@AirplayBeats reacts to Frank Zappa - Inca Roads Like comment and subscribe patreon.com/user?u=81569817 Airplay Beats 3609 Bradshaw Rd Ste H #337 Sacramento, CA 95827 Www.Airplaybeats.com
George Duke on vocals is superb, and you are hearing Ruth Underwood on the marimba and percussion. The more you listen to him, the more you will see that Zappa'a music is a genre unto itself. And no, Zappa got very little radio play, he was too far afield from the pop music mentality.
It's funny how some people think he was a sloppy guitarist, not realizing it was all intentional, that he didn't feel constrained to beats or scales or thirds or fifths and such... most will politely call him "avant garde" but man, he knew just what he was doing, and the result was some of the most amazing music of his time or any other for that matter
The guy loved improvising. In an interview he said "playing a solo is me against the laws of nature. I don't know what I'm going to do but I roughly know how long I have to do it. I have a piece of time and I get to decorate it." He also said with an intuitive backing band, in a live setting,you can hear a band do things that are literally impossible to imagine. But you can see it live before your eyes when a good band knows how to improvise well together. What an amazing way to look at playing music
I can't tell you how much I love watching young people learn FZ music. I'm 67 and been doing FZ for 50 years. This would never have been played on the radio. FZ was underground for his whole career. He is BRILLIANT AND THAT IS THAT. TY
I enjoy reaction videos for their bridging of generational gaps and the validation that music you thought was cool as a youth turns out to be cool to many of the bright young folks of today. [EDIT: I should have just typed "Ditto" under your comment.]
Yup, all the little "noise ad-in's" were not studio production. They were recorded live and played by the band members with instruments, whistles, bells, horns, whatever it took for just the right sound.
Saw them several times back in the late 70s /early 80s Along time ago, but Frank and the Band were Sensational!!! They could do it Live on stage!!!! WTF!!! X
And one thing. I saw Frank 5 times in 7 days. They played this song each time and Franks guitar solos were all different. And all good. This set him apart.
Frank was a genius! George Duke once said Frank would take 2 pieces of music that didn't belong together and force them to fit. His composition and style are like nothing else.
Yeah, I loved how he took music that didn't get played together and fused it. One of my many favorites is Cleetus Awreetus Awrightus from The Grand Wazoo. Here he puts brass into his music in a way that I hadn't heard before and I loved it. Especially how he had some of the brass players "squeak" and "honk" their horns in a fasion you never hear in a traditional piece.
The first time that I saw Frank Zappa this was the song that started out the show in March 1974 in Portland Oregon and it sounded exactly like this version where the basic track is live.
There was no one like Frank Zappa. He was very strange and so was his music. But it was a good strange if that makes sense. We lost Frank way too soon. But his music will go on forever. ❤❤
See the video of them playing this live. One of his more complex pieces - about the Incas building landing strips for aliens. You would see a good demonstration of how great Ruth Underwood was, also vocalist / keyboard player George Duke, who later had a career as a record producer. Notice Frank's pre-VanHalen use of his pick to tap notes on the guitar neck during the solo.
@@clemigula4228 Yup, all the little studio effects are not added in, they are done with live instruments "on-cue" by Frank conducting with a jump, or a point.
This is basically a live recording with overdubs. The guitar solo is from another concert, though. The rest is on the A Token of My Extreme concert and you should absolutely check it out!
My suggestion for your next Frank Zappa listen would be the first track of the 1974 Apostrophe album. It's one track comprised of four titles that nowadays is being generally refered to as the Yellow Snow Suite. A composition in four parts with four distinctive titles: Don't Eat The Yellow Snow / Nanook Rubs It / St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast / Father O'Blivion. It is a very entertaining piece that show's off a bit more of Zappa's story telling abilities. I really think you guys, as well as your viewers, will enjoy the song. I certainly would like to hear what your comments are for this recording.
