FRANK ZAPPA - "ANDY" (reaction) 

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Oh yes, you've started into the Zappa, your world will never be the same! Enjoy the ride

I've spent 40 years trying to get a positive reaction from friends whenever I play Zappa, I'm on about a 70% failure rate, I've watched a few of your Zappa videos, and...... You totally get it, absolute respect to you, 'love' you both👏

Zappa wrote out all his music and it was highly structured, as is this song.

No "Andy", no "One size fits all" without George Duke. RIP

Most of the vocals on this song were by Napoleon Murphy Brock and George Duke.

Perhaps my favourite Zappa song. Chester Thompson's drumming is INSANE! Love it!!!

This song is from the One Size Fits All album, released in June 1975. The album features the summer/fall 1974 lineup of his band. On this track is the following personnel. Frank Zappa - guitar and backing vocals George Duke - keyboards, lead and backing vocals, synthesizer Napoleon Murphy Brock - flute, lead and backing vocals, tenor saxophone Ruth Underwood - marimba, vibraphone, percussion Chester Thompson - drums, sound effects, voices Tom Fowler - bass guitar Johnny "Guitar" Watson - vocals Many ridiculously good musicians went through the ranks of various Frank Zappa bands. Most have cited it as the most difficult music they ever played. It's a good bet this song was written out on sheet music and played as composed. It was common for Frank to lay out some crazy sheet music and have people auditioning for his band to sight read it. Frank did, generally speaking, three types of albums. His guitar albums, his symphonic compositions and crazy stuff like this. The dude is a musical genius. During one interview the guy told Frank - 'I think if you wanted to you could write very good pop music' Franks response was - 'who wants to go through life with a very small nose and one glove'

"I provide reinforcement for people who are different." -- Frank Zappa

@4:30-4:45 look at dude. His jaw is literally hanging and he shakes his head like "whoa wtf did I just hear?" That's awesome Johnny "Guitar" Watson sings the whole 'thong rind' rap. The whole album this is from, One Size Fits All, is sheer brilliance. Musicians, check out his process called 'xenochrony'.

Makes me SO happy to see people discover Zappa and enjoy his music. I’d highly recommend looking at Freak Out and We’re Only in It for the Money, two albums from early in his career. Lots of fun doo-wop and experimental stuff. If you’re looking to do other reactions I’d love to see one to Token of My Extreme or More Trouble Every Day (a live version of Trouble every day)

Almost!! my favourite piece by Frank,, the mix is so deep you could dive in and swim around in it,,,,,,, The work of a genius,,,,,,,,,,

Cool reaction! Gotta do Inca Roads off of the same album, this is pretty close to his peak stuff. He had multiple vocalists, he doesn't sing much in this song, his low voice is very distinctive.

More Zappa please Inca roads is very very good👽👽

All that's required to become a Zappa fan is a love of good music and a superior intellect. Keep sampling, you'll get there. I don't love every single thing he's done, but his music will inspire you to think about what you are hearing, and sometimes succeed in taking you somewhere else for a while. Crank more Frank!

Thanks for playing Zappa - one of the greatest jazz/fusion/rock guitarists who is SO underrated for his music, social commentary, satire and lyrics

Frank didn't care about commercial success, he wrote and played music he liked. He was a musicians, musician, and all the major groups of the late 60's and 70's would visit him at his laurel canyon residence in LA, from the Beatles to Hendrix! One last point.....he hated drugs and demanded all his band members to abstain. There will never be another Frank!

The Zappa Alumni are the greatest musicians that have ever played. They are playing impossible music, flawlessly.

One Size Fits All is one of my fav Zappa albums. It has a nice blend of great music with Zappa's unusual lyrics. I like the balance between the two in this album.

Thanks so much for your reaction, you totally made my day. Many of Frank's songs require multiple listenings.

Kudos to Johnny Guitar Watson for his southern-fried vocals to ground the oddities of The Mothers. Been looking for reactions to this tune for several years and now suddenly I have 6 reaction tabs open for different reactions. This is poignant music for those tired of the mundane.

I've loved this tune since I was around 16yrs old. It's a rhapsody that asks a question every thinking, empathetic, self-aware Human Being should ask themselves. On a side note, Andy Devine was superbly fun in those old westerns.

One of my favorite Zappa recordings. It's hard to believe someone could think up a musical composition as incredible as this. Mind boggling, but that's Frank Zappa for you ....

Is this your first time hearing Zappa? Always remember that he is, first and foremost, a *composer*, and that everything/anything is on the table. Hope that helps it go down easier ;)

Frank. A one of a kind composer, writer,and great musician. Met him several times n NYC, Ct, and elsewhere. Very magical pieces.

