Was FRANK ZAPPA really any good on guitar?
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
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Well then, Andy, if anybody can appreciate this story, you can…
On 21 November 1984, I waited alone outside the stage door of The Royal Oak Theatre (near Detroit), hoping to welcome Frank when he arrived for his show. When the entourage got there, I snapped a photo of Frank (the icon you now see for The Iconoclast) and he let me in as the sole witness for the sound-check.
While I sat front and center, there came a point where everyone left the stage except for Frank, and I had a private audience with the man while he played alone for about 20 minutes.
If I live long enough to go senile, this will be one of the last memories to linger in my dying brain.
Blessed
I’m green with envy… Unreal! Congratulations. I grew up in the wrong era. I have seen some great acts, but all the legendary artists I have got to witness, were probably 60 years old, at the very earliest
I believe that God exists. I got convinced when I realized what a treat I was allowed to experience at a Zappa concert in 1974 on a Roxy tour. On the whole I have had a very ordinary life and I have not experienced special events or moments of big historical change first hand. But there has been this precious couple of hours that I much later understood was of historical significance. God exists. No, God is not Frank, or any of the people on that tour. I don't know what the word God means. It is just the ultra word for everything that exists beyond our comprehension. It is a meta word that comprises everything. A brainy definition of that concept perhaps, but at the same time I accept a very infantile view. We are all ages at the same time as we grow old, aren't we? So, when it is my turn to enter the gate of heaven, it is my wish to meet just one person to welcome me. Frank. We will just shake hands. He will say: Come in...Or something like that. And I will say: "Thank you for everything!" Then we will move on our separate ways to whatever there is on the other side.
You are indeed a lucky man.
Frank, I thought you died ?
For me, if you are able to tell who is playing guitar
without knowing who it is then you are an incredible
player. Frank more than qualifies.
🤘😳🤘
That could also apply to people who don’t play very well
@@edwinwise6751 You might think that, but really no, poor players don't have a distinct style or tone, they just are all over the place (I know, I am one of them :-)).
The Son of Orange County solo from Roxy and Elsewhere is one of many examples of sheer beauty that reveal how much of Frank's soul came through in his guitar playing.
Trouble Everyday.
yes!
Great visceral, possibly greatest visceral electric guitar player ever. Far from a shredder.
I went to my first rock concert in 1974 when Roxy was released. I was 13 years old. That concert is still the best I have ever experienced, and I have been to many over the years. The band on tour was the one on Roxy; George Duke, Ruth Underwood, Napoleon Murphy Brock...I did not know anything about the band or about Zappa's position in the music scene. Little was written about him in the music magazines I was able to read in my language. I had heard his music on the radio and become interested. I was already listening to all genres of music; classical, jazz, pop...When I came out of that concert, my feeling was: that was GREAT. Wow, live music is really good, I thought. And I expected it to be as good from then on. I had no idea how high my expectation bar was set, ha ha! I only came to realize the exceptional quality of my first concert over the years when I heard more live music. Nothing, NOTHING has topped even close the concert in 1974. No wonder that Roxy is my favorite Zappa album - but not for nostalgic reasons. I find it that I hear all music differently every time as one can't step in the same stream twice. Zappa is fresh and contemporary - ahead of his time, ahead of our time today, still, actually.
I'm just an ordinary listener; no skills in playing an instrument. But I have a good ear, I have noticed.
Y’all may know this but in case you don’t, the solos you’re talking about on Roxy are snippets of the show in Edinburgh, Pa in 74
It’s online somewhere in it’s entirety. Fantastic guitar work
Zappa's guitar work is unique, original and one of a kind.🔥💯
Lucky enough to see him live twice.
Could not agree more, Andy. The interpolated live solo in ‘Yo Mama’ is like some kind of cosmic event. The tone is staggeringly good.
Very much agree, that solo is one of my favourites too. It soars into the ether: great example of one of his ‘Air Sculptures.’
My favorite! Although I always steer first-time listeners to Black Napkins.
So right. That solo is ethereal and it's hillarious that such a beauty comes from a joke song 😂
Another great solo is his live version of Montana.
That is EXACTLY the song I though of when I saw the thumbnail. Sheik Yerbouti was brilliant.
For me, this solo is the greatest improvised rock solo in three movements ever put on vinyl. It’s an improvised guitar concerto in three movements framed by, or sandwiched, by a stupid little ditty that is still more sophisticated than most stupid little ditties.
I'm 68 and been a Zappa fan for as long as I can remember. Mainly for his compositions and songs rather than his guitar playing. This video has illuminated his technique and style for me in a way I've not thought about before. I'm going to listen to Shut Up And Play in a new light thanks to your video. Cheers Andy.
