Hey Rob, Robert Martin here, member of Zappa's band for every tour from '81 on. It's interesting to watch a classically trained musician react to Frank's music. I studied horn at Curtis, but I also toured and recorded with the great Etta James for fifteen years, among many others. Watching you as you're listening, I can tell you "get it" in terms of a deeper understanding of a variety of genres, beyond many "classical" musicians' comprehension of what they're listening to with things like Zappa. Very cool!
To Robert Martin, thanks so much for your input. I am 70 years old and started with HOT RATS and never looked back… the band you were in was so fantastic. You and Ed Mann, such fine percussionist and keyboards… and your vocals… anyway, thanks for the music…
I STARTED IN 1966 at the AGE OF 12 !! I SAW YOU MANY MANY TIMES !!! THANK YOU !!! SAW EVERY NY HALLOWEEN SHOW & THEN SOME !!! MAGIC EVERY TIME !! MEMORIES !! I OWN 98% OF THE CATALOG!! DID NOT NEED THE MASTERS VINYLS, SINCE I OWN ALL THE VINYL !! STAY HEALTHY & KEEP HIS MUSIC ALIVE, I DO EVERY DAY
This is Zappa at his prog best. George Duke on keyboards and vocals, Napolean Murphy Brock on lead vocals etc etc. This is in my top 5 albums of all time.
@@jonasolsson2256 Ricky was on fifty fifty and Zomby woof from overnite sensation. As well as a version wonderful wino on the lost tapes album. This is Johnny guitar Watson.
The entire album is a tour de force ( pardon my French ). It's music bursting at the seams with what I call "pay off"s, one after another, when music builds to a ecstatic resolution.
FRANK WAS LIKE NO OTHER !!!!!! HIS BRAIN, HIS EARS, HIS FINGERS !! I FIRST FOUND FREAK OUT, 1966 (I WAS 12) I PURCHASED EVERY RELEASE WITHIN DAYS AFTER IT WAS RELEASED !!! OFFICIAL RELEASE # 127 JUST RELEASED
One size fits all was recorded in 1974. This is great that you appreciate Zappas unique was of creating music, there's no one like Zappa ..... He was totally unique
The most amazing thing about this band Rob is that when they did a concert - even in a little open-air podunk venue like ours - they were just as precise and hard-hitting musically as they were in the studio. I was stunned hearing them.
You make me HAPPY! Being a Zappa ”nird” since -72 (when I heard We’re Only In It For The Money and got instantly hooked) and following all the Zappa reactions on YT nowdays it makes my day when somebody REALLY listens to the MUSIC. It would be really interesting to see/hear you react to THE ADVENTURES OF GREGGERY PECCARY. It’s a 20+ minutes long kind of ”mini-opera” that I (yes me) consider to be one of the MIGHTY man’s absolute masterpiece’s. Great reaction and ”nothing but the best for you”. 👍👍👍
Yeah I'm sure you've caught on to the fact that very little of this or inca roads or anything else on this album is improvised or just jamming... Most of this was composed down to the last note by Frank himself and it requires extremely talented musicians to perform. Many people dismissed Zappa as a yellow-snow humor novelty act even back then, unaware that he was arguably the most musically knowledgeable and talented composer of the rock era, several levels above most of his contemporaries.
I've watched a few of your videos of Zappa, and I love the way you react the exact same way that I do, and I've been listening to his work since the early 90s. I'm not a musician but I feel like I was one in a different life!!!
