Joe's Domage

1. When it's perfect . . .

FZ: . . . just so I can hear the song again

One two one two three

I'll give you two bars

One two one two three
One two one two three

Again

One two one two three
One two one two three

That's— We're missing [...]

?: The accent

FZ: Okay

?: [...]

Kenny?: [...] Will we play this, Frank, the [...]? . . . . and me try that part?

FZ: No, actually, I think the part you've got is probably [...]. The other one was pretty much engineered for the tuba.

Now, let's go over this "New Brown Clouds" the way we were starting off with it. You missed this part. The, uh, there's, there's seven, you count seven quarter notes before you come in, Kenny. And then you read that as if it was double-time.

?: [...]Yeah.

FZ: Duh-duh duh-duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh
Duh-duh duh-duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh
Duh-duh duh-duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh
Duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh

?: Oh

[...]

FZ: All right, let me hear it.

FZ: Let me hear the brass at that double-time clip.

One— I will count the seven beats before you come in.
One two three four one two three

[...]

FZ: That 5/16 thing is like a little fanfare.
Duh-duh duh-duh-duh
Duh-duh duh-duh-duh
Duh-duh duh-duh DUH

?: Yeah, right.

FZ: You know those little fanfares. [...]

Aynsley: [...] Am I supposed to come in on the first— on the four fourth beat exactly? . . . One e and a, two e and a, three e and a. . . .

?: [...]

Aynsley: [...] just before it. One, two, three, duh duh duh-duh-duh duh—

FZ: When it's— When it's perfect, it'll come into the right place.

Aynsley: Yeah, but it's [...] exactly [...]four . . .

FZ: It should be one two three four one two three duh-duh duh-duh-duh

Aynsley: a sixteenth note before [...]

FZ: Yeah. It comes in right on the downbeat of the four beat of bar two.

Aynsley: [...]

FZ: One two three four one two three
Duh-duh duh-duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh
Duh-duh duh-duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh
Duh-duh duh-duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh
Duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh

Okay, here it is in full regalia

?: Where?

FZ: From the beginning. Brown Clouds.

2. The New Brown Clouds

FZ: One, two, three four

Now, at that point, put another [...] duh duh-duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh . . . Okay, from here.

3. Frog Song

FZ: Kenny, remember that other part on the that Frog Song?

FZ: [...] Okay, now, the trumpets there are playing [...] This, the— the [...] and trumpets in [...] concert pitch, you can transpose it. It's just, uh, six notes [...]that you gotta bend.

?: [...] this is written in [...] concert pitch?

FZ: Yeah.

?: Second line is in bass clef?

FZ: Yeah, right. So just take, take those [...] two upper parts.

And see if he's brought along a little bag for you . . .

?: You want this all played like this combination, right? With the flügel horn and trumpet . . .

And see if he's brought along a little bag for you . . .

FZ: Ah huh. You [...] How about— Do you have a flügel with you?

?: [...]I don't have it with me, but I've got it.

And see if he's brought along a little bag for you . . .

FZ: Oh, I'd like to be able to switch you up, you [...]it off. Do you own a cornet?

?: Yeah, [...]

And see if he's brought along a little bag for you . . .

FZ: Yeah, cornet and flügel sounds good, I think. Better than trumpet [...] And, uh, there's some other things, that are flügel horn against the a D trumpet [...]for the extra bite.

?: Yeah.

FZ: Okay? [...] From the beginning. That vamp that you have there repeats I think about, twelve times? Twelve times, and then, in concert, there's two chords of itthat are hit, C# minor and F# minor, and, they, they got and there you go with a rhythm like this . . .

FZ: So, now [...]

FZ: Let's hear that. One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: There will be enough [...]. Nope. That only happens twice. Okay? Let's hear the, uh, improvisation horn section on that vamp figure. One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: Kenny—

?: [...]

FZ: One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: ListenKenny, listen . . . Pah, pa-ah, pah, da-ah-da . . . One, two, three, four . . .

Then he reach in the front
And dump a mile of sand
Across the rug, along the hall
Up to the umbrella stand
That you've been watchin' all the time
Watchin' all the time

And if a forest grows up
From the dirt on the floor,
That the frog with the satchel
Had just dumped beside the door
You're just starting to get worried,
You ain't going out no more
And it's confusin' to your mind—

FZ: Right. Now . . .

FZ: Okay? Right there, that part at that spot . . . "Confusin' to your mind." One, two, three, four . . .

Confusin' to your mind—
Just consider this:

FZ: Okay. Rah-ta-dah-ta-dah . . . Okay? Now, the next thing that happens. There, at after that spot, you guys break, and it goes with into this bandvamp, which sounds like this . . .

FZ: Okay, the notes for that in concert . . .

?: Phew!

FZ: . . . are,: Bb, C, D, F#, G#, A, Bb; C, E, C#, D, Eb, and then down to a D. And the rhythm goes like this . . .

FZ: Be-bop, be-bop, bop-be-bop . . . Let— let them Now, rath— rather than take the time to actually work it out what the rhythm is for that thing, just listen to it [...] simple and pick a the tempo up . . . From the G.

