Zappa

[Jim Koepke]

My friend sent me this link > https://www.norbert.de/index.php?id=10 < It is a 24/7 broadcast of various recordings people have sent in. He said the quality varies widely & wildly from near unlistenable to something straight out of the soundboard.

He also mentioned he is going to a Dweezil concert in August. (for those who may not know, Dweezil is Frank's son and does covers of his father's music)

jtk

[Jay Bryant]

Got lucky and saw Frank Zappa in Arlington, Tx 1971 or 72. He had about 10 or 12 musicians with him including some of the Mothers along with a few people he had been touring with in Europe. It was one of the most amazing live concerts I have seen to this day. About 20 minutes in he asked the audience if we wanted him to continue with the scripted show or deviate. It sounded unanimous, so they jammed and deviated for the rest of the show. They played a few minutes of some hot jazzy number and suddenly stopped, everyone put down their instrument and rotated to another instrument. Without a word they continued where they left off and after a few minutes they did it again. This kept up until it appeared to me that everyone had played each instrument. Just a few songs with lyrics that night, mostly just terrific music. It put me on the road to jazz appreciation.

[Andrew Joiner]

I just watched the Steve Allen bicycle segment last night (unrelated to this thread) and thought it was beyond hilarious. "Q How long have you been playing the bicycle? A. Two weeks" My respect for Steve Allen as a comedian went up several notches-- I wonder how much was scripted and how much ad libbed. It certainly came across as mostly the latter. Zappa's earnest seriousness about playing the bicycle was perfect.

Call any vegetable and the chances are good...

Wow, that's incredible insight in to Zappa's roots. Steve Allen was in tune to new "off-beat" stuff. Thank's Roger!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF0PYQ8IOL4

[Rob Luter]

Frank was the whole package. I would have liked to have a few minutes to talk with him about music and society. I still have the Apostrophe album. I've seen many interviews with studio and touring musicians that played with him. To a person they praised his musicianship and attention to detail. Those that thought he ran a clown show were often humbled when asked to play some of the most demanding music they'd ever encountered.

[Kent A Bathurst]

The thing I like best about Zappa was him booting Lowell George. Can’t conceive of a world without Little Feat, the bright lights of Memphis, and the Commodore Hotel.

[Pat Germain]

I recall reading that somehow Zappa became very popular in Communist Czechoslovakia. They worked hard to smuggle his music into the Eastern Bloc. Vaclav Havel invited Zappa to visit Praque in 1990.