Zappa.com

is he the beast that Pete is? I mean of course you have to be good as hell to perform Frank's work, but have there been any songs like Catholic Girls or Keep it Greasy performed since he joined?

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Pudding
Delicious

I will apologize in advance, but I hate both of those songs you just mentioned and would go to the bathroom during them if they were played at a show I attended.

Dweezil doesn't hire people who can almost play the material. Except himself, lol, m i rite

(sarcasm smiley)

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You gotta give the people something good to read, on a Sunday

Who is play bass now?

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Everytime we picked a booger we'd flip it on this one winduh. Every night we'd contribute, 2, 3, 4 boogers. We had to use a putty knife, man, to get them damn things off the winduh. There was some goober ones that weren't even hard...

Me not know.

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You gotta give the people something good to read, on a Sunday

Kurt Morgan: Bass

I saw him with PIB and TPB in Madison, he plugged right in as far as I am concerned, excellent...I was impressed...

He's no Scott Thunes or Tom Fowler.....yet.From the vids I've seen/heard he fits right in.

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I'm getting larger as I walk away.

The fuck what.

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Everytime we picked a booger we'd flip it on this one winduh. Every night we'd contribute, 2, 3, 4 boogers. We had to use a putty knife, man, to get them damn things off the winduh. There was some goober ones that weren't even hard...

Well, most bass players piss themselves over those songs. Classic slap licks at their best.

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Pudding
Delicious

Funny you mention slapping because I think Arthur was the only prominent slap bassist in Frank's band. Scott did it a tiny bit in the bridge of Keep It Greasy, as seen in DHBIM DVD.

I'm trying to think of a list of Frank's slap bass tunes:

The Central Scrutinizer
Catholic Girls
A Token Of My Extreme
Stick It Out
Dong Work For Yuda
Keep It Greasy
Fine Girl
a little bit in Dance Contest
Soup 'n' Old Clothes
No Not Now
Tink Walks Amok
Frogs With Dirty Little Lips
Won Ton On (it's actually a different bass line, not just played backwards)
I Don't Even Care
No No No - Remix

Have I forgotten anything? Have I gone a bit overboard? Probably

You forgot the best one. Packard Goose.

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ahhh...something to savor

Keep it Greasy might be the #1 "gets stuck in my head for no fucking reason" song.

Damn you Frank!

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Pudding
Delicious

That darn 19/16 time is so seductive. If only more groups utilized it!

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You gotta give the people something good to read, on a Sunday

"Slap bass" should not even be a separate term from simply "bass". You either play bass or you don't.

No one in DZ's band will ever compare to the guys who played this music when it was fresh and exciting, and performed it when it was brand new with the man who composed it.

Music nerds: you all suck at performing music. You mimic. The world doesn't need any more mimics. You're simply diluting the good stuff. Be a man and play something personal and unique. Use your own voice.

That's why I say no to cover bands. But it always help learning other music so you can pick up new techniques, if not improve the ones you already know.

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Pudding
Delicious

Slap bass is a separate bass 'style', though. And we will discuss it at will. Good luck with your teachings sir.

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ahhh...something to savor

Does anyone know the complete current band lineup?

Well, looking here is a bad idea: http://www.zappaplayszappa.com/players.html

Currently it is
DZ, Gonzales, Travers, Ben Thomas, Chris Norton and Kurt Morgan

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"Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, and don't kid yourself" - FZ
http://www.myspace.com/kirnehness

Thanks. Good luck with your slapping.

I guess Vic Wooten isn't original since he mimics Larry Graham

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Pudding
Delicious

I was going to say the same thing! Besides does FZ's voice differ with his music being played via rock combo, synclavier or orchestra?

How is a mimic original?

I think Victor Wooten was influenced by Larry Graham.


Not really. It's still his voice.

Getting back to Kurt, for those of you who may not know: he used to “lay down the grooves night after night” for Hilary Duff, and can be heard on the 2010 and 2011 AAAFNRAA birthday bundles ripping through Willie The Pimp, Bobby Brown, Your Mouth, Yellow Snow and Magic Fingers.

His day-job is 'ScoreMeister' for the ZFT, curating FZ's written music. He'll be around for some time, I would imagine.

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"Well of course, everything looks bad if you remember it. Now where are my chili boots?" - HOMER SIMPSON

http://www.idiotbastard.com

I actually think a bass slap or (slap bass) discussion of the recorded Zappa canon is appropriate, any more tittles? Tink Walks Amok in in the top!

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The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Of course it is.

A bass player slapping the bass is pleasurable to my ears for maybe 8 minutes per every 90 minutes played.
In Zappa's catalog, there is almost no "slap bass" playing that I enjoy. None at all that I can think of.
Keep It Greasy has no soul and I really dig soul. The first time I heard it I thought,"uh oh, this is where the music nerds took over Zappa's band." It's so mechanical I feel like a robot. A bored robot. Zappa's disconnected xenochrony can't save it for me.


Players like James Jamerson had feeling and it didn't matter if he changed his strings or what he played through or if his bass was nice and shiny.

The guy playing with Dweezil is not really allowed to express himself musically in that band so I can't comment on his playing.