Frank Zappa - Lost Interview - Hendrix, UFOs & Sex (5-7)

[JuanDeSoCal]

I just hope that Zappa didn't consider himself a superior guitar player—or a more creative musician—than Hendrix was, and was using "musical literacy" as a disguised way of saying exactly that.

[Bobofjudia]

@JuanDeSoCal Or it could just mean he didn't know how to formally write music..

[JOEFRO2]

@posthumanhero: There was no need for jealousy on his part. Listen to King Kong or Inca Roads if you'd like to hear why.

[1776AmericaFirst]

ISRAEL DID 9/11!

WANT PROOF?

911MISSINGLINKS / COM

[PodMaster2009]

@posthumanhero No, is actually pretty objective.

[posthumanhero]

@PodMaster2009eh, he reeks of thinly masked scorn....not very likeable as a person....he couldn't say (forinstance) "gee, u know, Hendrix was on FIRE man -- he put his whole body into the music and i RESPECT that -- a total energy conduit!"....oh, i forgot, zappa was straight (straight as a doorknob) outspoken and liked to fuck....in many ways more akin to ted nugent: i respect both, though being a teetotaler is an aesthetic commitment -- you'd almost [have]to be a 'left brainer'.

[NakedPlanet1]

@posthumanhero I read a Zappa article once, I think it was in Rolling Stone, where he was asked why he made fun of Jim Morrison & Hendrix. His replied that he would never make fun of Jimi Hendrix. That he was a superb artist & an inspiration, or words to that effect. It's the warmest thing I've heard him say aboout Jimi. About the masked scorn... as this interview demonstrates he is very disillusioned with the human race in general so perhaps it's no surprise.

[posthumanhero]

@NakedPlanet1 i think everyone in the 60s could be made fun of, even zappa.......all sorts of things can be sold -- but perhaps they shouldn't.....still don't know why everyone was so down on morrrison though -- perhaps i fail to realize just 'how good poetry can get'......buncha words, buncha notes....the tribes of africa have the best idea, 'music as a social unifier'....we more 'civilized' people are just struggling to make the left brain meet the right.....or is it 'fighting'.

[NakedPlanet1]

@posthumanhero As far as being a likeable person goes, it's hard to know exactly what he was really like. On stage he was somewhat clownish; in this & many other interviews he appeared intense & serious. Maybe there's another Zappa persona we're unaware of.

[leapsplashafrog]

@heliumbound

I think frank would enjoyed Indian music and the virtuosity of ravi alot. What ravi did for indian music is cool. Frank comes across as himself a very dedicated musician who wishes people like Jimi had been more conscientious.

[ashazaria]

simply the best.

[heliumbound]

On Woodstock: "Musically? Phooey!" Ravi Shankar was at Woodstock. I wonder what Frank thought of Ravi Shankar as a musician? Anybody know?

[Hughgotit76]

@heliumbound I'm sure he enjoyed the music of Ravi. Frank had Ravi's nephew L. Shankar as a special guest performer (on violin) with the '78 Zappa band for 8 shows at The Palladium.

[kaewonf8]

I've loved Zappa's music for years, but couldnt care less what he thinks about politics, UFOs, etc. The questions (such as they are) are just inane.

[VeryHugeAss]

Did someone fart at 1:28?

[applecrumping33]

i love his views on the supernatural-ufos etc.

[page20000]

anyone know why they turn down woodstock????

[Gajahmatik]

@page20000 Zappa had a strong distaste for the Hippie culture

[mcleanartists]

As funny as an AA graduate.

[kermicheo]

zappa is awesome. I look up to people like him

[toocheaptobuyatripod]

My name is Captain Obvious, and I think Frank is a genius.

[DirtDickDylinger402]

i too have seen a ufo once for 2 seconds or so in Nebraska i was driving home from work in silence - and then i saw it idk why i looked up but i did and there it was a small golden orb hovering motionless in the blue sky. Just as i saw it it suddenly shot up and outward away from me at an extremely sharp angle near the speed of sound. it was as tho it fled the instant it knew i was witness. it resembled the Snitch from harry potter but without the wings.. this is the only way i can describe it.