You sound like me. To a word. 🤔 😅
Me, too! I came to Zappa through his orchestral compositions, and stayed for the other stuff.
I highly recommend the DVD the torture never stops. One of the best guitar duels ever with Vai on Stevie's spanking.
'Shut Up' is guitar solos exclusively for almost two hours. Who other than Zappa could pull that off and make it work? At first I was sceptical and I waited a long time before buying that particular album. Now it's one of my favorites.
Inca Roads: one of the most emotive and creative guitar solos of all time. Virtuosity (as defined as being able to play most anything in any style - something Zappa expressly said he was NOT on guitar) matters little compared to originality, authenticity, and emotional content. NOBODY ever sounded like Frank before Frank - both as a guitarist, and as a creator of a unique genre of music - Zappa's music.
I have to object here. Not one of the most... but THE most emotive and creative guitar solo of all time. Otherwise spot on.
Inca Roads sums up so much of what Frank Zappa did...
Indeed. @@AndyEdwardsDrummer I consider it one of my favorite, most evocative solos I've ever heard.
Frank Zappa could play anything on the guitar
It’s pretty funny that you should say that, because, Frank, in interviews, insisted that he was not a virtuoso. That a true virtuoso also could play almost anything in any style, and that he could not. That was his opinion, and I think it is born out by his body of work. He was never going to play classical guitar like Segovia, for example
Here’s what I find the most interesting thing about Frank Zappa’s sublime guitar playing: The emotions he expresses in his guitar solos are the exact opposite of his persona (at least the one that was widely perceived by the public). Some people may have found Zappa to be cold and too intellectual. Yet those guitar solos scream and howl, letting loose demons from hell, or other times they are delicate and beautiful; or they can be grand and mournful at the same time. I could tell from his guitar playing that there must’ve been lot more going on inside of the man than he let on during interviews.
I agree
Excellent analysis and comment. Well said I agree. That's where FZ released his inner emotions in his guitar solos. They were true sonic air sculptures oftentimes painted on a very open canvas of 2 chord vamos Eastern type drones and modal extrapolations. And of course the other aspect of just true butt kicking heavy rock riffing like muffin Man or still rooted in the blues like Willie the pimp parts 1&2.
1000% brother. 4 words: Watermelon in Easter Hay
Well articulated. I always imagined he only let his cynical/sarcastic guard down and allowed himself to be open and truly expressive when he was playing his solos.
everything that zappa did on guitar was by accident. he was shit and he proved it ever single time he picked up the instrument.
Zappa was a unique guitarist saw him live 4 times he was totally original didn't play licks but was a total improviser playing in the moment often using complex note groupings which a lot of people didn't understand.
I say he did play licks. he played his own idiosyncratic licks, such as those sweep licks from the beginning of St. Etienne, and which are also audible in some of FZ's earliest recordings (I wanna say they're present on an early 60s recording, maybe something from Mystery Disc). he was so into the blues that he totally knew blues licks, too.
I stand corrected your right,i saw him in 1973 with his big band with Jean Luc Ponty, George Duke the Fowler brothers and the Underwood's i recorded 3 of his concerts where he didn't play any noticeable licks just creative improvisations.
He played many guitar licks he was playing the lead guitar on the song Gee I like your pants
I've seen all the best in the last 50 years and Frank was my favorite live lead guitarist. His live tone was phenomenal - masterful riffage, sustain, and feedback and when he was inspired he sounded like Hendrix come back to life.
I appreciate your comment.
I appreciate Frank way more than I do Hendrix .
Well, to each his own - they both were legendary sonic adventurers. Jimi did some absolutely brilliant work in his way too short life. @@TeunisMaranus
He showed Jimi Hendrix how to play wah-wah. :)
Best guitar playing I've experienced.... NYC 1972, Felt Forum, Halloween. He was off the charts amazing. And I saw all the greats of that era; Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, Page, Santana and on and on. For me, Zappa was a top 5 player.
I WAS AT THAT SHOW & EVERY HALLOWEEN SHOW !!!
Zappa also said if you want to learn guitar, listen to Wes Montgomery. Zappa had shown his admiration for Wes in multiple interviews.
He also said that alan holdsworth was one if his favorites
Wes also made Pat Metheny want to be a guitarist
Frank also loved Johnny “Guitar” Watson.
I remember being on the Danforth in the 80’s in a record shop with friends and the store owner was playing some crazy guitar solo record that seemed to go on for ever. My friends were ready to leave but I had to stay. It was astonishing and confusing and irritating and beautiful all at the same time. I asked the owner what is this and he said it’s a bootleg of Frank Zappa in Berlin if my memory serves me. It took me about 40 mins to catch up with my buddies and they couldn’t understand why I stayed. A memory that will last forever. Thanks Frank
Zappa is my favorite guitar player of all time.
