Zappa live 1978 w/two bassists

[Pekka]

Frank's live ensemble featured two bass players for a short while in the fall 1978 and here's a nice video featuring both Arthur Barrow and Patrick O'Hearn. Great organ solo from Tommy Mars and he also uses the EML Electrocomp synth and isn't that a Polybox near it?


Of all Zappa's bassists my favourites are Patrick O'Hearn, Scott Thunes and Tom Fowler. Who are yours?

[nofi]

roy estrada and thunes.

[4stringer77]

Jack Bruce    Speaking of Roy, anybody ever play a Hofner 500/8-BZ like he had?

[nofi]

jack bruce=one song on apostrophe. total.

[4stringer77]

That's why I added the wink. Shuggie Otis played on Peaches en Regalia. Frank played some bass of his own too.

[Highlander]

O'Hearn

Saw him play on the Zoot tour and the one they recorded some of Yerbouti - both at Hammersmith...

[clankenstein]

i always liked the bass on valley girl-arthur barrow?

[jumbodbassman]

actually saw that 2 bass band on Halloween at the Paladium great band. tough to pick my favorite bass player.  He always had the best musicians whenever i saw him.

[Pekka]

i always liked the bass on valley girl-arthur barrow?

Scott Thunes. Carvin LB50 thru a Vox guitar combo. Great bassline and sound!

Thunes said in an interview that he always wanted a black Precision with a rosewood neck and a white pickuguard, just like Tom Fowler had on "Roxy & Elsewhere". When he got it he has pretty much stuck with it.

[chromium]

Great organ solo from Tommy Mars and he also uses the EML Electrocomp synth and isn't that a Polybox near it?

Good eyes there!  Yes- that's an EML 101, Poly-box to the left, and a SynKey on top.  The latter two were early attempts at polyphony that didn't catch on.

Of all Zappa's bassists my favourites are Patrick O'Hearn, Scott Thunes and Tom Fowler. Who are yours?

The lineup with Tom Fowler that went up to the mid-70s was my favorite, although I think it has more to do with the material than the players.

[Pekka]

Good eyes there!  Yes- that's an EML 101, Poly-box to the left, and a SynKey on top.  The latter two were early attempts at polyphony that didn't catch on.

There's a great interview on an old Keyboard magazine where he talks about the Polybox. He had it already in use when George Duke was on keys (you can see it on "The Token Of My Extreme" TV special near Duke's Odyssey)

I love the horn patch they made with the EML

The lineup with Tom Fowler that went up to the mid-70s was my favorite, although I think it has more to do with the material than the players.

"YCDTOSA Vol.2 The Helsinki Concert" is a great live recording from that era. The request for "Whipping Post" eventually made Zappa to cover the song when he found out that Bobby Martin could sing it.

[Stjofön Big]

Roy Estrada. Was great in Feat, too. Turns 70 in two weeks, but will be 93 before they let him out of jail.

[Pekka]

That's why I added the wink. Shuggie Otis played on Peaches en Regalia. Frank played some bass of his own too.

Especially on "Zoot Allures" album.

Dave Parlato was great on the "Grand Wazoo" era.

[chromium]

I love the horn patch they made with the EML

Yeah I like that!  Those 2-pole filters tend to be more cutting, ornery, and interesting to my ears.

Roy Estrada. Was great in Feat, too. Turns 70 in two weeks, but will be 93 before they let him out of jail.

I liked Roy too, and that whole thing is depressing on so many levels.  Same with NMB's rape charge.  This is why I prefer to know nothing about the people who make the music I like. 

[chromium]

Here's a Tommy Mars synth solo + voice bit that I always liked- at around 2:20.  Gave me a chuckle the first time I heard it!   Weird, but cool.



I think he's using a Prophet-5 there, if I recall from the liner notes.  Always dug the Coral Sitar solo in this as well.  I really liked Vai in this period - raw, and rough around the edges.  Kinda lost interest after everything he put out became so "polished" and sterile/clinical (just IMO).  I have the same gripe about Satriani.

I came late to Zappa/Mothers, and this was my springboard.  When I got Flexable in the late-80s and learned of the connection there I started working my way back through Zappa's catalog.  I think my next one was "Them or Us", which had one of the live Whipping Post covers that you mention.