Songs like this demonstrate that Zappa wasn't just a musician, or a songwriter, he was a composer. Everything that happens here was written down, note for note. Nothing random in a Zappa tune, except of course, his guitar solos.
When you speak of "production" keep in mind much of what he did was taken from live sessions and worked with after. Here's more detail of how they worked the song into existance: The song starts with dominant vocals, drums, and marimba, but soon features a guitar solo performed by Zappa in late September 1974 at a live performance in Helsinki, Finland. An edited version of this solo recording (and part of the bass and drums accompaniment) was "grafted" onto a performance of the song from August 27, 1974 at KCET in Los Angeles. This combination of performances forms the backbone of the album version from One Size Fits All. Later, George Duke plays an equally complex solo in 7/16. In the video of the KCET performance, entitled A Token of His Extreme, Zappa is seen smiling gleefully as Duke plays his solo, as he plays the backup chords. After a short marimba solo, "Inca Roads" reprises its snappy intro. The song ends with the lyrics "On Ruth, on Ruth, that's Ruth!", acknowledging Underwood for her leading on the marimba.[6] In an interview vocalist and keyboard player George Duke said that Zappa pushed for him to sing on "Inca Roads" and that beforehand Duke had no intentions of singing professionally and was only there to play keyboards. He went on to explain how Zappa had bought him a synthesizer (an instrument which Duke had disliked) and told him he could play around with it if he wanted. This led to Duke playing the synth part on "Inca Roads" as well. Prince did a lot of his work alone in studio and occasionally added musicians, Zappa always worked with others as his complexity needed the interplay. Then of course comes the richness of using live recordings as a basis for studio magic.
and all the production in the world wouldn't help if you don't have great musical ideas and great players. And when you get fluent in various genres, they all just become part of you, in that you don't think, "lets put a jazz thing here or a rock thing here", you just make your music and let others describe it afterwards. But as some one said, Farnk Zappa was his own genre. Peace, you guys are great!
Very important point(s). And "Building" a song, production wise, was quite different with 'destructive' editing and working with live performances. No Ableton or Garage Band for those boys.
There's a live version of this where you can see Napoleon Murphy Brock on flute totally in sync with Ruth Underwood on marimba doing that melody you were talking about. In case you don't know the marimba can be described as a big wooden xylophone.
Frank persuaded George Duke to try singing which he hadn't done before. Zappa always wanted to know what his players were capable of doing apart from their main instrument.
I had the pain/pleasure of trying to get this tune right every night for a couple of weeks straight while on tour with Ike Willis and Ray White. There was one part in particular that I was having trouble with (on drums) and I remember finally "getting it" and singing the section to Ike backstage prior to going on, and Ike giving me a great big hug. Very difficult but very rewarding, like most of Zappa's music.
Let's not forget the incredible contribution of Ruth Underwood on percussion, including marimba and vibraphone. Stunning work! And of course Chester Thompson, my all-time favourite drummer, KILLS IT! Along with Tom Fowler on bass. This entire album is a masterpiece. You guys should react to the song 'Andy' ... my favourite Zappa song on my favourite Zappa album. Cheers!
Zappa was a lot like Steely Dan. Zappa also worked with numerous musicians in the studio and touring. When I hear the name Zappa, I instantly think of listening to him on 8 track.
This entire track is from two live sources with some vocal overdubs. This is not a feat of production- this is what the band sounds like live and this is what they actually played on that night in 1974. The guitar solo is one live performance (shortened from the actual performance). Zappa’s bands were sick!
Love listening and watching you guys reactions and especially frank zappa 's compositions. I been a fan of his ever since I first heard his stuff in my early teens in the 70's. He always did have the best of the best musicians and all of them became renowned for their abilities. Great viewing you guys
God bless George Duke on lead vocals and keys! So perfect! Also, thank you, guys, for listening to the audio-track from the record rather than the live video. That video, which is great for the live performance parts, also includes this very long, chaotic "Claymation" section that is just bizarre and distracts from the excellence of the playing, in my opinion. Or, it's fine for a little while but just keeps going on and on and getting more weird as it goes. The non-video version of this song is much better. Thank you! I love Zappa! This song also has Chester Thompson on drums, I believe. I love that era of Zappa, with Chester and George included. Amazing!