Thanks a lot for this video.
Very insightful.
Thanks.
Me too!!!
@@nibunionFrank might be mine too or Gilmour. Zappa was just a all around great composer. Son of Mr. Green Genes.
Even when Zappa is playing a lead in a more "conventional style it usually ends up being a hell of a lot more interesting than other players. The beautiful flow of soloing on Black Napkins is jaw dropping. The explosive wawa lead on "Dirty Love", sounds completely original
Black Napkins is Frank at his finest his soaring playing is sensational
God Bless You Andy! For years, I've been saying Frank is top tier. All people think are silly songs with dirty lyrics. They don't get it and listen to the music. I was lucky to see him at one of his NYC Halloween shows in the 70s. And he did Black Napkins. I have seen hundreds of show since then. This was one of my top 3 guitar solos I've ever seen. I'll never forget it. And thanks for pointing out all the innovations. I got a lot out of it I didn't know or realize. Great job!
Yeah I remember how so many people dismissed him as some kind of goofy toilet humor novelty act, I think a big reason was that at the time, none of the mainstream rock radio stations would play his stuff, except for Yellow Snow.
And I would tell them, hey, he's one the most serious musicians out there and surrounds himself with other excellent musicians, and they'd look at me like I was insane
Great explanation of polyrhythms and the relationship between rhythm and harmony, thank you
Thank you for this video. I always loved Zappa's playing, from the time his first album came out until today. His playing was always a marvel. I knew he was doing unique things, and you have shone a light on those things in an interesting and approachable way. Thank you.
I was lucky to see Frank live on four occasions (1979-82). His guitar solos during these shows were extended improvisations that sounded unlike anyone else. Amazing. Zappa was a special musician and composer.
Yes. Him and Richard Thompson. Never have any idea what might happen when they solo. As a non musician it seems to me that they are improvising on an epic scale so there is the possibility for things to go wrong, That's what makes them, and Zappa in particular, so exciting and unique. Zappa's accompaniments are also absolutely superb.
Oh, how could I forget Richard Thompson in my own Posting!
Or , Su-poib.
I love Richard. I can remember two young guys coming down to the front at Cropredy to check out Richard’s style of playing, and then walking away shaking their heads because they couldn’t work out how he was playing in the way that he does.
I can fully understand that. He is brilliant and unpredictable in a good way.
He is one of my absolute Favorite Guitar Players of all Eternity and 3 Days more.
Super analysis of his innovation and playing. I'm 70 now and love zappa, he was unique and underappreciated by many.
Wonderful discussion. I've been a Zappa fan my entire life and did get to see him in concert in 1988 on his last tour. I've always enjoyed his guitar playing, many songs still give me goosebumps every time I hear them. I agree that he should be recognized as the great innovator that he was. Great video!
I loved Frank's attitude with the guitar - and his wise declaration that the most important note was the one you had just played, because you needed to know that one in order to understand where to go next.
Buddha talking through Frank.😆❤
Wow. Thanks for preaching my gospel much better than I could. Zappa forever!
I'm, what you might say, at a "mature" age and I can remember, back in the dim and distant, a good friend of mine's father was very into a free form style of jazz. As a young teenager I thought the stuff that my friends Dad was listening to was "very weird and very complicated". I can remember him playing a new album he had just bought and him saying that "This chap being an asbolute genius". That album was "Freak Out" by Frank Zappa. As my friend and I were listening to John Mayall and early Cream, bands like that, at the time; this Frank Zappa character was a bit " off the wall" but actually very compelling. We followed Zappa thereafter and I amusingly remember that it was one of the older, parental, generation that " turned us on" to the unique and grossly underestimated musician that was Frank Zappa.
It took a jazz nut and beatnik type to do that. Strange ol' world sometimes, isn't it !!??😊😊
Absolutely fabulous and spot on analysis, Andy! Regarding Zappa's control over feedback, anyone should listen to the tune "Filthy Habits". Amazing!
Yes, great track to mention! You could go to the end of the same album and cite "The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution" as another fine example
@@fmellish71 You are absolutely right - great track! And by the way: if you look up a video from Prague (one of Zappa's last public performances) you can watch him fine tune his feedback before he starts playing. How he does it I don't know. But amazing 🙂
Agree with you. The best version of "Filthy Habits" is on the Lather album ..... truly sublime feedback control, manipulation of tracks and a few clever extra notes.
...& how'bout "Zoot Allures", prob'ly one of the most effective uses of feedback as part of the overall melodic structure of a composition, with beautiful sustains & tonal morphing that entirely determines the character of the piece. as for its use in solos, that extremely lengthy last feedback note of "Sinister Footwear II" is mesmerizing!
