This song was inspired by the 1968 Erich von Däniken book, "Chariots of The Gods?" and the subsequent 1973 film of it titled "In Search of Ancient Astronauts," itself a remake of a 1970 West German film, exploring "possible interpretations" of Incan pictographs and ruins. The lyrics, sung by classical pianist George Duke, are taken nearly verbatim from Rod Serling's narration of the film. I've heard other reactors to this piece opine that Zappa had a wild imagination, to have come up with this stuff... 🙏
Zappa was the musical genius of our generation .... I saw him when he was just starting out in Greenwich Village in 1966 with the original Mothers of Invention ..... There will never be another artist like him ...... truly one of a kind.
The "rap" or "talk" part that you mentioned at the end is actually a melody, and it is the same melody as in the beginning, only much faster. The same melody is also at 9:58 in the video, but instrumental. You can hear this in a lot of Zappa's music. Melodies beeing reused and slowed down. A good example of that is the song "Song of Orange County" on 'Roxy & Elsewhere", which has a slow beautiful melody sung by Napoleon Murphy Brock, and the same melody comes back in the end at 4:57. I think that is really cool. I discovered a lot of this when I arranged many songs for my Zappa tribute band some years ago.
If you like that you should find a video by Mike Keneally who played guitar with one of FZ's bands. Search Mike Keneally Inca Roads Acoustic Cardiff. And amazing performance of this great composition. "The present day composer refuses to die!" - Edgar Varese Miss ya Frank. Every day.
The keyboard player and vocalist, George Duke, had never sung or played a synthesizer before Frank coerced him into both. He knew the potential of his players. Guacamole Queen refers to a taco stand of renown.
I got into him because Phish covered Peaches and I went down the rabbit hole in 92. Unfortunately, he died shortly thereafter and I never got to see him live.
And he never did drugs. He smoked cigarettes, drank coffee and wrote or edited his music 12 to 16 hours every day. According to his kids and they should know...
He often said that this was his most accomplished band that could play whatever he chucked at them. Sometimes when he was playing live something would happen in the audience and Frank would pick up on that and he would make the show go in a completely different direction from what the band was expecting and they had to be on it. Frank was the real deal but also supported by truly talented top Drawer musicians as you so rightly observed. Thank you for starting your Zappa journey. Enjoy and be educated by a true master of his art.
He changed his mind about that, though. I remember him saying that the '88 band was the best group of musicians he ever took on the road. But when talking about the best musicians he ever worked with, I never heard him praise anyone more than Ensemble Modern. Probably because not only did they play his music satisfactorily, but they also WANTED to play it. In fact, they paid for their own rehearsals and travel expenses! All Frank had to do was to turn up and conduct them, essentially.
I never tire of this track - in fact it just sounds better as the years go by. There are some real musical Everests in Zappa's catalogue that soar, and Inca Roads is one of them. I know that it's often hailed as a 'prog' classic, but it's really more a jazz/rock fusion thing on steroids, with more sudden twists and turns than...an interstellar vehicle out there somewhere...
Watermelon in Easter Hay is another...but there really are too many to count. As a fan since the release of Freak Out, he informed not only my musical tastes but my worldview. I can literally parse my life into two parts. BFZ and AFZ.
@@seanbrennan5192 Which particular performance? The track titled Occam's Razor from One-Shot Deal, which was edited down to become On The Bus on Joe's Garage, is the solo from Inca Roads in 1979. As you know, the solos were always improvised and different. Can you tell us what performance from '79 you want us to check out?
George Duke was the vocalist at the start of the song. Duke did say in an interview it was Zappa who got him (Duke) to sing! And George Duke played the keyboard solo.
This was a refreshingly honest reaction. Most people when hearing Frank's music for the first time, well, they call it "weird" and stop listening. It's very different when a musician listens to it. And in general, I feel that it's mostly musicians who understand what Frank was doing the most. As you said, it's very composed music, so to get the most out of it, it really helps to have an understanding of both music theory, composition and history, and most commercial music doesn't put such expectations on the audience. You get some bass and a beat with some kind of melody line sprinkled on top, and that's about it. Good to go. Easy for anyone to get into. With Frank's music? No, it doesn't work like that. Or even when it does; on his more simple pop songs, he could never resist the temptation to throw a few things into the mix that would confuse the casual listener. The one thing that is truly essential when listening to Frank's music is having a sense of HUMOR. And unfortunately, a lot of people don't think humor belongs in music.
You nailed it, man. Also what you said about the humor in his music. I love it when music is able to describe and support the lyrics of a song or just transports different things just via the music itself. Zappa was really great at that, indeed. Sometimes I have to smile, because of the humor thats expressed just musically.
Frank was also influenced by Doo Wop, his 68 album Cruising With Ruben And The Jets is arguably the best 50s Doo Wop album ever produced, The Guacamole Queen was a woman that worked at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin Texas where the live portions of the Bongo Fury album were recorded, she baked guacamole cookies and treats for everyone.
The thing about Zappa is: no instrument (or musician) is ever used as just a filler. You can listen to any single instrument and simply have a good time enjoying that part of the song. And the next time you hear the song, you can focus on another instrument and enjoy yourself just as much. Quite a rare thing.
Zappa - Violin - Sugarcane Harris and Ponty. Willie the Pimp - Hot Rats and Ponty on Overnight Sensation And Chester Thompson on drums. (Genesis and Weather Report)
I'm so gutted that I never got to see Frank live. When I left NZ in the late 80's for the US, he was touring the UK and then when I got to the UK he was back in the US. And then he passed away 😔 In the late 80's while all my mates were listening to Led Zep et al, I was so into Zappa. So many late nights at my parents house in my late teens, baked out of my brain, headphones on, listening to Frank. Great memories.
