Ruth in later years has taught music to kids who can't afford formal music instruction. Not only is she a phenominal talent but a wonderful human being.
I am crying with laughter, lol. omg Frank was the true genius.. So glad I met him a "hundred years ago", now I can die happy, lel.. Thanks for this video, it should be part of any music school class !!!
Frank Zappa was just ahead of his time. He not only came around once in-a-lifetime; he came around just once. There's never going to be another Frank Zappa.
@@krispy3790because most musicians like writing their own parts when contributing to a body of music. Adrian Belew had that freedom when he was with frank. Quit being ignorant
Nah. More like a kid scribbling down nonsense but being in the position to have serious musicians play his garbage. This is not music, this is not a song, it's just a grown child playing with his musical toys. Zappa had his moments but this isnt one of them.
Notice - that each musician is...having fun. They are playing their parts, singing (even singing the drum fill). When your job is not work, it is your passion, and you are having FUN.
Frank Zappa was a genius! I only discovered him 6 years ago after knowing OF him my whole life and I regret the time I wasted NOT being exposed to his music.
How can you not get Zappa? Very long and intense discography and live performances that add up to a phenomenal career. He brought in, inspired and made careers out of so many great musicians. One of the great intellects also on music of that era.
They reputedly rehearsed for weeks for 6 hours a day. For another recording Zappa paid the LSO to perform for him and some players went off at lunch to the pub to get pissed and Zappa was outraged.
I can not imagine how anyone could assemble this many complete musical geniuses, and then actually get them to coordinate them to this level, I mean I just cannot relate. They were ridiculous! Crazy, crazy talent and creativity.
@@DunmoresMovieMania Wut? A band way more influential on main stream music than Zappa, and they all lived on the same street growing up and played little league together. Literally a perfect example of creativity and coordination at an enigmatic level. There was no reason, other than fate that all that talent was centered in a few block area.
“Alright, that was the melody” LMAO… The melody, just with the instruments sounds amazing. I never got exposed to Frank Zappa when I was younger. Truly a pioneer of music.
I got to ask her about reading Frank's charts and she said, "Oh you'd be surprised, some of it is like kindergarten level, but yes, the rest can be very difficult." Had a type of crush on her since then and will never change my mind about her. What a treasure.
@@OmniGuy Hundreds of thousands of fans who loved Zappa could care less what you think. You may not like his humor or his music, but the guy could write symphonic scores. Not too many rock musicians who can do that.
Frank truly brought out the very best in the very best. He made music fun. The older I’ve gotten, and now I’ve gotten older than him, the more I come to understand and appreciate just what Frank was all about.
I dont think I knew that Chester Thompson ever played with Zappa.. I only know him from playing on tour with Genesis and he's always been one of my favorite drummers.. Showing off his skill again on this one!!
He was part of my personal favorite line-ups of Frank's from 1973-75. Check out the live FZ albums The Roxy & Elsewhere and You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore vol. 2. Amazing stuff, and you get to hear a much longer version of this song on the latter album with mind-blowing solos. Great studio albums with that band, too.
I saw Zappa and Ruth do a percussion duet. Saw Zappa several times and it was the best thing I ever saw his band do. Zappa started out playing drums. Zappa and Ruth together is even more astounding than Ruth on this one if that's possible. I just remember being blown away by how good Zappa was with mallets... rather see him do that than the guitar god stuff.
Frank used to say "Ladies & Gentlemen, Ruth Underwood and her Two Friends!". I'm particularly fond of this performance. Especially how it sounds in my brain when they DANCE the composition. Nice.
This was great... I love the "comedy group" side of FZ as much as the "serious classical genius" side. But Ruth Underwood is one of the finest musicians to ever grace a record album, and she deserves to be heard by everyone! Ed Marimba (Arthur Dyer Tripp III) is wonderful too, Ruth Underwood's playing is unsurpassed!
@@froghermit9852 Around 1:51 you can see her playing randomly picked notes and right after muting them with her hands, so that those notes are shortened. I’m just saying that she knows her instrument well.
@@nickmcleod7259 Here’s a transcript from this taping (taken from ”The Dub Room Special!”): ”Now as you can see from this piece of paper that we have on the screen, which you can't really see at this point, but it will be on the screen for our television audience at home, that uh, there are some actual notes and there's a lot of other things on there which the rhythm is indicated but the pitches are not indicated, which means you get to choose whatever you like. Any kind of note that you can grab fast enough to make it on that rhythm as what your part is, see? And the only thing that happens is the group is rhythmically coordinated and the rest of it is . . . every person for themself.”