@@jwc3o2 I absolutely agree! In total - feedbacks or not - all Zappa's solos are so above many guitarists' "punching the clock" solos. Small compositions as Andy calls them. 🙂
Frank's association with Paul Buff at PAL and his eventual purchase of the studio cannot be underestimated in importance. He mastered the art of recording before he had a record deal. Not many artists can lay claim to that back then. He deserves to be named alongside Les Paul as an innovator with regards to record making.
"What followed was a life of excess overdubbage"
Super well stated Andy! Great analysis! This helps me understand why I still love listening to Zappa's guitar playing after 40 + years!
I talked with Ike Willis about Frank's guitar playing, especially his blues playing over a beer once. Frank didn't do things like anyone else and there's lot's within that point (some times it wasn't aesthetically easy or nice). But basically, it's a massive compliment that among all of the stuff he did, his guitar playing it's self was that unique.
Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar is easily my favorite Zappa collection, and one of my favorite albums by anybody.
changed the way I thought. it had that big an impact on me
65 y.o. here . Amidst so many influences as a music fan early on (saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, absorbed all the 60's radio hits), by the mid 70's I was well aware of Zappa's music, and guitar playing. For me, all the proof needed regarding his guitar playing excellence was the track Montana, and much of Roxy and Elsewhere. That set up everything that was to follow in terms of my interest and willingness to listen to whatever else he put out.
I love his guitar playing on "Peaches and Regalia". It just fits the song so perfectly.
I agree. This track was my introduction to Frank and I fell in love immediately. Btw, just in case you haven’t heard the orchestral version, please look/listen to it on ruclips.net/video/o3yXzRe5CfI/видео.html. It just highlights his excellence as a composer. Love the guy and am forever grateful for his music. McOrd
As a longtime fan of FZ's music I want to thank you for a brilliant analysis of Frank's incredible playing.Your channel is always a delight to visit-thank you Andy.
Many thanks!
That was such a thoughtful and stimulating video. Thank you. You articulated very well something I've felt for years. FZ's guitar playing bowled me over not because of his flawless technique - which I'm sure he would have conceded that he didn't have - but because of his compositional and expressive skills. His Inca Roads solo on the One Size Fits All album is, for my money, one of the most beautifully musical and interesting guitar solos I've ever heard. That he ripped that solo from a live recording in Helsinki and married it with other live LA and studio tracks makes it an even more impressive composition. It's a patchwork, but it works together so musically. What a band and album that was, too. Still my favorite, on both counts.
Frank was a one of a kind genius guitar player. I’ve come to appreciate him soooo much more as I’ve gotten older as I’ve tried to listen to some of the crap being put out today.
Fantastic Andy, incredibly well argued and framed, thank you
Outstanding video. You talk about Zappa's style in terms that have always interested - and influenced - me . His modal understanding, his use of synthetic scales, his poly-rhythmic, speech oriented playing, his awesome improvisational skills...nailed it. I've always thought of Zappa as being a wonderful guitarist. You can instantly identify him. A unique, fascinating voice in terms of performance. Wonderful video. Many thanks!
I've been waiting a long time for someone to lay it out like this. Thank you!
That's a yes from me, Frank forever, he was a total innovator but you know how to court controversy :)
A well articulated intro to Frank's guitar essence. Kudos for treating the odd rhythms as a temporal flavor of dissonance. No other guitarist has ever improvised so extensively in the time domain.
Frank played on a different level than other guitarists. It was very personal and had the flavor, nuance and timing that he wanted. He didn't play standard stuff that you could compare with other players. His approach fit the patterns and time signatures that fit into where he wanted to place his emphasis. There are videos out there where he talks about his approach to time, for instance, where the meter is incredibly fluid generally , definitely way more complex than anything in rock and roll. The virtuosity he possessed was really in class by itself but he could shred and did shred way before shredders were coined with that term. I'd put him with Allan Holdsworth, insofar as his innovation was fueled by the music and visa-versa. I really don't think anyone who is critical of Frank could probably play what he played, let alone have his level of skill to get down for a 20 minute improvised solo in 11/8.
Love to hear someone put it out there. This is exactly the way I feel my top to Hendrix and Zappa and Frank in a lot of ways. As you said Top is the bill because of everything he puts in. How many guitars can you listen to a solo where it does not repeat itself for 10 minutes And makes you feel like you’re an acid without taking any drugs. I was lucky enough to see him five or six times during the 70s and early 80s and I’ve never heard a live band. Sounds so good so tight , even with 10 musicians, his guitar would cut through it all the sound without any distortion that was not intended
I still remember buying Freak Out in 1967 when it first came out. I was never the same again! And my taste in music changed forever too. I have long maintained that Frank was the finest, most innovative guitarists in rock music. I think the reason he gets less recognition than he should is because other guitarists are not only intimidated by his techniques but also simply unable to match his virtuosity. Hearing some of the stuff now available from the vaults shows that he actually held back some of his finest performances because he knew that the world was simply not ready for the stratospheric heights he could achieve.
