Roxy???

[Baribrotzer]

The Roxy & Elsewhere version of "Cheepnis" is edited between a Roxy version and this studio version.

Are you talking about the 1974 album, or about the recent DVD under discussion here? The video does cut back and forth a little. However, Roxy & Elsewhere, the 1974 album, credits "Debbi and Lynn" for backing vocals on the tune - in the video, their names are given as "Debbie Wilson" and "Linda Sims", which are very similar but not identical.

[pb2015]

Are you talking about the 1974 album, or about the recent DVD under discussion here?

The 1974 album. Guess FZ got the names slightly wrong (not the only time that happened).

[infandous]

This is one hell of a concert video! Man, it's just amazing how good that band is. Frank's leads are incredible, and his "band leader" role is always fun to watch. It's funny to me how straight Dweezil is compared to his dad (referring to the ZPZ tours).

Long ago, I used to say I only liked instrumental Zappa and didn't care for the "funny" stuff. Now, I realize that you absolutely can't separate the two. Zappa and humor are simply that. I certainly was laughing with glee during RDNZL and Big Swifty (both instrumentals, obviously). Anyway, great DVD and I couldn't be happier with finally getting to see and hear this thing. What a great show.

[chalkpie]

If this isn't one of the top 5 or so best 'rawk' DVD's ever, then crack some brown eggs over my head.

[trurl]

I think this is the first time I've actually seen FZ play drums and he certainly seems to know what he's doing. I knew he could play but you never see him do it.

[chalkpie]

I think this is the first time I've actually seen FZ play drums and he certainly seems to know what he's doing. I knew he could play but you never see him do it.

Love the traditional grip, too (I'm a sucker for traditional grip).

[Mister Triscuits]

I think this is the first time I've actually seen FZ play drums and he certainly seems to know what he's doing. I knew he could play but you never see him do it.

The first time I saw FZ live was a few months before this (with the Over-Nite Sensation lineup) and he did occasionally share Ruth's percussion setup. Of course if I were in a band with Ruth, I'd be very inclined to wander over to her side of the stage, too.

[trurl]

I've always had to wonder if Frank tapped into that or not...

[Steve F.]

I've always had to wonder if Frank tapped into that or not...

Read "FREAK OUT! My Life With Frank Zappa" by Pauline Butcher

[chalkpie]

Read "FREAK OUT! My Life With Frank Zappa" by Pauline Butcher

Can we just have the Cliff notes, please?

[Sean]

This is so friggin' AMAZING! Everyone on your holiday lists needs this BADLY!

[Steve F.]

Can we just have the Cliff notes, please?

No. Buy it. Or don't

But don't ask me to stream it or 'Spotify' it for you.

[chalkpie]

No. Buy it. Or don't

But don't ask me to stream it or 'Spotify' it for you.

Ouch. Just a question, and sorry I asked.

[Baribrotzer]

I've always had to wonder if Frank tapped into that or not...

He did make remarks onstage (I don't remember where) about her employment of a Hitachi "Big One" while on tour.

[Mister Triscuits]

This is so friggin' AMAZING! Everyone on your holiday lists needs this BADLY!

"Merry Christmas, Mom!"

[wideopenears]

Yea, it's not surprising there's gaps in the footage. Shooting a live performance is a difficult process, especially back in those days, and I imagine there were lots of places where the cameramen had to change reels, causing them to miss something we would most definitely want to see on film/video. There was probably also places where the camera packed up and so there's more bits of coverage that were lost, etc.

BTW, you want to talk about sync issues, I read once that Ken Kesey wanted to make a film of some sort of footage he shot on one the Merry Pranksters' trips on the Furthur bus. The problem being, the were running the audio recorder off the bus' motor, and every time the bus sped up or slowed down, it affected the tape machine. So the audio recording was completely unusable, until technology came along that allowed them correct the pitch variations on the tapes. Of course, given that this was the Merry Pranksters we're talking about, the tape speeding up and slowing down at random intervals probably would make for a more accurate portrayal of the state of mind most of them were in.

They have released this, by the way...It's pretty good, but you can tell it's out of sync, a bit, in places...though it's overall so psychedelic it ultimately adds to the charm, IMO.

[pb2015]

I've always had to wonder if Frank tapped into that or not...

I'm sure he thought another percussion part would benefit the arrangements. I'm also pretty sure he liked the idea of spending time on Ruth's side of the stage.

[wideopenears]

Uhm...you DO know what he meant by "tapped into that," do you not?

[trurl]

I guess I should have just stuck with the vernacular "tapped dat ass" To wit, could FZ sat to her, with certainty, "I have been in you!"

[zombywoof]

I think this is the first time I've actually seen FZ play drums and he certainly seems to know what he's doing. I knew he could play but you never see him do it.

FZ got his start on drums!

[trurl]

FZ got his start on drums!

Right, I know. That's why it's interesting to me that you never really see him play (although his early appearance on the Steve Allen show with the bicycle was rather percussion oriented.)

[zombywoof]

Right, I know. That's why it's interesting to me that you never really see him play (although his early appearance on the Steve Allen show with the bicycle was rather percussion oriented.)

A little bit, also, on the Token of his Extreme DVD, but it's marred by epileptic edits.

[pb2015]

A little bit, also, on the Token of his Extreme DVD, but it's marred by epileptic edits.

He is also seen (although not heard, I guess) playing drums in "Lonesome Cowboy Burt" in 200 Motels.

One track from YCDTOSA has him playing a drum solo in 1969.

[Baribrotzer]

I've always had to wonder if Frank tapped into that or not...

I would guess not - and note that this is only a guess, and at best a very slightly educated guess.

Here's why: FZ and Gail once broke up. This was in the early Seventies, it was brief, and most of the biographies I've seen don't even mention it. However, I remember reading about it at the time. Part of the issue was Frank's habitual infidelity. In a few months, they got back together and stayed together for the rest of his life. And I believe he promised Gail he would not stray again.

Note that this was a promise with teeth in it: Gail ran all the practical, day-to-day side of Frank's life, and left him free to do music and nothing else. She made sure there was food in the fridge, the plumbing worked, the bills were paid, and so forth. He couldn't even drive, and he lived in LA! (He knew how to, but his license had lapsed and he never renewed it.) If she had left for good, his life would rapidly become intolerably awkward - sure, it'd be no different from the one most of us lead, but FZ was a near-compulsive workaholic, his job was music, he had little interest in doing anything else, and to get other necessary things done he'd need to keep breaking his concentration and taking time off from it.

So I think that the closest Frank came to "tapping into" Ruth was making her the butt of some of his more unfortunate jokes, because he wasn't going to risk the ideal situation he had with Gail.

[trurl]

Plus, it seems that Ruth's breakup with Ian was about her getting with "a guy from the crew" and if that was going on she probably wasn't messing with Frank as well. Although there's no telling if there wasn't an indiscretion or two along the way; it was the 70s after all.