Frank Zappa teaches Steve Allen to play The Bicycle (1963)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 มิ.ย. 2014
- Frank Zappa teaches Steve Allen to play The Bicycle
(aired March 3, 1963)
This televisual gem inspired me follow along which got me into endless trouble at family picnics and barbecues for playing my own symphonic masterpieces which, for some strange reason, nobody else seemed to enjoy. I extended Frank's genius to my exploration of the vacuum cleaner, ping pong balls and paddles, hammers on concrete and other objects, wrenches, wooden boards like 2x4's, and my personal favourite - the bars and other parts of cages pens and stalls in my father\s veterinary clinic as well as at the Calgary Zoo where he worked. I had a captive audience, but they all seemed to really enjoy my musical efforts at breaking up the monotony of their captivity and hospital recovery. The next time you're out in a forest I challenge you to explore the musical nature of nature for yourself. Trees make great drums and often ring with higher tones - not to mention the musical benefits of rocks and stones.
I miss Frank.
nb - I hold no specific rights to this footage and present it only for educational purposes. - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
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It's a rare treat to see a bicycle player doing an interview - they usually send a spokesperson.
You magnificent bastard... I love it.
@@powerpc127 Thankyou :)
Well done sir, well done.
Frank at 23, already an established pioneer of the avant-garde.
He took the Beat Generation to the next level.
I had no idea Zappa's legacy went back that far.... a little shocked, I must say.
@@stevenroper3577 I found this link of a video that doubles the age of this old yarn! It features a 33 year old Billy Connolly, who had just quit the "Humblebums" Folk Rock Group, in order to go solo! It's a laugh riot, that he keeps laughing at his own self: th-cam.com/video/SzZzGxReXmo/w-d-xo.html
🪿🦆🦤🦃🦩🐧🦜
Also a creative publicist - He was thinking "How can I get the name World's Worst Sinner" out there?" Good on him! PS, I appreciate seeing the likes of FZ, George Carlin & Willie Nelson as they morphed from one decade to the next.
The fact that they let this breathe for sixteen minutes is something we just wouldn't do now.
I think this young man may have a promising future in music.
Personally, I believe he has no commercial potential in his future
Maybe
@@porridgehead😂
He was a genius musician and composer.
@@denialawarenessYes, he was.
It seems that Steve Allen began to realize in this short segment how much he liked Frank Zappa and possibly how much they had in common.
Steve Allen was a national treasure.
I was a college student when Frank Zappa was all the rage. I loved this crazy guy!!
High school for me.
Two national treasures together
Weird seeing him dressed so straight-laced and clean.
Just Like George Carlin... he shed that skin off with a new look and long hair like a "rebel"
Crazy how much changed in five years, hard to even believe.
That's cause it was a time where society dress code of how and what you can be..wow I never experienced it I'm born in 76
@@nomadben omg I know
@@AlisaForestHillsBrigades Early 60s were still good times when people would dress properly.
Being a musician means realising that everything in existence is a musical Instrument.
Easy when you get the Zappa lesson.THERE are only 8 notes to different octave same note. Because of the fact the humanoid brain can hear notes and tones inside the sounds ,tones and external noise just gets fit in. ♾️🪖
All creation can be used as a musical instrument. The 80%+ inefficient humanoid can not sense nor hear every frequency off All creation, but the 100% efficient Humanoid Spirit can Hear All of creation., for it has recorded All things ever since it was created into being until it is transitioned into something else in the future, but even if that Energy becomes nothingness, nothingness is still Somethingness even if in a State of Energy Flux for All Eternity. All Is Energy and Such Is All Energy Is Life Force Eternal !!! 👍🆒☺️🇺🇸🙏DDH 5-5-2024.
....even your keister.
@@SHIFTYCHEF Exactly , All Creation !!! 👍🆒☺️🇺🇸🙏 DDH 5-5-2024.
“Everything’s a drum” -Auntie Donna
The only time I've ever seen Zappa laugh in public
He corpsed a few times when he was on SNL in the ‘70’s. I think it was an instalment of the Coneheads.