Freak Out was released mid 1966. Minor point.
His solo on Wind Up Working In A Gas Station has always been one of my favorites. Short & simple, while nasty & sublime all at once.
I love that song!
“Get a Little” from Weasels Ripped my Flesh”. has always blown me away for the restraint - moody wah filled soundscape that would have to lead to an eruption of distorted guitar noise in most hands - but here poses a small musical statement and is satisfied with less as better. Virtuoso indeed. Zappa often would describe his solos as attempting to sing a vocal line with the guitar which illuminates much of his playing for me. Cheers to you Andy
That's an awesome little tune for sure!
Somehow this ended up on my feed. I'm all in on FZ, and this was a very good summary of one aspect of Frank. A true original.
I often think Zappa's virtuosity is overlooked. In the "Roxy and Elsewhere" who was still doing most of the guitar. YCDTOSA 2 is a great example.
When I read Zappa saying improvisation was instant composition it really made sense to how he influenced me - I could never be a Malmsteen or a Vai but I learnt how to build a whole structure in a solo. Shut Up and Play Your Guitar literally changed my life when I bought the original box set.
Right on - Frank’s playing and composing in 73-74 is my favorite. Roxy, One Size Fits All, and you can’t do that vol. 2
Genius shear genius
The title of that guitar box set is just ffn brilliant
Thank you for shining an important light on an underrated icon!
Right on! Right on!! I consider him a story teller on guitar. I really him playing in the low registers, as well as modulations over a relatively simple vamp. Especially SUNPYG together with Vinnie Colaiuta is world class. Rant: I never understood why Clapton got his status as a guitar hero, Sorry to the Clapton fans
Zappa has always been among my top 5 greatest guitarists ever. Your comment about his tone is spot on. His guitar playing is immediately recognizable.
Thanks for sharing the gospel! Could not agree more, and we need more people speaking out about this to change things.
I read these comments on this lovely video I happened on and I'm remind of the best song writer ever John Prine's song "we are the lonely" .
The Prine song always hit me like a zappa song with its sound effect and comedy in music. I think about how many of us have listened to zappa alone...so much and the lucky of us who listen to him with others, at concerts, with a kindred soul, with a friend we turned on to him, or at the rare cover band or bar band playing him.
What a truly great guitarist and composer, entertainer, artist and human
Frank was the greatest. But playing over changes wasn't his thing, he was a modal player, very strong influenced from Blues and also indian and arabian players...
This is from an interview (1993) with F.Z. :
“Actually, I think my playing is probably more derived from the folk music records that I heard; middle Eastern music, Indian music, stuff like that.”
What specifically?
“For years I had something called ‘Music On The Desert Road’, which was a recording of all kinds of different ethnic musics from different places in the Middle East. I used to listen to that all the time - I liked that kind of melodic feel. I listened to Indian music, Ravi Shankar and so forth, before we did the ‘Freak Out’ album. The idea of creating melody from scratch based on an ostinato or single chord that doesn’t change - that was the world that I felt most comfortable with.”
You prefer to improvise over a single chord vamp.
“If you listen to Indian classical music, it’s not just pentatonic. Some of the Ragas that they use are very chromatic, all sustained over a root and a fifth that doesn’t change, and by using these chromatic scales they can imply all these other kinds of harmonies. The chords don’t change; it’s just the listener’s aspect that gets to change, based on how the melody notes are driven against the ground bass.”
as much as that's basically true, there're definitely examples out there of his ability to improvise over changes: the solo in "I Promise Not To Come In Your Mouth" is a good demonstration of winding around different keys & the bouzouki work on "Canard du Jour" goes all over the place as it moves through its series of structures.
@@jwc3o2 Yes, Frank could it. He knew all the scales and modes, similar to a Jazz player. He often used the whole tone scale for example to create an "outside" effect.
Andy, very good analysis. One of the best I've heard. Refreshing, good luck, thumbs up! Love to hear you react to 'Andy".
Look on youtube for the live performance of "St. Etienne" - a fantastic ethereal journey that I never knew had a video taken of the tune. You get to see video evidence of his "bulgarian bagpipe" technique. His melodic soloiing is a HUGE influence. He had not just one great tone but many and some were quite rude - some were unearthly glimmering beauty. Yes, I very much enjoyed his guitar playing and got to see him live twice in 1981 and 1984. "Shut up 'n Play Yer Guitar" and the follow-up "Guitar" are some of my favorite recordings. I still harken back to Rolling Stone magazine's review of "Joe's Garage" describing that "Zappa's solos that Joe plays in his imagination burn with a desolate, devastating beauty". Nailed it.
