Had to come here after news of my father's passing because Frank Zappa was one of my dad's favorite singers and this song in particular always makes me think of him. I know so much about Zappa and the Mothers thanks to him. This song in particular was one of his favorites, one he and I would always sing together when I was growing up with a lot of laughs. my dad would always would jokingly say he sang this song about my godfather 😂 Thanks for the great taste in music, old man. Rest in peace, I'm gonna miss you so much. Now that I have a record player of my own I'm definitely gonna buy a copy of Sheik Yerbouti in your memory.
Absolutely, but you know, he would just be banned, in this day in age. I can't even imagine what it would be like for George Carlin, if he were still alive. lmao They both would have their work cut out for them to last a few lifetimes.
Man, oh man. My favorite song by Frank, and on one of my favorite albums by ANYONE (though Frank's Live At The Roxy and Elsewhere actually tops it). This song just gets more and more relevant every day, doesn't it??
Bob Dylan was name-checked on the cover of "Freak Out!" (1966) under the heading "These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them". "Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' was a monster record. I heard that thing and I was jumping all over the car. And then when I heard the one after that, 'Like a Rolling Stone', I wanted to quit the music business, because I felt: 'If this wins and it does what it's supposed to do, I don't need to do anything else', but it didn't do anything. It sold; but nobody responded to it the way that they should have. (...) It didn't happen right away, and I was a little disappointed. I figured, 'Well, shit, maybe it needs a little reinforcing." - Frank Kofsky interviews FZ, 1968) "As for Dylan, 'Highway 61 Revisited' was really good. Then we got 'Blonde on Blonde' and it started to sound like cowboy music, and you know what I think of cowboy music." - Playboy-interview (1993) Bob Dylan visited FZ on December 22, 1982, showing up at FZ's door, in the freezing cold, to play some songs on the piano; he asks FZ if he would produce an album (what turned out to be "Infidels") for him. Dylan did not get in touch with FZ after that; "Infidels" was produced by Bob Dylan & Mark Knopfler and released in 1983. "Flakes", a song on FZ's Sheik Yerbouti album, contains a Dylan parody, with guitarist Adrian Belew doing the Dylan "voice". FZ asks in the background, "Wanna buy some Mandies, Bob?". Mandies is slang for no longer manufactured British Methaqualone based tablets Mandrax which were similar to Quaaludes.
This was more of a tribute if you ask me. Bob & Frank didn't hate eachother I think. Bob mentioned Frank on his 'knocked out loaded' album. Frank was the better composer & Bob the better writer. No need to hate on either one.
Simon Robeyns Supposedly they talked about working together at one point. If there were such a thing as a musical absolute dictator, I would've made Dylan and Beefheart do something together.
Dylan actually showed up uninvited to Zappa's house around this period and played him his new songs to see if Zappa would produce it. He wound up using Mark Knopfler and the album became Infidels.
The practice and skill that was required to play with frank was next level. He was a workaholic and a perfectionist. Those two had separate niches and not complementary with one another. Franks best in my opinion were the least windy albums of the '60s to '74. He couldn't make the cut on any of Frank's band line ups.
LOL I was just thinking that.. "Iama moron and this is my wife..." "we're millions and millions and we're comin to get ya.." the prophecy has been fufilled..
Thank Frank everday for standing up to polititians wives that would have censored our music. Who else would stand up and battle the surpreme court of justice in USA for free speech on his own dime
Zappa and Dee Snyder came out loaded for fucking bear. And dismantled every sensational piece of hysteria w utter grace, beauty, and undeniability. I don’t think congress took them seriously. And the social observer w the knack for seeing through bullshit and the Transvestit destroyed.
I'm a Christian and I shared this story with my old pastor's wife and she laughed out loud after some encounter with "flakes." Of course, we're Lutheran, so we're a bit more "loosened up" and confident of God's Grace. I can say that on the outer fringes of his cynicism, I parted ways with Frank a bit even though I am a lifelong fan. Many of the things he lampooned I appreciated him lampooning. And I can't begin to fathom his musical genius. I think he was really "on to something" as an artist when he tried to express his inner life musically without playing guitar solos "by rote." This may be my own interpretation, but I took him to mean that if he played a solo note-for-note, it would no longer flow from his inner being and from his creativity, but rather would constitute a kind of selling-out. And he let his inner imagination flow without drugs and alcohol, which makes him even more intriguing to me.
