No drugs for Frank, every song is different, he was a genre of one and covered all genres. Welcome to Zappa's universe, an amazing endless rabbit hole provided by one of the most talented, unique composers, guitar players, musical geniuses, social commentators and fighters for free speech of the 20th century R.I.P. Frank. P.S. check out The Black Page #1 and # 2, they are considered some of the most difficult pieces ever written. Great reaction. Thanx !
"So many different styles, so many different genres, so many different instruments." This is a great generalization of Zappa's compositions!! You're really picking up on so much of what makes him a genius. It's amazing to watch someone pick up on this on first listen. It gets better the more you listen to it.
One size fits all killer album!!! We listened to this album once a day every day back in the summer of 78. Or was it 79. Lol a long time ago. Thanks John great choice.
I like your reactions to the music of Frank Zappa. It's interesting how someone reacts to the music for the first time. I remember when I heard the music for the first time at the age of 14, I immediately had the feeling of freedom, even though many of his pieces were hard to grasp at first, but they broadened my horizons. The musicians of "Andy" you are reading played the piece in 1988 on the CD "The best band you ever heard". This one comes from the album "One size fits all". But the Zappa fan knows that anyway ...
your musician list is incorrect, what you read is from the 1988 live version, but this song is from 1975 and the musicians are: Frank Zappa - guitar, backing vocals George Duke - keyboards, lead and backing vocals, synthesizer Napoleon Murphy Brock - flute, backing vocals Ruth Underwood - marimba, vibraphone, percussion Chester Thompson - drums, sound effects, voices Tom Fowler - bass guitar Johnny "Guitar" Watson - lead vocals
Frank would advertise auditions and so many musicians would show up that it would be like a "cattle call". I've watched a few interviews of his band members talking about that process. Drummer Terry Bozzio tells a great story. Steve Vai has a hilarious one too.
Absolutely no drugs I think it was in Europe and somebody brought up a baggy of has she she didn’t even know what it was how Frank did smoking off a lot of cigarettes and drink a lot of coffee I don’t think that was too good for his prostrate because he died of prostrate cancer…. But you’re right he’s a pure genius how you know he didn’t finish college he just had a passion for music and he was a Genius
Nice reaction again. I’m glad you enjoyed this one too with it being so different to the last. You’re gonna get hooked if you keep going. It’s like a drug for those who appreciate great music and have the mental capacity to handle this stuff. I missed the 90’s and the whole Grunge thing listening to this stuff. It’s been the biggest addiction of my life. Enjoy the ride, you’ve got so much to discover.👍
How to get so many musicians? You pay them! Zappa once rented the London Symphony Orchestra to play music he had composed. Frank Zappas group used to be named "the Mothers of Invention". After the first version of Mothers I guess it gave a certain status to have fulfilled the competence to be accepted member of the band. Only the best musicians in the world played in the band. There is a video on RU-vid where Steve Vai tells the story of his audition for Frank. On your question: "What is this? The answer is simple: Music composed by FZ.
'Flambé' vocals provided by Frank's best mate. Johnny Guitar Watson. who regularly popped in to see Frank and added a particular warmth and humour to the mix.
This track is on the album One-size-Fits-All the last album credited to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. Actual musicians on this track on Frank Zappa guitars Chester Thompson drums Tom Fowler Bass George Duke keyboards Ruth Underwood percussion Johnny Guitar Watson vocals Napoleon Murphy Brock vocals on the original 1975 recording. Andy Devine was an old Hollywood 1940s era character actor.
I saw FZ in 1988 his last world tour when I was 18. The musicians list you read out was from this 1988 tour. Andy was FZ guitar and vocals, George Duke keyboards, Chester Thomas drums, Ruth Underwood percussion, Ian Underwood bass, Johnny guitar Watson vocals. They're maybe more I'm just doing this from memory. This is one of my very favourite Zappa songs, it's always so refreshing and doesn't sound like anything else .... Just Zappa genius
Frank was a fan of Spike Jones back in the day and loved the dadaist aspect of silly songs plus the words for him were just vehicles for rhythmic phrases that he loved... "a sinister midget, with a bucket and a mop" is an example from The Torture Never Stops where Zappa would repeat the line in later performances, emphasizing the rhythm of the phrase...
