The ocean is the ultimate solution" originates from a trio jam session lasting over half an hour. Zappa selected 13 minutes from the tape and started overdubbing. Notable is the large amount of improvised chord progressions in it. Its outlines go roughly as: 0:00 Riff #1.The first fragment below is the opening lick in C Mixolydian, which starts off the interplay between acoustic bass and acoustic guitar. 0:12 Chord progression in C Mixolydian. Between 0:45 and 0:53 you find the second fragment below, a melancholic movement with a synthesizer overdub. The repeated chord progression in C Mixolydian in staff 1 at this point is VII 9th -III-IV-IV-V-VII. Staff 2 represents the synthesizer melody that plays slowly through this progression. Staff 3 is Patrick O'Hearn plucking the bass notes rapidly in an irregular way. 1:05 Riff #2, chromatic. 1:16 Playing around the I 9th chord of C Mixolydian. 1:31 Riff #3 on D, repeated several times and each time followed by a chord progression. First on Gb, later on on F. The scales keep changing. 3:18 Playing around I-IV in C Mixolydian. 4:03 Chord progression in A Dorian. 4:43 Chord progression in F Dorian. 4:55 Chord progression in F Mixolydian. 5:16 Playing around I-IV in C Mixolydian. 5:39 Bass solo. 6:50 Guitar solo. The pedal notes are mainly Bb, F and C. The scales used are Dorian and Mixolydian, that differ by one note: a minor third versus a major third. 13:17 End. Hunchentoot The script for "Hunchentoot" from 1972. It became available in a printed form as chapters VII-VIII of the 1984 "Them or us" book. See the Them or us section at "Planet of my dreams" for more information about this book. Back to the menu
This track was recorded in the same studio I first heard Gregory Peccary in at the Record Plant in Hollywood. Frank had been experimenting with mic's and recording techniques etc. as was his want to do. He came up with an incredible alternative tuning for his Fender 12 string, and an inventive process for recording it. [...] This guitar had low string and high string discreet stereo outputs which Frank panned left and right. It also had a Barcus Berry pickup buried in the neck at the head stock, which he panned center. The tuning was so that the low three strings were tuned to the intervals of M7-M7-m7, and the high strings to a tritone-M3 &m3!! So every note or chord he played was an incredibly complex and atonal harmonic event!!! Couple this with the innovative panning and the result was this wonderful "glass shattering" guitar sound that was completely unique and to my knowledge has never been duplicated since! So he called bassist Dave Parlatto (from Orchestral Favorites) and myself into the studio to jam. At this point I was playing my own black, double bass, 5 tom Gretch kit [...]. Anyway, we played an inspired jam that went all over the place musically and lasted 45 minutes! Frank edited it down to 15 mins. or so (whatever it is on the record now) and used only the best sections. (But I remember some absoutely burning sections were not used-maybe someday they'll release the original in it's entirety ). Sometime soon after that my best friend, Pat O'Hearn came down to L.A. to play a week at the "Light House" in Hermosa Beach with legendary jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon [...]. Pat played the first nights show while I was in the studio working with Frank, so I told him to come by the Record Plant after and meet Frank and listen to what we were doing. Pat had his big accoustic bass in the car and he didn't want it stolen so we took it inside. Frank, upon seeing Pat walk into the studio with an accoustic bass, excitedly asked "Do you play that thing?!". Pat nodded "yes", and Frank said "Whip it out!!" He had been overdubbing some lead guitar on the edited version and wanted Pat to try some accoustic bass on it. Engineers leaped into action putting up several of the best mic's they had as Pat pulled up a stool, slid the 17th century Itallian bass from its soft case and adjusted his headphones. When all was ready they played the track and pressed the red record button and my friend and favorite bass player literally tore it up!! Frank totally loved it and immediately they were overdubbing a section at a time (with Zappa directing tonal centers) and laying down the most gorgeous bass tones and burning playing that really made the piece come alive! Then Zappa stopped him and said he thought electric bass would be better in the up coming sections, and wanted to know if Pat played electric bass. In a minute he pulled the electric bass (which he really didn't specialize in at that time) from the trunk of the car and proceeded to tear through the rest of the piece! It was probably sunrise when we finished and Frank knew Pat had already played 3 sets with Dexter, so he asked him to come in again tomorrow night and do some more.
