Frank had a quote… “Jazz isn’t dead, It just smells funny”

Ruth Underwood on vibes, marimba & percussion steals the show for me. She's quite incredible

Zapoa wrote every note of every song for every instrument. He was literally a genius. Mensa level.

Frank was a genius! George Duke once said Frank would take 2 pieces of music that didn't belong together and force them to fit. His composition and style are like nothing else.

Willie the Pimp from the Hot Rats album... "Politics is the Entertainment Division of the Military-Industrial complex" Frank Zappa

One of the best guitar 🎸 solos ever recorded

You should see them do it live. They could cut it. They brought all the heat.

There was no one like Frank Zappa. He was very strange and so was his music. But it was a good strange if that makes sense. We lost Frank way too soon. But his music will go on forever. ❤❤

I can't tell you how much I love watching young people learn FZ music. I'm 67 and been doing FZ for 50 years. This would never have been played on the radio. FZ was underground for his whole career. He is BRILLIANT AND THAT IS THAT. TY

ZAPPA the GENIUS . You don't dance to Zappa...you don't make love to Zappa....you just lie still, eyes closed and ABSORB🎵🎵🎵

Some folks don't get it. I knew you fellas would. Only a few thousand more songs left in his catalogue. All of them are incredible.

Frank Zappa is the All time 🐐 No other Musician or Band in Modern history even Comes close! I hope you Gentlemen delve a little Deeper on this Man…

The great George duke is the main singer and does the piano and synth solo. Frank's guitar solo. Chester Thompson on drums.

Songs like this demonstrate that Zappa wasn't just a musician, or a songwriter, he was a composer. Everything that happens here was written down, note for note. Nothing random in a Zappa tune, except of course, his guitar solos.

These guys play this live, start to finish, without interruption!

Frank Zappa music is a movie for your ears.

Frank persuaded George Duke to try singing which he hadn't done before. Zappa always wanted to know what his players were capable of doing apart from their main instrument.

Nearly half a century later Frank’s guitar work is still phenomenal, all of the band are top of the food chain musicians

See the video of them playing this live. One of his more complex pieces - about the Incas building landing strips for aliens. You would see a good demonstration of how great Ruth Underwood was, also vocalist / keyboard player George Duke, who later had a career as a record producer. Notice Frank's pre-VanHalen use of his pick to tap notes on the guitar neck during the solo.

Frank. Forever

George Duke on vocals is superb, and you are hearing Ruth Underwood on the marimba and percussion. The more you listen to him, the more you will see that Zappa'a music is a genre unto itself. And no, Zappa got very little radio play, he was too far afield from the pop music mentality.

This solo is Zappa giving you that pure, uncut shit.

Frank Zappa is life changing for music heads.

This album, top to bottom, is killer. It happens to be my personal favorite Zappa studio album.

There is NOTHING like Zappa. One of a kind. Check out his life story. Fascinating!

This is basically a live recording with overdubs. The guitar solo is from another concert, though. The rest is on the A Token of My Extreme concert and you should absolutely check it out!

Masterpiece. He's a bad man. Love it.

My Favorite ZAPPA EVER

Most of Zappa is amazing

The solo was recorded live in Helsinki, Finland, and can be heard on "You Can't Do that On Stage Anymore Vol 2"

This entire track is from two live sources with some vocal overdubs. This is not a feat of production- this is what the band sounds like live and this is what they actually played on that night in 1974. The guitar solo is one live performance (shortened from the actual performance). Zappa’s bands were sick!

My suggestion for your next Frank Zappa listen would be the first track of the 1974 Apostrophe album. It's one track comprised of four titles that nowadays is being generally refered to as the Yellow Snow Suite. A composition in four parts with four distinctive titles: Don't Eat The Yellow Snow / Nanook Rubs It / St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast / Father O'Blivion. It is a very entertaining piece that show's off a bit more of Zappa's story telling abilities. I really think you guys, as well as your viewers, will enjoy the song. I certainly would like to hear what your comments are for this recording.

Some would think that was just a bunch of musicians throwing together in a jam session, but Frank wrote every note for every instrument. Although he would write stuff that was impossible Steve Vai proofed a lot of Frank's music and helped correct it.