That video of St Etienne is the album version I think
It is - that video was filmed by one of the crew at the actual show. @@AndyEdwardsDrummer
Great video. Virtuosity is the embodiment of musical virtues... and Zappa is a virtuoso and innovator of structure and sound. Vai himself said Zappa had a certain technique and understood how he pushed that instrument. Frank's solos are an incredibly hard act to follow and his compositional sense and in particular its relationship to with rhythm is sublime. Great that you point this out, that and the tone thing. His tones, geeze! In general Vai becomes less and less interesting the farther he gets from FZ... which he had to do. Stopped listening to him after passion and warfare. The thing with technique is its just a tool and to parade it first and foremost is like a carpenter who builds a house while making a show of all the hammers and saws they use. It is pretentious and pedantic. I love shredding, rather guilty of it myself, but music lives and dies ultimately in terms of mood and its conveyance. FZ's conveyance is virtuosic and sublime. Great that you gave context and depth to this... FZ is one of my absolute pole stars as a guitarist and because of that I play/compose nothing like him. Lessons absorbed, appreciation had to come first though. Five-Five-FIVE alone is a masterpiece, even today that recording makes bands like Dream Theater sound backwards reaching.
I used to play in a big band in San Diego with a bandleader that used to play RnB gigs where Zappa was the ‘drummer’ occasionally. Little is written about any of that.
In one interview, Frank said " I don't play rock, but I attract a rock and roll audience". Not many realize he played a lot to a R & B rhythm for a lot of his songs, then, developed the term "Xenoccrony" , where the time signatures from most of his compositions had a commonality in time where he can cut and splice them into many arrays of compositions after being recorded in studio or live.
Oh yeah, he started out a drummer in a band called The Blackouts. The fans know this well. He picked up the guitar because he wasn't satisfied with the guitarists he was playing with and thought he could do better. But he was always obsessed with percussion and his music reflects this.
Amongst just over 2000 CDs I have The two guitar albums Frank made. haven't heard them in ages so I've pulled them out for the weekend. I've always seen guitar players as individual musicians and can never be bothered with polls and "greatest" this that or the other. If you like someone's company you don't put them in a top ten. Similarly if I like a guitar player I'm there to learn from them and to enjoy their music. I really enjoyed the poly-rhythm explanation too. Thanks Andy.
His Wah Wah playing was on a different level
Frank Was Taping before Eddie Van Halen !! GUITAR SCULPTURES !!
HIS LIVE CONTROL OF FEEDBACK AND TONAL CONTROL IS LIKE NO ONE ELSE
Spot on.
Fantastic music theory class, Andy! Exciting and enlighting.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy (Bongo Fury version) is one of my faves. :)
Hell yeah. Muffin Man solo on that album is bad ass too.
This is absolutely, by far, your best video.. Good job, you said things that are actually important.. 🎉
He put in so much silliness and a lot of people rejected it out of hand. Sit down and seriously listen and you can't deny how great he really was.
Well said. Not just ranting his merits, but clarifying them. This needed to be done.
Zappa is one of my all time favorite musicians. He never considered himself a guitarist as opposed to a composer first and foremost, and his live improvisations/compositions spoke to that.
Ahh..dunno..he always seemed a bit of a pretentious asshole to me...but then so am i...
This very thorough discussion change my view on Franks playing....thanks
thx andi for explaining so that even non musicans can understand what's going on!!!
Excellent dissertation on a topic I've been trying for years to impress upon others. So few seem to realize these truths.
STEVE VAI ONCE SAID THAT AT ONE SHOW REHEARSAL, FRANK TOOK HIS GUITAR TO A COMPLETELY NEW LEVEL THAT EVEN HE WAS BLOWN AWAY
I think it was sound check 77 Halloween palladium NY vai stated that up to that point and after he had never seen a guitar played like that and believe him after seeing videos of the concert black napkins the fkn drummer him coming to his feet to emphasize and hammer the notes what a brilliant mf performance
Not just because I like and appreciate the music of FZ, but this is one of my favorites Andy Edwards videos. His explanation and demonstrations of rhythm breakdowns not only give the listener a base from which to understand his analysis, but also gives me some ideas on how to approach the subject with some of my students (I teach one-on-one privately, not a classroom or institutional setting).
Terrific analysis. Zappa was ahead in nearly everything he attempted in the Arts.
4:54 "burning of the midnight lamp", released as a single in august 1967 and later included on "electric ladyland" (october 1968).
FZ is in my top 5 of all time. His solos are so legendary.. Who else could pull off an album like Shut up and play your guitar?? 3 albums of just guitar solos and it never gets boring.
