I love this, an unfettered description of how it was when musicians first met Frank before he was really famous. I saw a similar reaction when in 1968 Frank interviewed black musicians from the 1950s for his article in Life Magazine. You could see their shocked faces when they saw Frank's shoulder-length hair but after a while during which Frank showed due respect to them, they left clearly impressed and admiring.
@@jesusislukeskywalker4294 Hmmm. I wonder if if Frank kept them in his famous vault but I'm not sure if they would add up to much. Frank used very little of what they said in his article. After they left, Frank became bitter about those very talented black musicians who, in 1968, now worked in the local car wash because no one wanted to hear real music any more.
@@jesusislukeskywalker4294 Do you refer to Frank's interviews with those 50's blues artists? I would have typed them up from the tapes and they may well still be in the vault. The interviews were for his article in Life Magazine, but I can't remember if he used any of it. I could find the date of the magazine it was in, but it would take time.
If you would like to know more about Frank, in particular his home life not shown in other books from getting up to going to bed, composing and rehearsing with the Mothers, visiting rock stars, freaks, family squabbles, and more, then 'Freak Out! My Life with Frank Zappa, Laurel Canyon, 1968-1971[ is for you.
I seem to remember a story that was in Tommy Tedesco’s book about I believe the first session he did with Zappa. Tommy thought Zappa was a joke so he wore an American Indian costume to that session, but quickly realized that FZ was a serious composer and garnered the respect of the Wrecking Crew musicians.
American Indian shirt/fringe shirt, golf pants, over sized shows and some sort of goofy hat. He said he was humbled and impressed after having to perform the music. He went up to Zappa after the session and told him he enjoyed playing his music and was truly impressed by his work. Yeah, that story stuck with me. Wish the book had. Guess I need to buy another.
Though Frank had some zany lyrics the musicianship / production of his albums was always top notch. He could both play & compose at an extremely high level. He also strived to get as much out the players in the band as he could by testing their musical / creative limits. One thing missing from this interview is we didn't find out who won the $100 bet 🤔😁?
The Wrecking Crew Frank was like that- the psychological aspect - A bunch of examples: - Him asking George Duke to play real simple stuff on George's audition. - ua-cam.com/video/ERFUbX648S4/v-deo.html George complained and Zappa said, "Something wrong with your hand?" After George complained about study at the conservatory Frank said, "Oh... it's beneath you?" - When he told Steve Vai that Linda Ronstadt was looking for a guitarist after Vai mentioned that a note Frank wanted him to add in 7/8 reggae was impossible. ua-cam.com/video/r6cplMM3d_Q/v-deo.html Of course he hired Steve - And one of the best stories is how he borrowed the Ikettes when cutting tracks at Bolic Sound and got them to sing this part: ua-cam.com/video/smZA9Jv3qH0/v-deo.html Took them three days... after Tina got it she was so excited that she ran to the other control room next door to get Ike. He was so pissed. After a few measures he said, "What is this shit? You can't use the girls names on any of the credits." And to this day - no listing of the Ikettes on either album - Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe . What a dick. That session wasn't filmed but him getting two of the Ikettes to do Cheepnis was -see this ua-cam.com/video/5-kXTFSswKw/v-deo.html What an amazing man. One of the last great composers of our time. Imagine if he'd have done more stuff with the crew...
The thing is, before the Lumpy Gravy sessions, Frank already had Freak Out! and Absolutely Free released, and real musicians knew about him. Heck, check out the who's who of folks just hanging around in the studio during the recording sessions for his debut album! Who gets that kind of attention even before recording their first album? So, if these guys in the Wrecking Crew were up on what was going on in music of the day, they may have heard of Frank and said, "This is going to be interesting!" instead of looking at Frank and thinking, "Look at this hippie freak!" They learned quickly enough though...
Steve Allen had several talk shows during his tenure. He hated rock’n’roll and would mock it any chance he would get. The Mothers were a guest on his afternoon show and when they were done playing, as Frank was walking over to the dais to be with Steve, the house band started playing weird, out of tune stuff as if to ridicule Zappa. Frank sits down saying “hi” to each of the guys in the house band one by one by name, putting them in their place. Steve Allen pipes in “isn’t it true that most of the pop tunes have the same players on each record.” Zappa responds “no.” I’m adding more info to my original comment. In the 50’s Steve Allen had the Tonight Show and would steal comedy bits from Ernie Kovacs whose NY show was just airing locally. He got away with because the national audience never saw the original Ernie Kovacs’ version. Ernie actually made a comment on it at the beginning of one of his shows. Steve Allen also hated rock’n’roll and would mock it at every opportunity. One time he recited the lyrics of the 50’s tune “Be Bop I Love You Baby” on his show trying to illustrate the simplicity and banality of the words. IMO, he was a self-absorbed jerk and a pompous pseudo-intellectual.
