Zappa & the Mothers

Ahhhhh I love Billy the Mountain… Have had this version committed to memory since I was a kid and didn’t understand any of the references

1 Like

A few days late for Zappa day

2 Likes

Heard that Tom Fowler passed away. Great bass player who was with Zappa from 1973 to 1976 (with his work appearing on many albums afterwards).

1 Like

Thinking about going into Chicago for Dweezil. The 2024 set list is all killer, no filler. Seen him twice and he’s always great. Last time I saw him Ike Willis showed up and did a few songs with him.

2 Likes

DOOOO ITTTTTT @Gizzhenge and I went the other day and it was face-meltingly weird and awesome

interesting arrangement of Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow
Inca Roads!
Echidna’s Arf!
slow funky Pygmy Twylyte!
Punky’s Whips!!! (this is when my face melted off)

the dude with the “Dwarf Lives Matter” shirt was a real head-scratcher though

Yeah they were great…as tight as usual, which means tightest band around. They seemed to jam a bit more than I recall or played songs with jammy like arrangements if not actual jamming. Maybe it was the smaller band or fewer horns than I’ve seen in the past that lead to a jammy feeling, not sure. I’ve been seeing Dweezil since the first Zappa Plays Zappa tour in 2006, but skipped several tours along the way. I was really into Project Object before that with Napoleon and Ike, which probably lead to Zappa Plays Zappa. Despite the one questionable choice mentioned, this was the least amount of cringe I’ve experienced at a Dweezil show. He seemed more relaxed than usual, and there were no awkward extended rants about family drama.

2 Likes

Great version of this song, way better than the Thing-Fish version. That Al De Meola solo makes me want to never touch a guitar again because I’ll never be that good.

1 Like

I havent heard any zappa songs yet, but my guitar teacher gave me Black Page as a rhythm exercise and said “if anyone can learn it, it’s you.” That song is absolutely insane. Elevens? Nested tuplets? And when you listen to it, it sounds really good.

2 Likes

Was at a show last night and the guitarist busted out some of the Rollo Interior between songs. What an incredible melody.

1 Like