Frank Zappa - Variation On The Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression

[flankdrive45]

thank God for F.Z.  kill ugly radio fuck your aproval! thats what frank would say if he were here.

[HebusxJebus]

Frank is an unrecognised guitar maestro and so caasual

[frankszappaschin]

genius what else can i say! still sadly missed by many.

[MsVictor1956]

FZ in latinos... That is somthing? Classssssss!

[stevsatz]

SAW HENDRIX IN DENVER AND ZAPPA IN PHOENIX. MADE MISSING JANIS EASIER TO HANDLE.

[251dog]

Yeh he`s right up there with one of his own hero`s Allan Holdsworth

[knuckleheadzup01]

FZ was way ahead of CS's time thats for sure. He didnt give a shit about grammys even when he got one. noone was doing what he was doing - Fucken GENIUS!

[burten345]

Frank is out there in the clouds Just listen and we'll all keep enjoying his genious ... Thx Frank

[ruben1956]

Hey thanks for this one. Grrrreat!

[AldofromBordeaux]

Got the chance to catch the Man and his Bands 3 times in the 80's..., But never got the chance to saw him in the seventies...cause I was too young....But His Music Makes Irreparables Scars over My Brain...MISS U SO BAD FRANK

[olly3700]

Hey, this is just an hommage to carlos Santana. As a brilliant musician who surrounded himself with other brilliant musicians, he was full of respect for other great artists.

Besides real covers like sunshine of my life, stairway to heaven, to mention the least, he used to cite the style and parts of other artists.

Even if he cannot refrain from getting parodistic some times, in most cases it's an hommage.

...still wondering about jonny cash's ring of fire as reaggae version.

[jlhyz2]

zappa probably played this because he respected santana

[casestudyification]

@jlhyz2 No, I think the title of this song is due to Zappa's sense of humor more than anything.

[WELLBRAN]

@casestudyification yes he always used to take a swipe at santana claiming carlos kept on continuously murdering the E string....lol

[gusboylan]

excellent stuff ,got to see santana,sadly not zappa

[RussMoxham]

I think the general rule is that if Zappa even alluded to you in his work (the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan and The Beatles spring to mind) then he probably thought you were at least significant enough to merit criticism. Mostly if he didn't rate you at all I just don't think you got a mention.

[johnjtheoriginal]

i think his message is: "ok, santana can play, but his songs are often very simple, so now i put some more notes on his groove"

he was the first to show us that rock was more showbiz than musical ideas

here he is not destroying santana, but he is saying: no guru, no good vibrations, only bass&drums with few notes, i can enjoy a little bit more than what santana's progression usually lets a guitarist

sorry for my english :-(

[garmonbozia318]

@johnjtheoriginal I agree on the whole, but I don't think Zappa was more showbiz than musical ideas. I think he was both, but much more music than showbiz. Just my take.

[MsVictor1956]

FZ-CS - Brothers!

[CBurton]

@MsVictor1956 Dude, he's bitchslappin Santana's face. :D I mean, ii-V LOL

[Eddieguitarloebs]

@CBurton Everyone has their personal preference in guitar players,i love Santana, but Frank smokes the hell out of him in my book.....i said my book,so please folks,don't come back on me like i'm belittling Carlos....i'm just saying,Frank was a smoken mother!

[ShermanOaks1972]

Most people just don't get how good a guitar player Frank was...let alone his incredible composition skills....he was a rarity in many ways.

[BLooDCoMPleX]

Oh Zappa, you're so amazing.

[wowikowski]

@damienmetalwind No, never he would have called Carlos a bitch.For what, why should he???Zappa respected all this musicians ...Led Zepplin,Johnny Cash..when he covered,played their songs!

[fishboy1424]

@damienmetalwind why would zappa call santana a bitch? i just dont get it.

[Lukasoncapeta]

Best musician ever.

[bamboosa]

Frank payed homage to guitarists all the time by simply playing off of somebody's style or a straight ahead imitation (Stairway to Heaven) and of course he put his own spin on whatever he was paying homage to. People think he was making fun of different artists, he was not. As cutting as he could be, he did not disrespect those that he borrowed from. Don't be so cynical and mean.