The music stands on its' own absolutely but these guys minds would be blown on a whole new level seeing George and Napoleon MB singing those complex vocal parts and would probably explode watching Ruths' virtuosity on percussion. I personally love the claymation.
There is a great video of them playing this live. Unbelievable stuff! Frank writes it all and then they practice it forever until they get it right. Genre defying. About aliens and the famous Inca Roads in Peru.
You should check out the live version of this, it will blow your mind. The musicianship of this particular iteration of his band was on a whole different level.
Frank is the best but beg to differ there are musicians out there making this kind of fearless music ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cAozbX4yt_4.htmlsi=cOwSnPflJiHEKmcK
Hey guys from Ned in Spain. Frank Zappa was totally unique, started as a drummer but from the beginning he was experimenting and learning to create " difficult " music. All of his musicians had to bring their best or it was adios. Beer, coffee and cigarettes were OK but NO DRUGS. My favorite things on this are ...EVERYTHING. Tom Fowler sets his bass neck on fire, Chester Thompson on drums makin miracles, Ruth Underwood's percussion is so precise and fast that you think its another keyboard, George Dukes vox and keys solo....are there words for it ? and of course FZ on guitar is just totally original and transforming sound. This is Zappa and the Mothers at their peak.
I had the privilege of growing up at just the right time, I got to see Frank and his virtuoso level bands all throughout his career. You can't get any better than George Duke, Ruth Underwood is one of a kind, and it doesn't matter what drummer(s) he has in his band, they are mindblowing yet each with their own styles. I have been playing drums for 60 years now and Zappa's music and that of Mahavishnu were the master classes if you could approach them. Still are. Zappa's UFO song! Having seen one, I love it!
I've probably listened to this song thousands of times and it never gets tired. There's so much interplay between Tom Fowler on bass and Chester Thompson on drums, and Fowler playing off Frank during his solo... the 'ah ah ah' part after the solo is magical... then the George Duke solo is amazing on top. Really unique way of incorporating synth in live performance. One of the best recordings ever.
It's nice to listen to a favorite piece of music together with other folks. Thank you for the reaction! I like your anology with Prince - another genius. I like your top five too, mine with four other Zappa songs in :) This here is a brilliant masterpiece. I like the live version too, but here the voice of GDuke is more crystal (Not Frank, George and Napoleon on vocals) and Frank's guitar solo is just fenomenal - literally UN-BELIEVABLE, with all intriguing elements, including the Bulgarian bagpipe sounding at the end of the solo (actually, the per se solo was recorded live). And each and every's musicians performance is so wonderful - in full sync and harmony. Good job guys, enjoy more!
There is a live performance video of Inca Roads with claymation that will blow your mind. George Duke on keys Chester Thompson on drums and the phenomenal Ruth Underwood on marimba. Check it out! It's great. Chester Thompson played with Genesis and Phil Collins too. You saw him on the In the Air Tonight live video.
Some would think that was just a bunch of musicians throwing together in a jam session, but Frank wrote every note for every instrument. Although he would write stuff that was impossible Steve Vai proofed a lot of Frank's music and helped correct it.
You must watch the live recording "Frank Zappa - Inca Roads (A Token Of His Extreme)," recorded on August 27, 1974, at KCET in Hollywood. It will answer a lot of questions. Also, keep in mind that Frank was never about the lyrics. He's a composer by default and didn't get into a band until seven years after he began his career.
So many good comments already. I'll just add how much I enjoyed that reaction. You guys take this music seriously and that's much appreciated. Oh, and Frank's solo is in my top 10 of great guitar solos. So beautifully constructed, so many variations and changes, and a wonderful sense of melody. Thanks!