Andy is my favorite song in this album. The sad thing about this song is that literally nobody I know is a fan of Zappa so anything beyond Muffin Man and Bobby Brown Goes Down is too much for them. Glad to see you were able to appreciate it too ;)
Frank had many great violinists play with him over the years including Jean Luc Ponty, Eddie Jobson, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Lakshminarayana Shankar. You may be interested in checking out Frank's The Black Page and The Black Page #2 they are considered some of the most difficult pieces ever written and are one of the things Frank used to separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak. A list of violinists that played for Frank reads like this: ~ Murray Adler Harold Ayres Benjamin Barret Arnold Behnick Bobby Dubow Jim Getzoff Alexander Koltun William Kurasch Leanard Mularsky Jerome Reiser Peter Rundell Claudia Sack Sheldon Sanov Ralph Shaeffer Marshal Sosson Mathias Tacke John Wittenburg Tibo Zelig I may have missed a couple, but I think that about covers it. Frank also used violas in many of his pieces. For something completely different, but with many wonderful layers and Lemmy's last album with the band, I suggest Magnu by Hawkwind. Thanx for the Zappa reaction
I’ve been a Zappa freak since Freak Out,, every musician in his band has been A++ btw, that’s Ruth Underwood on marimba and George Duke on keys, and his first shot at synth
Pretty good analysis for someone who hasn’t heard these songs before. I love hearing it through new ears! I’ve loved FZ since 1973 when I first heard “Billy the Mountain” I was hooked! Being 15, and loving mostly the zany comedy and the dirty words, I went back and bought my 2nd Mothers of Invention album, “Burnt Weenie Sandwich” It was NOTHING like the 1st album, all avant-garde jazz and experimental stuff, with a little Do-Wop thrown in (FZ LOVED Do-Wop and did 2 albums under “Reuben and the Jets”) I was super hooked!! Anyway…. You might want to listen to the B-side of “Burnt Weenie Sandwich”, the entire side is “Little House I used to Live In” which is an awesome piece he does on a couple of albums, but in the middle section, he has Don “Sugarcane” Harris playing violin. You
Have I aligned with a blown mind! That was Johnny guitar Watson on vocals. He and Zappa were good friends and compadres. I think this album is the pinnacle of his work. This band of mothers is just killer. I appreciate you taking this seriously and not blowing it off and as a musician being able to dissect and appreciate the magic that is happening here.
Nice comment. Just wanted to add that napoleon and George Duke also both sing lead parts on this track. Fantastic track. 3 different lead singers, and frank just doing harmonies.
@@boxbarry8061 Being a violinist, I was wondering if you had gotten into the song book of the group “Willie & Lobo”? Willie played the violin, and his partner Wolfgang accompanying on the guitar. Willie has since passed away. They were incredibly talented and blended the instruments together in a spellbinding way.
You should check out the track "Little House I Used To Live In" from the album "Burnt Weenie Sandwich" as it features an extended blues violin solo which is wonderful. Zappa also worked with Jean-Luc Ponty at one stage.
Excellent analyses and commentary Rob thanks....it's clear to see your musical knowledge and "ear" by what you're explaining, not sure if you have already reacted to it but "Inca Roads" from the same "One size fits all" album is an absolute masterclass in musicianship & arrangement and well worth listening to.... really enjoyable thanks!
Among all the reaction videos concerning the work of Frank Zappa, you certainly position yourself on the top of the podium, well above the others. You know how to appreciate all the complexity of his work at its fair value, which moreover makes it a unique work of its kind. Within my entourage, I am the only one to appreciate Zappa's work, because the simple fact of mentioning his name scares people away. Zappa's name is often evoked with all sorts of prejudices, which make him an eccentric madman, like the one who supposedly had a mustache tattooed on his daughter's face.
Andrew Vabre Devine (October 7, 1905 - February 18, 1977) was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films. Frank wrote EVERY NOTE!
Great reaction and I think you raised a point in there that seems pretty spot on. The musicianship alone will keep a musician listening long enough to acquire a taste and understanding of what he's doing. Before you know it, you're just jamming and what seemed *weird* at first, becomes a fluid mix of genres' into a genius composition. Doesn't hurt that he had incredible musicians playing for him that were all on board with what they were doing.
Right on brother! I thought about giving a hint in that direction but as you can see above, given the musical competence of ”the violinist”, I went straight to the ”crux of the bisquit”!😁
Frank’s voice dropped almost an octave, some asshole jerked him off the stage into the old fashioned orchestra pit in England. He was busted up for months
One of my favorite Zappa songs from one of my favorite albums One Size Fits All which came out just as I was graduating high-school. I practically wore our my 8-Trac tape version driving around in my 71 Camaro SS that entire summer.
Just a little pet peeve. The go to "weird" when describing something that is unusual. Most of the musical phrasing you call weird is logical orchestration,and if it shines maybe it's brilliant.
Love the 1 second car skid! There is another song on this album, Floretine Pogen, replete with a musical reference to Louie Louie, a song Frank loved to lampoon. Anyway, in concert FZ would peform Florentine Pogen & Andy in succession, with a guitar solo joining the two. Great stuff!
Being a violinist, maybe you should the 16 min version Duprees Paradise , with Jean Luc Ponty Following Bruce Fowler on Trumpet ,i think it is , so much but it's awesome.RARARA
The Dupree’s Paradise in the video from Stockholm same year has a wicked violin solo by Jean-Luc Ponty! Great reaction. A lot of glockenspiel in this one, and the funny percussion sounds that are in there, including at the very end sounds like anklungs. Keep it up!
Why would a professional musician wear headphones? I know more than one person who works in the recording industry who is over 60 and getting progressively more deaf. For God's sake buy a decent pair of full range speakers and stop attaching them to the side of your head((