Zappa's genius is still reverberating today ... I saw him live 3 times and every time .. it was totally a different take on music with his sense of humor throughout ...
You can get an alternative take on Frank Zappa, on his home life at the log cabin when he was first famous, from getting up in the morning to going to bed, composing at the grand piano, rehearsing with the Mothers of Invention, visiting rock stars, freaks, family squabbles and more. It's my story but this is what you get. 'Freak Out! My Life with Frank Zappa 1968 - 1971'.
That's why his stage antics compilation was called "You Can't Do This On Stage Anymore"'. There is no one that comes even close of what Zappa did on stage.
@@richsackett3423 Nice call, I went back and checked that out. Frank considered himself a composer and as far as I know he required all his players to be able to read music, even the drummers had to be able to read percussion scores.
He was fortunate to be in NYC where he met Ruth. He also lucked out and got Ian Underwood (who has a PhD in composition) in the band who helped Zappa with notation and arranging and as a copyist. I met Bunk Gardner and Don Preston once and they both said the same thing, that Zappa didn't have much formal training (1 semester in Jr. College) but learned fast and his music became more sophiticated in just a couple years after he got Ian Underwood, Art Tripp and Bunk Gardner in the band. People who think Zappa was born a musical genius and taught himself music theory and harmony are incorrect. He's a brilliant composer, period!
@@chrisoneill3999 zappa didn't like the effects of drugs, on himself or on others. Nothing to do with reagan. He did smoke pot a few times, but he wasn't a fan.
@@vitamind.d.fishinsea8570 I shoulda said illegal drugs. I remember Zappa and Grace Slick doing public service ads on underground radio stations back in the day " Smoke all the pot you want and do acid if it's Owlsley but stay away from speed it'll generally fuck you up like your parents". Late 60s and early 70s were beyond awesome. Zappa advocated pot and hallucinogenic use but not for himself. Makes me crave LSD shrooms mescaline. ☮️☮️☮️
In his autobiography, Ozzy tells the story about being on tour or something with FZ, and FZ musicians asking him for weed, "but please not to tell Frank because he would fire us from the band because he don't do and don't like drugs" and then FZ himself asking him for weed, "but please don't tell the band because they don't do and they don't like drugs", Ozzy in the end didn't understand sh*t but gave weed to everyone.
@@tonyreynolds5112 "do acid if it's Owlsley"....LMAO - Stanley's name spelled 'Owsley' - but typos, I know.... I read that after Owsley moved to Far North QLD he only ate chicken broth. What a genius he was as well....
There is no rock band in the history of Rock bands that can touch The Mothers. Even if they can cop the notes and the technique, they cannot command an audience and musicians like Frank. And Ruth is just insanely amazing.
I have seen the man and his phenomenal band of musical geniuses on more than one occasion and I can't say that I have ever seen this piece ever performed.
Phenomenal Playing ... What a brilliantly entertaining show from quality musos ... and FZ even has time to have a ciggie ... Astounding performance ... almost 50 years ago ...
Nobody in music today has the enthusiastic imagination to come up with anything like this. We were so lucky to have FZ. And it boggles my mind that when he was my age, he had already been dead for 10 years. (Props to Tom Lehrer for that method of comparing life achievements.)
The good thing about Frank Zappa is the fact that he recorded and archived everything. And so we can gradually learn more and more about him, hear more and more, see more and more. That is wonderful. Born in 1950, I was a fan of his from the very beginning. His "promoter" in my circle of friends.
That is the craziest, yet coolest thing I've ever seen. BTW: I totally forgot Chester played w/ Frank. I met Chester once. As nice and cool as you would imagine him.
Some two thousand years from now, a future archeologist will discover this and it will become a hit...That is how far ahead Frank Zappa's musical genius goes.
Frank Zappa (lead guitar, vocals), Napoleon Murphy Brock (saxophone, vocals), George Duke (keyboards, vocals), Ruth Underwood (Vibes, percussion), Tom Fowler (bass) and Chester Thompson (drums) perform complex Approximate part one instrumental melody only and part two singing a-Capella. Approximate was played live at KCET TV Studio, Los Angeles, CA in August 1974. If you liked this, check out Frank's album You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore vol. 2. Much longer version of this song with mind-blowing solos.
Anything, yes. When Frank rehearsed the Yellow Shark with the renowned "Ensemble Modern" , there were complaints from some musicians about the difficulty of the movements. Frank's answer: My Rockband can play this.
