Deep Purple's "Smoke on the water" says it all. " Frank Zappa and the Mothers, will have the best place around". All the musicians back then knew it. He had the best bands, best musicians. No one could touch Frank.
Zappa was kept out of the mainstream because of his political standpoints, his overly lewd lyrics, and his bizarre melted of many musical styles into one. I believe for these reasons you have to be a special person to truely appreciate Zappa's music.
I agree that FZ was not mainstream. But I don’t believe that he was “kept out.” His music was so “out there” for most people that he was not appreciated by mainstream listeners. I saw the Mothers in 1969 and I saw Frank again in 1980. I don’t think that he will ever really be appreciated by the mainstream even if we are still around in 500 years.
Frank talks about this set of concerts in his biography. Apparently it was freezing cold and they weren't prepared for it. they could hardly play because of their near frozen fingers...George duke clearly says this in one of the "you can't do that on stage anymore" CDs. Zappa lives on forever !! It's great to see how many fans there still are posting on yout ube !!
This song is so awesome. The lyrics paint such a vivid picture and story. The way they use the instruments to create sound effects that highlight the story is genius. Zappa was one of a kind.
Love him. He's one of the best guitar players in the world. He's not look at it that way but just watch him in is videos. People think he's a nut but he's far from that. He's got some awesome music out. One of favorite albums is apostrophe. All I'm trying to say he's a man he didn't do drugs drink clean as a whistle. He brought up to awesome children. We lost him to prostate cancer. He wanted to digital age cause he could make his music perfect. But we Lost him to prostate cancer. Go on Frankie. I still listen to you vinal. And in my younger years it got me some hotties. I could listen all day to your music but what a loss kids playing game boy. No one wants to work. Anywho where ever you are one of your favorite fans still rock on with you music. God bless your family still with us And your son and daughter are as talented as you were. Moon unit and Dweezil. Check them out people. What a guitar player you were. Fred m Grant ll. Lol. !!!
One of Zappa's best bands: Ian and Ruth Underwood, Bruce and Tom Fowler, Ralph Humphrey, Jean-Luc Ponty and George Duke. Must have been recorded in either August or September of 1973. By Oct. Ian and Jean-Luc were gone, and Napoleon Murphy Brock and Chester Thompson joined. What a crew!
What a fine, primal look at Frank playing darn-near conventional blues-rock -- I can almost understanding what he's doing on that SG by watching this. What's runny is I could almost feel a whiff of macho in his attack, which later seemed to be more about dancing on the frets than "stabbing" the blues as much as he does here. Pretty neat glimpse. Wish I could come near approaching this. (My t"What Exit" and "Voyage" videos are about as fancy as I'll probably ever get..)
1973.… performing live with a serious lack of stage monitors, yet, able to pull off wonderful performances of amazing and complicated FZ arrangements utilizing un-conventional instrumentation !
on the contrary, Frank said he didn't feel it was necessary to be a social critic, as other people (including musicians) were doing that (though he was the first very popular social critic/musician in America... he just stopped right after). Frank was simply a Musician, which is all he needed to be.
Very very good. Nice intro too, it's so very seventies, great fun to watch even for those who don't understand swedish. And the performance - best there is.
I wasn't a big fan back in the day,,but grew to appreciate his music as time went on. You have to give the man his due, on originality.. I thought the music was like a cool abstract painting.
That would be Ian Underwood and that's bass clarinet btw, which does look a bit like the sax, having a bit of a tenor sax sound in its highest notes, but its lowest notes is about a fifth lower (or even a whole sixth if it has extra low range) than that of tenor saxophone.
Zappa was anything but mainstream. If anything, he and the Mothers the main river. A main river that people could only travel along on the surface. Never really understanding what was below the surface in the dark and murky depths of the ex centrifugal force of the Mothers of Nature.
There's no need to understand, just to sit back and absorb it all like a sponge. Realize that Zappa just held a realistic mirror up to the world and said "Hey, you guys are pretty weird!" If you realize how weird people are, then Zappa makes sense. If you think you're normal, Zappa is a mystery to you. 'Nuff said.
I love Duke's expression at 4:43, he's like damn, i never knew a white boy with a bass clarinet could ever do that! Ian is the best reed player Zappa ever had, mabe next to Bunk
Well, I am a musician. No way as good as these guys, for sure. But basically I see Frank make a social commentary... then a jam, then some commentary, then it's over. I mean it's more that Frank is a social critic than a musician I think his fame rests on. He fit the times, it seems.