This man should have been president God bless Frank zappa he was was a true Hero not a War hero sad he could not do more but what more could we ask I just think he's the man who could have done a lot for the world 🤪
Well, the toilet went crazy Yesterday afternoon The plumber he says "Never flush a tampoon!" At least that's what I've been singing along to for the last 32 years.
As I went to grab a sample of wastewater and checked the sampler strainer for blockages I would always have to unwrap the tampons from it. I couldn't, even with a monumental effort of will, keep from having "Well, the toilet went crazy Yesterday afternoon The plumber he says "Never flush a tampon!" This great information Cost me half a week's pay And the toilet blew up Later on the next day ay-eee-ay Blew up the next day WOO-OOO" from playing in my head. Women flush tampons. One hell of a lot of them.
Another one from Sheik Yerbouti, this one showing the endlessly humorous side of Zappa - and Belew, who’s imitation of Bob Dylan here is priceless. Belew tells the story: 'I was hanging out at Frank’s house one night and he was showing me some music that he would be teaching the band next week and he was writing a song called Flakes. When he played it for me it sounded like a really bad folk song so I started making fun of it. I started singing ‘I asked as nice as I could if my job would…’ and he said ‘That’s it!’”. I can’t tell what’s funnier here, Belew’s Dylan or the harmonica part. (inconclusive)
I wonder what Bob Dylan made of this? It’s a first rate impersonation. Apparently, they got on well enough, but Frank wasn’t impressed by his conversion. One day Bob visited Frank’s house to talk about him possibly producing his Infidels album (nothing came of it) when Frank’s dog started growing at Bob. Frank said drolly, “He doesn’t like Christians.”
What is the beef that Frank had with Californian plumbers? I am intrigued as I live in Sheffield UK and I am a plumber. I featured this song in a recent upload re stupidity of people flushing things down the toilet that they really shouldn't. I think that the stupidity of the general population is being ridiculed. Quite rightly so.
Ed Mann ?? No. It is indeed Adrian Belew. Ed Mann did this impersonation (spelling? I'm French) on stage after Adrian left for the Bowie band ("Maybe you should stay with your David" - Brussels, February 26th 1978)
Once the song gets passed three minutes it rocks. I'm a moron and this is my wife. She's froasting a cake with a paper knife. Everything here is American made. It looks abit cheesy but is proudly displayed. Shiek Yerboti rocks, probably somewhere next ot Joe's Garage ^_^. Or somewhere on the same level.
That's why I used to repair my own bikes cars and anything else, plumbers are taking the piss, the government pay them to teach apprentices and charge a ridiculous amount of money,
I seem to remember reading that Zappa rated Joe's Garage as maybe his best. Maybe it's because I'm British but, I've never been able to get on with the majority of those three albums. I have a number of contenders for the best start to finish Zappa album but, If a gun was at my head, Sheik may take the Rosetta. It's true, there are elements of Zappa's oeuvre that are absent from the album: Avante Classical and Jazz.... but it does contain very strong examples of most of his other styles. Overall I personally prefer my Zappa dished up as instrumental over all: either guitar based or experimental / avante. Give me Uncle Meat, Big Swifty or Rat Tomago over Dinah Moe Hum and Crew Slut any day of the week. However I do like a lot of Zappa's "song based" numbers as well. I think that perhaps the strongest and most consistent collection of these "song based" numbers are found on Sheik. People may disagree but there is a big difference between the satire of a Bobby Brown or Jewish Princess and the outright puerile for the sake of it nastiness of Dinah Moe Hum and Crew Slut.......or is that just me being British again? To me it's the difference between wit and satire versus the kind of doggerel found on a stag night when the machismo is running high.
No way, Grand Wazoo, Lumpy Gravey, weasels ate my flesh, burnt weenie sandwich, hot rats, Waka jawaka, chunga's revenge, apostrophe, or 200 motels in my opinion are some of the best examples of musical genius in the 20th century.
Dylan actually showed up uninvited to Zappa's house around this period and played him his new songs to see if Zappa would produce it. He wound up using Mark Knopfler and the album became Infidels.
It's hard to believe sometimes that he's been gone nearly two decades. Brilliant, funny stuff. By the way, did anyone notice how much he looks like Alice Cooper in one of those photos?
@@lightbulbsun it's a great story. At whiskey a go go Frank wanted to see him preform live. Alice go on stage infront of about 400 people. Within a few minutes the room was completely void of anyone with the exception of employees. Frank said anyone that could clear a room like that he had to sign.
