Hot Rats

Zappa is notorious amongst drummers for his brutal auditions. He wrote parts for the applicants to play, parts intentionally extremely difficult to play. Some found him to be a sadist who enjoyed humiliating other musicians. One drummer Zappa was very impressed by and greatly respected was Vinnie Colaiuta.

But different writers/musicians value different playing "philosophies"/styles in their accompanists/sidemen. Danny Gatton, a virtuoso guitarists-guitarist (a far better guitarist than Zappa. Ask anyone ;-) had very different tastes in drummers than did Zappa.

Gatton to his new drummer during the break after the drummer’s first set on stage with Danny:

"You know all that fancy sh*t you play?"

The drummer: "Yeah."

Gatton: "Don’t."

@mahler123: It was not I who compared Popular Musicians with Classical Composers, but rather Pat Metheny. In my opinion both have to be judged as farmers in their own fields, not at all the same crops. Sorry for the silly metaphors ;-) .

I love, love, love J.S. Bach, but when I’m in the mood for Rock ’n’ Roll I put on a Dave Edmunds album. When I want to have a spiritual experience, I put on Bach’s Concerto For Four Harpsichords And Orchestra. Two completely different activities and experiences.

Both are called music, but they are as different as they are alike.

@pfeiffer and @baylinor : I can’t fault ya’ll for taking the conflating of Zappa and Trump in the wrong sense (though I can for not at least suspecting the attempt at humour ;-). I was speaking only of their propensity for thinking very highly of themselves, and endeavoring to persuade you of the validity of that opinion.

In all other ways they are complete opposites. Trump couldn’t even begin to understand Zappa, while Frank understood Donald all too well. Zappa had a big brain and talented hands, Trump a lizard brain and small hands ;-) .

Oops. What Metheny actually said is "Compared to Bach, we all suck." Zappa lacked even a trace of Metheny’s humility. But I feel for Zappa; loud bravado is often an outward sign of deep insecurity. Just look at Trump ;-) .

Too obvious for me (kinda like Bill Maher). I prefer the humour of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Loudon Wainwright III, Randy Newman, and Dan Hicks. Musically? He’s trying too hard to be clever; too self-conscious for me. I briefly liked the We’re Only In It For The Money album. It didn’t wear well.

The problem with calling Frank Zappa a genius is: what term is then left for J.S. Bach? Pat Metheny: "Compared to Bach we’re all idiots".