[TICETOCAR]

Respect for Zappa the musician and what he's accomplished (by grace of the capable people around him)... but here he sounds like a pompous prick.. it would have been worthwhile for zappa to sit down and practise on his guitar so it wouldn't have sounded like self taught incoherent UNmusical crap all the time.

Zappa knew how to write things down..good for him..still jimi's music has proven to be more influential and farther reaching than Zappa's (written) output..too bad Jimi didn't live longer

[metamorphosis67]

@TICETOCAR You're wrong. Zappa is much more influential than Hendrix. Hendrix's influence is mainly in electric rock guitar whereas Zappa influenced not only the Beatles but people far & wide in at least 5 different areas: composition (he's one of the most original modern composers ever, comparable to Bartok, Stravinsky & Boulez), Progressive Rock (fused modern classical / Jazz, doo-wop / soul / r & b), Satire & Comedy (No one before Zappa had fused Prog-Rock with social satire.

[TICETOCAR]

Being influencable in more areas than one doesn't increase his guitar prowess.. to suggest that Jimi's music could have had more worth if he (jimi) knew how to write his music down to be played by other instruments.. is showing little appreciation for what someone can accomplish without a skill Frank is rather self congratulatory of.. disappointing to hear it from a guy who was such a celebrated musician/composer/greatdad/ove­rallwonderfulperson bla bla bla.. oh, and with humor :-D

[rikibitta]

@metamorphosis67 Your 2last comments are very interesting. but Zappa say simply that Hendrix,at the time,was too busy for sit down with someone writing his musical ideas.I think Zappa will have the time to progress and Jimi no.

Now, after I listen a piece of J.S.Bach works for keyboard(played by Gould obviously :)) or "Nefertiti"LP from the last Miles Davis acoustic quintet, if I return to electric -and guitar+bass are the only new 2instruments- I found not boring only Zappa&Pastorius+...

[rikibitta]

@rikibitta sure you -riki- don't learn well english,point.

ps:sry all for HIS subnormal english, italy medioevo here... hihi!

[metamorphosis67]

@TICETOCAR On electric guitar Zappa & Hendrix have diffrent styles, you can like one or the other, both or neither. They're not virtuosos, they're just great stylists. Virtuoso is someone with technique to play anything at any speed, a McLaughlin, Holdsworth or Vai. Hendrix couldn't even play the stuff Terry Kath used to play in Chicago. Kath was Hendrix's favorite player. Zappa's guitar style is so loved that he released a triple album full of nothing but guitar solos & it became a success.

[rikibitta]

@metamorphosis67 ...+Hendrix. it is ever a shock for me. with time I learn (I hope ;))something about human art. it's not about black origin of the real new modern music; it's not about white classical/traditional/popular music dead; but it's about our occidental fucking shit pseudo intellectualism. every piece of art is influential for humanity. I love Caravaggio and Picasso,Bacon and Velasquez, than I discover Baquiat but don't stop to hate Wahrol. but mayby I learned nothing :(((...boh?!?

[MuIdoon]

The interviewer is kind of a dick.

[superguitarhero]

@MuIdoon I agree it looks like Zappa was getting annoyed with him

[smp156]

jimi hendrix wasn't entirely human

hendrix was the first 'star-child"

that's why he wrote so much about outer-space and UFOs and aliens and asteroids in his music

look up "prophetjimi" on youtube

[RFGTP]

@smp156 Lol.

[Probesoul]

Jimi didn't need to have his music written down... it was being recorded. Others can write down what was recorded and make it available to be played by other instruments if they so choose. Before there is written music there is music.... if you can hear music and play what you hear you are musically "literate." If you know how to write the music down that's good for documentation purposes but music does not come from the writing it comes from the soul as a gift from God.

[Probesoul]

Jimi didn't need to have his music written down... it was being recorded. Others can write down what was recorded and make it available to be played by other instruments if they so choose. Before there is written music there is music.... if you can hear music and play what you hear you are musically "literate." If you know how to write the music down that's good for documentation purposes but music does not come from the writing it comes from the soul as a gift from God.

[metalmanjfisch]

what a bunch of stupid questions!