I think this kid might be on drugs. 😅 I could totally see a tweaker coming up with this orchestra.
@@jbell6642I love the Coneheads!
@jbell6642 Yeah Aykroyd was talking to him because he was dating his daughter Lorraine Neumann. And they talking about something and Aykroyd blurts out ZAPPA! And Frank busted out laughing.
I know, it was really great to see him smile and laugh.
The amount of control that Zappa has over this whole presentation is mind-boggling.
A true control freak like Zappa knows how to maintain control in all situations.
I can not agree more. F'ing wonderful
@@deanronson6331 What? How’d my calling him a control freak lead you to draw those conclusions about me? Neither of those things are true at all of me! And Zappa was a notorious control freak- I’m definitely not the only person say that about him.
Riiiight
Control?
More like opening our eyes, ears and mind to the world of sound and bringing it together as symphonic caucaphony.
Pure Genius with the Muse.
It's multi-dimensional sound out of The Twilight Zone that forms the background of the Beat Generation.
The Mother of Invention flows with it.
So must we.
Steve was one hip dude.
He knew Zappa was for real.....
My parents were ex Jazz musicians that used to listen to Steve Allen and Johnny Otis in this vintage. Exposed to some non traditional stuff. Miss all of that creative and funny stuff.
Not at all. Steve was a legit musician and I think he saw Zappa as a joke -- which he basically was. He just took that silliness and developed it into a more evolved art form over the years.
Steve loved it... he wanted to ride his bicycle where he liked..
@@user-ft4jp1yq5f BICYCLE BICYCLE
Frank Zapata was amazing. The only strange fact is that all the Laurel Canyon inhabitants had families in high Military positions?
If there was ever anyone qualified to play the bicycle......
I played Playing cards clothespinned to spokes.
Zappa could play and was a Master of All Music,his take on Philosophy,his math, science knowledge was deeper than most ♾️🪖
Frrrr
Both Steve Allen and Frank Zappa were well accomplished smart asses amongst the serious stuff they did.
… on Bicycle Day…
I'm 65 years old and have never seen this sequence.
The range of emotions that I experienced watching this is beyond my ability to articulate.
By all means, please do. lol
same here @63...
. but about 5 yrs. ago I stumbled onto a FZ & the Mothers poster. It's framed and not in the best shape,but I couldn't let it go in the trash. I should sell it on e-bay b4 I die,but what is it worth?
Yes...63 here... This is Beautiful. Perfect.....
His accomplishment to just get on the Show is fantastic!
Zappa contacted Edgard Varese which is how he began thinking in terms of articulated sound.
From playing a bicycle to
WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH
Um dos 78 discos fantásticos de Frank Zappa: 'WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH' = 'UM ESQUILO CORTOU MINHA CARNE'... Onde ele aproveitou estes primeiros sons e arranjos de improviso...
Frank was not joking here. You can find this "random disorder of sounds" years later, in his famous albums. This is a musical expression for Frank, some people may not understand him but he was dead serious, a musical genius with such a passion that made him famous worldwide. R.I.P Frank.
So f..king true!!!
I know it's so Zappa!
Nothing organic about this appearance, or Frank's rise to fame. He, like EVERY other "musician" who mysteriously converged on Laural canyon, just in time for the hippie movement, were sons and daughters of high ranking military intelligence, or related fields! Franks entire adult life is a psyop!
@@fishouttawtr Source?
@laniakea1501 you can start with..." weird scenes from the canyon" I forget the author's.name but, there's tons of material about the music business and how it's all a CIA , Tavistock institute, Frankfurt school construct to destroy our values, demoralize us to make us easier to control. Mike Williams (sage of quay) is an expert on the subject, with the Beatles being his specialty! He's on TH-cam! The Beatles are completely fake and manufactured and paul was killed and replaced in 66
So strange seeing Frank so young and in black and white. Even stranger to realize that Steve Allen outlived him by seven years.
Zappa's genius, however...
will far outlast Steven's...
