,they had to sight read all his music 🎵 until it became second nature in live performances the rehearsals were challenging but fun for 3 months before you go out on the road tours Frank had the band members on salery from rehearsal to the end of the monthly tour, good incentive to concentrate on nothing but his music 🎵🎶 like being in the Marines, nothing but the best!
If you think Montana hade weird lyrics what will you say about The Yellow Snow Suite? What do you think guys. is it to early to listen to the heavy ones for him or shall he do The Yellow Snow Suite now? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mpNn1nht0_8.html
