cclxvii. ZAPPA, Frank: Went on the Road

cclxvii. ZAPPA, Frank (1940-1993)

Two versions

Went On The Road (2015)
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Esa-Pekka Salonen, cond.
(1:41)

from 200 Motels: The Suites.

200 Motels (1971). If you've never seen it ... well, it's possibly the best film ever made about a rock group's Life On The Road -- with a healthy dash of some of the most amazing orchestral music ever written by a supposed Rock Star.

Zappa always considered himself a composer above anything else. The Rock Star/Gonzo Guitar Player/Stuff You Couldn't Play On The Radio -- all that took a backseat to his real passion: writing little dots on manuscript paper and doing whatever he had to do to hear the result. He wrote most of it in airports.

200 Motels is still unavailable on DVD, but you can scoot over to Pluto TV and watch it for free.

**

This one-time live performance at Disney Hall occurred on October 23, 2013. It is a 90-minute exploration of all the music from the film (and some that got left on cutting-room floor!) ...

Compare to the original:

from 200 Motels (soundtrack).

Would You Like A Snack? (1971)
FZ, bass, guitar, drums
George Duke, trombone, keyboards
Ian Underwood, keyboards, woodwinds
Big Jim Sullivan, guitar
Martin Licket, bass
Aynsley Dunbar, drums
Ruth Underwood, percussion
Jimmy Carl Black, vocals
Howard Kaylan, vocals
Jim Pons, voices
Mark Volman, vocals
Theodore Bikel, narrator
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Elgar Howarth. cond.
(1:23)