R.I.P., gentlemen+🙏🌹🌹
@@rmp7400I don't know about that Steve Allen's show was pretty good I watched him and realized what a great guy he was even when I was a teenager. And there's always reruns of TV. I know about Frank Zappa when I was a young teenager too. It seems I remember his albums as being comedy mostly for me. I can't get to hear them anymore even when I ask Google. Too bad he died of prostate cancer. I guess he didn't get tested soon enough. Such a shame. I have to admit I just like the silly stuff. Watch out where the Huskies go don't you eat that yellow snow.
@@rmp7400I don't know about that Steve Allen's show was pretty good I watched him and realized what a great guy he was even when I was a teenager. And there's always reruns of TV. I know about Frank Zappa when I was a young teenager too. It seems I remember his albums as being comedy mostly for me. I can't get to hear them anymore even when I ask Google. Too bad he died of prostate cancer. I guess he didn't get tested soon enough. Such a shame. I have to admit I just like the silly stuff. Watch out where the Huskies go don't you eat that yellow snow.
Zappa stunk, he was boring inane and produced mostly toilet humor type music.
@rmp7400, really, they both have contributed to pop culture. Art is subjective in all forms, so you can't compare who will "outlast" the other.
Kudos to Steve Allen for being open minded
Steve Allen was an important, transitional sort of well-educated, very witty and quirky entertainer, a type of "Renaissance" man, who was mostly a "1950s" kind of guy, who could see the future of social change...Much of David Letterman's type of humor, was inspired by Steve's free-wheeling approach to comedy on late night TV. He dealt in absurd, alternative, thoughtful humor, even though he was not that approving of the coming social changes. The poor guy, his beloved son joined a bizarre, pseudo-Christian-based cult in Seattle, named "The Love Israel" family. For several years, he lived under his assigned new name, Logic Israel, and was Love Israel's (the cult leader, who-guess what--convinced over 500 people that he was the latest Jesus incarnation) "right-hand man". Eventually, Steve's son realized the scam element, and left the cult. Love Isreal himself, eventually left his own group of followers, became a banker of sorts, and died a few years ago, from Prostate cancer. Apparently, he was just another "mortal" person, just like the rest of us! Steve Allen himself, died at age 72, a few years ago, after having been in a moderate car accident, that soon after, caused him to have a heart attack. Very strange.
@@curbozerboomer1773 I miss Steve Allen.
Well remember Steve had Elvis on his show and also Jerry Lee Lewis. Although Steve was a traditional jazz pianist, he wrote I believe over a thousand songs!!! Also believe he was self taught, wrote hundreds and hundreds of books, as well... very intelligent...he also claimed he needed 11 hours of sleep every day!
Good Business Instincts!!
Allen humiliated Elvis -or...tried to...
That symphony was then recorded and inserted for play into every MRI machine forever more.
😂🤣 Great observation!
LOL
This video is proof that Frank Zappa is in a class all by himself.
he could've gotten a lot more mileage outta that contraption, but he generously left it to others to do-that-dirty-work, so t'speak : smart: and very considerate, wasn't he?
@@tinfoilhatter No doubt. 👍
❤️100 percent
Without the four guys from England, who took us all by the hand, it was time to laugh, time to sing, time to join the band he would have a longer journey to be What he became. The Big Bang of rock and roll, the greatest show on earth showed him the way. He had very hard to admitt that later in the century and in the 1970s. The Big Bang of rock and roll turned everything up side down in a great way.
Exactly 🎉
A once in a lifetime meeting of two of the greatest musical (and comedic) geniuses of all time. A perfect performance from start to finish.
I fucking LOVE this. The irony on display is wonderful - Allen and the audience are apparently lampooning Frank - who I have to say comes across at times as almost 'sweet' which is a word I would never ever ever ever attach to Frank hence forth - what is so lovely to see is the utter control Frank has over the entire performance - it's almost shadowing his entire future to come. He smiles, chuckles, almost obediant at times yet he makes it absolutely crytstal clear how serious he takes this whole 'thing'. I loved it when he reeled off the instruments he'd composed for. It's what I admire so so much about Frank Zappa - he is so genuine and has never deviated from his utter love and dedication to music simultaneously taking the piss out of the people that 'think' they are in control. Bloody marvellous
You nailed it my friend. Absolutely nailed it. Nothing more needs to be said. 👍
Baloney. Steve Allen got it and fooled you.