When you speak of "production" keep in mind much of what he did was taken from live sessions and worked with after. Here's more detail of how they worked the song into existance: The song starts with dominant vocals, drums, and marimba, but soon features a guitar solo performed by Zappa in late September 1974 at a live performance in Helsinki, Finland. An edited version of this solo recording (and part of the bass and drums accompaniment) was "grafted" onto a performance of the song from August 27, 1974 at KCET in Los Angeles. This combination of performances forms the backbone of the album version from One Size Fits All. Later, George Duke plays an equally complex solo in 7/16. In the video of the KCET performance, entitled A Token of His Extreme, Zappa is seen smiling gleefully as Duke plays his solo, as he plays the backup chords. After a short marimba solo, "Inca Roads" reprises its snappy intro. The song ends with the lyrics "On Ruth, on Ruth, that's Ruth!", acknowledging Underwood for her leading on the marimba.[6] In an interview vocalist and keyboard player George Duke said that Zappa pushed for him to sing on "Inca Roads" and that beforehand Duke had no intentions of singing professionally and was only there to play keyboards. He went on to explain how Zappa had bought him a synthesizer (an instrument which Duke had disliked) and told him he could play around with it if he wanted. This led to Duke playing the synth part on "Inca Roads" as well. Prince did a lot of his work alone in studio and occasionally added musicians, Zappa always worked with others as his complexity needed the interplay. Then of course comes the richness of using live recordings as a basis for studio magic.

Zappa was a lot like Steely Dan. Zappa also worked with numerous musicians in the studio and touring. When I hear the name Zappa, I instantly think of listening to him on 8 track.

He went “ Woah!” Lol. I love the continual amazement this song produces. You get that….clearly.

I had the pain/pleasure of trying to get this tune right every night for a couple of weeks straight while on tour with Ike Willis and Ray White. There was one part in particular that I was having trouble with (on drums) and I remember finally "getting it" and singing the section to Ike backstage prior to going on, and Ike giving me a great big hug. Very difficult but very rewarding, like most of Zappa's music.

If you like this! He has a song with a French electric violinist named Ponty, where their leads meet. It’s magic! It’s called 50/50.

There's only one. He left us so much fantastic music. I can't think of a better way to start the day than with Zappa.

I have been listening to this album on and off for 40 years... my appreciation of it just grows.. it is genius

This is my favorite FZ album. Every track is a winner.

There's a live version of this where you can see Napoleon Murphy Brock on flute totally in sync with Ruth Underwood on marimba doing that melody you were talking about. In case you don't know the marimba can be described as a big wooden xylophone.

Never got into frank zappa much, but there is no denying his musical genius.

God bless George Duke on lead vocals and keys! So perfect! Also, thank you, guys, for listening to the audio-track from the record rather than the live video. That video, which is great for the live performance parts, also includes this very long, chaotic "Claymation" section that is just bizarre and distracts from the excellence of the playing, in my opinion. Or, it's fine for a little while but just keeps going on and on and getting more weird as it goes. The non-video version of this song is much better. Thank you! I love Zappa! This song also has Chester Thompson on drums, I believe. I love that era of Zappa, with Chester and George included. Amazing!

Frank didn't drink or do drugs but he loved cigarettes. Remember Frank is a composer first and foremost, then a transcriber and finally a rock star. Has 61 albums

There is a song on this album (One Size...") that gets me every time: 'Po'jama People".

The irrepressible creativeness of Zappa! Perfect cohesion of musical genres to create his uniqueness

Let's not forget the incredible contribution of Ruth Underwood on percussion, including marimba and vibraphone. Stunning work! And of course Chester Thompson, my all-time favourite drummer, KILLS IT! Along with Tom Fowler on bass. This entire album is a masterpiece. You guys should react to the song 'Andy' ... my favourite Zappa song on my favourite Zappa album. Cheers!

One of his BEST!!

Frank wrote the song based on the book by Erich Von Daniken called Chariot of the Gods, which was about possible alien landing fields in the Andes.

You must already know, guys, that In the part where you comment about the flute and the synth playing in sync, it's actually Napoleon Murphy Brock on the flute and Ruth Underwood on the xylophone.

It's nice to listen to a favorite piece of music together with other folks. Thank you for the reaction! I like your anology with Prince - another genius. I like your top five too, mine with four other Zappa songs in :) This here is a brilliant masterpiece. I like the live version too, but here the voice of GDuke is more crystal (Not Frank, George and Napoleon on vocals) and Frank's guitar solo is just fenomenal - literally UN-BELIEVABLE, with all intriguing elements, including the Bulgarian bagpipe sounding at the end of the solo (actually, the per se solo was recorded live). And each and every's musicians performance is so wonderful - in full sync and harmony. Good job guys, enjoy more!

One could spend many years JUST analyzing THIS song. Brilliance is a many faceted diamond.

