Zappa

The Roxy band is the best, as far as I'm concerned - which is this one (FZ.l Napoleon Murphy Brock, Ruth Underwood, George Duke, Tom Fowler and Chester Thompson) plus Ralph Humphrey and Jeff Simmons, I guess. Sure the '88 band might have been technically better (debatable), but these guys (and Ruth, of course) had the best grooves and feel of any lineup, and it was all fresh, new and edgy. [Or, nifty, tuff, and bitchen, if you prefer.]

If you like Zappa at all, you owe it to yourself to see Roxy the Movie.
 
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Minnesota Flats said:
I saw that band when the Roxy Tour stopped in SF at the Cow Palace. Dynamite show!
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First show I saw was '78 at the Palace, in Albany, NY (early show). Frank stopped the show at one point because somebody threw something and hit him. Apparently Ike Willis was a member of the band at that show, but sadly I don't remember that.
 
According to Chester Thompson, the drummer at that time, “I was fortunate. I worked with him during a really happy period in his life. He hung out with the band after the shows and stuff. We laughed a lot. Basically, he tried to come up with stuff the band couldn’t play, and we always managed to pull it off. He was happy.”

 
Minnesota Flats said:
According to Chester Thompson, the drummer at that time, “I was fortunate. I worked with him during a really happy period in his life. He hung out with the band after the shows and stuff. We laughed a lot. Basically, he tried to come up with stuff the band couldn’t play, and we always managed to pull it off. He was happy.”
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I suspect that changed at his next gig. But he got a steady paycheck.
 
Always excellent bands and always excellent shows. I first saw him in Fall 1973 for two of the three nights he played at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit. I was 17. He had the same line up as the "Overnite Sensation" album, minus Jean-Luc Ponty. (I'm not sure if Ponty was just ill or had left the group).

I again saw him in 1977 or 78 at Cobo Arena in Detroit (Flo and Eddie opened the show). Lastly, I saw him in 1981 in Berkeley, CA.

The 1973 shows are among my favorite live concert memories.

tonepoet
www.jackshiner.com
 
Minnesota Flats said:
Just about my favorite from his catalog:

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I've never followed Zappa, and have virtually never listened to him. This video is the first time I've listened to anything of his. HOWEVER: what talent this bunch had! The keyboard vocalist sounded a bit "pitchy" though. Thanks for posting the video.
 
Uke said:
I've never followed Zappa, and have virtually never listened to him. This video is the first time I've listened to anything of his. HOWEVER: what talent this bunch had! The keyboard vocalist sounded a bit "pitchy" though. Thanks for posting the video.
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That's George Duke, who had a pretty impressive career without FZ.
en.m.wikipedia.org

George Duke - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
 
The film editor did a bit of quick cutting that's pretty annoying, and the song gets chopped off and the end, but I still offers sufficient entertainment to make it worth a watch. A fitting epitaph for the naive delusions of the hippie era:

 
Agree about the quick cuts. Roxy & Elsewhere goes into "Trouble Every Day" right after this ends. It may be the video editor was trying to separate two songs even though the segue into Trouble is one of the finest moments on Roxy for me. On Roxy that segue actually splices recordings from different performances so maybe the corresponding video is somehow lacking?
 
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