@@raulx.garcia9387 Exactly Zappa is serious about his music but in this situation he is clearly also serious about the absurdist humor in this...and Steve Allen is totally on board with it. It's the seriousness that makes this work. It's Zappa who's having fun with the audience....they're not quite sure what to make of him, so they are feeling a little out of balance. Which I think is exactly where he wanted them.
I noticed his demeanor change in an instant when he was asked about the ensemble he put together; in that moment he was all business, and a consummate professional.
This is just as odd as Pink Floyd Umma Gumma... Zappa saw a different sound that others didnt....check out NINE SMALL SPECIES OF SMALL FURRY ANIMALS ALL GATHERED TOGETHET IN A CAVE AND GROOVING WITH A PICT....Pink floyd Umma Gumma
Zappa once described music as “decorating time”. ♥️
❤
Perfect... love that Zappa feller!! =)
Wow. 🤔👍🙂
"You have a piece of time and you get to decorate it".
And that's exactly what it is and that's exactly what it does
This is great TV😂
RIP FRANK AND STEVE ✌🏻💜🙏🏻
Zappa teaching grownups how to play. Truly an under-recognized genius.
Zappa became a musical genius...even writing classical pieces...he left us too soon...
I "totally" agree. "Valley Girl" is 100% genius. But that wasn't him, it was all due to his teenage daughter. She's the one who provided him with his most famous piece of work and his highest charting song. As far as creativity, where can you go but down from there?! Maybe he should have consulted her on more projects. "Gag me with a spoon!"
@@wassupnomesayin If you measure musical originality by the numbers of records sold then Zappa doesn't score high.
@@tomvesely4008indeed but doesn't that mean that the majority don't appreciate really good music.
I mean today, Tayla Swift is the next massaia. She'll be Shania twain by next week.
Listen to " we're only in it for the money "
Still my favourite zappa album.
'Apostrophe ' A close second.
brilliant! thankyou so much! Frank Zappa, short hair and a suit and tie, who would have thought it!
He wore it well though.
Ya, that really blew my mind !
@@1deadhead me too!
“How long have you been playing bike, Frank?”
“About two weeks.”
That quote right there sums up FZ satire...lol
😂😂
I wouldn't be surprised if he was just being perfectly honest there.
two weeks on-the-bike, and he comes up with this? incredible, yes?
😂
I once saw a show where the host was about to fly in a small plane over South American jungle. He asked the non-English speaking pilot how long he's been flying for and the guy says "Two" (meaning years), but the host then asks "Two weeks?!?!" and the pilot smiles, nods, and says yes. The host's eyes bugged out. Lmao.
seeing him without the mustache is so weird
And the long, hippy hair.
@@robbernath Eh, he wore his hair short throughout the 1980s.
@@mournblade1066 guess you never saw him in the late 1960s or at all during the 1970s
And goatee bruh????
I adored Steve Allen , & Frank Zappa ! ❤
The best ad lib by Steve Allen occurred at 13.30 in the middle of the ' Zappa Concerta 'with his instant genius lyric "Ruth rode on my cycle car, on a seat in back of me. I took a bump at 95, and rode on 'Ruthlessly'..."
Pure brillance!
Even had Frank Zappa laughing at that.
two brilliant men at once
It's an old Limerick !
It started a little clunky with SA poking fun a FZ nudging the audience with a comment and a jibe...but FZ stayed calm and in control effortlessly.... and in the end Allen was the one being lampooned ...which showed a level of intelligence and performing skill that FZ showed throughout his all too brief career! On show here are two great showmen from very different sides of entertainment! Great to see.
I think Frank's sence of humor was helped along by Steve. At the start of the act Frank is all humble and after 10 minutes he's going toe to toe with Steve being careful not to upstage him.
Absolutely. This is good moderation, introducing the conservative audience step by step to the thing and not playing The Authority. Giving and taking jokes, too.
