Frank Zappa - I'm The Slime

[cayugafalls]

This was his open for the show in 84 at the Bayfront...very appropriate for today's media circus...lol

I saw him perform live at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg Florida. He had a habit of improvising solos. After one such solo, the audience sat in stunned silence for at least 20 seconds before applauding.

[Eyeball_Kid]

1. Watching Zappa play.

There are only a handful of rock guitarists who moved their boundaries of playing guitar into some other place, beyond the conventional or even the gifted. Zappa went there. I saw him twice, once in Chicago and once in Portland, Or. At the Portland show, I was in the balcony but concentrated all I could to watch his hands, especially when he improvised solos. I likened the moments to those in which time is lost and unaccounted for, so focused on every second that nothing counts but the present. And the language of that experience is the music. That was Zappa, as I watched him on his mission.

I've a friend who interviewed Zappa. He told me one of the things in the interview that stayed with me. He asked Zappa about his films and his classical compositions. Zappa told him that he records his music and plays on tour to make enough money for film making and for more esoteric musical ventures. What most people (older now) likely remember about Zappa are his crude and explicit lyrics as social satires. But Zappa could work a fretboard like nobody. Well... almost nobody.

[cayugafalls]

3. Very well said.

He once said in an interview that his live shows were each distinct and no two were ever alike due to his solos. He was an amazingly gifted soloist.

The best guitar soloist, in my opinion, as he could, as you said in your post, "...moments...in which time is lost and unaccounted for..."

Seeing Zappa live was truly one of the highlights of my life. An unforgettable experience.

[John Ludi]

2. The most

brilliant musician in rock, in my opinion.

[cayugafalls]

4. I will not dispute that claim at all.

He was the most complex composer of our time. Our modern Bach or Beethoven, if not greater...

Here is a favorite that shows his brilliance at non-conformity - Envelopes.

[Drifter]

5. I'm the slime oozing out ...

of the internet.

Cheers
Drifter