I must say: to pick up this bit from 3m50s, well baked, and then keep on sliding down with it through Duke's and Zappa's solos... Quite a ride indeed. I totally agree with faud03, unfortunately...
great video! That was when musicians used the technology to augment their musicianship rather than having the technology define their musicianship. Love the overdrive on the Rhodes.
one could take copious amounts of drugs and understand only a portion of Zappa's mind, the guys on another plane of existence... what a crazy-wonderful, brilliant bastard.
pratta pratta men jag farsta ingenting, well just a little... this is a FANSTATIC clip put it on DVD and I shall send you lots of money :) is this version available on CD also? PS, love Frank's trousers ("pants" to you Americans)
shitloads of various kinds, including preamps built into his guitar. Get a 60's style distortion (like a RAT) and a good wah (not a crybaby), boost the mid on your amp and thats the closest you can come to his sound and still keeping ti simple.
its a sin that I don't know anyone else in my area who even heard of Frank Zappa before. When I think of the term musical genius, this guy will always come to mind first. he could have easily played any of the instruments for that song, he taught himself to play so many instruments. and his son DID Sharon Stone!!!! how cool is that?
Anybody who questions what's wrong with such major things as government waste or the education system, is not an enemy of their particular country. They obviously see a country with a lot of potential being pissed down the drain by people in power who don't give a damn about it's people and what they can achieve. What he said in his music and in interveiws over the years, has made more sense to me than anything a politician has offered.
GDarkstar74- Zappa may be your favorite, but objective, "greatest ever" statements just don't work with music. People look for different things in a musician. As a composer and player Zappa's one of my heroes, but I know lots of knowledgeable musicians who are put off by his technical sloppiness on the guitar. I know he knew theory, had insane musicianship skills and composed orchestral music too, but that doesn't make him the best, it just makes him more knowledgeable.
Read that... "Frank didn't feel...", "first popular social critic/musician"... :-) I rest my case, LOL! I started digging around for Frank's work because I realized I'd heard the name all my life and couldn't name a song he did. Most of what I look at give me the impression of, dare I say it, Charles Manson. Probably not accurate, but the look is there. Or perhaps C.M. took the look from Zappa. No disrespect.But from this video, I'm not sure why he's famous.
No cocaine. Yes to marajuana; according to him he tried it a handful of times, didn't care for it much. He was a type A personality work-a-holic; most drugs would just get in the way of all the stuff he wanted to accomplish. Coffee kept him going and cigarettes....well, whatever.
@bandcouver the day when politicians appear to make sense is the day it's time to check septic tank, cuz the drain, it ain't be flushin' properly ;) Frank could be deep, but ya gotta love direct approach, too, as in: "the price of meat has just gone up and you're old lady has just gone down" ;)
wouldn't compare oscar peterson to duke anyway, but it seems like he's fitting in fine, if you listen to the solo it's blues influenced - wow just like the song and every other solo... you're comment is uneducated
@EnterDaMatrix hahahahahaha right??? gtfo indeed. if by "drivel" he means dynamic harmonic/melodic aural superiority, and by "hard rock" means pretty much no style left unmolested... then sure. bahahahaha
I think you 'should' not be doing anything, except for playing the music that you believe in. You definitely should not be playing music that's popular, only because it's popular. Good luck with your arena gig 5 years from now.
it is at the right tempo youre just jealous because my band is probably gonna be more succesful than zappa besides ive been only playing 3 years in 15 years youre gonna see me on youtube with millions of views
Ich habe wohl Spuren in Dänemark hinterlassen, so wurde mir dieses Video. vorgeschlagen. Ich liebe Zappa, ich liebe Dänemark. Alles in Ordnung.. War es doch Schweden?
@fidorolaboro FZ: guitars vocals, Tom Fowler; bass. Bruce Fowler: trombone, Ruth Underwood: percussion, George Duke: Keys, Ian Underwood: woodwinds, Jean Luc Ponty: Violin, Ralph Humpries:Drums
well i am thinking to make a translation to the swedish intro into english, if you guys and guysinnes (or maby women would be better but i am trying to be funny) want me to? you want a translation??
Deep Purple's "Smoke on the water" says it all. " Frank Zappa and the Mothers, will have the best place around". All the musicians back then knew it. He had the best bands, best musicians. No one could touch Frank.
Zappa was kept out of the mainstream because of his political standpoints, his overly lewd lyrics, and his bizarre melted of many musical styles into one. I believe for these reasons you have to be a special person to truely appreciate Zappa's music.
That's right!! I'm SPECIAL!!