For one brief, shining moment 58 yrs ago, a 23 yr-old Frank freaking Zappa pried open the brains of Middle America, Anywhere USA families, sitting around the B&W TV, and expanded them to infinite possibilities.
Yes indeed, we all did the clothespin thing and blowing into the wings, not the spokes upside down
That was just yesterday to me. Blows me away the way time screams by while we remember the stations stopped at.
Yeah..... I dont think it stuck.
Way Cool
The fact that of ALL the musical geniuses, Frank was totally sober, and
DID NOT like being around people who did drugs- unlike those who did and died so young. He was a devoted family man. He was a true eccentric genius, who wasn't afraid of change and discovery. Years after Frank's passing a met a cousin of his. Nicest guy, who said the passing of Frank was a great loss to the whole family. Frank graced us with his talent that will always be with us.
Really nice to see FZ laughing and joking in a lighthearted manner. His demeanor seems quite different in this early television appearance. Often, he seemed distrustful of interviewers, but looks to be okay with Mr. Allen.
The way these two played off each other was awesome and really natural .Odd seeing Frank all clean cut and straight lace looking 😅
Thank you very much for this inetresting fact of Frank Zappas life.
We miss you, Frank.
I play the spokes whenever I replace one to check for the right tension.
Steve allen was a pioneer in tv, much like Frank in music
And to think just three years later he would release Freak Out with the Mothers of Invention
With a little help from his friends...
I can't get my head around this straight smiley chatty guy and the Frank Zappa who seemed so stern while music I grew up with. WOW!
Frank says he never did drugs...this is all Zappa
His dad would bring home mercury for him to play with. Dude was mad as a hatter.
You really believe that? Lol.
@@McFaddenWasRight it's possible lol. Not everyone is a druggy.
Nope, if you did drugs you were out of the band
Everything is a drug, you just gotta learn not to misuse it. Perhaps he was not as aware as he thought himself to be.
As a Brit I saw Frank Zappa more than 50 concerts living in the UK. The most immersive and alternative performance genius at the time.
😊
I was fortunate enough to see him once at Stony brook university on Long Island in the 80s. He was great, at one point in the beginning of the show, everyone stood on the chairs, and Frank said, " everybody sit down, I'm playing for you, your not playing for me". He then played that beutiful guitar, while turning pages from a book!!, I miss the simple old fun days.
What were you on those fifty times????
We normally laugh when we don't understand genius. You can see the Frank's mood on his face.
Allen’s nose improv at 7:44 actually sounds like some stuff we’ve heard on Frank’s records.
Yeah I was waiting for Zappa to say "I can work with that"
"how's your bird" 🐦
Yah it does!!!
Is this possibly the earliest recorded trolling, he had the damn host blowing into a bicycle handlebar! 🤣🤣🤣
He was introducing the audience to musique concrete, which I suspect the host and the resident band were well aware of.
That, " Damn Host ", you referred to was the Late Great Steve Allen !
A true pioneer, in many ways, to include his zany Television show, seen here !
Opening the door for many a late night talk show, that we otherwise would likely never have witnessed !
Mr. Allen was also brilliant in his own right, and not afraid to take chances, as demonstrated by entertaining the thought of having an unknown at the time, Frank Zappa on his show !
Something a younger audience would likely not understand, as the World seemed a much more innocent place then, as Networks guided by the Federal Communications Commission, aka FCC, were very uptight back in the day !
Mr. Allen was also someone that fought to keep children's programming, just that, Children's programming !
Through his talent, and unwavering fight to move Television forward, we once had great Television !
Yes....I said, " Once " !
✌️😎
@@sleeve8651 So happy you noted this; Steve was a genius in his own right!
Seeing these guys together is pretty amazing! 🤩
@@sleeve8651 Thanks, he was great.
@@richardfurness7556 i think he was pranking his audience and the host with musique concrete
How gracious they both were, and the audience! We have become a little tight arse lately.
Ya, so has my f'n boss!
To think, this was the early days of a genius. Who knew we'd be getting something as awesome as "Shiek Yerbouti" out of this guy.