Pour moi, surement son plus représentatif, quand je veux faire écouter Zappa pour la première fois, à des musiciens, je propose celui-là. Il y a tout lui dedans.
If you would like to watch recording of most of the tracks performed live used in this recording, go here: ua-cam.com/video/wqp71DOJ3aY/v-deo.html. Frank used a few overdubs and dropped in a different guitar solo in the album version that you heard here. It’s incredible that the song you just listen to was performed live on stage. They’re pretty good musicians, they’re pretty good musicians….
It sounded like even more than a 32 track machine can handle! So many layers. This song really showed how intricate, yet entertaining, his songs could get.
The crazy thing is that the 60's psychedelic bands were more influenced by him than the other way around. Sergeant Pepper was the Beatles' Freak Out. He got there from Stravinsky and obscure 50's rhythm 'n' blues.
Non-musicians are often puzzled by the "weirdness". But musicians can't miss Zappa. They immediately see the genius. What a composer. WHAT A BAND! You should see performing this LIVE, as if it was nothing, even joking, dancing, etc.
Haha woah, yeah, that was me too when I heard this on a tape cassette recorded on some dual cassette player in the 80s. Thought the timing was off at the time as it often was on those things. Nope said the owner, your expectations are off. And he was right.
No, he didn't do drugs, other than cigarettes and coffee. He wasn't morally opposed to their use but didn't care for the effects they had, mostly. He was a pretty serious composer and musician, and very selective and demanding of the musicians he chose to play his music, they had to be highly competent to perform his more complex pieces like this, with all the abrupt meter changes and other intricate nuances.
Believe it or not it's a live recording, you can find the basic tracks on a tv show, a DVD called "A token of his extreme" and the guitar solo (one of the best I've heard in my life) is extracted from the Helsinki Concert YCDTOSA 2. By the way the Ruth Underwood performance is amazing!
Most memorable shows in Montreal; Zappa was a univers onto himself an eye and ear opener to be sure;music was never the same after;the live video of inca roads is mind bending.To pull off that one live is lifetime accomplishment.So jelous!!And to think it was around the mahavishnu orchestra simultanuously.Us the listeners were blasted out of our ears.
@@marlon-jl4ge - Of course there will be difference of opinion with music. There is a wide range of music in this world, and it has to do with one's culture and mindset. Similar is drugs. Some people love alcohol. Others prefer a different drug. Some people don't like any drugs. And so with music, there will always be difference of opinion. That's the problem with video makers who insert music into their videos. His choice of music will offend many people, usually the majority of people. Knocking a piece of music or a musician is not recommended. Try to keep it positive. There's no upside to knocking music, unless you enjoy the act of hating or denouncing something. Long term Zappa fans are accustomed to listening to your kind of ugly comment, because his music disturbs the mind, and most listeners want the opposite. People don't want surprises in music. But, if you listen to one of his songs a few times, the surprises become anticipations, and the mind is no longer disturbed by them. Then you can explore the complexity and experience the beauty. Or not. It is probably true that most people will never like Zappa music. Life is short, so If you find that you do not like Zappa music, I recommend that you not listen to it.
@@marlon-jl4ge - To the 21st Century websurfer, a paragraph is a novel. I mean to say, it was one sentence after another. But, with me, I am not limited by pecking away at a cell phone keyboard. I have a full sized keyboard and I touch type, so almost as quickly as I think a thought, it appears on the screen. So, I can post up complex thoughts, contrasted to most websurfers, who are limited by their keyboards, and the shallowness of their thinking.
There is a live version of Inca Roads on the album, A Token Of His Extreme, which was released 1 year before, One Size Fits All. To me it is smoother/less harsh sounding then the One Size Fits All version. Zappa's solo is much better and way more soulful. I bought this album in 1974 and have been listing to it at least once a month and it still makes my heart soar and brings tears to my eyes. And as a bonus a friend of Zappa made a claymation movie/video? that is pretty wild and is played during Zappa's solo. Was reading some of the other comments and some talked about having to have trained musicians background to truly appreciate Zappa. I have no musical training. But have been loving Zappa's music since I was 12. I had a paper route in 1965 so at the age of 12 I was flush with cash and buying Zappa's albums. His influence on me made me seek out different genres. Love everything, except C&W, which I call tear in my beer music, and silly love songs.
My band covered a couple of his songs but they were the easy ones like "My guitar wants to kill your Mama". I couldn't dream of playing Inca Roads...way over my head.
There's a clip on youtube somewhere where someone has listed all the time signature changes (lots), but when you see them playing it looks like they're just messing about.
This is why.... Frank Zappa - guitar, backing vocals George Duke - lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizer Napoleon Murphy Brock - flute, tenor saxophone, backing vocals Tom Fowler - bass Chester Thompson - drums Ruth Underwood - vibes, marimba, percussion
What? Oh that's just George Duke. And Napoleon Brock Murphy. And a bit of Ruth Underwood. With Frank Zappa leading. He was never short of amazing musicians that wanted to work with him.
Have to give you this one too. He always had great bands and as one of his later records was called....Does Humor Belong In Music........they always had fun on stage as you can see on this one called Room Service. ua-cam.com/video/3FOztOsXtr8/v-deo.html
This may be my favorite of Frank's works - definitely in my top five. You gotta see him leading a band through this live - it's a thing of beauty. I strenuously recommend this performance, featuring George Duke (the keyboards/synth/falsetto vocals on the album version) and Ruth Underwood (percussionist on the album version) plus Napoleon Murphy Brock, one of Frank's most entertaining vocalists/comedy frontmen: ua-cam.com/video/wqp71DOJ3aY/v-deo.html Enjoy!