Good evening John. Man oh Man theres soo much to cover here, so much to say. Oh before it slips away, for the record Frank Zappa didnt do drugs and stated so a number of times in his career, he was not stuck up about it nor condesending, it was a simple fact !! Also for the record Jimi Hendrix was NOT a heroin addict, Jimi HATED needles, they scared the living shit out of him, in fact .he was trying to get one of his lady friends off the smack !! deadly stuff. He did sweet things like Mer-Jee-wanna and LSD ,ect I was not able to see Jimi I was wee bit too young but ding dang it I tried make up for it in the 70's by seeing a helluva lotta band & shows, but in reality no one could take the place of Jimi nor ANY of the later knock off's in the 70's nor the 90's,ect however I DID SEEF FRANK ZAPPA' twice in the 70's and yes I feel hella Lucky to have been able to do so Thanks to a Bass player friend of mine at 17 ,Frank L. both us were active musicians then, both same age( I eventually played 4 instruments) The night we went to the first time I saw Zappa,was at the Colefield house at the University of Maryland in the mid 70's. the Band was so elevated, such high level musicianship, that MY heart dropped, I was inspired ,floored, holy shit,ect. I almost quit drumming that night, and came this close to throwing my drum sticks thru the woods once I got home. HE/THEY were THAT damn Good. I Mean ta tell ya they were damn good Man!! Live Man? Holy smokes ! Zappa's Band burned that night. Heres one for ya, the Jimmy Buffet Band friggin' opened for Frank Zappa, that night, it was Hippies in the 70's,me and Frank included, there to see Zap' and the Parrot heads to see Buffet. The first half was Bizarre, as you can imagine. Frank Zappa was a musician, composer, writer, conductor, ect...he was a genius Man ,He didnt need drugs to do what he did! Honestly, he didnt, though I can completely Understand John why you might think that ,conclude that, because of the times in which HE and I Live,but that was not the case for and with Zap ! Part II: John . are yo American Indian/Native American/Indigenous. Loe the Hair. ya remind me of the 70;s and diggin good music yet in still its not of course limited to a decade, but IM tell ya Man. the 70's has some hellafied Musician of all types coming forth and out and laying it down and cookin to da groove, as it were. I am 1/8th American Indian,tribally enrolled, tribal nation card, etc. you could be Italiano/Scilian/ Portugese/Hungarian for all I Know. I Know one thing to me your a cool as shit dude and I accept you for who you are what ever that maybe. I say Imma Viking with some Indian blood. Celtic. walk in da Light, stay groovy,stay free and keep diggin the good tunes. Really appreciate your sincerity spirit and energy Kola !! Ha!!
You now have the rest of your young life to explore all that is FZ. His biography is worth a read. I couldn't understand in my younger days what he was doing, but now at 72 I am such a fan. Consider "The best band you never heard in your life" Truly a master. '
"Superb fantastic art" indeed! Been a Fan for 30 years now, Frank is the reason i picked up the guitar. It is great fun to see you react to his music and precisely point out what makes it great. I see you becoming a fan already and envy you a bit for all the greatness you still have to discover.
A lot of folks are correctly (mostly) pointing out that Frank did not do drugs. Well, his drugs of choice were nicotine and massive amounts of caffeine. He enjoyed a particularly caffeine rich brand that I was told was the Old Professor's Blend. The only thing I've turned up online was "The Original Professor's Blend Herbal Coffee - caffeine enriched" -but it's a vintage container from the early 20th Century, so can't confirm that it is one and the same. There was a coffee shop in Greenwich Village where he would pick it up.
Yeah, Frank was all for freedom, but if he was paying you, you better be sober. Not just because he'd fire you for it, but the music was so hard you could not hope to play it fucked up. And if you fucked up, Frank would definitely notice. He had incredibly high musical standards for anyone who worked for him and didn't cut anyone slack. He hurt a lot of feelings over the years, but in the end we have this nearly perfect music that was as close to how Frank imagined it as he could possibly get.
Another great track. This album is, start to finish, one of his best IMO. He was really hitting the mark both with his creativity here as well as a sound that was so appealing to those of us who were hungry for the creativity, ingenuity and the fact that he was putting different sounds together in ways that had never been done in quite that way.
You played the studio version from One Size Fits All the original has Johnny guitar Watson singing the outro vocals. Also George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Chester Thompson, Ruth Underwood, Tom Fowler. This isn't the 1988 tour version on Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life
Gotta liisten to the live version on Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life album part of a medely of 4 songs. Much better version. Also in a lot of Zappa’s work the interplay of drums and bass doing wildly strange and wonderful things in weird time signatures, while Frank solos over them in a totally different space is one of the most sublime joys of mylisteni to these tracks many hundreds (thousands!) of times over 50 years. Not to mention all the weird throw-off noises and the killer riffs that he does, maybe twice in a song. Riffs that any musician would kill to have just one of….
Yes, the whole album! You'll love it it's a way if life! One Size Fits All was my first exposure to Zappa. It remains my favorite Zappa album. Enjoy the ride, the rest of the album is stellar as well! 🤘😎
Frank was quite unique character in that he composed like 95% of his output, including all of the parts trumpets, drums, bass keys etc... There are not many who could just take a chair and a pen and manuscript and just write music without any instrument at hand. I cannot think any famous contemporary artists who is "Rock" musician today or dead who can or could do that. That`s why his output is so varied although he tended to arrange his music quite the same.