I saw Frank in the NEC in '88 . About half way through the show the band were vamping for about 5 minutes or more with Frank playing a phenomenal improvised solo over the top of them. It is by far to this day , the single greatest piece of live music I have ever heard .
Yes, I was there too
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer And the following day I was back there watching Rush from the second row . Good times indeed .
Here are 10 sample Zappa pieces where he solos. Every single solo is completely unlike the rest. Nobody else comes close in terms of stylistic inventiveness and uniqueness ( I could easily add 10 more)
Hungry Freaks Daddy
Transylvania Boogie
Inca Roads
Muffin Man (off YCDTONSA)
Watermelon in Easter Hay
The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution
It Must be a Camel
Andy
Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich
For the Young Sophisticate (Lather)
Great polemic! Love hearing people who know the technicalities appreciate people who go beyond them.
28:49 💯 When guitar becomes more about "athletics" than "aesthetics"!
Hear, hear! I've been listening to Frank Zappa for some 45 years and many (if not most) of his guitar solos have been the hardest for me to learn to appreciate. But, as I began to learn more about music theory and grow as a musician, I've also come to better understand his guitar language. You do a great job of explaining why Zappa is indeed so worthy of our appreciation as a guitarist... indeed because he was also such a good composer. In fact, many consider him to be the most important composer of the 20th century.
I think Steve Vai once said that he would find himself getting lost within a solo, he said Frank never got "lost". Frank always knew what was up.
Had a geography teacher in early 70s who when I wrote my list of top guitarists on the back of my exercise book he marked it and added Zappa as his favourite. That was really my introduction to Zappa and have been a huge fan since.
Great video Andy. Maybe it's a cliché choice, but I've always been most moved by 'Watermelon in Easter Hay' (Joe's Garage). In a live setting Zappa was something else entirely, though. The 'Baby Snakes' DVD captures some extraordinarly moments set to Bruce Bickford's incredible claymation. Two artistic wonders collide...
Watermelon is just one of many sublime solos.
Very nicely articulated sir!
Frank was a BEAST.
His "tension and release" technique was the deepest.
Also when he played he seemed so pissed off! The key to the "fire" in his solos was that he seemed soooo pissed and angry! He probably wasn't LOL but watch him as he plays...he's full of piss & vinegar.
A listen to Frank's improvisations on "Willie the Pimp" will provide a quick answer to the question.
My favorite solo is the one from -77, from Wild Love, which Bowling with Charen come from. Beautiful and Awesome!!
I have seen many videos of yours so far, and every time you mention Hot rats you always date it as 1970. which of course it is not, it was recorded July-Aug 1969 and actually released early October 1969, I think it's really important to date this album correctly because it's such a critical time musically it takes away from it's innovations when dated as 1970, it was released a full 5 months before Bitches Brew, there was nothing else like it when released in 1969. (sorry for the rant, but it's quite important and I have seen it many times in your videos and each time I'm shouting at the screen loudly 1969 lol)
Good post, though historically i would also add some other '69 albums that were also pushing jazz-rock-classical hybrid innovation pre-Bitches Brew...Soft Machine - Volume Two, which was recorded February-March and released September. Valentyne Suite by Colosseum (with special attention to the instrumental title track) recorded circa April-July and released November. There's also Elastic Rock by Nucleus and Soft Machine-Third, as far as recorded pre/simultaneously 1970 albums.
In the UK we did not get Hot Rats until 1970 so I imagine Andy is going by our date.
This exactly what I am often trying to explain to people, but unfortunately my vacabulary never seems sufficient. Brilliantly told, thanks - now I can show this video to let people know what I mean!!
There was a "thing" called margarita night at franks house/studio on Friday nights where employees, friends, and guests and occasionally Frank (who was sick at the time I am recounting and did not drink anyway) would hang out in the early evening and party. It was just a happy celebration of making it through another week, and I recall as few as five or upwards of 30 people in attendance depending on what was going on . I was lucky enough to attend a number of these, and the one that i recall the most fondly is when Tommy Tedesco was the featured guest and entertainer. I had never heard of him and was wondering why Frank was so animated that he was coming. He was quite sick at the time and anything that cheered him up was welcomed by all. Frank was not easy to impress in any way shape or form, and his near giddy/star struck anticipation of Tedesco showing up was amazing. Tommy did an informal show of about an hour of acoustic guitar playing and his version of stand-up comedy, and I understood.
I would love to talk to you about these meetings
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Always happy to talk about and or promote all things Zappa, and have been since 1967:) This video gives a good idea of the vibe. Still gives me goosebumps! ruclips.net/video/nQxoeivJgSk/видео.html
one such session was captured on videotape by a tv crew and leaked out as the "Salad Party" tape. You have ex-band members, family, friends etc. (even tuvan throat singers). Frank briefly plays his guitar but mostly just listens to the magical sounds around him.