You should check his early 70s/late 60s pieces with Jean-Luc Ponty. Some of the wildest rock music out there and often there was a jazz violinist leading them. Ponty even recorded an entire album of Zappa compositions, King Kong. Particularly, I'm a fan of "The Little House I Used to Live In" from Burnt Weeny Sandwich, "Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra" from Ponty's album I mentioned and "King Kong", in the Uncle Meat version, not in Ponty's.
You are totally right about RnB, by the way. Wrong about the drugs, he was absolutely against drug consumption and hated the few times he smoked marijuana, but completely right about RnB. His early musical heroes were people like Guitar Slim and Johnny Guitar Watson.
Did you find hot rats because of Sugarcane Harris or Jean-Luc Ponty? It is a fantastic album, but if you are a violinist and it is your homebase reference for Zappa music, it would seem that one of these men might have led you to it.
George Duke on vocals and keyboards. Another musical genius. Zappa didn't do drugs. He wasn't against them, just for himself and his band. You can't play this shit stoned and do it justice.
BELIEVE ME, YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING & YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF !!!??? IT WOULD TAKE YOU YEARS AND YEARS OF NON STOP LISTENING TO GET THROUGH HIS SONG BOOK !!! OFFICIAL RELEASE #127 JUST CAME OUT: CD BOX w/HIGH RESOLUTION DIGITAL ON ON BLU-RAY OF THE ORIGINAL MIX & RELEASE !!! 50th ANNIVERSARY !!!! ALSO CUT ON 45rpm VINYL !!! THE ERIE BOX SET IS 6 CD’s FILLED WITH MUSIC !! THE MUDD CLUB also 45rpm Vinyl !!!! AND I STILL LOVE 1966 FREAK OUT !!! TROUBLE COMING EVERY DAY !
I'm surprised that you aren't listening to tracks with Zappa's violin players -- Jean-Luc Ponty, Sugarcane Harris, and Eddie Jobson. Surely you have something to say about that.
Hello everyone,I Hope you' are "WELL, and in good spirits,alike", try that one out. I AM a musicain as well, when I was,much more active, I Played 4 instruments, wrote,sang,composed, blah blah woof woofs. I also majored in Education among other subjects. Give that one a shot sparky:-)
I sure hope this guy didn't make any money off this "leaching" off of FZ's masterwork. I was hoping for musical insight, got nothing but derivative drivel. Occasionally you can find a wonderful "My First Time Listening to..." But his guy has neither the smarts, charm, nor charisma.
In case nobody caught it Inca Roads is about the Nazca Lines in the Andes Mountains in...Peru I think. In the beginning you hear a bunch of different voice jabbering, thats the natives saying, what the heck is it? The thing that was (maybe) round, had a motor (maybe) & needed a place to land. Anyway Zappa apparently agrees w/ the premise that the Nazca Lines were markings to show aliens where to land their spaceships, etc. And Zappa never did drugs, actually fired valuable band members for using them. Anyway, figuring the lyrics is the easy part this time...the music I couldnt begin to decipher, other than to say wow I like it...
The basic track was recorded live for a tv show (that was never broadcast). It was originally an instrumental that was scored. Once he had a band that could perform it, it developed into what you hear here. The guitar solo is from a different show, a month later.
This is, of course, based on the book Chariots Of The Gods, by Erich Von Daniken, who was extremely trendy at the time this was recorded (utter bullshit, though). Zappa had a complicated set of hand signals that he would use to queue many actions in concert, including that (supposedly) random babbling by the band members (it usually was catch phrases from the current tour). The guitar solo you are hearing was pasted in from an earlier recording of "Holiday In Berlin", which is well documented on the internet. Zappa loved to do that, and even invented a name for it: "xenochrony" .
It is very odd to me that you do not speak of the emotional range of one of the greatest guitar solos ever. Nor do you really seem to understand how utterly different a solo like this was from what anybody else was doing at the time, or even is doing now. It wasn’t exactly rock it wasn’t exactly jazz. It was Zappa. You may have been right about an envelope filter, but it could’ve also been an expertly played wah-wah pedal. At the end of the solo, there is what he calls his Bulgarian bagpipe sound. Which is, I believe, tapping on the fingerboard (possibly right on the Fretz themselves) with his pick, And inducing all kinds of harmonics. This predates Eddie Van Halen by a long time. Zappa wasn’t the first person to do tapping either. But he’s the only person I’ve ever heard to do tapping with a pick in this way to get this effect. I find your analysis kind of misses the point. This was new, then, and oddly enough, it still sounds new. There’s just no other guitarist, who ever played a solo like that before, or since, and as I say, the solo has incredible emotional range.
With bass you can play “balls”, with sax you can play “sleaze”, with a slightly out of tune electric guitar you can play pure obscenity. A good reactVID … you listened to the original release… Keep going down the rabbit hole… you’ll love it … One of his greatest pieces…
By this time I wish RAP artist would have gone off into some very complex non commercia non dance jazz patterns like that by now. Zappa is the master of music design. Saw him with this band in 74 on 2nd row under the influence and can never explain what I felt, saw and heard in words. George Duke on keys and opening vocals went on to create Masterpieces in Jazz Soul Funk Fusion.
Chester's thing: the drummer Chester Thompson would eventually become Phil Collins right (and left) hand man when Phil left the drum throne taking lead vocal duties after Peter Gabriel left Genesis.