[DiablosAguacate]

The whole of mind expansion through LSD I think was just a marketing point in the 60's, another excuse to make any opinion out of the norm at the time to immediate be assumed to be crackpot, hippie propaganda or whatever. When it's showed that DMT expels itself from your own brain every time you sleep. Being creative doesn't require doing drugs since psychedelics are just organic chemistry that happens to be taken by idiotic catalysts who know fuck all about themselves. Also Nixon.

[pinkfloydeffect]

THE MAN himself!

[DanielMcDrtcomposer]

Wow, Imagine a Hendrix symphony. Only Zappa could have thought of it.

[Ariel62073]

@DanielMcDrtcomposer Well, Hendrix thought of that. He talked about it in interviews.

[SsHar0ld]

OMG!! lol I was JUST thinking of a casting too--John Tuturro would be AMAZING! I also think that if Sacha Baron Cohen wasnt already cast in a QUEEN bio pic, hed ALMOST do it---he has the same boldness when not doing comedy---thi not the most perfect choice. EXCELLENT call Slackerebel!!

[Parvenu333]

Think of a way to destroy the world. 1 or 2 seconds?

Now think of a way to save the world.

Zappa was right.

[SpiritualFraud]

I'm not the greatest fan of his music (except for the symphonics things) but i'm a great fan of the man! The more i listen to him, the more i like him... He have become one of my heros, literally. And i'm gonna watch every fucking interviews of this demi-god on youtube, i swear!!

[SpiritualFraud]

I'm not the greatest fan of his music (except for the symphonics things) but i'm a great fan of the man! The more i listen to him, the more i like him... He have become one of my heros, literally. And i'm gonna watch every fucking interviews of this demi-god on youtube, i swear!!

[TheSlackerebel]

I believe, if they ever try to make a biopic, John Turturro can play older Zappa well.

[TheNilesLeshProject]

@TheSlackerebel That's a good casting call !

[vv901vv901]

@TheSlackerebel

I should hope they never make a biopic of this man. In his case especially it could never do him justice - certainly not if it is a Hollywood production (their biopics are rewrites of history.)

Zappa recorded all his concerts and most of his offstage life as well, so all the tapes of music, film and interviews - the real deal - are more than biopic enough.

Furthermore Turturro playing guitar and conducting an orchestra is an odd image.

[TheSlackerebel]

@vv901vv901 I'm with you on that one. I'm not a fan of biopics either. But I was just pointing out how in this interview Zappa looks a lot like Turturro, thats all.

[vv901vv901]

@TheSlackerebel

;) Peace

[Greenless001]

@TheSlackerebel Fucking hell that's genius!!!

[stabbeyroad]

@TheSlackerebel I'd watch the shit out of that movie.

[senorvolasco]

@TheSlackerebel I thought about this too. Don't you think Adrian Brody would be good too if he had the same facial hair? He's got the beak at least.

[FusionWannabe]

Frank was really something else...in a good way of course

[progrock88]

what he say about hendrix?

sorry i don't speak english

[TheLizardKing0027]

He talked about a time that Jimi came to his house and ripped his pants while dancing, then went on to talk about how he wished Hendrix would transcribe his music

[progrock88]

@TheLizardKing0027 thank you very much!

[pipeandslippersman]

"the only thing the human race can do...PERFECTLY... is make a mess out of things!"

[sadol11]

Zappa is too much, hes the best ever... amazing musician good guitarist and the craziest mind ever......... that kind of sober crazyness

[parlezuml]

Frank's opinion on UFOs is very rational and arguably the only scientifically justifiable position - namely "they're patently real, but we have no idea what they are". A few years later, the French COMETA report came to pretty much that exact same conclusion after a bunch of scientists examined all the best available evidence. They could have saved a lot of time and money and just asked Frank. Arguably the coolest guy in rock, then and now.

[acohen87]

I find the value of Frank's ideas's about things that are almost forced because they are considered "safe" and his broad range of perceptions on damn near EVERYTHING to be beyond contemplation, if only they'd be considered on a much broader scale by the public, whew!

[FlyingFooBalls]

FZ+ words= S M A R T

[PersonalJesus348]

Jimi did all that without writing it? That man is from another Universe!