Speaking of Frank, Vinnie, and polyrhythm's, a great example is the song "Black Napkins" on the "Chicago '78" live concert recording, where it sounds like Vinnie just wanders off, but it still fits. Frank was also never given credit for being one of the first, and premier "shoe gazers", often using a wa-wa, even though I've seen one Zappa critic say " He has a wa-wa pedal, but rarely uses it" , which I find as totally absurd.
No doubt, Frank nailed it!! I miss him, love you Frank!
Thanks for laying this out in a very cohesive way. I have not explored much of Zappa’s music so I’ve always wondered about his appeal. Most people have said he ability to compose was unlike anyone but from this video I know it wasn’t just his ability to compose it was his ability to improvise and experiment with tone, time and harmony and then caputure is and make it part of the music.
I was watching an interview with Dweezil and he said that his dad never played a standard guitar. He always modified them in some way. A true innovator.
There's a few songs where he used an oddly tuned 12 string, nobody else I've heard has done anything like that and gotten the sounds he did out of it. He used it on a short part of "The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution" among a few other compositions.
Dweezil talked about it on Marc Maron’s podcast.
He said he had to unlearn what he knew and start from scratch learning to play like his father. He said Frank didn’t think like a guitarist, but as a percussionist with a guitar.
And Dweezil is also pretty good, I seen him play his dad's music a couple of times and it definitely brought back memories of seeing Frank perform......
Agreed videos of live shows with him on guitar in the same frame as his drummers you can see what you are saying sometimes it seems as tho guitar and drums become one intity or organism almost surreal im not a musician but it is very apparent the guy had IMPECCABLE TIMING
Well said Andy, as always. I am guilty of noting those rare occasions where and when Zappa's avalanche of musical creativity out paces his technical ability on the guitar. He was a content creator of the absolute first order and a technical wunderkind of the second. Such "wunderkinds" now all over and everywhere on social media are becoming a dime a dozen. Technical Brilliance for sure, but heading toward a vacuous dead end, as you so aptly put it -- virtually at the speed of light. In the end, "AI" machines will out play them all and than some. So what is the point of all this technical virtuosity devoid of the melodic and harmonic magic that the Beatles brought forth with their limited instrumental virtuosity, by comparison and like Joni Mitchell mesmerizing her live audience with just her pitch perfect voice ,a dulcimer on her lap and her absolute melodic and lyrical genius. One "shredder" that always held my attention was Buckethead. He was as fast on the draw, as they come, but he did everything his own way and altered the structural patterns of modern harmony and rhythm to fit his instrumental voice. Many of his later albums feature the opposite of shredding: legato and deliberately paced, evocative melodic landscapes. Andy, please give the man his due and address his totally unique virtuosity.
All the music of FZ is most precious to me. Songs, intricate modern compositions, comedy numbers, guitar solos, everything. Lucky to have seen him playing live three times.
Jeff Berlin rated Frank as a great rock guitarist, and "Watermelon" alone more than justifies this notion. Like Todd Rundgren, Frank decided not to go the way of other guitar heroes as he was more interested in composing, but that did not stop him playing brilliant lead guitar. Like all the greats, you can tell it's Frank playing, and could be no one else. Personally, I like "Sleep Dirt", where Frank played acoustic, free of effects, but just wonderful.
Brilliant video, Andy. Frank Zappa is my favorite guitarist of all time (that doesn't necessarily mean I think he's a "better" improviser than, say, Holdsworth, just that his style appeals to me more) and this video contains an incredibly thorough explanation of his genius as a guitar player. Thank you.
Frank never thought that he should be rated as a guitarist yet he still played some of the finest guitar solos in rock music.
He described himself as a composer who happens to operate the guitar.
Frank was in a class of his own. Always fresh and original ,definitely one of the greatest ever. Thirty years after his death his vast catalog of work hasn't been fully explored.
The "Shut Up and Play" trilogy indeed contains some of the most majestic guitar solos I have ever heard. And thank you for also pointing out Vinnie's nuanced rhythmic interplay in this setting (bask in the spellbinding splendor of "Stucco Homes"). Steve Vai has said that Frank wasn't "a shredder" like himself, but I think Frank was more like Miles, setting up the environments and unique collusions of musicians that pushed them beyond the boundaries of cliche performance - albeit with opaque music charts. A great example of this dynamic is the guitar nirvana performance of "Stevie's Spanking" captured in Rome, 1982: ruclips.net/video/WJxoV5O8HUU/видео.html
I know that video well!!!! Love Steve's playing on it too
Great analysis and musings. My favorite guitars Zappa played were the Les Paul sunburst in the late 70s - early 80s and that dark brown Strat in 1982. The tone he created on these guitars was awesome.