These effen reaction vids WTF. Betternthan most. Lets get someone whos baked put him on. Rob you get baked and do a before and after. Make it treally interesting, then mayble not. I want to see Ruth. Rob will ask Who's she? Take the album credits out give credit to these musicians dude. George Duke the key board player, is smokin here! Im gonna eat some Guacamole!
Great lyrics. Great music. Frank loved to make fun of stupid human ideas, like the Nazca Lines in Peru were not created by the 'natives' but by some aliens from outer space. So of course the Inca roads were made by those from spaceships who for some odd reason chose, on all the earth, to land in the Andes. Yea, sure it makes sense. Oh, how we could use Zappa's sardonic wit today!
Zappa was hardly ever influenced by anything other than music. He hired people for other stuff, like business or art. He was pushed to offer a disclaimer about drugs, because so many assholes said stupid things about his music. I have to assume that he at least tried smoking weed, because that was the culture, but he always said that he didn't get high, and didn't tolerate band members doing drugs on company time -- his time. When he was dying of cancer, he started having margarita nights at home -- kinda understandable, considering.
8:23 he was tapping with plectrum. Different sound can hear. He used much of his guitar active eq's. This is one of his greatest songs. Odd meters all around.
The solo on the record was lifted from a concert in Finland. While the solo had composed chord changes, everything he played live for that song was jamming on the chord changes. It was never the same twice. Unlike the rest of the song, he did not transcribe his solo. Steve Vai did transcribe it years later.
This song is Franks opinion of the book Chariot's of the Gods from the day. Did aliens land in S America back in the day? Ruth Underwood is the percussionist and is given props at the end - "For Ruth, for Ruth"! You should check out a live version of this song to see how much fun the band is having while performing this.
This song was inspired by the 1968 Erich von Däniken book, "Chariots of The Gods?" and the subsequent 1973 film of it titled "In Search of Ancient Astronauts," itself a remake of a 1970 West German film, exploring "possible interpretations" of Incan pictographs and ruins. The lyrics, sung by classical pianist George Duke, are taken nearly verbatim from Rod Serling's narration of the film. I've heard other reactors to this piece opine that Zappa had a wild imagination, to have come up with this stuff... 🙏
Ruth Underwood on percussion ❤️
Brilliant woman.
Check out the musicians, everyone was top of the food chain. Who else but Frank could eventually hire Steve Vai for “rythym and stunt guitar”?
"En route. En route. That's Ruth."
She is a genius herself...My good how good isnt that woman!!!
Frank is not the best at what he does. He’s the only person who does what he does.
Zappa was the musical genius of our generation .... I saw him when he was just starting out in Greenwich Village in 1966 with the original Mothers of Invention ..... There will never be another artist like him ...... truly one of a kind.
You really need to watch live performances. Frank never disappoints live.
I was at EVERY NY HALLOWEEN SHOW !!! BOTH EARLY & LATE IF THEY ADDED A SHOW ?
The "rap" or "talk" part that you mentioned at the end is actually a melody, and it is the same melody as in the beginning, only much faster. The same melody is also at 9:58 in the video, but instrumental. You can hear this in a lot of Zappa's music. Melodies beeing reused and slowed down. A good example of that is the song "Song of Orange County" on 'Roxy & Elsewhere", which has a slow beautiful melody sung by Napoleon Murphy Brock, and the same melody comes back in the end at 4:57. I think that is really cool. I discovered a lot of this when I arranged many songs for my Zappa tribute band some years ago.
If you like that you should find a video by Mike Keneally who played guitar with one of FZ's bands.
Search Mike Keneally Inca Roads Acoustic Cardiff. And amazing performance of this great composition.
"The present day composer refuses to die!" - Edgar Varese
Miss ya Frank. Every day.
The keyboard player and vocalist, George Duke, had never sung or played a synthesizer before Frank coerced him into both. He knew the potential of his players. Guacamole Queen refers to a taco stand of renown.
One of the greatest ivory ticklers ever. Man is a legend
Zappa was filth
Did not know that. He had never sung? Never been recorded singing?
Garbage
No. He was a genius who sadly died way to early.
En mi opinión este es el mejor solo de guitarra que he escuchado. Dudo que otro guitarrista pueda hacer algo similar.
Zappa; un genio de la música.
The bass player is Tom Fowler who together with his brothers Walt (trumpet) and Bruce (trombone) used to play in Zappa's band for some years.
Never tired of seeing reaction videos to Frank Zappa. I wish I taped myself almost 40 years ago listening to Marque-Sons Chicken.
Greatest musical mind to ever walk this earth. I saw him over 35 times from 1973 when I was 13 to 1988 all in his favorite place to play NYC.
I got into him because Phish covered Peaches and I went down the rabbit hole in 92. Unfortunately, he died shortly thereafter and I never got to see him live.
ahah, I loved that "top of the food-chain kind of musicians"
And he never did drugs. He smoked cigarettes, drank coffee and wrote or edited his music 12 to 16 hours every day. According to his kids and they should know...
He often said that this was his most accomplished band that could play whatever he chucked at them. Sometimes when he was playing live something would happen in the audience and Frank would pick up on that and he would make the show go in a completely different direction from what the band was expecting and they had to be on it. Frank was the real deal but also supported by truly talented top Drawer musicians as you so rightly observed. Thank you for starting your Zappa journey. Enjoy and be educated by a true master of his art.
He changed his mind about that, though. I remember him saying that the '88 band was the best group of musicians he ever took on the road.
But when talking about the best musicians he ever worked with, I never heard him praise anyone more than Ensemble Modern.
Probably because not only did they play his music satisfactorily, but they also WANTED to play it. In fact, they paid for their own rehearsals and travel expenses!
All Frank had to do was to turn up and conduct them, essentially.