[FlyingFooBalls]

@PersonalJesus348 i would say about 75% of pop and rock people cant read and write, hell, the beatles couldnt

[TheGoodnessIsGood]

To be more precise, they can't simply write it down in musical notation. That is not to say they don't know the notes, chords, and everything else they are playing. They know what they're doing, they just don't write it down. that would be equivalent to a great speech writer speaking in public but having it all in their head, and not writing it down. It doesn't mean they're a genius, it's just a skill they don't have and do have.

[TonyBtheEG]

Thanks for sharing.

[AZUFO1123]

wow

[corporatefascism]

tea-totaler and only smoked weed a few times

[howardshrops]

declined woodstock?!?!? WHY?!

[FlyingFooBalls]

who knew it would be history in the making, frank didnt listen to most of the acts, maybe it sounded like every other bullshit hippy festival up til that point. frank was the most cynical jaded person to ever walk the planet after all.

[kiltcult3170]

he's right about this country it is a candy-coated dictatorship.

[MusicJew158]

I guess he is really his own person....I mean to be honest punk is more of an ethos then a musical style. All the punk rock I enjoy has elements of other music and is usually not what would be considered typical punk rock. With that said Zappa is his own man.

[SuzyandtheZodiac]

Interviewer: Woodstock?

Zappa: A lot of mud.

I like how that's the first thing that came to his mind when asked about Woodstock.

[ButzisAroma]

Frank also said once while on the subject of Woodstock - "Musically, it was garbage."

[KonChul]

I agree. I saw the Woodstock footage and it was what it was but it was not anything worth while.

[FlyingFooBalls]

my mind was just blown thinking about how different his career might have been if they were at woodstock

[hinneinisannidanni]

Interesting thing about Jimi Hendrix.. Apparently he was scheduled to be recording with Gil Evans, who used to compose for Miles Davis, among others.

Jimi died just before the recording took place. Still, Evans went ahead and recorded "The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays The Music of Jimi Hendrix".

It's pretty cool, even though Jimi isn't playing on it.

[guitarmaster10012001]

lot of a mud, a lot of mud

[cjk9013]

"...the only thing that the human species can do perfectly is make a mess out of stuff..." RIP.

[ThieleM]

You wouldnt get to him douchebag.

[natn0]

fuck you.

[ShotgunHeroX]

lol'd

[db1coop]

The Man!!

[Bishoninja]

I like how that guy thinks he's not on the tape.

[MusicJew158]

Holy shit he turned down Woodstock, talk about a punk rocker

[TheRealDerfMan]

The album "We're Only In It For The Money" pretty much makes fun of hippies and that whole era. If you listen to the song "Absolutely Free" from that album, you can hear "flower power sucks"... it would've been hypocritical of him to be there.

[Mystiik]

I think that when you say "punk rocker" to me it means a guy who hates society because its a trend. And at least nowadays thats what punk rock means,, and frank isn't anything like that :) Thats just how I see things. Of course there are exeptions,

[squanto2]

In one sense, Frank was the first punker.

But not a stupid asshole punk rocker, a VERY INTELLIGENT, THOUGHTFUL, CREATIVE COMPOSER who advanced the "pop" and "serious music" all at the same time, EFFORTLESSLY.

Zappa is, and will always be THE MAN.

[shaynegryn]

@squanto2 Wouldn't that be Ray Davies ;-)

[OropherThranduil]

@MusicJew158

not really.

Led Zeppelin turned down woodstock because they thought they would be only another band, bob dylan turned it down despite living only about 5 miles away, the doors turned it down, they thought it would be second class monterey, the byrds turned down because they were tired of festivals, the moody blues declined after getting gigs in europe, spirit did it the same reason,

[OropherThranduil]

@MusicJew158

Iron Butterfly wanted to perform there but got stuck at an airport, their manager wanted to get a helicopter but the promoters didn't really thought about that, The Beatles were asked, and there are some acounts for that, one is john actually said yes if yoko also could perform, they turned him down, which is bullshit, because NOBODY would turn them down because of yoko, the other is nixon didn't want them in the us, the last is they just weren't interested.

[dannystrat]

That's the only conclusion you came to after watching this?

[petegroover]

he is billy conellys american cousin ? !

[squanto2]

Billy is a Zappa fan.