ICYDK: This was built up in the studio from the highlights of a jam by just Frank (on acoustic) and Bozzio. When Patrick came in to add the bass parts, it was effectively stage-one of his audition, At once you can see why Pat was hired, and why he's often cited as the best bassist Frank ever had. An interesting thing about this track is that when Frank overdubbed his electric guitar solo he was breaking his own rules, somewhat. This is a guy who always had a preference for soloing over one or two chords, but had got to the point where he found playing the twelve-bar blues too constricting. But here he is, having to solo his way through a harmonic maze of his own making! OK, sIlly trivia - The edited version made for the Lather album was going to be titled One More Time For The World (to maintain conceptual continuity) but there's also evidence that, nearly 18 months earlier, this was going to be given the name Zoot Allures. (And the song which we all know as Zoot Allures was going to be called Night Of The Iron Sausage!)
A discussion/explanation of all this song-title-confusion, pertaining to the scrapped two-disc version of Zoot Allures the album, is either contained on or linked to the IINK website.
As with most of Frank's music, one listen is not enough. Terri Bozzio on drums, Max Bennet on acoustic bass, Patrick O'Hearn electric bass and Frank on guitars. There are so many moments in this piece to focus on that are outstanding musicianship, a pleasure to listen to. Just another facet of Frank's music to be amazed by!
My friend,as Mike Keneally proclaims, "Frank is the greatest "controlled chaotic" musician/guitarist ever" . Very nice diving into Zappa prime era,with drummer Bozzio.Even this prime era had a large musical expansion "organic"phase in jazz and fusion, but then going Full hard metal Rock,best sales and concert attendance ever thru Hammersmith Feb 1978.He did it all in this 3 yr period, until it declined after letting drummer Terry Bozzio go. Frank had to find a way to rebound from the Vinnie era decline of March 78 to late 79,with a vinnie desperate short 3 month return end of 1980 that again ended very abruptly replaced by Chad Wackerman 😀.
Bassist Patrick O'hern. Wasn't with Frank long, but close to my favorite. Saw him on the '76 tour & the tour that gave us Baby Snakes. Just damn. Frank sure could collab with folks.
Frank is a never ending world of joy. I love when people that cares about music start to listen to Frank. They feel surprised and bewildered, but in a good way. They know right away they are before something great they have to explore further. There's always so much going on. It's a project for the entire life.
Very nice on this station to have requesters continually diving into Zappa prime era,with drummer Bozzio. So much material in this era ,including a movie musical extraordinaire, brilliant previously unreleased guitar solos from baby snakes that we can go on another year. Even this prime era Frank demonstrates he had a large musical expansion in a very "organic"phase in jazz and fusion, but then also going Full hard metal Rock,best sales and concert attendance ever thru Hammersmith Feb 1978.He did it all in this 3 yr period, until it declined after letting drummer Terry Bozzio go. Frank had to find a way to rebound from the Vinnie era decline of March 78 to late 79,with a desperate vinnie desperate very short return, end of 1980, that again ended very abruptly soon after being quickly replaced by Chad Wackerman 😀.
You know John that one little quiet part where you hear the snare and the bass drum doing his thing and then the dobros playing those little slow passages and then the tempo of the chords on the guitar changed you know it's slow at the start and then the tempo it goes up a little bit and yet the drum beat stays the same so it goes slow and then a little bit faster and then slow again and then a little bit faster and it just creates this really interesting like you said you know the syncopation between the instruments the Counterpoint or whatever is just absolutely crazy and beautiful and complex and intricate and oh man the subtleties and all the nuances wow okay man yeah he doesn't get any better than this dude
Yeah my man I said it before but it's a dobro I believe which is actually a metal guitar it's an acoustic metal guitar they play them a lot in the south
Many will disagree with GlobeextradingsystemsLLC - and argue that the three Vinnie/Arthur tours were one of Frank's peaks as a guitar soloist - because Vinnie was an irrepressible thrower of polyrhythmic obstacles (so, unlike Chad, he was very well qualified to play the Jones/Haynes to his Coltrane) whilst Arthur (unlike Scott) was able to repress his gratuitous noise tendencies (which reached a nadir in 1982)..