All of Zappa's musicians were on salary. By the late 70's, he would prepare for a tour by rehearsing about eight hours a day, six days a week for two months. Yeah, that's gonna be a tight band.
FZ recorded Live at the Roxy with this line-up. Afterwards they went on a world tour. At the end of the tour in Finland, he recorded two performances in Helsinki, which were released as a double CD under HELSINKI CONCERT as part 2 of the series ‘You can't do that on stage anymore’. The band was already gigantically good at the Roxy, but at the end of the tour they were so well recorded and tight that you could hardly believe your ears - especially because the tapes were not reworked or optimised with overdubs (optimisation was not possible ;o).
I saw Frank Zappa 2 times in Upstate New York and once in Canada in the 70's. Decades later, I saw his son, Dweezil in Sacramento, CA at the Crest Theatre. It was like Deja Vu. The talent these 2 men brought together is amazing.
I absolutely adore the immense talent of Zappa and his influence. Although, sometimes when I'm hearing a crazy abstract cocophony and everyone else gets it, I feel left out.
@Dominic Austin: I can relate, lol. It's like when a teacher in school explains something pretty difficult and everybody nods and seems to have understood...... except for oneself. Feeling left out, but also slight panic.^^
The more you listen the more you'll "get"... like I couldn't dig Mozart... but took a class an started getting it, now I get it. Had Bach in my back pocket for years... I'm 69, and now I'm starting to get it. Sometimes the best music takes time, sometimes when you see it live it hits you on the head like a sledge hammer.
I always thought FZ looked like he was having a blast when he was playing with these guys. (Wish there was more aural and visual documentation of the larger lineup that preceded the Roxy unit , which included both Fowler boys, both Underwoods, Jean-Luc Ponty, George Duke and Sal Marquez. Yowza!) Overall, however, this bunch's amazing personalities as players is why I always return to them as a benchmark. FZ loved them!
And Dweezil , I'm sure your dad would be extremely proud of your playing and what you've done with his music, dispite all of this lawsuit BS .Tell your brother to get a job, then tell him that you still love him.
Come on Frank. Blood Sweat and Tears was a fantastic band. The title album from 1969 is one of the great albums of all time. Almost up there with Chicago. Of course almost every Zappa album is a great album and many are masterpieces.
Frank Zappa was a staunch believer in the musicianship and the creativity put forth by artists. Here he calls out "Blood, Sweat & Tears" at the time for faking it as they put a tape on in the background and pretended to play. He was one of the spokesperson sitting in Washington AGAINST censorship within the music industry. He did not like the idea that government was going to put labels on CD/albums warning parents. A true genius in so many ways. Very cutting edge. Great playing whether it was with the Mothers of Invention or solo. RIP in Frank. You are missed.
Dude, I saw this lineup (plus Ponty) destroy Nassau Coliseum right around this time, after Mahavishnu Orchestra opened for them. Kottke opened the show. She was amazing, like she is here.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Ruth in later years has taught music to kids who can't afford formal music instruction. Not only is she a phenominal talent but a wonderful human being.
I have the upmost respect for Ruth because she truly loved Frank’s work.
That doesnt surprise me at all. What an amazing musician she is!
Love her
@@rossjackson7352 is that you RJ?
*phenomenal
"Chester, you're not singing your drum fills."
I'm dying.
I am crying with laughter, lol. omg Frank was the true genius.. So glad I met him a "hundred years ago", now I can die happy, lel.. Thanks for this video, it should be part of any music school class !!!
Frank Zappa was just ahead of his time. He not only came around once in-a-lifetime; he came around just once. There's never going to be another Frank Zappa.
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Danny Elfman was the Frank Zappa of the 80’s.
Heard Dweezil? Didn't think so!
Ruth is a monster. Massive talent and loved that Frank wrote parts for her. Huge talent on that stage as well.
what? shes part of the band why wouldnt he write parts for her? lmao the boomers simping for her in these comments are so weird
@@krispy3790 ik
@@krispy3790 lololol
@@krispy3790because most musicians like writing their own parts when contributing to a body of music. Adrian Belew had that freedom when he was with frank. Quit being ignorant
@@krispy3790 "boomers." very dull description of human beings.
A true genius. Surrounded by extremely talented musicians ❤️
*@Lennart Karman.* Glad I read your comment first, because I was going to say the same thing. 👍🎵🎶🎶🎵🎶🎶👍
Roger that
You're speaking about Ruth , I'm assuming
Nah. More like a kid scribbling down nonsense but being in the position to have serious musicians play his garbage. This is not music, this is not a song, it's just a grown child playing with his musical toys. Zappa had his moments but this isnt one of them.