I forgot how awesome is this tune. The composition itself , the guitar, the unbelievable drumming by Chester Thompson, the vocal stylings by the great late Johnny Guitar Watson (plus George Duke & Napoleon Murphy Brock) and the incredible musicianship by all the mothers of invention... what can you say? I miss Frank so much!

Thank you guys. One of my favorite albums.

The level of musicianship in Frank’s various bands was through the roof. He drilled them mercilessly. Tough gig, but anyone who played with him automatically became a first call musician.

The magnificent Johnny Guitar Watson, one of Franks best mates supplied 'Flambé' vocals on this track.

There is an entire musical genre called 'Zappa' that most people aren't even aware of.

Love this song! Frank composes EVERY NOTE of his music! He does not waste one note and he is a conductor of his musicians. It may sound chaotic, but it is all just the way he writes it. I would suggest anyone hearing this song look up the lyrics, they are even better! The song, as it say's in the lyrics, is about actor Andy Devine. Oct 07, 1905 - Feb 18, 1977 (age 71)

This is one of his most listenable, if not best albums. After being ostracised in high school in a way for my love of Zappa's music, it's amazing to see today, people reembracing the genius who was Frank Zappa. If you like this, Check out Hot Rats (tracks 1-4 esp), the rest of One Size Fits All (esp this one, Inca Roads and Florentine Pogen), the Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar collection, and when you're ready (DON'T focus on the lyrics, although they're hilarious) Joe's Garage--all of it. That's your primer. Then checkout the couple dozen other albums and if you want to feel like a failure in music, check out G-Spot Tornado. I want to say the time signature is 17/4, but I'm no musician

I've been listening to Zappas music for 35 years. He was self taught in reading music and playing guitar and had a very unique and creative ability to organise sound. There's no mistakes in his music everything is intended. Once one has acclimatised to Zappas music, then one starts to understand the brilliance of it. Johnny Guitar Watson was on lead vocals, he and Frank Zappa were good friends.

I have around 140 Zappa albums, everything released before his death and almost everything past, been a fan for 40+ years, this album is in my top 10 of best albums.

I'm a wildsider, and a serious Zappa fan. This genius composer is for ever inside the evoluziner... I react as you when I listen his works

Wait until you hear "Inca Roads" (it's on the same album, and it will NUKE your brain). It's his most popular "hit" (did I say hit?) I have to figure out how to became a patreon, because I love your reaction on this.

He had many guest vocalists, but he also sang, not much in Andy though. Singers in here (if I'm not mistaken) are Napoleon Murphy Brock, George Duke, and the main singer is Johnny Guitar Watson

I can't quite believe I missed this until now! Another great reaction to a Zappa song! And I can't believe that this was where it all started! You have seen now that this is not the weirdest Zappa song by far!

The zappa reaction to the good zappa and the swirl life like me and my partner earned an immediate subscription. Thanks loves!!

You Just Got Zapped! =)

Recommend checking out the album Sheik Yerbouti. Great to do a full playthrough.

Napoleon Murphy Brock is such a beast. I love his voice so much.

I really enjoyed your reaction video. Also, thank-you for reminding me of this great composition from Zappa's One Size Fits All.

your reaction is so sweet... love it...!... your video is pure... you are so right on point with arguments about the track name or your description about how often have to Listen to it again to "catch it all"... there is so much in it!... a bit like some of these cover artworks... you can listen to his songs a hundred times and instead of boring it becomes more interesting...! thank you for this lovely react...

Another true masterpiece. A truly outrageous composition.

Zappa has been my hero since 1974ish when first heard overnight sensation. That album is a classic like so many of his. So many different bands over the years and all absolutely brilliant. And yes you need to listen to his songs about 100 times to catch everything going on.

Welcome to Zappa's Universe (there's a reference for you) and to be blunt you just did one of his easier songs. This is the "Roxy band", they were about 20 different Frank Zappa bands from 1965 till he stopped recording ~ 1990 and this might have been his best. This is my favorite period of Zappa musical though anything during that entire 25-year period is brilliant.

Haha, great reaction. Welcome to this particular rabbit hole. Dive right in😀

Maybe one of his least weird songs. Chester Thompson's drumming is out of this world on the song. Everything in the song was structured and written first by Zappa, including the time meters and harmony. The musicians always played off his charts.

The song has an unusual but clear form. The singer is Johnny Guitar Watson, a friend of Zappa's.

Fantastic, my youth in one album. You didn't have to march in 4 4 with everyone else. Fucking genius

You got to do this whole album. That's my favorite from Zappa.

My first intro into Zappa was this album and I think it’s one of his more melodic, never gets old, love it, love it, love it.