ye that guy speaks out of his AH, argued with him a few times, think he's a troll, on the above post he talks about abrupt ends and replacements etc, nothing like that happaned at all, the line ups are completly different tours, he likes to make up stuff in his head, and Zappa's best guitar period was with Vinnie
Yeah my stepfather play stand-up bass and he also knew a fella from where he grew up who played bass and he actually took pictures because my stepfather was a professional photographer and he took the pictures for his wedding when you got married anyhow the man's name is Max Bennett he's played with Tom Scott and he's played with Joni Mitchell and of course Frank Zappa and he plays the stand up both my stepfather and my father both had k a y bases that was the brand name for that stand-up base my stepfather's is a blonde my dad's was stained more of a brownish color I think the blonde is a lot prettier I still have that base I played every once in awhile I should play it everyday I think it's Maple with a spruce top yeah isn't that great the ocean is the ultimate solution there's a double entendre I think somebody is playing a dobro one of those metal acoustic guitars you know you'll have to look at the playlist of this album I can't remember if it's I think it's sleep dirt is the name of the album but the song right before it it's an acoustic song and Frank and some other guy are doing like a little duet and something happens and I won't give away the plot but you'll have to hear it I could swear it's the title track but I don't know oh yeah because of the filthy habits is the first song I thought that was sleeper but no sleep dirt is right before the ocean is the ultimate solution and it goes right into it you know that's how Zappa rolls I'm quite certain you figured that out all right senior slop if you notice the beat kind of like wanders like the downbeat is one thing and then it becomes the upbeat and you know back and forth it just blows my mind and it's all deliberate it's not slop so to speak just kidding all right young man
The ocean is the ultimate solution" originates from a trio jam session lasting over half an hour. Zappa selected 13 minutes from the tape and started overdubbing. Notable is the large amount of improvised chord progressions in it. Its outlines go roughly as:
0:00 Riff #1.The first fragment below is the opening lick in C Mixolydian, which starts off the interplay between acoustic bass and acoustic guitar.
0:12 Chord progression in C Mixolydian. Between 0:45 and 0:53 you find the second fragment below, a melancholic movement with a synthesizer overdub. The repeated chord progression in C Mixolydian in staff 1 at this point is VII 9th -III-IV-IV-V-VII. Staff 2 represents the synthesizer melody that plays slowly through this progression. Staff 3 is Patrick O'Hearn plucking the bass notes rapidly in an irregular way.
1:05 Riff #2, chromatic.
1:16 Playing around the I 9th chord of C Mixolydian.
1:31 Riff #3 on D, repeated several times and each time followed by a chord progression. First on Gb, later on on F. The scales keep changing.
3:18 Playing around I-IV in C Mixolydian.
4:03 Chord progression in A Dorian.
4:43 Chord progression in F Dorian.
4:55 Chord progression in F Mixolydian.
5:16 Playing around I-IV in C Mixolydian.
5:39 Bass solo.
6:50 Guitar solo. The pedal notes are mainly Bb, F and C. The scales used are Dorian and Mixolydian, that differ by one note: a minor third versus a major third.
13:17 End.
Hunchentoot
The script for "Hunchentoot" from 1972. It became available in a printed form as chapters VII-VIII of the 1984 "Them or us" book. See the Them or us section at "Planet of my dreams" for more information about this book.
Back to the menu
If you’ve ever seen the clip of Frank “playing the bicycle” on the Steve Allen show in 1963 then you can understand the evolution of his music.
This track was recorded in the same studio I first heard Gregory Peccary in at the Record Plant in Hollywood. Frank had been experimenting with mic's and recording techniques etc. as was his want to do.
He came up with an incredible alternative tuning for his Fender 12 string, and an inventive process for recording it. [...] This guitar had low string and high string discreet stereo outputs which Frank panned left and right. It also had a Barcus Berry pickup buried in the neck at the head stock, which he panned center.
The tuning was so that the low three strings were tuned to the intervals of M7-M7-m7, and the high strings to a tritone-M3 &m3!! So every note or chord he played was an incredibly complex and atonal harmonic event!!!
Couple this with the innovative panning and the result was this wonderful "glass shattering" guitar sound that was completely unique and to my knowledge has never been duplicated since!
So he called bassist Dave Parlatto (from Orchestral Favorites) and myself into the studio to jam. At this point I was playing my own black, double bass, 5 tom Gretch kit [...]. Anyway, we played an inspired jam that went all over the place musically and lasted 45 minutes!
Frank edited it down to 15 mins. or so (whatever it is on the record now) and used only the best sections. (But I remember some absoutely burning sections were not used-maybe someday they'll release the original in it's entirety ).
Sometime soon after that my best friend, Pat O'Hearn came down to L.A. to play a week at the "Light House" in Hermosa Beach with legendary jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon [...].
