Tag: Zappa

Saturday Matinee – Gumbasia, Anyway The Wind Blows & Homunculus

Art Clokey passed away 9 January 2009. Here’s his (pre-Gumby) tribute to Disney’s Fantasia. [Found here.]

Whoa. Bill Wyman, Georgie Fame, Peter Frampton, Gary Brooker, Beverley Skeete, all rolled into one rock.  Nice late night low key roadtrip music.

Very nice piano version of Zappa’s classic f-u song to an ex*, originally recorded by the Mothers in the mid 60’s. That final chord is awsome.

*The story I heard, Larry… Someone named Wendy was one of FZ’s early loves. There is also a story that no one was named “Wendy” until Disney’s “Peter Pan” was released in 1953. Although that may be true, “Peter Pan and Wendy” was published in 1911, according to The Wikiness, and “Wendy” may have appeared as early as 1902.

Now for our feature presentation: HOMUNCULUS
[Warning: NS for young kids.]

[Found here.]

Saturday Matinee – Funny Dude, A Capella, Slugs, and PF Live

Lotta truisms there;  video found in Archie’s Archives.

Don’t know who these folks are, but “Oh Gee” was a hit in 1955 by the Crows. Could be them.

The Persuasions were/are possibly the most underrated acapella group (featuring bass singer Jimmy Hayes, who Frank Zappa called “the human sub-woofer”).

“Legendary musician Frank Zappa and his wife Gail discovered The Persuasions (in a commercial sense) in 1968. At the urging and encouragement of a good friend of the Persuasions, David Dashev (who eventually became the groups producer and manager), Zappa listened to a tape of The Persuasions. Shortly after listening to the tape, Frank and Gail Zappa signed the group to their label. The Persuasions debut album ‘Straight’ was a mix of studio and live recordings released during the fall of 1970.”

(This group was featured here before, but unfortunately the videos were yanked by Utoob for seventy mental reasons.)

This is an old one from the Beeb, narrated by David Attenborough.  It’s cool, bizarre and gross at the same time, but it’s nature. I posted it just because  Thelit said her kids and their friends love this kinda stuff.  Go for it.

After the Slugs (wasn’t that a Grateful Dead tune, or maybe a Peter Sellars movie?) this may help clean your eye sockets. Other than the dopey devilpigs,  it’s all cool.

Saturday Matinee: Sucky Song & Favorite DooWop


Clever stop motion stuff outclasses a sucky song.

The Dell-Vikings’ “Jitterbug Mary” is an unrecobanized classic.  They were my  favorite doowop group.  I hear this kinda stuff and it makes everything better.

My favorite doowop group was The Five Satins. Here they lipsynch for a bunch of white people.

Gene Chandler was better known for “Duke of Earl.”  Here’s the Duke singing “Good Times.”  Although this song is R&B, he’s my favorite doowop singer.

“Love of My Life” is one of the greatest songs ever, and  Frank Zappa’s bands are my favorite doowop group.  (This song is still my favorite — too bad The Ramones aren’t still around to do a Zappa tribute album.)

[ Woohoo! Post No. 700!]

Saturday Matinee: Ebo Walker & Black Napkins & Sticky Notes

EBO WALKER

Now Ebo Walker was born in Kentucky,
and raised by his daddy on a hillside farm,
He took up fiddle playing just for fun,
that’s the last work that Ebo Walker done.

Well Ebo Walker, he left Kentucky
’cause Ebo’s daddy said durn your hide,
You won’t plant corn, and you won’t make hay,
you sit on the porch and play that thing all day.

Well Ebo Walker, he walked and he fiddled and he walked and he fiddled and he fiddled till he died,

But I’ve heard tell when the winds is down and the moon shines bright, and the leaves are brown,
You can hear old Ebo fiddlin’ all around.

The Dillards (as the Darling Boys) on the Andy Griffith Show, around 1960 sumpm.

The Dillards in Denmark, 1999.

[Related Post here.]

Pure Oddness. Now for something completely different.

FZ on the Mike Douglas Show, 1976, playing “Black Napkins” with the studio band.  Amazing benign culture clash. [This is part one of a two part interview… kinda slow to load, and we may have linked to this one before.  So what.]

Zappa’s “Black Napkins” live on MTV’s Halloween BFD, 1981.

No slinkys? Use Post-It Notes!  [via here.]

Saturday Matinee: Peaches En Regalia

Bunk loves this song, especially THIS version of this song. Looks like SNL footage of Frank Zappa’s 1976 entourage.

[If it doesn’t play, try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwQogHWkWck%5D

Zappa’s line up back then was amazing. Might be Jean Luc-Ponty on the invisible violin; Terry Bozzio on drums; Ruth Underwood on xylophone; maybe Roy Estrada on bass. Zoot Allures era.

Any FZ fans wanna leave comments to clear this up?

Zappa was only on SNL once, and was banned for mugging too much in the skits. You can find the two other SNL/Zappa vids on the Utubage if you hunt for ’em.

“…they’re pretty good musicians, and the musicians are pretty good…”— FZ, from “Green Rosetta.” Make a muffin really betta.

[UPDATE: Something yanked the link to the video originally posted. Here’s the same video from a different source. –Bunk]

[UPDATE 2: Seems that anything posted from SNL is now verboten. I’ve added a new version of my favorite Peaches. Slightly lesser quality video, but let’s see how long this one lasts. –Bunk]