Zappa was garbage
@@marlon-jl4geNo user-lv7in5nc7b, you are in fact garbage. I think U2 or Bon Jovi is more on your level
@@seanbrennan5192 ugly clown zappa
The bar was set higher with every new band , with every new project, and it progressed exponentially. Thats what is so heartbreaking about losing him.
I never tire of this track - in fact it just sounds better as the years go by. There are some real musical Everests in Zappa's catalogue that soar, and Inca Roads is one of them. I know that it's often hailed as a 'prog' classic, but it's really more a jazz/rock fusion thing on steroids, with more sudden twists and turns than...an interstellar vehicle out there somewhere...
Watermelon in Easter Hay is another...but there really are too many to count. As a fan since the release of Freak Out, he informed not only my musical tastes but my worldview. I can literally parse my life into two parts. BFZ and AFZ.
My favorite version of Inca Roads is on Roxy by Proxy
@@not_emeraldCheck out Inca Roads 1979! My favorite Frank Inca Roads solo 😊
Inca Bullshit
@@seanbrennan5192
Which particular performance?
The track titled Occam's Razor from One-Shot Deal, which was edited down to become On The Bus on Joe's Garage, is the solo from Inca Roads in 1979. As you know, the solos were always improvised and different. Can you tell us what performance from '79 you want us to check out?
George Duke was the vocalist at the start of the song. Duke did say in an interview it was Zappa who got him (Duke) to sing!
And George Duke played the keyboard solo.
Also, George didn’t want to play synthesizers zappa made him do it. The rest is history!
Zappa was an ugly, boring clown and his music too
Zappa was filth
This was a refreshingly honest reaction. Most people when hearing Frank's music for the first time, well, they call it "weird" and stop listening.
It's very different when a musician listens to it. And in general, I feel that it's mostly musicians who understand what Frank was doing the most.
As you said, it's very composed music, so to get the most out of it, it really helps to have an understanding of both music theory, composition and history,
and most commercial music doesn't put such expectations on the audience.
You get some bass and a beat with some kind of melody line sprinkled on top, and that's about it. Good to go. Easy for anyone to get into.
With Frank's music? No, it doesn't work like that. Or even when it does; on his more simple pop songs, he could never resist the temptation
to throw a few things into the mix that would confuse the casual listener.
The one thing that is truly essential when listening to Frank's music is having a sense of HUMOR. And unfortunately, a lot of people don't think
humor belongs in music.
I use to think that. Frank changed my mind
Zappa was an ugly boring clown
Shit ugly zappa changed the World of boring assholes 🤣
You nailed it, man. Also what you said about the humor in his music. I love it when music is able to describe and support the lyrics of a song or just transports different things just via the music itself. Zappa was really great at that, indeed. Sometimes I have to smile, because of the humor thats expressed just musically.
A true classic and masterpiece. And recorded live. Outrageous!! And Tom Fowler is KILLING it!
Frank was also influenced by Doo Wop, his 68 album Cruising With Ruben And The Jets is arguably the best 50s Doo Wop album ever produced, The Guacamole Queen was a woman that worked at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin Texas where the live portions of the Bongo Fury album were recorded, she baked guacamole cookies and treats for everyone.
The thing about Zappa is: no instrument (or musician) is ever used as just a filler. You can listen to any single instrument and simply have a good time enjoying that part of the song. And the next time you hear the song, you can focus on another instrument and enjoy yourself just as much. Quite a rare thing.
Just like Bach.
Zappa was garbage
@@marlon-jl4geNo user-lv7in5nc7b, you are in fact garbage. I think U2 or Bon Jovi is more on your level
@@seanbrennan5192 zappa was filth
@@marlon-jl4ge If Frank were still alive, do you think he would give a flying __ck what you think?
🖤Frank & his Magicians for ever...
Zappa - Violin - Sugarcane Harris and Ponty. Willie the Pimp - Hot Rats and Ponty on Overnight Sensation And Chester Thompson on drums. (Genesis and Weather Report)
I'm so gutted that I never got to see Frank live. When I left NZ in the late 80's for the US, he was touring the UK and then when I got to the UK he was back in the US. And then he passed away 😔 In the late 80's while all my mates were listening to Led Zep et al, I was so into Zappa. So many late nights at my parents house in my late teens, baked out of my brain, headphones on, listening to Frank. Great memories.
Pour moi, surement son plus représentatif, quand je veux faire écouter Zappa pour la première fois, à des musiciens, je propose celui-là. Il y a tout lui dedans.
You should watch the live version
If you would like to watch recording of most of the tracks performed live used in this recording, go here: ua-cam.com/video/wqp71DOJ3aY/v-deo.html. Frank used a few overdubs and dropped in a different guitar solo in the album version that you heard here. It’s incredible that the song you just listen to was performed live on stage. They’re pretty good musicians, they’re pretty good musicians….
It sounded like even more than a 32 track machine can handle! So many layers. This song really showed how intricate, yet entertaining, his songs could get.
Here: If you haven't yet... ua-cam.com/video/xGeZGrJ1ICQ/v-deo.html Zappa's Drummers & the enchanting Ruth Underwood
The crazy thing is that the 60's psychedelic bands were more influenced by him than the other way around. Sergeant Pepper was the Beatles' Freak Out. He got there from Stravinsky and obscure 50's rhythm 'n' blues.
Ruth Underwood!!!
They pull this off live too. Flawlessly.
and nested 11th-lets on the upbeat of third beat of...
It was all recorded live, with just some vocal overdubs...