I totally agree. I started reading his book in the library, but when I got to the part where he was trashing the Beatles, I put it down. What an absolute a$$.
Sadly these stories about Frank will become less and less as time elapses. And then one day the world will wake up and say, Who tf is this guy and why have we not heard of him?
I like a person who can come right out, admit they were being A-holes, but were at least willing to give the guy a chance and say "daaaaaang let's do this" and drop the charades! And well they did make great music together and I loved it too, only that I was weird enough to not look at it through my nose first, and when I dug what I heard after the first 3 bars, which pretty much happened the first time I heard Zappa after having never heard anything like it (Freak out) and my mind was in on it!!
I love this, an unfettered description of how it was when musicians first met Frank before he was really famous. I saw a similar reaction when in 1968 Frank interviewed black musicians from the 1950s for his article in Life Magazine. You could see their shocked faces when they saw Frank's shoulder-length hair but after a while during which Frank showed due respect to them, they left clearly impressed and admiring.
i would like to see those 😬 interviews
@@jesusislukeskywalker4294 Hmmm. I wonder if if Frank kept them in his famous vault but I'm not sure if they would add up to much. Frank used very little of what they said in his article. After they left, Frank became bitter about those very talented black musicians who, in 1968, now worked in the local car wash because no one wanted to hear real music any more.
Nice to see you here. The full interviews would be nice to see.
@@jesusislukeskywalker4294 Do you refer to Frank's interviews with those 50's blues artists? I would have typed them up from the tapes and they may well still be in the vault. The interviews were for his article in Life Magazine, but I can't remember if he used any of it. I could find the date of the magazine it was in, but it would take time.
@@romanbaird1625 Nice to be welcomed. Thank you. I've answered this below (or maybe above) .
Never doubt the GENIUS that was/is Frank Zappa!
Never do !
GOD BLESS FRANK ZAPPA - - I AM GLAD THAT I MET YOU IN OUR LIFETIMES - LOVE FROM YOUR PAL FOREVER JOE NANIA A.K.A. HOLLYWOOD JOE
Great! More please!
If you would like to know more about Frank, in particular his home life not shown in other books from getting up to going to bed, composing and rehearsing with the Mothers, visiting rock stars, freaks, family squabbles, and more, then 'Freak Out! My Life with Frank Zappa, Laurel Canyon, 1968-1971[ is for you.
Thelonius Monk said in the 40ties : "Something is well known to be impossible to play, and here comes a guy who plays it......"
I seem to remember a story that was in Tommy Tedesco’s book about I believe the first session he did with Zappa. Tommy thought Zappa was a joke so he wore an American Indian costume to that session, but quickly realized that FZ was a serious composer and garnered the respect of the Wrecking Crew musicians.
American Indian shirt/fringe shirt, golf pants, over sized shows and some sort of goofy hat. He said he was humbled and impressed after having to perform the music. He went up to Zappa after the session and told him he enjoyed playing his music and was truly impressed by his work. Yeah, that story stuck with me. Wish the book had. Guess I need to buy another.
I was lucky enough to get tickets to a seminar Tommy Tedesco put on near Detroit, many years ago. It was great!
👋😎👍 history being shared here...
Love this story! I met Frank in 1973. I am lucky!
I miss these people being in this world.
Though Frank had some zany lyrics the musicianship / production of his albums was always top notch. He could both play & compose at an extremely high level. He also strived to get as much out the players in the band as he could by testing their musical / creative limits. One thing missing from this interview is we didn't find out who won the $100 bet 🤔😁?
Very funny. No idea. TT would bet on anything.
The Wrecking Crew Frank was like that- the psychological aspect - A bunch of examples:
- Him asking George Duke to play real simple stuff on George's audition. - ua-cam.com/video/ERFUbX648S4/v-deo.html George complained and Zappa said, "Something wrong with your hand?" After George complained about study at the conservatory Frank said, "Oh... it's beneath you?"