You have to give Village of the Sun a listen. It's a live recording and you will be AMAZED by the performance.

Oh boy, fellas. Strap in!

There is a live performance video of Inca Roads with claymation that will blow your mind. George Duke on keys Chester Thompson on drums and the phenomenal Ruth Underwood on marimba. Check it out! It's great. Chester Thompson played with Genesis and Phil Collins too. You saw him on the In the Air Tonight live video.

There is only one Frank Zappa. No one else like him. What a musician!

I had the privilege of growing up at just the right time, I got to see Frank and his virtuoso level bands all throughout his career. You can't get any better than George Duke, Ruth Underwood is one of a kind, and it doesn't matter what drummer(s) he has in his band, they are mindblowing yet each with their own styles. I have been playing drums for 60 years now and Zappa's music and that of Mahavishnu were the master classes if you could approach them. Still are. Zappa's UFO song! Having seen one, I love it!

I jumped on the Frank Zappa apostrophe album when I was in high school. Bright album. Enjoy your show!

Frank wrote every single instrument part for his songs and he would give the studio musicians sheet music that they would play. Although they jammed a lot, this was not just a jam session.

There is a great video of them playing this live. Unbelievable stuff! Frank writes it all and then they practice it forever until they get it right. Genre defying. About aliens and the famous Inca Roads in Peru.

Thanks, guys. "It's hard to put into words how much I appreciated that record." One of the best comments/compliments on Franks' music I've heard.

Virtuoso genius......so glad you felt this guys.

Hey guys from Ned in Spain. Frank Zappa was totally unique, started as a drummer but from the beginning he was experimenting and learning to create " difficult " music. All of his musicians had to bring their best or it was adios. Beer, coffee and cigarettes were OK but NO DRUGS. My favorite things on this are ...EVERYTHING. Tom Fowler sets his bass neck on fire, Chester Thompson on drums makin miracles, Ruth Underwood's percussion is so precise and fast that you think its another keyboard, George Dukes vox and keys solo....are there words for it ? and of course FZ on guitar is just totally original and transforming sound. This is Zappa and the Mothers at their peak.

Kudos to to the two of you for allowing Uncle Frank's solo to play out.

Yeah man I've been waiting on this one ✊🏾 0:24

Prince and Frank share some striking similarities. Cut from the same cloth. Both multi instrumentalists. Both precocious talents. Both left endless vaults of music and both put together a vast catalog while alive.

Frank was probably one of the best composers of the 20th century. Frank respected Prince. Frank wasn’t on the radio much. Not on most stations anyway. Mostly alternative stations. Glad to see you guys enjoying FZ. OH btw, the song is about ‘did the Inca people build landing strips for UFO’s way back in the early centuries?’ FZ was not only a great composer/musician/guitarist….but a sociologist. He questioned and studied everything. And was a self taught musician. Dude taught himself how to play guitar! Take a listen to the first song on his first album. The album is ‘Freak Out’ and the song is called ‘Hungry Freaks, Daddy. ‘ Released in 1966 when he was 26. On that album is the song ‘Trouble Coming Every Day’ about the Watts riots in south central LA 1965. Franks one tune about being ashamed of being white. And as with everything FZ released, he was generally always on point. He was a genius in the true sense of the word. Thanks for your review. Frank was bomb, and glad to see you digging it. Peace.

The whole album is fantastic.

You must watch the live recording "Frank Zappa - Inca Roads (A Token Of His Extreme)," recorded on August 27, 1974, at KCET in Hollywood. It will answer a lot of questions. Also, keep in mind that Frank was never about the lyrics. He's a composer by default and didn't get into a band until seven years after he began his career.

That drum tho. You guys are the friends I always wanted. You guys make up all the best qualities of all my best friends throughout my entire life.

You guys gotta see the videos of the band playing these songs live!!! It will blow you away.

George Duke is singing .In an interview vocalist and keyboard player George Duke said that Zappa pushed for him to sing on "Inca Roads" and that beforehand Duke had no intentions of singing professionally and was only there to play keyboards. He went on to explain how Zappa had bought him a synthesizer (an instrument which Duke had disliked) and told him he could play around with it if he wanted. This led to Duke playing the synth part on "Inca Roads" as well

Somebody beat me to it; I was going to request this! The song is based on the book “Chariots of the Gods,” which theorizes that the Nazca Lines in Perú were placed there by the natives to guide UFOs in landing. Some random facts: This was Zappa’s favorite Zappa album. Zappa’s favorite guitarists were Jeff Beck and Johnny “Guitar” Watson. Johnny was in this band and sings on several tracks (“Andy” is a good one). The great George Duke is the keyboard wizard and the singer here. Duke’s “Reach For It” was a real big hit on black radio in the late 70s. One of my favorite GD tracks is “Love,” which features Zappa on guitar. It wouldn’t get too many views but you guys would love “Love!”