@@darktimesatrockymountainhi4046 me too
Genius! Definitely not main stream just great music and words
I agree that FZ was not mainstream. But I don’t believe that he was “kept out.” His music was so “out there” for most people that he was not appreciated by mainstream listeners. I saw the Mothers in 1969 and I saw Frank again in 1980. I don’t think that he will ever really be appreciated by the mainstream even if we are still around in 500 years.
Yep no doubt
Closest To the album recording.
Had the Ikettes also been there for backup
Harmonies it would have been monumental
I missed them as well.
Frank talks about this set of concerts in his biography. Apparently it was freezing cold and they weren't prepared for it. they could hardly play because of their near frozen fingers...George duke clearly says this in one of the "you can't do that on stage anymore" CDs.
Zappa lives on forever !! It's great to see how many fans there still are posting on yout ube !!
When Zappa was onhis game he could not be touched.
+Walter Mirren agreed
Wow I think this is the best version I've ever heard. I normally don't really care for this song. Love this line up. Wish they had more on film.
This song is so awesome. The lyrics paint such a vivid picture and story. The way they use the instruments to create sound effects that highlight the story is genius. Zappa was one of a kind.
Love him. He's one of the best guitar players in the world. He's not look at it that way but just watch him in is videos. People think he's a nut but he's far from that. He's got some awesome music out. One of favorite albums is apostrophe. All I'm trying to say he's a man he didn't do drugs drink clean as a whistle. He brought up to awesome children. We lost him to prostate cancer. He wanted to digital age cause he could make his music perfect. But we Lost him to prostate cancer. Go on Frankie. I still listen to you vinal. And in my younger years it got me some hotties. I could listen all day to your music but what a loss kids playing game boy. No one wants to work. Anywho where ever you are one of your favorite fans still rock on with you music. God bless your family still with us And your son and daughter are as talented as you were. Moon unit and Dweezil. Check them out people. What a guitar player you were. Fred m Grant ll. Lol. !!!
@@fredgrant7774TL;DR
Far too rambling also. Lol
" The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down. " simply amazing lol R.I.P. Zappaman
One of Zappa's best bands: Ian and Ruth Underwood, Bruce and Tom Fowler, Ralph Humphrey, Jean-Luc Ponty and George Duke. Must have been recorded in either August or September of 1973. By Oct. Ian and Jean-Luc were gone, and Napoleon Murphy Brock and Chester Thompson joined. What a crew!
i thought i was having a really good flashback when the video started ... then it all made sense ..
WOW..frank always knew what his ppl were capable of, he let them shine !!!!!!!!!!!!
What a fine, primal look at Frank playing darn-near conventional blues-rock -- I can almost understanding what he's doing on that SG by watching this. What's runny is I could almost feel a whiff of macho in his attack, which later seemed to be more about dancing on the frets than "stabbing" the blues as much as he does here. Pretty neat glimpse. Wish I could come near approaching this. (My t"What Exit" and "Voyage" videos are about as fancy as I'll probably ever get..)
Duke's funky choice at 05.25 is absolutely fantastic
A masterpiece! Frank Zappa lives on!
hard to believe now, that this band line up existed in 1973. over the top........
How can 12 people not like this? so many haters and trolls...
They maybe been smacked pretty hard right before, so the button was upside down
"the price of meat has just gone up and your old lady has just gone down" bahhahahahahahaha!!
Ian Underwood gets to show us why Frank hired him. Great clip.
I got to study with the drummer Ralph Humphrey. He's bad ass.
OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCHHHHHHHHH.
Damn
...
heaven...
1973.… performing live with a serious lack of stage monitors, yet, able to pull off wonderful performances of amazing and complicated FZ arrangements utilizing un-conventional instrumentation !
George Duke + keys solo = OMG
on the contrary, Frank said he didn't feel it was necessary to be a social critic, as other people (including musicians) were doing that (though he was the first very popular social critic/musician in America... he just stopped right after). Frank was simply a Musician, which is all he needed to be.
this is the America that the world loves...not drones or f..christian values. Pure genius.
Very very good. Nice intro too, it's so very seventies, great fun to watch even for those who don't understand swedish. And the performance - best there is.
Far freaking out!
If only we'd paid attention. Now we're all doomed. Serves us right.
i saw F.Z a week later in bologna..
Lucky !!!
check out that blond at 5:58,she smiles and is mesmerized at the great DUKE!
A wah pedal on a sax! cool!
Baby Snakes is a great movie, underrated by most, I loved every minute of it (including the crazy claymation).