You can be scared when it gets too real
You can be scared when it gets too real
But you should be diggin' it
While it's happening

FZ: NoNow, that's— that's following that line of the, of the [...]speech, which is, "But you should be diggin' it while it's happening," dun-tun, dun-tun, ta-da-dah-dun-tun, ta-da-dah . . .

FZ: Okay. If Can you sketch up, out the figure that follows that.? Here, listen— The line that follows that is very even, starts on E, and goes . .

FZ: Okay? That's E, F, E— E [...], F, E, Eb, F#, G, F#, F, and then the trumpets split to concert E on top, Bb underneath, and Kenny gets a, a B, below middle C . . .

?: [...] E and . . .

FZ: E and a Bb concert . . . And you're hitting a [...] concert B . . .

?: Frank, [...] play the line once more.

FZ: Okay.

?: I'm trying to get the rhythm of that . . .

FZ: All right.

FZ: One, two . . . [...]I'll show you where it comes in. One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: Okay. You wanna try it from the G chord? One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: That's the sequence of events in here. After it does that . . . it [...] and then it folds holds that to a crescendo, and then it falls off and goes back to the G— G passage again.

FZ: Dah, dah . . .

?: Okay.

FZ: It simmers Smear it down . . . Nyyaaoow . . . I'll show you when where that comes in, it goes . . . Two, three, four . . . Two, three, four . . .

FZ: No. Pah-dah-tah-dah-tah-dah-daah, daah . . .

FZ: Okay? From the G chord [...] the first time . . .

You can be scared when it gets too real
You can be scared when it gets too real
But you should be diggin' it
While it's happening
(Two, three, four . . . )
'Cause it just might be a one-shot deal

FZ: [...] Make sure it's a solid resolution on that G chord [...] . . . Eeeeeeeoow, resolves . . . Okay? Do you play solos?

?: Me?

FZ: Yeah.

?: Yeah.

FZ: Why don't you improvise a solo on concert changes of G, D and E A minor? [...]

?: G . . .

FZ: G.

?: D . . .

FZ: D.

?: E A minor . . .

FZ: E A minor.

?: Okay.

FZ: Okay.

?: G major.

FZ: G major, D major, E A minor. Okay. This is the G chord the first time. One, two, three, four . . .

You can be scared when it gets too real
You can be scared when it gets . . .

FZ: No, that [...] doesn't happen until after it goes tah-dah, tah-dah-dah-dah . . . eeeeeeeh! [...]

?: Okay.

FZ: Okay?

4. It Just Might Be A One Shot Deal

FZ: One, two, three, four . . .

You can be scared when it gets too real
You can be scared when it gets too real
But you should be diggin' it
While it's happening
'Cause it just might be a one-shot deal

You can be scared when it gets too real . . .

But you should be diggin' it while it's happening . . .

You gotta [...], etc.

You can be lost
And you can wanna be found
But keep an eye on that frog
Whenever he jump around
Just keep a-watchin' him
You oughta be watchin' him
Just keep a-watchin' him
You wanna be watchin' him
(And see if he's brought along a little bag for you)

FZ: Okay.

5. The ending line . . .

FZ: This, excuse me, the ending line. Concert B. That's all [...] quarter-note triplets . . .

?: Mellow . . .

?: Mellow . . . Mellow, mellow, muelo . . .

FZ: Ah, hah hah!

?: Mellow . . .

FZ: Muelo . . .

?: Mellow . . .

?: Muelo . . .

FZ: Ate some jell-o . . .

?: Muelo . . .

FZ: Swell time . . .

. . . But keep an eye on that frog
Whenever he jump around
Just keep a-watchin' him
You oughta be watchin' him
Just keep a-watchin' him
You wanna be watchin' him
(And see if he's brought along a little bag for you)

FZ: Okay? Play to that last—

And see if he's brought along a little bag for you

FZ: Just the end [...]. One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: [...] Same, same one. One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: Now let's take it from the "pom-poms," okay? One, two, three, four . . .

Bom bom, you gotta [...], etc.

You can be lost
And you can wanna be found
But keep an eye on that frog
Whenever he jump around
Just keep a-watchin' him
You oughta be watchin' him
Just keep a-watchin' him
You wanna be watchin' him
(And see if he's brought along a little bag for you)

FZ: [...]

6. Blessed Relief/The New Brown Clouds

FZ: I'd like to go back to— to this thing one time . . . and connect it that up to the "New Brown Clouds." [...], remember how to do we did that?

?: Right.

FZ: . . . three . . .

FZ: No, no. It's [...]

FZ: [...]

7. It Ain't Real So What's The Deal

FZ: [...] One, two, one, two, three, four . . .

And, it will fall down
It will fall down
It will fall
Just wait 'n see!

And, it'll fall down
It'll fall down
It'll fall TAKE IT FROM ME!

Everything that gets in your way ain't real . . .

FZ: [...] Okay, horns first. The baritone is going . . . Pah, pah-pah . . . [...]

: Man of thousand voices.

FZ: Can I hear the horns on that thing going up? Okay. Here we go. One, two, one, two, three, four . . .