This is one of my favorite Zappa albums. Thanks for doing this song. The solo passage was Ruth Underwood on perc., Napoleon Murphy Brock on flute and George Duke on synth all playing in unison. Frank loved to layer. Zappa would rehearse his groups from 4 to 6 months straight 8 hours a day (and pay them) before going on tour. Later in life George Duke reminisced, "We could play ANYTHING"
Great reaction guys! Every song on this album is just so good! . Frank always has the BEST musicians. George Duke and the WHOLE band just slay this composition. Ruth Underwood on percussion and xylophone. Just fkn brilliant. The song is about a spaceship landing strip in the Ande mountains. Go online and check it out! Oh , btw, goin to see YES tonight in Clearwater FL
Frank is having a satirical dig at the "Chariots of the Gods" type alien conspiracy theories about the Nazca lines in Peru and to some extent the sort of prog rock songs of the era which bought into that type of bs. Of course as usual he did it with the most amazing musicianship. Everybody has their favourite line up but I think the band on this album really took some beating.
Somebody beat me to it; I was going to request this! The song is based on the book “Chariots of the Gods,” which theorizes that the Nazca Lines in Perú were placed there by the natives to guide UFOs in landing. Some random facts: This was Zappa’s favorite Zappa album. Zappa’s favorite guitarists were Jeff Beck and Johnny “Guitar” Watson. Johnny was in this band and sings on several tracks (“Andy” is a good one). The great George Duke is the keyboard wizard and the singer here. Duke’s “Reach For It” was a real big hit on black radio in the late 70s. One of my favorite GD tracks is “Love,” which features Zappa on guitar. It wouldn’t get too many views but you guys would love “Love!”
Frank was the writer, conductor, producer, musician, philosopher, poet, comedian ect. all rolled up in one!! When i finally gave in and let myself really listen to Frank… well, it took years to finally be able to appreciate anything else I listened to!! And then started traveling around seeing Dweezil Zappa and Zappa plays Zappa keeping this genius’s music alive!! Now of course, greed ended that great deed!!🤯❤️
Hot Rats and Overnite Sensation are two of my favorite Zappa albums. Amazing musicianship. Rats is jazzy, Overnite is funky, both completely brilliant and unique.
Great job Guys. I was 14 when this album came out. To answer your question. George Duke is the singer. Also George on Electric Piano. And this is a Monster Album that you may want to check out. Theirs also a great back story. When George was still a Mother. Frank bought a synth gave it George, and said just play with it. I personally place this Album in his Top 5 Greatest Frank Albums. You guys are great. I never miss your videos. Enjoy the ride guys. And guys when you hit that jazz bridge. All of those sounds are from George Duke.
Prince and Frank share some striking similarities. Cut from the same cloth. Both multi instrumentalists. Both precocious talents. Both left endless vaults of music and both put together a vast catalog while alive.
Top-shelf Zappa. Might be my favirite solo of his. Sublime tone, and his phrasing is so unique. He builds and sustains tension like no other guitarist I have ever heard. When he finally releases it here and there, a flood of sweet relief. Painfully beautiful music.
You must already know, guys, that In the part where you comment about the flute and the synth playing in sync, it's actually Napoleon Murphy Brock on the flute and Ruth Underwood on the xylophone.
Frank didn't drink or do drugs but he loved cigarettes. Remember Frank is a composer first and foremost, then a transcriber and finally a rock star. Has 61 albums
Frank wrote every single instrument part for his songs and he would give the studio musicians sheet music that they would play. Although they jammed a lot, this was not just a jam session.
With George Duke, who had a great career on his own later. Also with Chester Thompson, who played with Weather Report later, and again later with Genesis and Phil Collins for a long time.
EVERY SONG is a MASTERPIECE by this band....and: it's fun to watch his son, Dweezil Zappa, when he was performing Zappa Plays Zappa - SO GOOD! The technicality of MANY of their pieces will COMPLETELY BLOW YOUR MIND and leave you SPEECHLESS!! VERY UNIQUE and GENIUS!! ❤