It was so much better being 20 in the 70's than 70 in the 20's!
Adapt and survive - and bring Frank with you. Loving my late Sixties.
Ruth is playing her ass off on this and smiling the whole time like it's easy.
She is amazing
For her, it is easy
@@lotswifemusic9965no lightweights in Franks band. Love to hear Steve Vai tell his Frank audition story(ies)
Notice - that each musician is...having fun. They are playing their parts, singing (even singing the drum fill). When your job is not work, it is your passion, and you are having FUN.
There has never been anyone even remotely like Frank Zappa, and there never will be again. That kind of genius is unique.
Unique is one word,crap is another
@@jsims1617 the man had talent and there's no way you can deny that
And that kind of unique was genius :-)
@@charliewhelan9488 It depends on your perception of talent. To me, no.
@@jsims1617 I'm not sure talent is subjective. There's no way you can deny he mastered his instrument and his rhythmic abilities are crazy
A great travesty was avoided when Ms. Underwood gave up the idea of playing in symphony orchestras to join Zappa's band.
Frank Zappa is the music equivalent to abstract art, I don't get it but I'm glad it exists.
Frank Zappa was a genius! I only discovered him 6 years ago after knowing OF him my whole life and I regret the time I wasted NOT being exposed to his music.
Every note was scripted, not improvised.
@Less Than Nothing... i could be surgically precise squirting diarrhea on a canvass to draw a picture but it would still just be diarrhea on a canvass
How can you not get Zappa? Very long and intense discography and live performances that add up to a phenomenal career. He brought in, inspired and made careers out of so many great musicians. One of the great intellects also on music of that era.
Check out his main influence Edgard Varese if you want musical density.
Imagine how much rehearsal is necessary to get a band this tight
Imagine how much it must mess with your brain to only rehearse the rhythm of the melody, but not the pitch.
I think not every band can do that even if they firmly decided to rehearse as much as needed.
They reputedly rehearsed for weeks for 6 hours a day. For another recording Zappa paid the LSO to perform for him and some players went off at lunch to the pub to get pissed and Zappa was outraged.
He's the Utmost Genius of our times and for ever
@@chrisreed3022 He said never again.
I can not imagine how anyone could assemble this many complete musical geniuses, and then actually get them to coordinate them to this level, I mean I just cannot relate. They were ridiculous! Crazy, crazy talent and creativity.
Yeah...Lynyrd Skynyrd comes to mind.
You have it inverted… nobody other than this caliber of musicians could coordinate this well. 😁
@@bigblocklawyer -- I'm glad you are being sarcastic.
@@DunmoresMovieMania Wut? A band way more influential on main stream music than Zappa, and they all lived on the same street growing up and played little league together. Literally a perfect example of creativity and coordination at an enigmatic level. There was no reason, other than fate that all that talent was centered in a few block area.
It is the wonder of generations.Me being 65 and still trying to relate.But I know quality when I hear it.
By far the best lineup Zappa ever had
Agreed.
Possibly, but by far? All his line ups are amazing
Agree. Particularly enjoyable in the Helsinki concert (double CD - part 2 of the series ‘You can't do that on stage anymore’)
The utterly fabulous Ruth Underwood!
I swear, every Frank Zappa video has this comment
Ruth was fabulous. This might be the best lineup ever. They're clowning around on this like it's "Louie Louie."
Sexy as...
On Ruth!
Ruth was and still is incredible.
This guy IS (not was: for he still is and will be) a complete astonishing everlasting Genius...
“Alright, that was the melody” LMAO… The melody, just with the instruments sounds amazing. I never got exposed to Frank Zappa when I was younger. Truly a pioneer of music.
Absolutely brilliant ! And funny.
"Chester, you're not singing your drum fills !"
Ruth is incredible on this number.
2:34
3:42
A decomposition of a musical performance, into its elements. Zappa at his humorous and intellectual best.
Legend says the folks at the line to join Frank Zappa's band are still rehearsing these parts.
It takes an insane amount of practice and talent to play like this.
This ensemble makes every other band sound like your high school music class.
I got to ask her about reading Frank's charts and she said, "Oh you'd be surprised, some of it is like kindergarten level, but yes, the rest can be very difficult." Had a type of crush on her since then and will never change my mind about her. What a treasure.