@@Pstephen Any Ol Brill Building songwriter prolly knew how to write music. Also any one who had some kind of formal musical training can write melodies to paper, Jazz musicians do it all the time Monk,Ellington,Basie,Parker,Mingus, so its not that uncommon. What is uncommon is to orchestrate a whole Symphony Orch and write and conduct that music. London Symphony Orchestra vol 1 and 2 for example, also his music was rarely in 4/4 with mind boggling Quintuplets/Septuplets composed in with various instrumentation especially percussion instruments. His "Pop/Rock" Music was just occupational hazard.
Like most of the comments Frank Zappa is the rabbit holes of all rabbit holes! I can tell by what you like you willl be so called zapped! Do your self a favor and listen to everything you can withstand starting with the most popular but listen to the album’s those song’s we’re on.That’s your starting point then after that enjoy 1000s of more hour’s of one the most amazing composers and musicians and visionary’s of all time!All Hail Zapppa!
Introduction to Frank's music in 1971. Have enjoyed 51 years of his Music. This fella was stunned like most of are. Stolen Moments always grabs me. Imagine Sting was in awe of this musical ride.
I have been listening to FZ since Hot Rats. I have a copy of every album released. Listen to "Overnight Sensation or Shutup and Play Your Guitar". It doesn't really matter all the albums are crazy good.
The part you said sounds like Elton John ....to me sounds more like Dr. John's New Orleans voodoo. Every Zappa album is different , there are over 60 of them so get started now!! Thanks for the great review1
You were reading about the members of the 88 touring band when the actual lineup was from 74-75 with George Duke-keyboards/vocals (Jazz R&B great), Chester Thompson-drums (took over for Phil Collins in Genesis on drums), Tom Fowler-bass, Napoleon Murphy Brock-vocals sax, Ruth Underwood-percussion, Zappa on guitar and vocals, and one of Frank's idols growing up, Johnny "Guitar" Watson on the featured vocal along with Captain Beefheart on harmonica...
He's got over 60 albums and you picked a song with such a stereotypical Zappa riff and lyrical style. You should check out Inca Roads. One of the best tunes ever.
I still hear new things in this song after nearly 50 years. You will love "The Yellow Snow Suite" from the record Apostrophe from 1974.....not a dull moment (as with most of what Zappa did). ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mpNn1nht0_8.html
One point of my appreciation ist constant time signature and the bluesy an rocking style. I think Napoleon Murphy Brock sang it. Oh no. Johnny Guitar Watson sang a lot. This was the best band Frank Zappa had.
You could not be more wrong about drugs. Frank was FAMOUSLY anti-Drugs and anti-drug culture. If anybody in his band was found to be using any illicit drugs you were asked "Window or Aisle?" for your plane ticket home. No other questions asked, you were OUT. He did not suffer fools and he was already three steps ahead of you. Frank does not fit any genre of music, or, he fits ALL genres of music. He drew no distinctions. He made the music he wanted to hear. Once you listen to much more you will understand that while he had no particular genre to pigeonhole him in you can almost always tell a Zappa piece. He also reworked themes and ideas through the years and over the many many albums he produced in his lifetime (85) and he left so much more his family can put out another 50 or more over time.
@@Ninang363 Don't get me wrong here because i've loved Zappa's music for many years. My beef with Frank was his on the road antics during the 60s and 70s. Despite having a loving wife at home, Zappa regularly involved in groupie sex, often returning from tours with a dose of the crabs. Frank and wife would both have to take the medication before Frank was off again to fulfil his lurid fantasies. Compare this to Zappa's antiquated attitude to one joint being worthy of the sack, and we have a man with a warped view on morality. If you think that's fine, then fair enough, but personally i feel that this part of his character made him a prick!
@@Katehowe3010 his view was that he was paying a musician to do a job and they could not do that job properly if high on drugs, nothing to do with morality, more to do with getting the job done properly and not getting arrested.
Right around the time this came out Todd Rundgren had released an album called Something Anything and I always assumed this track had something to say about that.
Rat Tomago - Possibly his best solo... Inca Roads - Token Of My Extreme live version, a real treat. Apostrophe, Overnite Sensation, One Size Fits all - great for whole album reactions
Check out Johnny guitar Watson music!. An old friend of Frank's.he actually has done lot of work with Frank , from way back. . Also shuggy Otis. His father who did willy and the hand jive. Pay attention. Any info you need to contact me. Its not drugs. It's the opposite. it's music . A phone call would be best. Let's talk. I'm in close contact to Dweezil, his band members, also, Adrian and the Belew ike Willis, Andrew and a lot
No two Zappa songs are that alike. That's why it is hard to put him in any one genre. Rock? Some, but not all. Blues, same, Jazz, almost but not quite. Modern classical? Some. All this and others mixed together!