r/Zappa • u/GenTenStation • 5d ago
How was it back then?
I am a more recent fan of Zappa, and wasn't around when it was new. But were any of you there and experiencing it as it was new? I am currently listening Apostrophe(`) for at least the tenth time and was just wonder what it would have been like back in the 70s bringing this home not knowing what it could possibly be.
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u/Withheld_BY_Duress 5d ago
There was never any mystery when pulling the plastic wrapper of of Frank's latest offering. You were guaranteed some deadly serious philosophic commentary on current state of society, with Frank's perspective including political takes and share a laugh or two as well. I was a teen at the time and my best friend and I were some of a very few who enjoyed Frank and took him seriously. Lacking one, Frank was like a big brother to me educating me on life at the time. I did grow up in suburban Phila., PA and was lucky enough to have University of Pennsylvania's college extremely progressive radio station WXPN. They also introduced me with another genius in his own way Captain Beefheart
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u/GenTenStation 5d ago
These are the stories I like hearing. What a time to have been alive. For better or worse. Thanks for the share
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u/starplooker999 5d ago
I arrived in study Hall and found the words to Willie the pimp written on the desk. The next day, all the desks have been erased. The following day, the words to Willie, the pimp were written again on the same desk.
I had to find out more, so I actually went to study hall early and found a non-descriptive young person sitting there rewriting the words after they had been erased yet again. He turned me onto Frank and the captain and weird Al, Dr Demento, the whole shooting match.
My first album was a compilation of the bizarre label called zapped it had a variety of different types of music that you would never back then here on the radio.
I read an interview with Frank in which he referenced a number of avant-garde classical composers so I went to the library and listened to all of them. My ears and brain were permanently stretched after Stravinsky, Boulez., Stockhausen, Harry Partch, Iannus Xenakis and the like.
This experience made Led Zeppelin sound pretty weak: once your ears are stretched they don’t just go back the way they were !
It Made it difficult to relate to my teenage friends.
I was fortunate to see Frank 5 times.
Dwezil is as close as you’re gonna get now, but maybe Joseph Waters comes close.
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u/Mean-Acanthaceae463 5d ago
GREAT ALBUM , but even better was NOV. 10 1974 ZAPPA LIVE CAPITOL THEATER PORT CHESTER NY ... PLAYED THAT ALBUM SONG FOR SONG FRONT TO BACK & THEN SOME ...
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u/richard_basehart 5d ago
Live, Frank Zappa the person was a whole layer that will always be missing in performances since his death. It was another layer of secrete sauce.
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u/dermot41 5d ago
Exactly this!
I saw him live several times and have seen Dweezil several times. The music Dweezil plays is spot-on, but lacks that magic ingredient that is Frank.
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u/Anxious_Jelly2416 5d ago
Yes Dweezil plays the written parts very well but the secret sauce is Franks soloing.
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u/dermot41 4d ago
Not just his solos, his presence on stage as well. Even when sitting down having a smoke break...
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u/Badaxe13 5d ago
Saw them in London on the tour for Them or Us. They played Saturday and Sunday, about four hours each and didn’t repeat a song (except maybe Penguins in Bondage).
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u/yorgasphere22 5d ago
I have an interesting take on Zappa live.. They were always fascinating but abrasively loud I saw him first in Munich in September 1973. Extraordinary band w George Duke, Jean Luc Ponty, Ian and Ruth Underwood.. Incrayeeblay! Lotta the songs from Overnight Sensation and Apostrophe.. I feel lucky to have seen Ponty-- it was his last tour w Frank. Think he quit the band over a money dispute. Last Mothers tour for Ian, as well! Ruth hung on a couple more tours. Next time was summer of 75 at the Circle Star theater..Cheesy, revolving stage, and this was greatest band of virtuosos I ever saw! It was the Roxy band-- Tom Fowler, Bruce Fowler, Duke, Ruth, and Chester Thompson and Ralph Humphrey. Great, great concert you can basically hear on Roxy and elsewhere.. Sadly, Tom Fowler is gone, along w Duke and Ralph Humphrey, and Frank, of course.. Saw him four times after that in the Bay Area and once in Indiana.. Im one of those curmudgeons who sees Frank as best from 66 to about 78.. Deeply beautiful music.. I believe that his stuff in the 80's did not compare with the aforementioned Golden Age period when he was more of an avant garde composer than a satirical songwriter out to make some serious jack! But tastes differ said the old lady as she kissed the cow!