I've never wanted to meet any of my musical heroes but Ruth Underwood is the one exception.
I was at this taping and talked to her then. Great lady.
Ruth is amazing as usual. And funny as hell. Hadn't seen this one.
Its off the Dub Room Special video..
@@paulblanshard9336 I had that VHS tape, played it to death. I love when he has the PZM mic on his forehead. Hysterical.
Wow! Tks a zillion Frank Zappa!
Frank Zappa = comic and musical genius
If you say do. I can't listen to more than about 45 seconds of this utter shit.
@@OmniGuy Hundreds of thousands of fans who loved Zappa could care less what you think. You may not like his humor or his music, but the guy could write symphonic scores. Not too many rock musicians who can do that.
Like I said......if you say do.
@@OmniGuy he didn't say "do," but he did say so. I'm sorry for your lack of decent taste such that you would refer to this as shit.
No need for you to be sorry D&C.
Frank truly brought out the very best in the very best. He made music fun. The older I’ve gotten, and now I’ve gotten older than him, the more I come to understand and appreciate just what Frank was all about.
I dont think I knew that Chester Thompson ever played with Zappa.. I only know him from playing on tour with Genesis and he's always been one of my favorite drummers.. Showing off his skill again on this one!!
Same. This must have been early in his career.
He was part of my personal favorite line-ups of Frank's from 1973-75. Check out the live FZ albums The Roxy & Elsewhere and You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore vol. 2. Amazing stuff, and you get to hear a much longer version of this song on the latter album with mind-blowing solos. Great studio albums with that band, too.
I saw Zappa and Ruth do a percussion duet. Saw Zappa several times and it was the best thing I ever saw his band do. Zappa started out playing drums. Zappa and Ruth together is even more astounding than Ruth on this one if that's possible. I just remember being blown away by how good Zappa was with mallets... rather see him do that than the guitar god stuff.
Frank used to say "Ladies & Gentlemen, Ruth Underwood and her Two Friends!". I'm particularly fond of this performance. Especially how it sounds in my brain when they DANCE the composition. Nice.
This was great... I love the "comedy group" side of FZ as much as the "serious classical genius" side. But Ruth Underwood is one of the finest musicians to ever grace a record album, and she deserves to be heard by everyone! Ed Marimba (Arthur Dyer Tripp III) is wonderful too, Ruth Underwood's playing is unsurpassed!
Don’t forget Ed Mann - probably Ruth’s equal
This is what humans did before the curse of cable tv, 24x7 propaganda news, and social media.
Humans still do this. Leave your cave and join them.
And pro tools.
Saw Frank November 26, 1975 Civic Center, St. Paul, MN . What a Great Show it was. RIP Frank we all miss you and never forgotten.
That's awesome!!!
@@sbenz17
I had a blast and thanks bud.
I’ve seen this one many times and just now realizing something.
Ruth manually muting the notes that are randomly picked.
Skills.
I am trying to understand what you mean can you explain more?
@@froghermit9852 Around 1:51 you can see her playing randomly picked notes and right after muting them with her hands, so that those notes are shortened. I’m just saying that she knows her instrument well.
@@DodoDiaz oh got ya I see now
What makes you think they are random notes?
@@nickmcleod7259 Here’s a transcript from this taping (taken from ”The Dub Room Special!”):
”Now as you can see from this piece of paper that we have on the screen, which you can't really see at this point, but it will be on the screen for our television audience at home, that uh, there are some actual notes and there's a lot of other things on there which the rhythm is indicated but the pitches are not indicated, which means you get to choose whatever you like. Any kind of note that you can grab fast enough to make it on that rhythm as what your part is, see? And the only thing that happens is the group is rhythmically coordinated and the rest of it is . . . every person for themself.”
Zappa's genius is still reverberating today ... I saw him live 3 times and every time .. it was totally a different take on music with his sense of humor throughout ...
You can get an alternative take on Frank Zappa, on his home life at the log cabin when he was first famous, from getting up in the morning to going to bed, composing at the grand piano, rehearsing with the Mothers of Invention, visiting rock stars, freaks, family squabbles and more. It's my story but this is what you get. 'Freak Out! My Life with Frank Zappa 1968 - 1971'.
So refreshing looking at adults playing like children!
That's why his stage antics compilation was called "You Can't Do This On Stage Anymore"'. There is no one that comes even close of what Zappa did on stage.
@@mauricedorreboom5388 Ever heard of GG Allin?
Zappa's manuscript hand is exquisite.