Pat played the first nights show while I was in the studio working with Frank, so I told him to come by the Record Plant after and meet Frank and listen to what we were doing.
Pat had his big accoustic bass in the car and he didn't want it stolen so we took it inside.
Frank, upon seeing Pat walk into the studio with an accoustic bass, excitedly asked "Do you play that thing?!". Pat nodded "yes", and Frank said "Whip it out!!"
He had been overdubbing some lead guitar on the edited version and wanted Pat to try some accoustic bass on it. Engineers leaped into action putting up several of the best mic's they had as Pat pulled up a stool, slid the 17th century Itallian bass from its soft case and adjusted his headphones. When all was ready they played the track and pressed the red record button and my friend and favorite bass player literally tore it up!! Frank totally loved it and immediately they were overdubbing a section at a time (with Zappa directing tonal centers) and laying down the most gorgeous bass tones and burning playing that really made the piece come alive!
Then Zappa stopped him and said he thought electric bass would be better in the up coming sections, and wanted to know if Pat played electric bass. In a minute he pulled the electric bass (which he really didn't specialize in at that time) from the trunk of the car and proceeded to tear through the rest of the piece! It was probably sunrise when we finished and Frank knew Pat had already played 3 sets with Dexter, so he asked him to come in again tomorrow night and do some more.
these times don't correspond it's just to give you an idea, because of john's intro. bThese are from wikizappa. It's just to give you an idea
ICYDK: This was built up in the studio from the highlights of a jam by just Frank (on acoustic) and Bozzio. When Patrick came in to add the bass parts, it was effectively stage-one of his audition, At once you can see why Pat was hired, and why he's often cited as the best bassist Frank ever had.
An interesting thing about this track is that when Frank overdubbed his electric guitar solo he was breaking his own rules, somewhat. This is a guy who always had a preference for soloing over one or two chords, but had got to the point where he found playing the twelve-bar blues too constricting. But here he is, having to solo his way through a harmonic maze of his own making!
OK, sIlly trivia - The edited version made for the Lather album was going to be titled One More Time For The World (to maintain conceptual continuity) but there's also evidence that, nearly 18 months earlier, this was going to be given the name Zoot Allures. (And the song which we all know as Zoot Allures was going to be called Night Of The Iron Sausage!)
A discussion/explanation of all this song-title-confusion, pertaining to the scrapped two-disc version of Zoot Allures the album, is either contained on or linked to the IINK website.
I love this whole album. Just imagine waves and the ocean.
As with most of Frank's music, one listen is not enough. Terri Bozzio on drums, Max Bennet on acoustic bass, Patrick O'Hearn electric bass and Frank on guitars. There are so many moments in this piece to focus on that are outstanding musicianship, a pleasure to listen to. Just another facet of Frank's music to be amazed by!
Shit ugly zappa looked like a bum at the end 🤣 🤣 🤣
Last shit
My friend,as Mike Keneally proclaims, "Frank is the greatest "controlled chaotic" musician/guitarist ever" .
Very nice diving into Zappa prime era,with drummer Bozzio.Even this prime era had a large musical expansion "organic"phase in jazz and fusion, but then going Full hard metal Rock,best sales and concert attendance ever thru Hammersmith Feb 1978.He did it all in this 3 yr period, until it declined after letting drummer Terry Bozzio go. Frank had to find a way to rebound from the Vinnie era decline of March 78 to late 79,with a vinnie desperate short 3 month return end of 1980 that again ended very abruptly replaced by Chad Wackerman 😀.
With shit zappa trolls, its like with mushrooms, keep them in the dark and feed them shit, hahahaha
@@globextradingsystemsllc1740 First David Logan, than Chad Wackerman.
Bassist Patrick O'hern. Wasn't with Frank long, but close to my favorite. Saw him on the '76 tour & the tour that gave us Baby Snakes. Just damn. Frank sure could collab with folks.
Frank is a never ending world of joy. I love when people that cares about music start to listen to Frank. They feel surprised and bewildered, but in a good way. They know right away they are before something great they have to explore further. There's always so much going on. It's a project for the entire life.