[joebryce222]

saw this live in Dallas in the early 80's this is when steve vai had joined the band, later in the show as an encore they played whipping post . the version from the Shut up and play yer guitar trilogy was recorded in Dallas

later I read Santana was impressed not at all offended

[lastdaysguitar]

As good as Carlos Santana is, on a particular night in a St. Paul concert in the 1980's - Frank Zappa WAS the best guitarist on the planet EVER.

[gnrcr]

Santana got PWNED

[allen6924]

Zappa had a whole different approach to the solo...and played it like Zappa...

What imatation is everyone talking about?

Maybe the chord progression? and the was chopped up ;)

[wolverine84]

Zappa's right there with Robert Fripp.

[ukcoons]

I saw the great Zappa in '81 shortly after several members split to form Missing Persons but it was my first time seeing Steve Vai. I recall an interview that I believe was in guitarist Magazine (or one like it) where Carlos Santana was not offended in the least. He said quite rightly that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but that he wasn't sure who was imitating who since Zappa sounded more like Santana than Carlos did. lol I do prefer the album version of this song though.

[realgwoodard]

Perhaps the finest guitar solo ever recorded on this planet.

[PCBrandt]

Eat your heart out Carlos Santana!

[mccrackenup]

seen him every time he came to philly.in my top ten as far as the greatest guitar players ever

[FZmustacheFZ]

funny, never really liked city of tiny lites. just too repetitive without any exciting changes as far as i was concerned. BUT THEN....(dramatic pause)...I heard the version of this song from shut up n play yer guitar some more, and i loved it. wasn't until just recently that i found out it was from city of tiny lites. sometimes hard to tell, especially since frank liked to insert a piece of music almost unto itself to solo over.

[mistercreosote13]

Boy, sure wish he was still around. Saw the Mothers about 12 times in late 60's- met/spoke with Frank @ Atlantic City Pop Festival (2 wks before Woodstock). Best "show" was 67/68? @ Elect. Factory in Phila; BLIZZARD, friend & I would've turned around if we had any sense. Get there, TWELVE people in audience. Blind guitarist (Paul Geremiah?) opens, Mothers come out, bring the blind guy, jam for over 2 hours. We were sittin' front row, he was GREAT.... Sure do miss him

[jhendrixfanatic2]

@mistercreosote13 Great post!! Frank played once or twice a year in Philadelphia in the mid to late '70s -filled thSpectrum every time. I saw him 13 times. He played a whole week at the Palace in L.A. and didn't play the same song twice!!! Has anyone every done anything like that.......uh.........no

[georgegleek]

never really heard this guy play, he and santana might aswell be the same person in this song!

[viidiot]

I had a chance to see zappa in the 80's and didn't. I regret it sooo much. He is now one of my favorite musicians. I put him up there w/ any other guitar player out there. Hendrix, Page, The Mahavishnu, Django Rienhart! Zapp[a rules

[dniez1]

@viidiot I did, in 88 or so. But go see Zappa plays Zappa then. I did, yesterday

[mulino65]

@viidiot Do not tell me, I'm still crying for not seeing him when I had the chance in the 82's Italian tour

[rhino805999]

@viidiot Great references, great guitarists you compare him with. I agree totally.

[reetpeet]

@viidiot arghh! Me too! :-( He was a talented fella!

[nicktp1979]

frank is THE most under appreciated musician of his day! btw....santana aint got nothing on zappa!

[geddunn]

zappa and santana have a very similar style when zappa is playin fast furious dorian stuff with a wah. listen to if only she woulda off you are what you is and santanas everybodys everything. both fuckin amazing and definitely from the same mold.

[caixakid]

Much as i love Santana, Carlos and many other guitarists were not in the same league as Zapppa.

[dantean]

There's 5:19 of my life I'll never get back.

[LeonardRockstein]

In a way...Frank's and Carlos' stylings crossed over a bit in real life. Fast, frantic finger work changes and time signatures inside of other time signatures. Frank gave everything a go though...jazzy...bluesy...prog­ressive...anything. That was the main difference.

[jenben3]

Another wonderful post shaun!! Love you boy

[colorconnection1]

FZ forever!!!!!

[skaterocknroll]

Dis is nice. Being the biggest santana fan in the world, FZ has such a good playing style though

[unstoppable3rd]

FZ jams like no one else...!

[SadLisa777]

I´ve heard there was a secret chord!

[cosmicrider287]

wow,marvelous set there.

[SteveSparx]

Would have loved to see these 2 trade riffs,huh Shaun?!

[experimentalrock]

Nice video work.