Have you heard the album, "How's Your Bird"? Or some of the dozens of albums he released? Shiek Yerbouti was one of the first I heard. I was dropping acid when I heard that album. I thought I would die, laughing! I don't do drugs anymore. But still enjoy Zappa.
@@itsnotthesamething there's still so much Zappa I haven't heard. I'm working on it!
@@BeeKay5150 He has a pretty impressive list! Some of the stuff he's done sounds just like this bicycle ensemble. Some of his stuff is difficult to listen to, because it is so different. But every bit of it is deliberate. I have heard from folks ho played for him say he is a perfectionist, and will freak if someone gets a note out of place! It makes you think about what is music. I honestly can say I hate most rap music, but all my young friends, and a few of my older friends like it. So who am I to say what music is? I hope you enjoy everything you hear from Zappa. Some is hilarious, and some is really out there!
i remember watching this with my father when i was a kid , little did i know frank would go on to a very successful music career. there was , and never will be another FRANK ZAPPA , a true genius
Funnily enough, when you watch this clip and you are a life long fan of Frank it seems almost 'obvious' that he will produce the uncannilly huge musical repetiore that he did. The guy never fucking changed. He didn't have his moustache in this clip and that was about it. I have never seen ANYONE so utterly consistent in their approach/character/manarisms/verbal response etc etc. in their career.
I am not in general a bloke that idolises anyone and I sometimes question my love/obsession with Frank Zappa but to be fair to myself, I watch this clip and I know why!!
Zappa before "Zappa." Stockhausen influenced _klangfarben_ stuff (noise as music,) but what's amazing - this bit is SIXTEEN MINUTES LONG on 1963 TV! Bravo , Steve Allen, I knew you were a great musician, but I didn't think you had it in ya to go avant-garde. Wonder how many viewers changed the channel... 🙄
Danke du klangfarben.
Fox News would have said, "We only have 30 seconds, but could you play "IN A GADDA DA VIDA"?
@@edh9237😆
I had a band in the early 80’s and for a very short while I had a clever lad playing with us who played nothing but toy instruments. He got some really cool sounds out of them
Zappa played for about 3.5 hours in Honolulu CIVIC CENTER in 1973. He kept coming back for encores.
Lucky enough to see Frank Zappa many years ago in Melbourne Australia never knew of this performance absolutely amazing love it
SA: "so how long have you been playing the bicycle?"
FZ: "2 weeks"
Almost an overnight sensation.
Chirp chirp
Frank Zappa.....
Rock's closest thing to a true renaissance man, a true Artist. He has been acclaimed as a genius for his versatility. He was a brilliant guitarist, a superb composer, a matchless bandleader, a movie producer, a record company executive, a human rights activist and an incomparable social satirist. He started out in the 60's as the leader of the zany avant-rock pioneers the Mothers. His subsequent solo work encompassed everything from jazz-rock to orchestral pieces, always delivered with Zappa's trademark humor. He succumbed to cancer in 1993, but the mind-boggling prolific workaholic left behind a staggering body of work. Genius is an overused word in music, but it applies to Zappa in spades.
Well said man. 👍
But before all that he played a bi-cycle
Which explains why his most famous and highest chart-topping contribution to music was his teenage daughter Moon Unit's creation "Valley Girl." Yeah, what a "genius!" Depending on your kid to make you famous. Lol.
@@wassupnomesayin
He was the mikes Davis of the West Coast dude. You were nobody in progressive rock until you sat with zappa. He made amazing music and discovered legends like jean luv pointy, George duke, Lenny Bruce, and Steve Vai. You're inability to absorb the music isn't the fault of the art or the artist. Think of it like a fighter jet, just bc you don't know how to fly it doesn't make it a bad piece of machinery. Open you're mind bro, there's a whole world outside that rock you're under
@@gregquinn5474 Says the guy who only pretends to like Zappa because he thinks it's "hip." I'm guessing you smoke cigarettes to look "cool" as well. And it's "your" mind not "you're." How about learning some grammar if you want to appear to be intelligent. It helps. Also stop using the words "bro" and "dude." Truly smart people don't do that.
