Awesome lineup, that. Recorded on August 27, 1974 at KCET in Hollywood, California.
Frank Zappa—guitar, percussion, vocals;
George Duke—keyboards, finger cymbals, tambourine, vocals;
Napoleon Murphy Brock—sax, vocals;
Ruth Underwood—percussion;
Tom Fowler—bass;
Chester Thompson—drums.
Awesome lineup, that. Recorded circa 1989
The Tonight Show Band Snooky Young – Trumpet
Awesome lineup, that. Recorded circa 2010. The Tom Stormy Trio featuring Rhythm Sophie
Sophie – vocals
Tom Stormy – drums
Gábor Kiss – guitar
Buddy Benkey – double bass
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow and we’ll do stuff.
He might not realize it, but the octopus is tasting him. [Found here, via here.]
Everybody’s coming to David Byrne‘s house. Everybody. [via].
Nice lip synch & choreography to Cab Calloway‘s December1948 recording of “Everybody Eats When They Come To My House.” (Everybody eats, except for one guy).
Okay so now we’ve got a food theme going.
The Rutles were one great parody band (perhaps surpassed by but even that is arguable). The album “All You Need Is Cash” is so spot-on that those who don’t know it was a hoax think it’s the real Fab Four Try it. It really sounds like a Beatles Greatest Hits compilation.
Dylan Hears A Who is awesome, also. Lemme know if you want a .zip file that includes the CD liner notes.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow when we’ll discuss unprovable allegations from over 30 years ago attempting to destroy an honorable man’s career, family and life by people who have no ethics and want to eradicate the U.S. Constitution by fiat.
This is reported to have been Frank Zappa’s last public performance, directing the Ensemble Modern, Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany, 17 September 1992. Zappa died less than two years later, days shy of his 53rd birthday. From the UToob link:
It was his last professional public appearance, as the cancer was spreading to such an extent that he was in too much pain to enjoy an event that he otherwise found “exhilarating”. Recordings from the concerts appeared on The Yellow Shark, Zappa’s last release during his lifetime.
And now for something completely different.
Have a great weekend, folks, see you back here tomorrow.
Should the US taxpayer pay for free healthcare for foreigners living in this country illegally? I don’t think so. Should we pay for emergency medical services? Yes, without a doubt.
I bought this 1969 Rhinoceros album for one song only: Apricot Brandy. Years later I learned that the band was a fabrication of Elektra Records session musicians.
Complete Captain Beefheart concert, possibly in Toronto 1974 [via]. I saw CB and his Magic Band live in the early 80s at The [famous but now defunct] Golden Bear in Huntington Beach California. Bizarre tribal rhythmical poetry during his “Bat Chain Puller” tour.
Archers of Loaf. Great 3-chord rock. According to Wiki, they disbanded, reformed, broke up and now reorganized before disappearing completely.
In 2009, The Axis of Awesome discovered the secret 4-chord progression required to make a hit record.
Zappa’s “Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression” is a classic. Unfortunately the video is not an actual performance, but a compilation of images pasted over the music. So what. I still like it. We’ll let Carlos Santana have the last word.
Cyriak outdoes himself creepy-wise, with “Indigestion.” [Found here.]
Frank Zappa‘s final live performance (with backup by Pražský výběr) 1991, Prague, Czechoslovakia, shortly after the collapse of the USSR. Long intro, but worth the listen.
Traffic, 1971. We played their albums in college so often that if you held the vinyl to a light you could see through the grooves.
A great cultural icon passed on this week. She possessed one of the greatest voices in the business, singing and performing gospel, blues, R&B, jazz, soul and pop. Multiple generations grew up listening to her recordings, myself included.
What a natural. Only 22 years old in 1964, and she was already amazing. Respect indeed.
R.I.P. Aretha Franklin (1942-2018).
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow.
“The center of an aspirin tablet is the exact same size as the center of a beach ball.” – Master Archer Byron Ferguson.
[Found here. Not sure what the target distance is, but it’s still impressive.]
The Mavericks (Raúl Malo / vocals, guitar; Paul Deakin / drums; Jerry Dale McFadden / keyboards, vocals; Eddie Perez / guitar) crank out some big band boogie woogie in Austin, 2004. It’s a cover of Merle Haggard‘s classic 1966 country hit “The Bottle Let Me Down.”
Jared Dines commissioned the design of a 17-string guitar, paid $1,200 for it, then learned that it was made in China for $400. Pissed him off, so he destroyed it. He then ordered this 18-string from a legit Australian company. Nice catchy tune…
The Baboons‘ “It’s Dark” has a solid (but unattributed) Howlin’ Wolf groove, so let’s go there.
That’s Willie Dixon on bass. He wrote, arranged, produced, played and sang on some of the most influential blues standards in modern history, so it’s really a Dixon Groove.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here when you’re ready.