Zappa was garbage
@@marlon-jl4geNo user-lv7in5nc7b, you are in fact garbage. I think U2 or Bon Jovi is more on your level
This is a live recording with some overdubbing
Non-musicians are often puzzled by the "weirdness". But musicians can't miss Zappa. They immediately see the genius. What a composer. WHAT A BAND! You should see performing this LIVE, as if it was nothing, even joking, dancing, etc.
Haha woah, yeah, that was me too when I heard this on a tape cassette recorded on some dual cassette player in the 80s. Thought the timing was off at the time as it often was on those things. Nope said the owner, your expectations are off. And he was right.
Official Releases are up to #127 (Titles)
I’ve Got ALL OF THEM !! Ever Since 1966 Freak Out !! Still One of my Favorites
Who could imagine... they would freak out in Kansas!
No, he didn't do drugs, other than cigarettes and coffee. He wasn't morally opposed to their use but didn't care for the effects they had, mostly. He was a pretty serious composer and musician, and very selective and demanding of the musicians he chose to play his music, they had to be highly competent to perform his more complex pieces like this, with all the abrupt meter changes and other intricate nuances.
As far as drug use is concerned, he was also not keen on the possibility of any legal and/or financial ramifications. Especially when touring.
But shit ugly zappa changed the World of boring assholes 🤣
Right? Hahahaha
Zappa was garbage
@@kosta399 Could you be more specific? Why was Zappa "garbage", in your esteemed opinion?
@@NondescriptMammal shit zappa was an ugly boring asshole and his music too
Upvoted before listening because it's Inca Roads, one of my top favorite FZ creations.
Believe it or not it's a live recording, you can find the basic tracks on a tv show, a DVD called "A token of his extreme" and the guitar solo (one of the best I've heard in my life) is extracted from the Helsinki Concert YCDTOSA 2. By the way the Ruth Underwood performance is amazing!
Most memorable shows in Montreal; Zappa was a univers onto himself an eye and ear opener to be sure;music was never the same after;the live video of inca roads is mind bending.To pull off that one live is lifetime accomplishment.So jelous!!And to think it was around the mahavishnu orchestra simultanuously.Us the listeners were blasted out of our ears.
Seriously folks this leaves those humourless wankers Weather Report and Return to Forever in the dust.
Good Review , Zappa reviews always appreciated , Fan 50 years love his Work .. cheers
This music does not get old. It should come with a warning: Serious Listening Only.
Zappa was filth
@@marlon-jl4ge - Of course there will be difference of opinion with music. There is a wide range of music in this world, and it has to do with one's culture and mindset. Similar is drugs. Some people love alcohol. Others prefer a different drug. Some people don't like any drugs. And so with music, there will always be difference of opinion. That's the problem with video makers who insert music into their videos. His choice of music will offend many people, usually the majority of people. Knocking a piece of music or a musician is not recommended. Try to keep it positive. There's no upside to knocking music, unless you enjoy the act of hating or denouncing something. Long term Zappa fans are accustomed to listening to your kind of ugly comment, because his music disturbs the mind, and most listeners want the opposite. People don't want surprises in music. But, if you listen to one of his songs a few times, the surprises become anticipations, and the mind is no longer disturbed by them. Then you can explore the complexity and experience the beauty. Or not. It is probably true that most people will never like Zappa music. Life is short, so If you find that you do not like Zappa music, I recommend that you not listen to it.
@@mu99ins you dont have to write a novel right away, hahahaha
@@marlon-jl4ge - To the 21st Century websurfer, a paragraph is a novel. I mean to say, it was one sentence after another. But, with me, I am not limited by pecking away at a cell phone keyboard. I have a full sized keyboard and I touch type, so almost as quickly as I think a thought, it appears on the screen. So, I can post up complex thoughts, contrasted to most websurfers, who are limited by their keyboards, and the shallowness of their thinking.
@@mu99ins thats how i am
There is a live version of Inca Roads on the album, A Token Of His Extreme, which was released 1 year before, One Size Fits All. To me it is smoother/less harsh sounding then the One Size Fits All version. Zappa's solo is much better and way more soulful. I bought this album in 1974 and have been listing to it at least once a month and it still makes my heart soar and brings tears to my eyes.
And as a bonus a friend of Zappa made a claymation movie/video? that is pretty wild and is played during Zappa's solo. Was reading some of the other comments and some talked about having to have trained musicians background to truly appreciate Zappa. I have no musical training. But have been loving Zappa's music since I was 12. I had a paper route in 1965 so at the age of 12 I was flush with cash and buying Zappa's albums. His influence on me made me seek out different genres. Love everything, except C&W, which I call tear in my beer music, and silly love songs.
Check out "200 Motels soundtrack or video "Lonesome Cowboy Bert" lol
The guitar solo on this cut is taken from a live performance. For those not in the know, this song is referencing the Nasca Lines in Peru.
My band covered a couple of his songs but they were the easy ones like "My guitar wants to kill your Mama". I couldn't dream of playing Inca Roads...way over my head.
Maybe my favorite piece of music ever. I'm not a musician so it's great to hear trained musicians react to Frank's music. Great stuff
There's a clip on youtube somewhere where someone has listed all the time signature changes (lots), but when you see them playing it looks like they're just messing about.
This is why....
Frank Zappa - guitar, backing vocals
George Duke - lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizer
Napoleon Murphy Brock - flute, tenor saxophone, backing vocals
Tom Fowler - bass
Chester Thompson - drums
Ruth Underwood - vibes, marimba, percussion
What? Oh that's just George Duke. And Napoleon Brock Murphy. And a bit of Ruth Underwood. With Frank Zappa leading. He was never short of amazing musicians that wanted to work with him.