Frank was such a likeable guy and an out of this world musician. And Steve Allen was just the BEST.
R.I.P. Frank
I would not say that Zappa was very "likeable"...He was up in his own grill, so to speak, but that does not really matter.
Wow, I remember those sounds from his albums! Amazing
I remember seeing this show on TV. This feat of Frank Zappa playing music on a bicycle was done by him before he became a famous musician.
Back then nobody realized some years later Frank Zappa would become one of the greatest rock stars ever!
And that's when the world discovered the amazing Mr. Zappa. Thanks for that, Steve!
I commend this young man for addressing the serious lack of drug music on 1960s talk shows.
Thank you for sharing this. I have never seen him so young and serious. Was so cool to experience him so fresh and still green.
You cannot find a host like Steve anymore
Great art ... having succeeded in finding people who considered something like this worth to be presented in a TV show.
Wow! A young Frank Zappa with NO MOUSTACHE!!! And he was just as weird back then as he ever was! What a classic video! 😁
I was 18 when they did this piece of art.......Zappa was just insane (in a good way) and Steve Allen was the best host ever of any Late Show (and even more insane in a very good way). I've gotta find more Steve Allen
Wht is yur name supposed to mean lol
I remember Steve dressed up as a tea bag and went outside the studio and a crane dunked him in a large tea cup. Once he had cream pies for the audience and they had a giant pie fight. Sometimes he would just invite the audience to get up and go out for a walk outside the studio. On warm California nights he would at times leave his desk and go out in front the studio with a microphone and talk to LA crazies passing buy or just comment on things.. Such an entertaining show. Allen, such a gifted nut. He made television. He could have been a close friend to Zappa. They had the same intellect and mindset.
& a talented composer, arranger & Jazz pianist complementing Steve's off-the-wall comedy on the corner of Sunset Blvd & N Bronson Ave, My Grandparents & My dad's old LA, Hollywood neighborhood
@@shuttlewerks1 You nailed it!...I am so happy to see how these two talented men really hit it off! It is inspiring to me, actually!
"One more time...!"
(GONG!!)
Boy, that got me 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Comedy Gold!! Thank you for this!
Imagine you’re living in a small town in 1963. You know about television but don’t have one. A family member buys one and turns it on one evening and 12:55 is on the screen. I don’t know how I would react.
Had I seen this in 63, I would at least have had an idea of the craziness to come. That said, Zappa was intellectually way ahead of his time.
There’s so much going on in this clip. Two master improvisers performing together. You can see Frank Zappa dedication to his Kraft, as well as Steve Allen. and you could see how the comedy of David Letterman is inextricably linked to this as well.
Two weeks playing the bicycle and he was already a virtuoso! 😂
Almost an overnight sensation.
FRANK ZAPPA ( December 21 , 1940 - December 4 , 1993 ) is on the STEVE ALLEN SHOW at age 22 without his
famous moustache .
Zappa is playing it straight and laughing up his sleeve, the whole time...great prankster
100%!! Exactly!! I commented on another thread (that thought Steve and audience were "lampooning" Zappa ...laughing at his expense.) I totally disagreed!!
Zappa is serious about his music but in this situation he is clearly also serious about the absurdist humor in this...and Steve Allen is totally on board with it. It's the seriousness that makes this work. It's Zappa who's having fun with the audience....they're not quite sure what to make of him, so they are feeling a little out of balance. Which I think is exactly where he wanted them.)
Steve was so funny. And a great sport with Frank.
Wow, didn't realise Zappa had been at it for so long, what a legend😊
What a GEM!!! I had no idea this existed! Thank you.
My Parents loved Steve Allen we watched almost religiously in our home, i saw this when I was young. Later in life while enjoying APOSTROPHE and maybe in a slightly altered state I exclaimed that Dude used to play a bicycle. Like a Stradivarius.
What a wonderful experience!
Wow look how far back this genius goes! I didn’t know he was already making a name for himself in the early 60’s. Sure do miss him.