This is serious listening music. It's not one or two themes to relax to, or party. The changes are abrupt, and often unrelated and out of nowhere, shocking the mind. And the shock of these surprises disturb the concentration necessary to properly experience the music. You can try to concentrate, but your poor brain has to deal with the new and different stuff jammed into one song. So, the 1st listening is different than maybe the 6th or 10th time around. With familiarity, there are no surprises. All this crazy stuff is now anticipated, so the brain can attend to proper listening. Very good and insightful first reaction by this couple.

Somebody out there in that audience knows what we are doing, and that person is getting off on it beyond his/her wildest comprehension. Frank Zappa!!! come on down and get some on ya!

Welcome to Zappa!!! I have 37 of his albums.

For a Zappa album that has more assessable listening wise. The album is called “overnight sensation” which has a bunch of songs that got more radio play. I urge you to check it out

It's still possible to catch this brilliance live (once live shows resume). His son, Dweezil, has taken up the mantle to carry Frank's music into the future. I saw one of the Zappa does Zappa shows a couple of years ago in Austin (Mohawk!). Absolutely stunning. A stage full of virtuoso's. Dweezil is an amazing player. They could do this song exactly as you heard it. Eric Johnson sat in for a couple of numbers and was soooo lost! Easily one of the top 5 shows I've ever seen, and that's saying something.

Zappa's definitely in another universe. They are so intense and complex. The only other band that has slight similarities and possibly influenced by Frank Zappa was Max Webster.. Nowhere near the amount of instruments but definitely an off kilter sound.

Didn't know until I checked the date stamp how old this reaction was. You guys came a long way in a year. Sifa, to his kid's names, he was often questioned about this and usually answered it was their last names that would get them in trouble

Me and my mate Andy used to lie around his flat in Dublin, Ireland where we're from and smoke a ton of hash and listen to this track and pretend Frank had written it for him. Then we'd listen to everything else we had by Frank, and to this day nothing is different. Frank is hands down the greatest musical genius of the 20th century, and now that you've started you cannot stop. There's a universe of Frank to discover. Best of luck!

My son, who last year turned 18, said although Frank liked to throw a spanner in the works of convention, and on first hearing it, it sounds totally chaotic, actually, there isn't a single note out of place. Same is true of Inca Roads.

You've taken your first step into a larger world

Awesome video. You’ve gotta do Inca Roads!!!!

Roses are red violets are blue when I listen to Zappa, my Neighbors do too. 🎼🎼🎼🎼 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸

Andy Divine In all those old westerns Comic relief Great voice

Po’jamma People on this album is pretty accesible rock blues with verse and chorus and a killer solo. But Frank didn’t keep to one style or type of music. Also you may hear about conceptual continuity. This is a term Zappa used about his music. Very often jokes, themes, melodies would appear and reappear on many of his albums.

One of my favorite albums

Had to revisit where it all started again 😎

everything was planned. he wrote everything. every single note for every instrumment. no drugs or alcohol involved.

This entire album is excellent, one of the most musically solid of all his works... you might as well do Po-jama People if you haven't already, also Florentine Pogen and San Berdino are quite nice

One of his master pieces, and I say one because I believe he had many. One is The Grand Wazoo. It is just over 13 minutes long so it may be too lengthy for a reaction video but it is an amazing piece of music in my opinion. Another of his that I have listened to many many times is The Adventures of Greggery Peccary. At 19 minutes long, it has a lot going on. Well worth it in my opinion.

Great reaction. Your mind has been officially blown. So good to see. Welcome to the club.

Vocals by Johnny Guitar Watson, one of Frank's Guitar heroes.

Anecdote : on est 1982 - j’ai 21 ans - je vais voir le concert à St Étienne (France) - nous sommes en avance, en dehors de la salle et nous écoutons les répétitions, nous entendons des chansons, nous entrons en salle et nous entendons d’autres chansons ou des versions totalement différentes, un semaine plus tard, je vais le voir à Metz, à nouveau un autre concert, et à nouveau le répertoire ou les versions ont changé. Les musiciens ne connaissaient la liste des chansons qu’une heure avant. Ils partaient en tournée avec plus de 200 chansons répétées en 2 mois. Une pure folie. La salle de concert était son deuxième studio, tous les solos de guitare d’album studio sont des enregistrements live qu’il colle comme il veut, il testait ses morceaux en live avant de les mettre dans les albums.

