- Oct 22, 2015
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This is what I have on one of his SGs:
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Any Frank Zappa fans here?
- Thread starter Andy Coconut
- Start date
Damn I thought the Ripper Bass had sonic options. Do you need a engineers degree to operate that? Enjoy!
That’s exactly my story! I saw Zappa & The Mother’s for the first of a couple dozen times on November 8, 1974 at the Capital Theater in lovely Passaic, NJ. The bass player came out, and played a few runs and open strings during souncheck. He was playing this huge brown bass. I didn’t know what it was, or who he was, but it sounded like diamonds - it was the sound I had been chasing because it was exactly what I heard in my head. It was an Alembic and the player was the great Time Fowler.
Thus began my life long obsession and affection for Alembics. I became a huge Zappa fan I own all 120 or so authorizes releases and have 400+ shows on a hard drive. And Tom Fowler is a flat-out monster! Tone and chops for days, and incredibly versatile. Proof: after playing with Zappa he wound up as Ray Charles’s road bass player. Check out his playing on the newly-released 7 disc “Roxy Performances” set (or “Roxy and Esewhere” which was complied mostly from those shows), “One Size Fits All,” and You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. II.” Highly recommended!
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I remember when........no I dont remember. - Jimmy Carl Black
Just recalled a cool concert experience.
Standing outside the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ (mid '70s), a guy comes up to me admiring some pin-back buttons I had on my jacket, saying that that was a thing in L.A. at that time. We get to talking and it turns out he's (Steve Desper) Frank's sound man that evening. He says that the concert will be performed in "Quad" (4 channel stereo or whatever that works out be) that night. Inside, my friend and I sit ourselves down by his mixing console (where the sound was GREAT!). The one thing I recall from the show (a somewhat stripped down Roxy ensemble) was the encore where the sound was swirling all around the theater. It was pretty wild.
And another....early '70s, standing outside the Academy of Music in NYC (later to be called the Palladium) for a Captain Beefheart show, I see Ian and Ruth Underwood standing nearby. I gots to go say hello. I sidle up to Ian and sheepishly say "Mr. Underwood?" and he whirls around, hand outstretched and says "Hello! How are you? This is my wife, Ruth!". I smile and say "Hi." and ask him how Frank's doing (recovering from the assault in London), and he responds that Frank's still laid up but working Always working. Then he excuses himself and Ruth when a white stretch limo carrying C.B. and The M.B. pulls up. The Underwoods jump in and the car pulls away.
I later read in Bill Harkleroad's book that Ian was going to join the Magic Band but his frequent migraine headaches prevented that.
Standing outside the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ (mid '70s), a guy comes up to me admiring some pin-back buttons I had on my jacket, saying that that was a thing in L.A. at that time. We get to talking and it turns out he's (Steve Desper) Frank's sound man that evening. He says that the concert will be performed in "Quad" (4 channel stereo or whatever that works out be) that night. Inside, my friend and I sit ourselves down by his mixing console (where the sound was GREAT!). The one thing I recall from the show (a somewhat stripped down Roxy ensemble) was the encore where the sound was swirling all around the theater. It was pretty wild.
And another....early '70s, standing outside the Academy of Music in NYC (later to be called the Palladium) for a Captain Beefheart show, I see Ian and Ruth Underwood standing nearby. I gots to go say hello. I sidle up to Ian and sheepishly say "Mr. Underwood?" and he whirls around, hand outstretched and says "Hello! How are you? This is my wife, Ruth!". I smile and say "Hi." and ask him how Frank's doing (recovering from the assault in London), and he responds that Frank's still laid up but working Always working. Then he excuses himself and Ruth when a white stretch limo carrying C.B. and The M.B. pulls up. The Underwoods jump in and the car pulls away.
I later read in Bill Harkleroad's book that Ian was going to join the Magic Band but his frequent migraine headaches prevented that.
For me Zappa does the finest take on Stairway To Heaven ever. Does anyone know what the Zep boy's thought of this?.
I too wonder if Robert Planet and the lads would give a thumbs up. The night I saw Frank the guy seated in front of me said they did Stairway To Heaven last night, you gotta hear it. Instead they did I Am The Walrus - a musical epiphany!
If you want to geek out on Zappa's extensive and amazing live catalog I highly recommend this site:
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It's a torrent site run by obsessive fanatics at which one can download hundreds (thousands?) of lossless torrents of Zappa's unreleased live stuff. The quality varies, but a lot of it is excellent, and always accurately described. IMHO, to really appreciate Zappa you've got to hear the live stuff!
Invalid Link Removed
It's a torrent site run by obsessive fanatics at which one can download hundreds (thousands?) of lossless torrents of Zappa's unreleased live stuff. The quality varies, but a lot of it is excellent, and always accurately described. IMHO, to really appreciate Zappa you've got to hear the live stuff!
Oh man, tried to revisit, I've forgotten a lot. "Yellow Snow" wasn't too bad but "San Ber'dino" took me hours to rehash. I had these DOWN note by note, nuance by nuance, at one point. Awesome bass lines though, but I've got to do a video or sheet music to make this less painless.
Any idea who the female singer is?
edit: Ah-ha, Wikipedia to the rescue! Lady Bianca
Philly '76 - Wikipedia
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About 12 years ago I had the pleasure of conversing with saxophone great Ernie Watts, who played with FZ in the 70's (Waka Jawaka).
When the subject of Frank came up, he told me how he really loved playing and jamming with him. He said there are many hours of recordings of them "in the can" as he put it, that are unreleased. (Would love to hear some of them someday.)
When the subject of Frank came up, he told me how he really loved playing and jamming with him. He said there are many hours of recordings of them "in the can" as he put it, that are unreleased. (Would love to hear some of them someday.)
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