When I think of Frank Zappa this is the image I get.
How about a Friday Quote?
“Remember, information is not knowledge; knowledge is not wisdom; wisdom is not truth; truth is not beauty; beauty is not love; love is not music; music is the best.” Frank Zappa
I can remember (and probably cant remember some things) listening to Zappa’s Joe’s Garage (Parts I, II & III) on cassette of course. Lyrics from that album pop into my head at random times.
“It was a 54 with a mashed up door and a cheesy little amp with a sign on the front said Fender Champ” Then the guitar riff blasts. CLASSIC!
I’m not gonna get into it here but if you know it, it’s hysterical “The boys in the crew are just waiting for you” The song that goes with this lyric cracks me up to this day. I went to one of the song lyric web-sites and read it through; Still Funny.
If you know Zappa, or maybe if you dont you’ve probably sung the Catholic Girl chorus. Reading those song lyrics is a riot as well. I believe these days they would call that “Not PC”. Of course that is why it is hysterical.
I know its not from the Joes Garage album but “Great Googly Moogly” I cant see a dog pee in the snow without breaking into “Watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow“.
Now you might be wondering how I got off on this rambling tangent. This video clip of Frank Zappa playing music on a bicycle was my motivation. He was Twenty Three years old when this was recorded. Zappa looks so young and proper as opposed to the picture above. This served as a reminder of how gifted a musician he was.
This appearance on the Steve Allen show is great. Steve gives him a sixteen minute segment and my guess is that this was probably a bit edgy for the time. Dave, or Jay wouldnt give someone this much time, and definitely would not let the “interview” be as free-form or unscripted as this.
In my humble opinion this is worth the sixteen minutes to watch. The Video and Audio quality is a bit rough, but hey its from 1963. Turn your volume down a bit and enjoy.