The journey never ends

I love his interviews also

One day, I hope that you will make a "Andy" second reaction. It could be very interesting. You were less lasy at this first ;)

Frank had very little vocals on this song Mostly The Great George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Johnny Guitar Watson, and even Jean Luc Ponty sang some of the high parts Frank surrounded himself with amazing musicians and wrote songs to push them for people who were bored with mainstream plastic music He made all sorts of music over his 100 or so albums with dozens and dozens of legendary musicians and Virtuoso's like Steve Vai

Seldom mentioned album, the PERSUASIONS did an album of Zappa songs 🎵 . A tribute.

FRANK ZAPPA IS THE BEST!!

A first class composer... Not a "songwriter". For Frank, lyrics were more a vehicle for vocal gymnastics. Occasionally the message was a political or human failing to be examined but almost an afterthought. He is an acquired taste. Inca Roads is another excellent piece of Frank's musical genius.

ANDY will make you feel funky,,then sick, then putrid,,then melodic, then broken ,then...........

"Have i aligned with a blown mind? Wasted my time on a drawn blind?"

Back in the day we played albums and sat there with the album cover, which we read over and over. If you guys had the album cover some of your questions would be answered, like who is singing and the like.

If Frank Zappa would have been alive now. He would have had so much material when Donald Trump was president. He could easily make 3-4 records based just on what he said and the consecrations he said has had. Frank was such a genius about finding an unjust topic to write about. With his weird sense of humor, may he RIP

Zappa Fan Forever , saw him in 1973 live ,Brilliant good review

It is always so much fun to see first-time Zappa experience reactions!! I also see that you have a couple of other Zappa reactions on here so I see you're already beginning the journey!! In your spare time you might want to check out the documentary "Zappa" bike director Alex Winters!! I didn't scroll through the comments but being a lifetime Zappa fan since around 1974, I will tell you that what seems like utter disorganized playing of music was actually written Note 4 Note, for every instrument in the Band, by Frank Zappa!! As you will find out from your journey Frank was a musical genius!!

Frank had lots of vocalists. Frank didn't sing on that song that I recall. Nice job.

This one I feel is signature Zappa.. Obviously it is all written composed by him, sheet music at its best..lol

You two ought to try something a little less 'dense,' you would have been less inundated with a song like Pojama People, from the same album. I would also suggest Cosmik Debris, Muffin Man, or I'm The Slime, fairly simple songs by FZ standards, but all have his stamp on them. There is also the instrumental only Zappa, where his guitar does the singing. Watermelon in Easter Hay, Apostrophe', or Black Napkins are good places to start. You say you like to explore all genres, well, FZ did too, and you can find everything from blues to reggae in his repertoire. I hope you try another soon, and if you really want to get a strong taste of Zappa, listen to an entire album, they all have a flow that adds to each song as it relates to the whole album.

Look for interview with Frank and Moon Unit Zappa on Late Nith with David Latterman.

I ❤ this song and album and fz

Miles Davis considered himself the king maker of jazz because of the many great jazz men who came out of his bands. He literally referred to himself that way and for good reason. (this gets to Zappa in a sec). Here's a partial list of the jazz giants who came out of Miles' bands over the decades: John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Chick Corea, and John McLaughlin. Though Zappa never took credit for being a king maker of rock (to my knowledge), that's part of his legacy. Zappa, like Miles, had band members who shuffled through and went on to headline other groups or work solo. They include Steve Vai, George Duke, Jon Luc Ponty, Adrian Belew, Lowell George, Roy Estrada, Tony Bozzio, Patrick O'Hearn, and Chester Thompson.

First heard Andy live in '74. I can still remember the green lights coming straight down upon the members of the band during the hard drum parts. The light show was nearly as good as the music. And do you know who Andy Devine is? Go back and listen to the rhythm parts. First follow the rhythm guitar.

Vocals: Napoleon Murphy Brock, George Duke and Frank Zappa. FZ was a Genius :{> please check out Chicago Poem 58 from The Transit Authority Album featuring TERRY KATH ON GUITAR.

Frank sings lead on Po-Jama People, Evelyn, and the German vocal on Sofa no.2 The album was released in 1975 and Frank had already made 15 albums by that point.

Once you get familiar with this stuff you'll realize how great it is. The band is as tight live as the studio recordings. Roxy and Elsewhere would be a good album to hear them live. The band members change quite often too. His kids are Moon, Dweezil Ahmet and there is a fourth I can't recall. Don't let this crazy stuff put you off of Zappa. He does have some raunchy stuff but if you stick to this time period you'll get a better grip on what he's about. Just expect the unexpected and you'll be fine. I was fortunate enough to see him three times. First at The Palladium in '77 (I think you know where that is) then New Orleans then Baton Rouge.

You go deep into Zappa you get subbed. He's a genius. We had this bus in Gibson County... club weird!

There were mucho lead singers notably George Duke, Flo and Eddie, and Napoleon Murphy- Brock.