FZ: Okay, this part is [...] correct . . . That's right, it's a minor . . . C# minor. Now it goes, C# minor to a B diminished . . . B diminished, Bb. diminished to Eb. So, the [...] baritone note at that point . . . you're going, uh, that's your F . . . back down to a C . . .

?: That's the fourth bar.

FZ: That's— That's the end of it, it goes . . . Just— Just the [...] baritone right there . . . That's the C . . .

FZ: Malcolm's part is . . .

FZ: Okay?

Malcolm?: [...]

FZ: Huh?

Malcolm?: [...]That's the third measure?

FZ: That's the last [...] last, that's the end of the sequence . . .

FZ: Sal's part is . . .

FZ: And, uh . . . Kenny is going . . .

FZ: Can I hear just that one thing right there? One, two, one, two, three, four . . .

FZ: Just— Just that last thing, doh-bep-bop-bom. One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: No, here's the rhythm . . .

FZ: Okay. Just the horns, just the horns. One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: Once Horns again. One, two, three, four . . .

FZ: Okay. And then the next figure down is . . .

FZ: It's the same— Move your nose notes down a whole step and the rhythm exchanges. is changed. The person first note goes . . . Got Is that it? Yeah.

?: [...]

FZ: Yeah. It's just that one thing. It goes . . .

?: Oh, you got a whole, a whole tone.

FZ: Yeah. A whole tone down . . . No, you only use the second half of the figure when you go down. So the whole rhythm of that section is . . . And then there's a drum fill and it goes back to this . . .

?:

FZ: Yeah. Okay? Now, from the beginning of that thing is . . .

FZ: There was another . . . [...] Listen to what that vamp figure [...]is, it goes . . .

FZ: It goes . . . It goes into a jamming area in A at that point . . . [...]

If something gets in your way,
Just think it over . . .

FZ: Ha ha ha . . . The Andrew Andrews Sisters!

?: Ha ha ha ha . . .

FZ: One, two, three . . .

If something gets in your way,
Just think it over . . .
If something gets in your way,
Just think it over!

If something gets in your way,
Just think it over . . .
If something gets in your way,
Just think it over!

And, it will fall down
It will . . .

FZ: [...]That goes quiet there. Just take it real easy. No. it's not triplets.

And, it will fall down
It will fall down
It will fall
Take it from me!

Everything that gets in your way ain't real
Everything that gets in your way ain't real
Everything that gets in your way ain't real
Everything that gets in your way ain't real
It ain't real, so What's the deal?

8. Think It Over (some)/Think It Over (some more)

If something gets in your way,
Just THINK IT Over . . .
If something gets in your way,
JUST THINK IT OVER!

If something gets in your way,
Just think it OVER . . .
If something gets in your way,
JUST THINK IT OVER!

And, it will fall down
It will fall down
It will fall
Just wait 'n see!

Soon, And, it'll fall down
It'll fall down
It'll fall
TAKE IT FROM ME!

Everything that gets in your way ain't real
Everything that gets in your way ain't real
Everything that gets in your way ain't real
It ain't real!
It ain't real, so
What's the deal?

It ain't real, so
What's the deal?

FZ: Let me try something out. Instead of, uh, the guitar, organ, and bass, uh, comping, why don't you drop out there and [...] rhythm guitar, bass, and drums.

?: Where?

FZ: On the solo. One, two, three...

. . . If something gets in your way,
JUST THINK IT OVER!

If something gets in your way,
Just think it OVER . . .
If something gets in your way,
JUST THINK IT OVER!

FZ: Okay. There's— There's actually another whole melodic section that goes in there that I'm not gonna bother to [...] this evening. Play it for you, show you how it goes, and the next time we get together we'll sketch it out. It goes:

9. Another Whole Melodic Section

 

10. When it feels natural . . .

FZ: Anyway, that's quite a bit of, uh, drawing. And if I get a chance to write those parts out before the next time we get together, which should be Sunday, Sunday evening. What time is your [...] on Sunday?

?: Two to six.

FZ: Two to six? Can you make it, uh, seven o'clock on Sunday?

?: Sure.

FZ: Will you be back by that time?

Aynsley: I don't know exactly what time I get in.

FZ: Unnh.

?: I can't make it till nine-thirty at— nine-thirty.

FZ: Nine-thirty?

Aynsley: Why don't you make it about nine then, nine-thirty?

FZ: Okay.

Aynsley: That way then, I'll definitely be back and [...] I'll be restored.

FZ: All right. Nine-thirty, then, on Sunday.

[...]

FZ: Okay.

[...]

FZ: Come back [...]

FZ: I'll tell you what the story is on the recording of this material. I don't want to take it into the studio until you can play all that stuff from memory and it feels natural to do that the stuff. That's the reason I'm going about it this way rather than just of lay charts in front of everybody . . .

 

All compositions by Frank Zappa except as noted
Site maintained by Román García Albertos.
http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/
Original transcription by Ken Walter, Charles Ulrich, Zachary Lebold, Tan Mitsugu and Román; further corrections by Dan Schmidt
This page updated: 2018-08-04

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