My dad tracked him down after a concert and knocked on his trailer. Star struck, he tried to give Zappa a hug. Zappa declined and said, “woah man I’m not Bowie!” Rofl
I respect Frank Zappa as a person more than most musical artists. He's a wonderful conversationalist and seems like a "real", good, sensible guy. From what I hear, he has raised a great, tight, supportive family.
Frank's demeanor toward this interviewer is very tame, probably because the interviewer is european and asking legit questions vs contrived loaded bullshit.
Zappa is wearing a Yle TV companys show ”Iltatähti” (night star) T-shirt. Iltatähti was a finnish pop/rock music TV show. YLE is doing the interview that is why they zoom to the shirt it must have been a great deal to the crew.
3:50 exactly why I'm learning jazz. The harmonic possibilities and variety that are present in jazz is a great teacher. While chords in "standard position" do get used, in some settings (such as piano comping) it's not usually the case, the chords are spread out on both hands, leading to interesting voicings.
The piano in jazz tends to use standard voicings also. They’re just different from the standard voicings used in rock. When two hands are available (when the left isn’t comping for the right hand) the piano has more flexibility than the guitar, but it still has severe limitations. Art, however, is working with imagination within limitations. Without limitations there can be no art. Even the orchestra has limitations, especially the winds. It’s a bit of a trick to get a wind chord to balance. You can’t just voice it any old which way. It’ll never sound.
See, I would have gone with Them or Us, One Size Fits All, or the infamous '71 Fillmore East album. Of course there's always Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe. Or Sheik Yerbouti which was great.
Was that around the 4 minute mark? Where he's talking about making basic building blocks interesting? I felt that too. He explains my internal thoughts so effectively
OH MY GOD!! He managed to step outside of his time and have totally genuine clear opinions that will ring clear and true forever. I don't think the interviewer really appreciates what's being said, but can you blame him? There are so few people who have credibilty outside of the time they lived in. Zappa was one.
Love Frank - and man he always loved his cigarettes. He called tobacco his "green leafy vegetable" - and he really seemed to dispute that they were harmful to health - which is about the one and only thing where I always disagreed with him. I managed to quit back in the 80's after less than a decade of smoking - but even long before any surgeon general warnings on packs - people knew they were bad for you. When my dad served in the U.S. Navy during WW 2 - he did not really like them but would buy packs just to hand them out to be sociable - but even way back in 1942 people referred to them as "coffin nails".
It's amazing, to listen to Frank talk about the actual 'music' as 'density, color' etc. of the pieces he wrote, that's where you can hear the difference between Zappa and most of the rest of the world...wowie...zowie!!!
Love it! Thanks so much for posting this video. God why'd he have to leave us so soon? With the body of work he created in thirty years can you imagine what another thirty years could have produced? Heavy sigh...oh, and by the way, lol...Born in Pomona here. EEEK!
seriously I never used to listen to zappa but now I could say his amazing and a tastefully musically sence of humor which makes his music pore interesting RIP frank zappa you said in one of your last interviews that you wouldn't like to be remember but guess what you will always be remember
Always knew who he was but never listened to his music much. However i am addicted to listening to interviews of him right now. What a focused and insightful guy.
Frank Zappa had a truly honest and inspiring personality which he easily transfered over to his music. Wether you agree with his thinking or even like his music you still must respect him.
i miss him too. ppl say that you never forget where you were when you heard kennedy was dead. its the same for me with zappa. watching the news getting ready for college. that was a sad day.
He was in my dream last night, came to my house and told me that he wants me to join his band and that we leave to start touring that night. It was pretty intense!
Actually, he used the Wah pedal rather unconventionally, while most people at that time were using it by pulsing, he would leave it at a certain point to achieve his unique sound.
He might have not cared about being *generally* accepted, he sure as hell was concerned about commercial aspects. All his bands, except early Mothers, were run like businesses, with musicians on contracts and sallaries. In the late 80's he was openly admitting he's into rock/touring only to be able to finance projects he was really interested in, mainly orchestral music. He also didn't care about lyrics and said he was writing it only because there's not enough audience for instrumental music.
@greenfruitface Actuaully they changed t-shirts before the interview. So Frank is wearing a t-shirt of the interviewer, and the interviewer is wearing Frank's shirt.
thanks for this. this is now my favorite zappa interterview. as jemba said, it shows a lack of arrogance, in that he tended very strongly to respond to honesty... honestly, while still tending to "play" with his answers (which i understand entirely). check the mike douglas clip... he's completely decent, even though he's sitting with people a lot of his contemporaries would have mocked openly (even making a move toward jimmie walked when he alone gets the "old favorites joke).
America doesn't seem to care to know who its native composers are (Hanson, Sessions, Piston, Becker, Thompson, Harris, Carter, Rorem, Cowell, Ruggles, Partch, Nancarrow, Ives, Cage, Wolff, Feldman, Persichetti, Dello Joio, Schuman, Schuller, Hovhaness, Bernstein, etc.). Frank Zappa is among great company. But like he said: "most people wouldn't know music if it came up and bit them on the ass!"
Oh yes he will... He will probably be remembered as the greatest musician of the late 20'th century. And he was a very influential guitarrist. Some say that he brought the wah pedal into standard use, among other things.
It's interesting watching various Zappa interviews and seeing how "normal" he is. Despite the "freak" image and the "scary, freaky" music he doesn't really fit the stereotype of the difficult genius artist who's supposed to be all hostile, pugnacious , mumbly and difficult dealing with the media interview. He's eloquent, charming, polite, funny. A great man who's mark will be felt for a long, long time.
I was lucky enough to meet Frank Zappa. It was after one of his concerts at Duke University. This was in 1975. I was at the right place at the right time. I told him how much I enjoyed his concert and music. He shook my hand and thanked me. There's more to the story. But, it was a moment in my lifetime that I will never forget
Whn I first started learning, one of the first songs I was ever taught was "Florentine Pogen" and when people ask me to teach them a good song - thats usually the first one I show them. Its nice and easy
I got to be a part of his concert I think around 1977-1980 just not sure on the year at the LSU stadium that they call The House that Pete Maravich Built. He stopped the concert to have a conversation with me cause I was caught in the middle of a drug bust as an innocent(not so innocent)bystander. Really cool at the time. Still is as a nice memory to reflect on.
great interview by an unquestionably great artist. yeah different with his jazz/rock fusion, ahead of the others, and then that attitude. he was what he was, even till the end.