You should check out the live version of this, it will blow your mind. The musicianship of this particular iteration of his band was on a whole different level.

this IS the good shit :)... so happy people are still listening to music and appreciating it.

Thanks to Neptune who introduced me to Zappa in the mid 70s - THIS is prog!

Hot Rats and Overnite Sensation are two of my favorite Zappa albums. Amazing musicianship. Rats is jazzy, Overnite is funky, both completely brilliant and unique.

Frank is having a satirical dig at the "Chariots of the Gods" type alien conspiracy theories about the Nazca lines in Peru and to some extent the sort of prog rock songs of the era which bought into that type of bs. Of course as usual he did it with the most amazing musicianship. Everybody has their favourite line up but I think the band on this album really took some beating.

Saw Zappa many times live.

Duke, Thompson, and Underwood is one hell of a percussion section

Frank's music shamefully did not get played on the radio back in the day. A whole generation missed out on this musical genius. Unless you were in the know. His son Dwezel is keeping his dad's music alive. You should check out Zappa plays Zappa a live video that Dwezel did of his dad's music. He took two years off from his own music to learn Frank's music. And produced a live concert that is my personal favorite live profomance ever.

How many life times would the average band have to live to nail an arrangement like that. Zappa and crew have done this live.

your faces at the end priceless!!!!!!!!

Zappa is definitely diffbrent, very interesting. Very funky, thanks fellas God bless.

There’s maybe 10 Zappa songs I really like, but this is by far my favorite. The guitar solo is brilliant, one of the best I’ve heard anyone play.

MUST Review the entire Album. Of the 50+ released, this is TOP 10 for sure. Zombiewoof has always been my Fav.

Music like this.... could never get made today.... wonder how much great stuff we are missing....

I was always aware of his talent But never got in to him until i heard this tune

I think it was Frank Zappa who said "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" and to some extent that applies to talking about it too! This is a reaction video and in this instance your reaction was clearly evident from the looks on your faces! No further words needed.8:07

George Duke did the vocals and the keys - brilliant work - Zappa is profound

The random chatter at the beginning is part of Frank's "Conceptual Continuity". He wrote about what was going on in life around him and dropped things into his songs. The chatter is overheard bits of conversation that had happened around him.

So many good comments already. I'll just add how much I enjoyed that reaction. You guys take this music seriously and that's much appreciated. Oh, and Frank's solo is in my top 10 of great guitar solos. So beautifully constructed, so many variations and changes, and a wonderful sense of melody. Thanks!

I've probably listened to this song thousands of times and it never gets tired. There's so much interplay between Tom Fowler on bass and Chester Thompson on drums, and Fowler playing off Frank during his solo... the 'ah ah ah' part after the solo is magical... then the George Duke solo is amazing on top. Really unique way of incorporating synth in live performance. One of the best recordings ever.

Hey guys ~~ I'm glad you listened to this from the album version. Too many first-time reactors get WAY too distracted by the weird-ass clay animation scenes from the live-performance video, and forget to pay attention to the sounds. That's George Duke on vocals, the electric piano jazz solo AND all those vintage 1970's analog synths for the UFO noises. Chester Thompson on drums and Ruth Underwood on amazingly intricate tuned percussion parts ~~ "Haha, That's Ruth!" is the last line. PS: I wish they would release a video of 100% the live performers. Tho I appreciate Bill Bickford's skills and imagination as an animator, I come to this for the music !! And watching skilled players work out adds to the pleasure ~~~

So glad you enjoyed this. I had the privilege of seeing the Mother's in several live concerts. An amazing collection of talent.

Love listening and watching you guys reactions and especially frank zappa 's compositions. I been a fan of his ever since I first heard his stuff in my early teens in the 70's. He always did have the best of the best musicians and all of them became renowned for their abilities. Great viewing you guys

You should check out the live performance. The Mothers are absolutely on point.

Lmfao!!! Welcome to the world of Zappa !!! Dive in deep fellas... pure genius....

With George Duke, who had a great career on his own later. Also with Chester Thompson, who played with Weather Report later, and again later with Genesis and Phil Collins for a long time.