I've been enjoying 1:00 paused for a few minutes now. Didn't know he was so well-educated.
@@richsackett3423 Nice call, I went back and checked that out. Frank considered himself a composer and as far as I know he required all his players to be able to read music, even the drummers had to be able to read percussion scores.
Yes, Ruth mentioned that in an interview when she mentioned a piece he wrote for her.
@@richsackett3423 he wrote and conducted some "Modern Classical" pieces, check out Lumpy Gravy for example
He was fortunate to be in NYC where he met Ruth. He also lucked out and got Ian Underwood (who has a PhD in composition) in the band who helped Zappa with notation and arranging and as a copyist. I met Bunk Gardner and Don Preston once and they both said the same thing, that Zappa didn't have much formal training (1 semester in Jr. College) but learned fast and his music became more sophiticated in just a couple years after he got Ian Underwood, Art Tripp and Bunk Gardner in the band. People who think Zappa was born a musical genius and taught himself music theory and harmony are incorrect. He's a brilliant composer, period!
You gotta love someone who made music for us dopers but who never did drugs himself. He is missed.
Frank was a heavy tobacco user. Like Sonny Bono his anti-drug stance just meant the drugs Ronald Reagan didn't like.
@@chrisoneill3999 zappa didn't like the effects of drugs, on himself or on others. Nothing to do with reagan. He did smoke pot a few times, but he wasn't a fan.
@@vitamind.d.fishinsea8570 I shoulda said illegal drugs. I remember Zappa and Grace Slick doing public service ads on underground radio stations back in the day " Smoke all the pot you want and do acid if it's Owlsley but stay away from speed it'll generally fuck you up like your parents". Late 60s and early 70s were beyond awesome. Zappa advocated pot and hallucinogenic use but not for himself. Makes me crave LSD shrooms mescaline. ☮️☮️☮️
In his autobiography, Ozzy tells the story about being on tour or something with FZ, and FZ musicians asking him for weed, "but please not to tell Frank because he would fire us from the band because he don't do and don't like drugs" and then FZ himself asking him for weed, "but please don't tell the band because they don't do and they don't like drugs", Ozzy in the end didn't understand sh*t but gave weed to everyone.
@@tonyreynolds5112 "do acid if it's Owlsley"....LMAO - Stanley's name spelled 'Owsley' - but typos, I know.... I read that after Owsley moved to Far North QLD he only ate chicken broth. What a genius he was as well....
There is no rock band in the history of Rock bands that can touch The Mothers. Even if they can cop the notes and the technique, they cannot command an audience and musicians like Frank. And Ruth is just insanely amazing.
Great song, love it. Send me back to 1974, when I was a 19 yr old United States Marine at Camp LeJeune North Carolina
I have seen the man and his phenomenal band of musical geniuses on more than one occasion and I can't say that I have ever seen this piece ever performed.
Phenomenal Playing ... What a brilliantly entertaining show from quality musos ... and FZ even has time to have a ciggie ... Astounding performance ... almost 50 years ago ...
Nobody in music today has the enthusiastic imagination to come up with anything like this.
We were so lucky to have FZ. And it boggles my mind that when he was my age, he had already been dead for 10 years.
(Props to Tom Lehrer for that method of comparing life achievements.)
Now in the music world your shunned if you try anything like this or to be daring and different.
Great statement!
Tom Lehrer outlived most of us already.
There definitely are musicians around this creative, they're just not big names
This creative and with this much imagination I meant to say
The good thing about Frank Zappa is the fact that he recorded and archived everything. And so we can gradually learn more and more about him, hear more and more, see more and more. That is wonderful. Born in 1950, I was a fan of his from the very beginning. His "promoter" in my circle of friends.
That is the craziest, yet coolest thing I've ever seen. BTW: I totally forgot Chester played w/ Frank. I met Chester once. As nice and cool as you would imagine him.
I’m grateful to Ruth for hanging so hard in this boy scene.
She is the champion.
Frank Zappa did not use drugs. Obviously he had no need.
Drugs did Zappa
Frank was a chain smoker, a nicotine addict, thoroughly, and it killed him in the end--- or rather in the prostate.
non-stop nicotine plus crappy coffe. gimme a break
@@neilslade Obviously that's not what I meant. Obviously.
@@jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491 Obviously that's not what I meant. Obviously.
This is the ultimate prove of the magistral bunch of geniouses Zappa put together..
This was incredible. They were having a great time performing this.