Zappa was a child of the 1950s...and was exposed to the good and the bad of that musical time period...he then proceeded to blaze his own trail!
The early Frank Zappa music was creative with funny HUMOR! Cool 😎 too Steve Allen.
I used to whistle through my bicycle handlebars. If only I'd tried to get on television life could have been so different. You had to apply just the right air pressure, though. Too much and they just hissed. You could suck, too, and the sound would be different, but I don't really want to go down that road.
It's interesting how similar this little piece is to some of the work that came out at the end of Zappa's life. The chaotic nature of this experiment calls to mind Zappa's explorations into the world of the synclavier on "Jazz from Hell" and "Civilization Phaze III".
eclectic jazz
he did this sort of thing throughout his entire career. he was a careful study of stockhausen, varese, boulez etc.
he does play the bicycle a few times on "We're Only in It For the Money"
Steve Vai had the same Ear for Music,
& played w Zappa,
He also saw music in Everything & Attempted to reproduce the sounds of this & Nature on his Guitar,
Pure Genius 👌🍷
This really turned in to some FUNNY television. Steve Allen was a pioneer. Booking Frank Zappa, and his two weeks of bicycle playing, is proof. And he said it at 14:17.
Well, this young man is obviously a genius. What an act! The bicycle has another use, genius. Thanks for sharing. I love it.
FRANK - doing his Rod Serling impression :) KOOL
Now that you mention it...🤔 Wow. I was thinking Bob what's his face from "Full House", but Rod Serling, definitely, lol.
I love this. Frank is a master. He never let anyone stand in his way and he alwAys knew what he wanted. Bob Marley also had that determination, be serious be clear be present and be ready to change the world.
Frank & I share a Birthday 12/21 He was a highly intelligent man & musician.❤
This probably opened some youngsters' minds about possibilities at the time.
I love the way Frank carried himself for his interviews. So polite in the hot seat.
This was hysterical😂
Steve Allen too funny😄
I loved Steve when I was growing up - he could go from being totally silly to earnest & serious depending on the subject at hand. It was a thrill meeting him at a TV show taping I was working on in the 80s
@@joestrike8537 Steve Allen was a one-off "Intellectual", who knew enough to be open-minded...He definitely had some negativity towards basic Rock and Roll....but could sense the creativity in others. His humor was very off-the-wall,, for his time...If you can, catch some of his "Man on the Street" interviews with Louie Nye, Tom Poston, and others. Just as funny today, as it was 60 years ago! And his "Let's Feed the Schmock-Bird" skits were absurdly totally hilarious!
Zappa was a pioneer of sounds exploration.As an entertainment reporter, I was blessed to interview Frank when he came to New Orleans. It was the second most fascinating interview of my 35-year career. (Laurie Anderson remains #1)
Can you imagine owning one or both of these famous bikes that Mr. Frank Zappa played on the Steve Allen show?
I had Zappa’s Mothers of Invention album, and realized it was either over my head or I simply can’t bear cacophony disguised as music. He was so young here! Steve Allen was always a gentleman, and it really was a pleasure to be taken back to television’s early days.
This leads to naming your son Dweezil and your daughter Moon
One of the most remarkable and important musical items ever recorded. FZ forever!
This pure Frank Zappa magic❤
Positively brilliant
Blowing through the bicycle handlebars? I remember doing that as a kid.
I wasn't aware of it, but he was influencing me even then. 👍. RIP FZ. Chaffee high school 👍
Frank Zappa was absolutely positively serious. This is genius because he refused to treat this as a joke. No tounge in cheek like Steve Allen was suggesting but trying to make an authentic statement. Finally towards the end Allen started to get it really started trying. This was revolutionary even today
What an artist Frank Zappa was! Such a talented musician.
PhD of Music, and humor!
Frank Zappa was rad! :D
Wow this is something awesome. Zappa rocks forever.
Amazing Frank Zappa !
On the surface here, Frank was served up as an object of ridicule, but Steve knew there was more to it.
Steve Allen gave Frank Zappa all the room he needed while making candid remarks, strange as things like this can be until we realize the beauty of it.