Very nice on this station to have requesters continually diving into Zappa prime era,with drummer Bozzio. So much material in this era ,including a movie musical extraordinaire, brilliant previously unreleased guitar solos from baby snakes that we can go on another year. Even this prime era Frank demonstrates he had a large musical expansion in a very "organic"phase in jazz and fusion, but then also going Full hard metal Rock,best sales and concert attendance ever thru Hammersmith Feb 1978.He did it all in this 3 yr period, until it declined after letting drummer Terry Bozzio go. Frank had to find a way to rebound from the Vinnie era decline of March 78 to late 79,with a desperate vinnie desperate very short return, end of 1980, that again ended very abruptly soon after being quickly replaced by Chad Wackerman 😀.
John, The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution, is the greatest chemistry pun EVER.
Sleep Dirt and Grand Wazoo and both off-the-hook albums from the 70'S..
That bass sounds like Ron Carter. I love it.
This reminds me of the second half of Reba by Phish and what an influence Zapp was on bands like that.
You know John that one little quiet part where you hear the snare and the bass drum doing his thing and then the dobros playing those little slow passages and then the tempo of the chords on the guitar changed you know it's slow at the start and then the tempo it goes up a little bit and yet the drum beat stays the same so it goes slow and then a little bit faster and then slow again and then a little bit faster and it just creates this really interesting like you said you know the syncopation between the instruments the Counterpoint or whatever is just absolutely crazy and beautiful and complex and intricate and oh man the subtleties and all the nuances wow okay man yeah he doesn't get any better than this dude
Very, Keep It Greasy like. It's "ultimate" solution.
listen to "Thirteen" by Frank - it is a song he wrote in 13/8 (it's on here, just type in Frank Zappa - Thirteen)
Frank is playing all of the guitars.
One of his best imho.
Yeah my man I said it before but it's a dobro I believe which is actually a metal guitar it's an acoustic metal guitar they play them a lot in the south
Love it
Rush
Zappa
Yes ( well some, still waiting on the full Fragile reaction, ahem)
Beggars can't be choozy
if you listen to FZ live, he never plays a solo the same way, he improvises each time he plays.
Saw Him perform 7 times. That is true
One time I heard him repeat the beginning guitar melody to pink napkins.
Zappa was filth
Many will disagree with GlobeextradingsystemsLLC - and argue that the three Vinnie/Arthur tours were one of Frank's peaks as a guitar soloist - because Vinnie was an irrepressible thrower of polyrhythmic obstacles (so, unlike Chad, he was very well qualified to play the Jones/Haynes to his Coltrane) whilst Arthur (unlike Scott) was able to repress his gratuitous noise tendencies (which reached a nadir in 1982)..
ye that guy speaks out of his AH, argued with him a few times, think he's a troll, on the above post he talks about abrupt ends and replacements etc, nothing like that happaned at all, the line ups are completly different tours, he likes to make up stuff in his head, and Zappa's best guitar period was with Vinnie
Yeah my stepfather play stand-up bass and he also knew a fella from where he grew up who played bass and he actually took pictures because my stepfather was a professional photographer and he took the pictures for his wedding when you got married anyhow the man's name is Max Bennett he's played with Tom Scott and he's played with Joni Mitchell and of course Frank Zappa and he plays the stand up both my stepfather and my father both had k a y bases that was the brand name for that stand-up base my stepfather's is a blonde my dad's was stained more of a brownish color I think the blonde is a lot prettier I still have that base I played every once in awhile I should play it everyday I think it's Maple with a spruce top yeah isn't that great the ocean is the ultimate solution there's a double entendre I think somebody is playing a dobro one of those metal acoustic guitars you know you'll have to look at the playlist of this album I can't remember if it's I think it's sleep dirt is the name of the album but the song right before it it's an acoustic song and Frank and some other guy are doing like a little duet and something happens and I won't give away the plot but you'll have to hear it I could swear it's the title track but I don't know oh yeah because of the filthy habits is the first song I thought that was sleeper but no sleep dirt is right before the ocean is the ultimate solution and it goes right into it you know that's how Zappa rolls I'm quite certain you figured that out all right senior slop if you notice the beat kind of like wanders like the downbeat is one thing and then it becomes the upbeat and you know back and forth it just blows my mind and it's all deliberate it's not slop so to speak just kidding all right young man
Fantastic, I love it! hehehehehehe!
With shit zappa trolls, its like with mushrooms, keep them in the dark and feed them shit 🤣 🤣
Zappa was an ugly boring clown
@@marlon-ih5tchaha so funny SHUT UP 😐
@@marlon-ih5tcdrunken loser
Frank plays all the guitars, acoustic and electric... he over-dubbed it
What's the title of the song? Sloppy.