Some two thousand years from now, a future archeologist will discover this and it will become a hit...That is how far ahead Frank Zappa's musical genius goes.
Totally agree,, Zappa will be listed up there with Bach and all the "classics", heh.
"Chester, you're not singing your drum fills."
I thought that looked like Chester.
Chester might not get payed for this gig...
@@TonyPayneUK who also played with Genesis?
@@billsmith9711 The very same.
@@TonyPayneUK saw them in Atlanta in 1976
Frank Zappa (lead guitar, vocals), Napoleon Murphy Brock (saxophone, vocals), George Duke (keyboards, vocals), Ruth Underwood (Vibes, percussion), Tom Fowler (bass) and Chester Thompson (drums) perform complex Approximate part one instrumental melody only and part two singing a-Capella. Approximate was played live at KCET TV Studio, Los Angeles, CA in August 1974.
If you liked this, check out Frank's album You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore vol. 2. Much longer version of this song with mind-blowing solos.
Credit to 9zmO-2G2b-4 from CalVid
ZAPPA one of the greatest MUSICIANS EVER 🎸🎵
These guys could literally play anything. Damn
Anything, yes. When Frank rehearsed the Yellow Shark with the renowned "Ensemble Modern" , there were complaints from some musicians about the difficulty of the movements. Frank's answer: My Rockband can play this.
By design.
"Literally" does NOT MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT DOES. Please buy a dictionary.
Can you imagine being this musically tight
All of Zappa's musicians were on salary. By the late 70's, he would prepare for a tour by rehearsing about eight hours a day, six days a week for two months. Yeah, that's gonna be a tight band.
FZ recorded Live at the Roxy with this line-up. Afterwards they went on a world tour. At the end of the tour in Finland, he recorded two performances in Helsinki, which were released as a double CD under HELSINKI CONCERT as part 2 of the series ‘You can't do that on stage anymore’. The band was already gigantically good at the Roxy, but at the end of the tour they were so well recorded and tight that you could hardly believe your ears - especially because the tapes were not reworked or optimised with overdubs (optimisation was not possible ;o).
I saw Frank Zappa 2 times in Upstate New York and once in Canada in the 70's. Decades later, I saw his son, Dweezil in Sacramento, CA at the Crest Theatre. It was like Deja Vu. The talent these 2 men brought together is amazing.
The Blood, Sweat & Tears diss is savage.
Yea I was like, is that a crack at BS&T lip and air syncing?
RIP FZ i hear your music since i was 14 years old. ONE SIZE FITS ALL
Lovely to see FZ laughing at 2:35-2:40
Laughed for like five seconds his entire career, jk haah
What a fun and strange guy... and group. Good that they found each other.
Nice, too, to put a face to their xylophone after all these years.
Who in the F are the 64 people that disliked this ?
THIS is Pure musical genius and i am not even a musician.
this is pure musical genius and i am a musician...
Trump voters
It's like the really cool kids let us in on an inside joke. The musicianship is impressive and the fun is STILL infectious all these years later.
It's 92 today thanks to ME.
...and I'm a musician/computer engineer.
This is so beautifully beyond your comprehension of music.
ruth underwood is so fucking awesome
I feel so lucky that I got the chance to see Zappa a couple dozen times
I absolutely adore the immense talent of Zappa and his influence. Although, sometimes when I'm hearing a crazy abstract cocophony and everyone else gets it, I feel left out.
Makes me feel like the smartest dummy on planet earth. Thanks earth, for giving us Frank Zappa.
@Dominic Austin: I can relate, lol. It's like when a teacher in school explains something pretty difficult and everybody nods and seems to have understood...... except for oneself. Feeling left out, but also slight panic.^^
I heard you got to go back to 1974 where there was something called purple microdot...
It's NOT cacophony! That can only be played on a cacaphone...
The more you listen the more you'll "get"... like I couldn't dig Mozart... but took a class an started getting it, now I get it. Had Bach in my back pocket for years... I'm 69, and now I'm starting to get it. Sometimes the best music takes time, sometimes when you see it live it hits you on the head like a sledge hammer.
I wasn’t into Zappa, but I gotta admit he was a mad genius.
I'm not a fan of all his material but he's my favorite composer and recording engineer. Ruth Underwood is my favorite percussionist...
I suggest you go get some
I saw Frank Zappa doing the same thing in Milan, sept. 9, 1974. Awesome!
Damn I wish I was born already
Ruth is absolutely amazing. As are the rest of the band of course.
The world still could do with Mr. Zappa.