Gregory Peckory
Jean-Luc Ponty, George Duke & Ian Underwood in the same band. Zappa really knew how to assemble a group.
That's Ralph Humphrey on drums
Yes it is. Great player.
This live kicks ass! Btw it's fun the way Zappa acts surprised when the announces mentions "freak" in swedish.
Okay...I must have been living in a cave cuz I never heard this song until my friends band recorded it as a cover!!!
George Duke is a phenom................... 5.06
George duke is the man
Großartig 👍
Show me a band anywhere near this level today....
I wasn't a big fan back in the day,,but grew to appreciate his music as time went on. You have to give the man his due, on originality.. I thought the music was like a cool abstract painting.
The only 2007 video on youtube
solo on bass clarinet! Only with Frank Zappa
That would be Ian Underwood and that's bass clarinet btw, which does look a bit like the sax, having a bit of a tenor sax sound in its highest notes, but its lowest notes is about a fifth lower (or even a whole sixth if it has extra low range) than that of tenor saxophone.
Bariton sax.
@@fransheuvelmans45 Definitely bass clarinet, but he's using a pickup & a wawa pedal - and possibly some other effects to alter the tone.
Zappa was anything but mainstream. If anything, he and the Mothers the main river. A main river that people could only travel along on the surface. Never really understanding what was below the surface in the dark and murky depths of the ex centrifugal force of the Mothers of Nature.
There's no need to understand, just to sit back and absorb it all like a sponge. Realize that Zappa just held a realistic mirror up to the world and said "Hey, you guys are pretty weird!" If you realize how weird people are, then Zappa makes sense. If you think you're normal, Zappa is a mystery to you. 'Nuff said.
Magnificent version of the stand-out song on Apostrophe, an otherwise throwaway comedy album... shame after the brilliance of Overnite Sensation.
I love Duke's expression at 4:43, he's like damn, i never knew a white boy with a bass clarinet could ever do that! Ian is the best reed player Zappa ever had, mabe next to Bunk
...I think I had those same pants that Frank is wearing. They were either in style, or pot was of a better quality back then...
That bass clarinet solo was amazing.
hes remarkable!
Well, I am a musician. No way as good as these guys, for sure. But basically I see Frank make a social commentary... then a jam, then some commentary, then it's over. I mean it's more that Frank is a social critic than a musician I think his fame rests on. He fit the times, it seems.
if this dont fix your shit might need to see a doc just sayin
1:41 to skip past the Swedish guy saying something about meatballs for a minute and a half
those Swedish meatballs certainly are wicked ...Very long winded
I must say: to pick up this bit from 3m50s, well baked, and then keep on sliding down with it through Duke's and Zappa's solos...
Quite a ride indeed.
I totally agree with faud03, unfortunately...
Hahaha the only word in the introduction that Frank understood was "freak" and that seemed to get his attention XD
@JohnnyFoster I'd LIKE to hear Peterson and Zeppelin jamming. For what it's worth, I like things that don't fit and so did big Frank.
Truly a talent that is missed. Zappa was a pheniomenal musician and artist. Just fuckin excellent! Love you Frank, you were and are still the man!
fucken love this track...one of the best versions I've heard.
@HArryhood421 actually, it's a BASS CLARINET, if ya can believe THAT... :) YES, a bass clarinet!
Wah wah bass clarinet...so natural.
@jax1moi8
indeed!
good FZ solo on this one.
great video! That was when musicians used the technology to augment their musicianship rather than having the technology define their musicianship. Love the overdrive on the Rhodes.
wish I had written that piece of truth...well said!
Good point, might I add many years later.
I think this is the best UA-cam find...EVER!!!
Wow! Ruth Underwood playing live with Everyone else!!
Just incredible!!
I love FZ, I freaking love Ruth!!!
one could take copious amounts of drugs and understand only a portion of Zappa's mind, the guys on another plane of existence... what a crazy-wonderful, brilliant bastard.
zappa was quite often on the cutting edge of musical technology, probably more so in his recording than in performing though
this was just before fz discovered the musical genius known as napoleon m. brock.
no 1 like zappa....his the best...and thanks to k.young i saw him live .....
pratta pratta men jag farsta ingenting, well just a little... this is a FANSTATIC clip
put it on DVD and I shall send you lots of money :)
is this version available on CD also?
PS, love Frank's trousers ("pants" to you Americans)
shitloads of various kinds, including preamps built into his guitar. Get a 60's style distortion (like a RAT) and a good wah (not a crybaby), boost the mid on your amp and thats the closest you can come to his sound and still keeping ti simple.
zajebioza...