- When he told Steve Vai that Linda Ronstadt was looking for a guitarist after Vai mentioned that a note Frank wanted him to add in 7/8 reggae was impossible.
ua-cam.com/video/r6cplMM3d_Q/v-deo.html
Of course he hired Steve
- And one of the best stories is how he borrowed the Ikettes when cutting tracks at Bolic Sound and got them to sing this part: ua-cam.com/video/smZA9Jv3qH0/v-deo.html
Took them three days... after Tina got it she was so excited that she ran to the other control room next door to get Ike. He was so pissed. After a few measures he said, "What is this shit? You can't use the girls names on any of the credits."
And to this day - no listing of the Ikettes on either album - Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe . What a dick.
That session wasn't filmed but him getting two of the Ikettes to do Cheepnis was -see this ua-cam.com/video/5-kXTFSswKw/v-deo.html
What an amazing man. One of the last great composers of our time.
Imagine if he'd have done more stuff with the crew...
This channel was made for meeeeeeeeee!
Frank was a musical genius but he flushed to the beat of a different plumber.
On Tom Snyder’s show Tom asks Frank “Why is rock & roll so loud?”
Frank says “So the people in the back can hear!” He’s still the best
"Genius" is always Mocked at First! Frank was probably expecting & used to that attitude! Especially in 1960's
The thing is, before the Lumpy Gravy sessions, Frank already had Freak Out! and Absolutely Free released, and real musicians knew about him.
Heck, check out the who's who of folks just hanging around in the studio during the recording sessions for his debut album!
Who gets that kind of attention even before recording their first album?
So, if these guys in the Wrecking Crew were up on what was going on in music of the day, they may have heard of Frank and said, "This is going to be interesting!" instead of looking at Frank and thinking, "Look at this hippie freak!"
They learned quickly enough though...
Steve Allen had several talk shows during his tenure. He hated rock’n’roll and would mock it any chance he would get. The Mothers were a guest on his afternoon show and when they were done playing, as Frank was walking over to the dais to be with Steve, the house band started playing weird, out of tune stuff as if to ridicule Zappa. Frank sits down saying “hi” to each of the guys in the house band one by one by name, putting them in their place. Steve Allen pipes in “isn’t it true that most of the pop tunes have the same players on each record.” Zappa responds “no.”
I’m adding more info to my original comment. In the 50’s Steve Allen had the Tonight Show and would steal comedy bits from Ernie Kovacs whose NY show was just airing locally. He got away with because the national audience never saw the original Ernie Kovacs’ version. Ernie actually made a comment on it at the beginning of one of his shows. Steve Allen also hated rock’n’roll and would mock it at every opportunity. One time he recited the lyrics of the 50’s tune “Be Bop I Love You Baby” on his show trying to illustrate the simplicity and banality of the words. IMO, he was a self-absorbed jerk and a pompous pseudo-intellectual.
It's true now. All hail Producer Pop! Things have never been more the same.
@@romanbaird1625yes, the same writers and software too.
I totally agree. I started reading his book in the library, but when I got to the part where he was trashing the Beatles, I put it down. What an absolute a$$.
Sadly these stories about Frank will become less and less as time elapses. And then one day the world will wake up and say, Who tf is this guy and why have we not heard of him?
“Frank sped that up on the recording.” Then Ruth played it live years later with no tape effects.
Great story!
Video stupendo grazie
I like a person who can come right out, admit they were being A-holes, but were at least willing to give the guy a chance and say "daaaaaang let's do this" and drop the charades! And well they did make great music together and I loved it too, only that I was weird enough to not look at it through my nose first, and when I dug what I heard after the first 3 bars, which pretty much happened the first time I heard Zappa after having never heard anything like it (Freak out) and my mind was in on it!!
Clickbait Thumbnail. No video of a recording session is shown. TD
FZ blew these studio pros out of their socks.
Why not just have them play it in time at a tempo where it'd be accurate and speed THAT up?
Why not make them earn it?
@@romanbaird1625 That too.
But these go to 11!
Lol. Frank was wonderful and cant you at least try ?
That was nicer than what he said (as a prank) to Steve Vai at his audition, after Frank deliberately gave him something truly unplayable.
Frank Zappa and his mama. .
Email
Yes, Zappa crappa. Really ugly noise.
Frank was smarter than everyone..lol
Emil Richards /paiste #1