Zappa and Carlin figured out the uniparty before the uniparty even figured it out.
Now more than ever. I’d love to know what he’d make of today’s politics and wokeness.
Jesus Christ Almighty! Saw the band 5 times straight on New Years Eve in the 70's. LA was just tha best for Zappa shows, never gets old.
I'm still in love with Ruth after all these years !
the musicianship of this band is as good as it gets. i dont recall this piece on the albums. greatness.
Ruth is a monster, an angel, a musical goddess!
Still loving Frank in 22, truly a wise man and a musical genius. ♥️
Ahh... I love these old sing-a-long tunes...
Funny.
SEM DESMERECER OS CONTEMPORÂNEOS DESSA GALERA. MAS ESSA FORMAÇÃO PRA MIM É A MELHOR DE ZAPPA. SÓ ESSA RUTH E ESSE VOCAL JÁ PAGAVA TUDO.
I love how, on these old video tapes, any reflective surface could cause that kind of "smeary" flash of light. I just think it looks cool.
Thanks for uploading this performance. It's Typical Early Weird Zappa: Tight, Fun, and Avante Strange. 😳
This man was a genius in possession of the most magnificent nose ever created.
The man is more nose than face!
You haven't seen mine.
It's a honker
'Red sea pedestrians' would gladly stand waiting at traffic lights to watch that yacht sail past
when i was growing up, my friends older brother had the album, lumpy gravy, and i was like WOW, this dudes on another planet…..
been a fan ever since
Yea, you had to BE a EXCEPTIONAL musician to play with Zappa 😎. RIP FRANK
Wow Ruthless Ruth! How inspiring, thanks fir this
his best band ever
c'est clair!
i'm with you there man ! greetings from france
Absolutely outstanding musicians, every one of them. Man, what I wouldn't give to go back in time and watch them.
I always thought FZ looked like he was having a blast when he was playing with these guys. (Wish there was more aural and visual documentation of the larger lineup that preceded the Roxy unit , which included both Fowler boys, both Underwoods, Jean-Luc Ponty, George Duke and Sal Marquez. Yowza!) Overall, however, this bunch's amazing personalities as players is why I always return to them as a benchmark. FZ loved them!
Anyone who's ever worked for Zappa .....Over-talented, but (from what I've read, woefully) underpaid.
This is one of the most awesome pieces I've ever heard.
This band was unrivaled, even among FZ’s many amazing bands.
This is what rock and roll is all about! Hail Frank! (R.I.P.)
2:59 "Chester, you're not singing your drum fills."😂
Super! Thanks!
✌️🤠💥🌟
Ruth Underwood circa '74 - the Perfect Woman™.
thanks for finishing this sentence suziecreamchease
She still is!
@@emilezoulette882 But what's got into her?
Ruth, putting the majic element on top of Frank's compositions. Love it!
And Frank, what can I say that hasn't already been said. Gone too soon..... miss you buddy.
And Dweezil , I'm sure your dad would be extremely proud of your playing and what you've done with his music, dispite all of this lawsuit BS .Tell your brother to get a job, then tell him that you still love him.
this playing is extremely hard guys, from my point of view. Incredible
Ruth was greased lightning on those vibes.
I stopped by to say the usual: "Ruth Underwood is a wonderful musician and person".
I never got what Frank Zappa was about, until I heard the magic words: "He was pushing music to its breaking point, sometimes a bit further"
Come on Frank. Blood Sweat and Tears was a fantastic band. The title album from 1969 is one of the great albums of all time. Almost up there with Chicago. Of course almost every Zappa album is a great album and many are masterpieces.
DUDE WAS SOMETHING ELSE. MISS HIM.
Genius Genius Genius, really missing Him!
Frank Zappa was a staunch believer in the musicianship and the creativity put forth by artists.
Here he calls out "Blood, Sweat & Tears" at the time for faking it as they put a tape on in the background and pretended to play.
He was one of the spokesperson sitting in Washington AGAINST censorship within the music industry. He did not like the idea that government was going to put labels on CD/albums warning parents.
A true genius in so many ways. Very cutting edge.
Great playing whether it was with the Mothers of Invention or solo.
RIP in Frank. You are missed.
Zappa Best musician componist !
Dude, I saw this lineup (plus Ponty) destroy Nassau Coliseum right around this time, after Mahavishnu Orchestra opened for them. Kottke opened the show. She was amazing, like she is here.
Very jealous. And were you referring to *Leo* Kottke? If so, was he solo or with a band?