Zappa was a disgusting person
Have to give you this one too. He always had great bands and as one of his later records was called....Does Humor Belong In Music........they always had fun on stage as you can see on this one called Room Service.
ua-cam.com/video/3FOztOsXtr8/v-deo.html
This may be my favorite of Frank's works - definitely in my top five. You gotta see him leading a band through this live - it's a thing of beauty. I strenuously recommend this performance, featuring George Duke (the keyboards/synth/falsetto vocals on the album version) and Ruth Underwood (percussionist on the album version) plus Napoleon Murphy Brock, one of Frank's most entertaining vocalists/comedy frontmen: ua-cam.com/video/wqp71DOJ3aY/v-deo.html Enjoy!
thats guitar solo is 100% live and improvsied from a 1974 helsinki concert
Albeit, edited!
and the edit is seamless unless you know what you're looking for
True, Chris!
Zappa was garbage
@@marlon-jl4ge , your opinions carry so much that I've completely changed my mind. What do I do to be as cool as you?
7:52 Greatest inspiration, having a talking guitar like Johnny "Guitar" Watson
You should check his early 70s/late 60s pieces with Jean-Luc Ponty. Some of the wildest rock music out there and often there was a jazz violinist leading them. Ponty even recorded an entire album of Zappa compositions, King Kong. Particularly, I'm a fan of "The Little House I Used to Live In" from Burnt Weeny Sandwich, "Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra" from Ponty's album I mentioned and "King Kong", in the Uncle Meat version, not in Ponty's.
You are totally right about RnB, by the way. Wrong about the drugs, he was absolutely against drug consumption and hated the few times he smoked marijuana, but completely right about RnB. His early musical heroes were people like Guitar Slim and Johnny Guitar Watson.
Without shit ugly zappa, the music World would be much better 🤣 🤣 🤣
Away with that shit pathetic zappa
Lots of notes there to enjoy.
A piece of music that should never be forgotten. Simply Amazing.
Did you find hot rats because of Sugarcane Harris or Jean-Luc Ponty? It is a fantastic album, but if you are a violinist and it is your homebase reference for Zappa music, it would seem that one of these men might have led you to it.
Personnel
Frank Zappa - guitar, backing vocals.
George Duke - lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizer.
Napoleon Murphy Brock - flute, tenor saxophone, backing vocals.
Tom Fowler - bass.
Chester Thompson - drums.
Ruth Underwood - vibes, marimba, percussion.
Frank Zappa - guitar, backing vocals
George Duke - lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizer
Napoleon Murphy Brock - flute, tenor saxophone, backing vocals
Tom Fowler - bass
Chester Thompson - drums
Ruth Underwood - vibes, marimba, percussion
George Duke on vocals and keyboards. Another musical genius.
Zappa didn't do drugs. He wasn't against them, just for himself and his band. You can't play this shit stoned and do it justice.
Thought this was murr from impractical jokers for a second.
BELIEVE ME, YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING & YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF !!!???
IT WOULD TAKE YOU YEARS AND YEARS OF NON STOP LISTENING TO GET THROUGH HIS SONG BOOK !!! OFFICIAL RELEASE #127 JUST CAME OUT: CD BOX w/HIGH RESOLUTION DIGITAL ON ON BLU-RAY OF THE ORIGINAL MIX & RELEASE !!! 50th ANNIVERSARY !!!!
ALSO CUT ON 45rpm VINYL !!! THE ERIE BOX SET IS 6 CD’s FILLED WITH MUSIC !!
THE MUDD CLUB also 45rpm Vinyl !!!!
AND I STILL LOVE 1966 FREAK OUT !!! TROUBLE COMING EVERY DAY !
I'm surprised that you aren't listening to tracks with Zappa's violin players -- Jean-Luc Ponty, Sugarcane Harris, and Eddie Jobson. Surely you have something to say about that.
Hello everyone,I Hope you' are "WELL, and in good spirits,alike", try that one out. I AM a musicain as well, when I was,much more active, I Played 4 instruments, wrote,sang,composed, blah blah woof woofs. I also majored in Education among other subjects. Give that one a shot sparky:-)
React to lumpy gravy!
I sure hope this guy didn't make any money off this "leaching" off of FZ's masterwork. I was hoping for musical insight, got nothing but derivative drivel. Occasionally you can find a wonderful "My First Time Listening to..." But his guy has neither the smarts, charm, nor charisma.
In case nobody caught it Inca Roads is about the Nazca Lines in the Andes Mountains in...Peru I think. In the beginning you hear a bunch of different voice jabbering, thats the natives saying, what the heck is it? The thing that was (maybe) round, had a motor (maybe) & needed a place to land. Anyway Zappa apparently agrees w/ the premise that the Nazca Lines were markings to show aliens where to land their spaceships, etc. And Zappa never did drugs, actually fired valuable band members for using them. Anyway, figuring the lyrics is the easy part this time...the music I couldnt begin to decipher, other than to say wow I like it...
The basic track was recorded live for a tv show (that was never broadcast).
It was originally an instrumental that was scored.
Once he had a band that could perform it, it developed into what you hear here.
The guitar solo is from a different show, a month later.
This is, of course, based on the book Chariots Of The Gods, by Erich Von Daniken, who was extremely trendy at the time this was recorded (utter bullshit, though). Zappa had a complicated set of hand signals that he would use to queue many actions in concert, including that (supposedly) random babbling by the band members (it usually was catch phrases from the current tour). The guitar solo you are hearing was pasted in from an earlier recording of "Holiday In Berlin", which is well documented on the internet. Zappa loved to do that, and even invented a name for it: "xenochrony" .
