Video of Pre-Freakout Frank Zappa in 1960

[Gavin B.]

I came across this old video of an unknown musican by the name of Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen Show. At the time Zappa was 19 years old. The YouTube poster incorrectly indentifies the year as 1963 but according to a Rolling Stone bio of Zappa, "In 1960... he (Zappa) appeared on Steve Allen’s TV show, performing a “bicycle concerto” (plucking the spokes, blowing through the handlebars)."

Zappa's appearance was four years before the Beatles broke in America and eight years away from the Summer of Love, psychedelic music movement and the release of Freak Out, the ground breaking debut album by Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. It's a fascinating glimpse of Zappa's obscure early years as a musician.

As evidenced by his bicycle playing demostration on the video, Zappa was an avant gardist even back then. The composition Zappa plays with the orchestra has the same sonic qualities as Return of the Son of the Monster Magnet the dissonant 12 minute musical meltdown that was the finale song on Freak Out..

It's hard to believe that Zappa was already persuing his eccentric music vision way back in 1960 when lightweight pop musicians like Perry Como, Connie Francis, Pat Boone, Bobby Rydell, Doris Day, and Brenda Lee were still dominating the popular music charts. The number one song of the year in 1960 was the Chubby Checker's dance craze hit The Twist.. This was at the end of Eisenhower era and American families modeled themselves after television couples like Ward and June Cleaver or Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Allen and his audience seem to regard Zappa as oddball novelty act rather than a serious musician.

Zappa plays it for the laughs while he talks about doing the soundtrack to the "world's worst movie" filmed in El Monte California. El Monte is a Latino stronghold community in Los Angeles County where Zappa was born and raised. Zappa's early satirical music contains references to the Mexican American "pachuco" sub-culture in El Monte during the 1950s. Rueben and the Jets was a fictionalized pachuco band created by Zappa to parody the Latino doo-wop bands he grew up listening to in El Monte. In the Steve Allen segment Zappa looks a second generation pachuco sporting a tightly tapered suit and a skinny tie.

I don't know how widely this video has been viewed but I'd never seen it before I stumbled across it on YouTube this morning. For those who have already seen the video, maybe you'd like to comment on it.

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[Guybrush]

Nice and informative write-up! I've seen this video before, quite some time ago actually, but it's still a good find. To me, Frank Zappa is the greatest american rock musician there is.

edit :

I mean was of course

[P A N]

i am very happy you posted this so i could see it.

[The Bullet]

LOL, awesome... Nice to see he was already doing weird music...

[Nateon]

Hahaha, Zappa really cracks me up. He was such an awesome guy and great composer.

[TheBig3]

Interesting. He always come off like a self-serious jerk to me, but it was fun to watch.

[boo boo]

I've seen this video before, it's bloody awesome.

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

Interesting. He always come off like a self-serious jerk to me, but it was fun to watch.

How? The guy had strong convictions, loved to debate and stuck to his guns but I don't think that makes him a self serious jerk.

Politically he can be a little abrasive, but he always seemed to be modest about his music, even if he was notorious for being a control freak.