Its a serious poncho!
lol
George Duke and Jean Luc Ponty? wow, a piece of music history
What a loss. I loved his music and influence on the world. Saw him live at the Cap center in Landover and took him cross country on 8-Track
oh....YESSSS!!
That guy plays the bass clarinet like a boss
8:44 LISTEN TO THAT GROOVE!!!!
This is just plain ole awesomeness.
these tights are boxes painted on some old nun suits!!!
@Syllerud how are they now?
Got to love the sax distortion-wah! And George Duke again on the boards, nice!
And on the violin: Jean-Luc Ponthy... a great musician who plays with great musicians, of course!!!
ian underwood was one of the best sax/clarinet players in FZ's band ditto on Duke's solo!
its a sin that I don't know anyone else in my area who even heard of Frank Zappa before. When I think of the term musical genius, this guy will always come to mind first. he could have easily played any of the instruments for that song, he taught himself to play so many instruments. and his son DID Sharon Stone!!!! how cool is that?
Such a small stage. Frank really had to do great work to enter bigger stages in Europe.
Anybody who questions what's wrong with such major things as government waste or the education system, is not an enemy of their particular country. They obviously see a country with a lot of potential being pissed down the drain by people in power who don't give a damn about it's people and what they can achieve. What he said in his music and in interveiws over the years, has made more sense to me than anything a politician has offered.
GDarkstar74- Zappa may be your favorite, but objective, "greatest ever" statements just don't work with music. People look for different things in a musician. As a composer and player Zappa's one of my heroes, but I know lots of knowledgeable musicians who are put off by his technical sloppiness on the guitar. I know he knew theory, had insane musicianship skills and composed orchestral music too, but that doesn't make him the best, it just makes him more knowledgeable.
Read that... "Frank didn't feel...", "first popular social critic/musician"... :-) I rest my case, LOL! I started digging around for Frank's work because I realized I'd heard the name all my life and couldn't name a song he did. Most of what I look at give me the impression of, dare I say it, Charles Manson. Probably not accurate, but the look is there. Or perhaps C.M. took the look from Zappa. No disrespect.But from this video, I'm not sure why he's famous.
FZ delivers, as usual.
Also, nice bass clarinet solo, courtesy of Ian Underwood...
coffee is a drug, not that we give a shit anyway.
No cocaine. Yes to marajuana; according to him he tried it a handful of times, didn't care for it much. He was a type A personality work-a-holic; most drugs would just get in the way of all the stuff he wanted to accomplish. Coffee kept him going and cigarettes....well, whatever.
@bandcouver
the day when politicians appear to make sense is the day it's time to check septic tank, cuz the drain, it ain't be flushin' properly ;)
Frank could be deep, but ya gotta love direct approach, too, as in:
"the price of meat has just gone up
and you're old lady has just gone down"
;)
I saw the same lineup with the addition of Kin Vassy 4 months earlier in Tucson.
wouldn't compare oscar peterson to duke anyway, but it seems like he's fitting in fine, if you listen to the solo it's blues influenced - wow just like the song and every other solo...
you're comment is uneducated
@EnterDaMatrix hahahahahaha right??? gtfo indeed. if by "drivel" he means dynamic harmonic/melodic aural superiority, and by "hard rock" means pretty much no style left unmolested... then sure. bahahahaha
I think you 'should' not be doing anything, except for playing the music that you believe in. You definitely should not be playing music that's popular, only because it's popular. Good luck with your arena gig 5 years from now.
it is at the right tempo youre just jealous because my band is probably gonna be more succesful than zappa besides ive been only playing 3 years in 15 years youre gonna see me on youtube with millions of views
Ich habe wohl Spuren in Dänemark hinterlassen, so wurde mir dieses Video. vorgeschlagen. Ich liebe Zappa, ich liebe Dänemark. Alles in Ordnung..
War es doch Schweden?
nope, bass clarinet, see how the crook is bent twice. it's easy to get the two confused tho ;)
@fidorolaboro FZ: guitars vocals, Tom Fowler; bass. Bruce Fowler: trombone, Ruth Underwood: percussion, George Duke: Keys, Ian Underwood: woodwinds, Jean Luc Ponty: Violin, Ralph Humpries:Drums
well i am thinking to make a translation to the swedish intro into english, if you guys and guysinnes (or maby women would be better but i am trying to be funny) want me to? you want a translation??
What's going on with that bass clarinet? Is he really playing that high? Or is there some octave displacing thing on it?