Músico. Genial. Não é para todos, modéstia a parte , entender e adorar este magnífico trabalho . Portanto sinto me uma privilegiada por adorar Zappa
It is very odd to me that you do not speak of the emotional range of one of the greatest guitar solos ever. Nor do you really seem to understand how utterly different a solo like this was from what anybody else was doing at the time, or even is doing now.
It wasn’t exactly rock it wasn’t exactly jazz. It was Zappa. You may have been right about an envelope filter, but it could’ve also been an expertly played wah-wah pedal. At the end of the solo, there is what he calls his Bulgarian bagpipe sound. Which is, I believe, tapping on the fingerboard (possibly right on the Fretz themselves) with his pick, And inducing all kinds of harmonics. This predates Eddie Van Halen by a long time. Zappa wasn’t the first person to do tapping either. But he’s the only person I’ve ever heard to do tapping with a pick in this way to get this effect.
I find your analysis kind of misses the point. This was new, then, and oddly enough, it still sounds new. There’s just no other guitarist, who ever played a solo like that before, or since, and as I say, the solo has incredible emotional range.
zappa has 130 cds.......... ponty 1970 king kong great
With bass you can play “balls”, with sax you can play “sleaze”, with a slightly out of tune electric guitar you can play pure obscenity. A good reactVID … you listened to the original release…
Keep going down the rabbit hole… you’ll love it … One of his greatest pieces…
By this time I wish RAP artist would have gone off into some very complex non commercia non dance jazz patterns like that by now. Zappa is the master of music design. Saw him with this band in 74 on 2nd row under the influence and can never explain what I felt, saw and heard in words. George Duke on keys and opening vocals went on to create Masterpieces in Jazz Soul Funk Fusion.
You heard what Frank called a sound sculpture. :)
Zappa was filth
Rap artists have definitely gone into some very complex non commercial non dance jazz patterns.
Without shit ugly zappa, the music World would be much better 🤣 🤣 🤣
Ever listen to MF Doom?
It's often very challenging to listen to Zappa but the pay-off is worth it. This chord is ugly. I like this chord.
Worth it to check out George Duke's thoughts on making this song. Probably still around on YT somewhere.
Chester's thing: the drummer Chester Thompson would eventually become Phil Collins right (and left) hand man when Phil left the drum throne taking lead vocal duties after Peter Gabriel left Genesis.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND LISTEN TO WATERMELON IN EASTER HAY. Joes Garage
These effen reaction vids WTF. Betternthan most. Lets get someone whos baked put him on. Rob you get baked and do a before and after. Make it treally interesting, then mayble not. I want to see Ruth. Rob will ask Who's she? Take the album credits out give credit to these musicians dude. George Duke the key board player, is smokin here! Im gonna eat some Guacamole!
It charming how you grope for a style definition. There is only one. It's Zappa. "The modern composer refuses to die." Varese
Great lyrics. Great music. Frank loved to make fun of stupid human ideas, like the Nazca Lines in Peru were not created by the 'natives' but by some aliens from outer space. So of course the Inca roads were made by those from spaceships who for some odd reason chose, on all the earth, to land in the Andes. Yea, sure it makes sense. Oh, how we could use Zappa's sardonic wit today!
Always, always do Frank live. The only way to experience him.
Zappa was hardly ever influenced by anything other than music. He hired people for other stuff, like business or art. He was pushed to offer a disclaimer about drugs, because so many assholes said stupid things about his music. I have to assume that he at least tried smoking weed, because that was the culture, but he always said that he didn't get high, and didn't tolerate band members doing drugs on company time -- his time. When he was dying of cancer, he started having margarita nights at home -- kinda understandable, considering.
Ruth Underwood is amazing! That whole ending thing she did is all notated. She had to read that.
8:23 he was tapping with plectrum. Different sound can hear. He used much of his guitar active eq's. This is one of his greatest songs. Odd meters all around.
REMEMBER, THEIR IS A PURPOSE TO EVERYTHING FRANK DOES !!!
HE EVEN LIKES TO INTERRUPT THE TRANQUIL TIMES, THEN ……..
Tapping on guitar before tapping was a thing. And that is not a jam, the live versions hanging on YT are almost identical
The solo on the record was lifted from a concert in Finland. While the solo had composed chord changes, everything he played live for that song was jamming on the chord changes. It was never the same twice. Unlike the rest of the song, he did not transcribe his solo. Steve Vai did transcribe it years later.
Zappa was garbage
A boring clown and an ignorant
The singing is pretty good. That's one way to describe the stylings of George Duke.
Chester Thompson on drums. He went to Genesis. He's mentioned in the lyrics. I gather that he and Ruth had some sort of relationship.
I'm so glad you got to experience Inca Roads!
Stop talking and listen comment AFTER !
This song is Franks opinion of the book Chariot's of the Gods from the day. Did aliens land in S America back in the day? Ruth Underwood is the percussionist and is given props at the end - "For Ruth, for Ruth"! You should check out a live version of this song to see how much fun the band is having while performing this.
On Ruth. On Ruth. That's Ruth.
The studio version is the worst version at that. This song live is twice as good
No random with FZ he wrote all the parts down and taught most of his band members how to read music cause they couldnt learn his stuff by ear.
YES... top of the food chain WICKED!!!
I think this piece was played live with the guitar over dubbed.. adding other things to it
its like he took the guitar solo, and made another song out of it: black napkins
Fun fact. Every Zapppa solo was improv
Frank said he tried pot 8 or 9 times and never liked it. Frank was totally against drugs.
Frank's motto was if it starts getting pretty it's propably time to mess it up....
jean-luc ponty played in zappas group. seen them many times
pretty good?? george duke was the man! on keyboards