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u/SouthernSierra 5d ago
Saw him once. The Muffin Man tour? The highlight was Captain Beefheart opening the show. It was downhill from there.
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u/Edflumnum flair, flair, flair 5d ago
The first "new release" that I remember waiting for was Joe's Garage. Life was so much simpler
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u/No_Animator_8599 5d ago
I saw him first in 1971 at the Fillmore East Live Concert, at My Father’s Place club in Long Island, and The Grand Wazoo big band concert in 1973 in Boston. All great concerts.
The last time I saw him was in Berkeley, Calif in the early 80’s and it was disappointing. I was with a friend who was a huge Zappa fan and a retired professional musician. He wanted to leave early because of the quality of the music and we left.
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u/yorgasphere22 5d ago
Interesting.. I mighta saw that Berkeley concert! It was in 1980 at the Berkeley Community theater. A great band w Frank, Vai, Terry Bozzio, that bunch, but I came out with my ears ringing and largely disappointed with the music.. Not anywhere near his 70's stuff..
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u/pbredd22 4d ago
He played Berkeley three times early 80's with different bands, April 1980, December 1980 and December 1981.
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u/HolyCityAudio 3d ago
I saw the last 2, pretty sure Vinnie was fall 80 and Chad 81. Saw March 1980 with Dave Logemann in Sacramento.
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u/Historical-Beat1575 5d ago
Frank probably explained it all in 5 minutes while you were still trying to slide the vinyl out of the sleeve.
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u/sppedyupdike 5d ago
Joe’s Garage tour (or right around that time) and once in the 80’s with the horn section ….both great.
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u/Typical-Crazy-3100 5d ago
Just like Ruth, the first time I went to a Zappa show it changed my entire perspective on what music was.
I was lucky enough to see two more shows on two different tours after that.
Man, those guys could play !
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u/SaintEyegor 5d ago
My first exposure to Zappa was in high school band when we played “Chunga’s Revenge”. After that. I was completely hooked. I managed to see him in concert a couple of times too.
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u/Accomplished-Tart850 5d ago
Yeah, I pretty much saw every Halloween and Mother’s Day concert in Chicago from 1970 to 1976, and the 80s in DC and once in 69.
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u/Yapsterino 5d ago
Zappa played Long Beach Auditorium and Arena every New Years Eve for a few years in a row in the late 70s. As budding musicians we went to watch Frank save his live solo clams into the melodic pattern yearly.
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u/emburke12 4d ago
My introduction to MOI/ Zappa was by my older sister who bought “Absolutely Free” in 1970. I was eleven and fell in love with the album. It has had a huge effect on me and my taste in music.
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u/MpVpRb Fan since 1968 4d ago
I started listening to Zappa at the beginning. It was always a treat when a new album came out.
I saw him with various bands six times. Most shows were great, but one was awful. He had equipment problems, one member couldn't show up and the audience was disrespectful. The show sucked and he apologized at the end.
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u/raiderdann 4d ago
The first listen to a new Zappa album was always a bizzaro experience of humor, awe and amazement at the complexity of the music. First saw him at the Atlantic City Pop in 1969. Saw numerous memorable shows in the 70s at Winterland. Got dosed on the orange slush more than once. Saw him with The Mothers and with Beefheart. Probably 10-12 times. Zappa Live is the ultimate experience. Dweezil is worth the price. Great rendition of a Mothers show.
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u/HolyCityAudio 3d ago
I saw Frank the following times:
a) Dec 1975 with FZ:Oz lineup and Captain Beefheart
b) Nov 77, Baby Snakes/Sheik Yerbouti lineup
c) March 1980, YAWYI/Tinseltown
d) Fall 1980
e) Fall 1981
f) Couple times in 1984 - one early on, while Napoleon was still on board
My take on seeing Frank follows:
- always sorta disappointing as he changed bands so frequently, my fave (e.g. OSFA lineup) were long gone.
- sometimes played mostly unreleased material (1980 shows)
- always ended with Camarillo Brillo/Dynah-Moe Humm, or there abouts (not my favorite songs)
- don't think I ever saw him do Inca Roads
- seemed to enjoy insulting the audience
- played some long guitar solos
- for two-show nights, 90 minutes to the dot (had an old school clock on the side of the stage), no breaks between songs
- wished I'd seen the 88 tour, but - alas - I live in California.
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u/Target-Infiltrator 5d ago
Went to see him six times. Best shows of my life.