Zappa about Queen

Maybe this is a pointless post... well, in fact it is :-)
But since i have read all those pointless, repetitive and later boring posts about Rainbow, Fredd movie, etc i suppose this will be, at least, something different.

It´s stupid, i admit it, but i always wonder what Frank Zappa --with all his bizarre, special music style (does humor belong in music?)-- thought about a band like Queen.
I get surprised (in a good way) when i read this lines from an interview:

[i]"IT: Over the last 10 years of rock music has anybody really surprised you like Hendrix for example?
FZ: No, Hendrix didn't surprise me, but I heard some things that I've liked. [b]Actually I get more surprises listening to a 'Queen' album than I get out of Jimi Hendrix's albums.[/b]

IT: From the music?
FZ: From the production. It's very good production.[b] Some of the things that they're doing mix-wise on these albums are very difficult.[/b]

IT: Do you think that it's peculiarly English sound?
FZ: I'd say if I heard that album and nobody told me what it was – I'd say it was an English album. I don't know why I'd say that but it has that kind of sound. "[/i]

The lines i remark on bold, are just FANTASTIC (¿maybe exagerated?)... is the first time i read somebody (and frank zappa, nothing more nothing less) saying that about Hendrix, and making such a direct comparation with Queen. I like much the fact he reckon the complex mixing work on Queen albums.

Later i dicovered that Frank said in MANY interviews that he likes Queen, and admired Brian May (well Brian was one of the interviewees in a documentary about zappa´s life), even he sang a bit of Bohemian Rhapsody in a radio show.

Well, nothing more...

Cheers!

That's actually quite a lot coming from Zappa. Very little modern music actually impressed him.

I think Queen got a lot more respect from other musicians than the critics. That says a lot about how good they really were.

[QUOTE] [b]AlbaNo1 wrote:[/b]

I think Queen got a lot more respect from other musicians than the critics. That says a lot about how good they really were.[/QUOTE]

YES! THIS!

And now I'm thinking Zappa WASN'T crazy :p

[QUOTE] [b]AlbaNo1 wrote:[/b]

I think Queen got a lot more respect from other musicians than the critics. That says a lot about how good they really were.[/QUOTE]

Well said. A very interesting quote from Zappa, too. Thanks to the original poster for sharing it.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

That's actually quite a lot coming from Zappa. Very little modern music actually impressed him.[/QUOTE]

He did always respect innovative production techniques, which is also what he seemed to appreciate in Queen.

I'm curious - what interview is this from?

[QUOTE] [b]Thistleboy1980 wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]AlbaNo1 wrote:[/b]

I think Queen got a lot more respect from other musicians than the critics. That says a lot about how good they really were.[/QUOTE]

And now I'm thinking Zappa WASN'T crazy :p

[/QUOTE]

Zappa definitely wasn't crazy. From what I gather, one hell of a dictator to work with, though.

I remember a big Zappa feature in Guitar World in the mid 70's. When asked if any of the current guitarist impressed him he said not really, their are one or two, the guy from Queen is interesting

That doesn't surprise me, either.

From a technical standpoint, most guys were just playing pentatonic licks. Brian was one of the few players really pushing the envelope and doing unique things with the guitar.

I wouldn't be surprised if Steve Howe impressed him too.

Thanks to the original poster for this Frank Zappa interview. This is the things i like to read, and it´s very interesting. Thanks!

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

That doesn't surprise me, either.

From a technical standpoint, most guys were just playing pentatonic licks.  Brian was one of the few players really pushing the envelope and doing unique things with the guitar.

I wouldn't be surprised if Steve Howe impressed him too.[/QUOTE]

I believe that the guitar player who had the biggest impression on Frank Zappa was Eddie Van Halen. He only had fantastic things to say about Eddie.

Here´s a funny video of Frank Zappa´s son expalining his relation with Eddie Van Halen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzWi3dKis2c

Brian May has told a story where Frank Zappa was on a Queen concert backstage and Brian wasn´t confortable with something. Frank Zappa asked him what was wrong and Brian told him that he had missed a note and made a mistake. Zappa told him that it wasn´t a mistake, because according to Zappa he wrote the song, it was his music, so he could play it has he wished.

Brian passed this story on to Joe Satriani because i saw Satriani telling this same story to Tommy Vance on the Friday Rock Show. He told that Brian told him this story to him because he (Satriani) was pissed about a performance, and Brian wanted make him feel better.

So, according to Frank Zappa if you´re the author of the music you´re playing you can´t make a mistake, even if you try :-)

Zappa used the studio has a canvas, like Queen also did.
I'm not suprised that he showed some respect for Queen.

^ nice way of putting it!

That's true about musicians respect. I talked with Rob Zombie, Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance), Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, and the list goes on and on...and all known well Queen and respect them, except some cases like Paul Weller. In usa musicians, they love 70's queen records, knowing the songs, etc...not only for talk (like Kid Rock who told me he loves Queen and did'nt know to say the tittle of any Queen albums...). Even Sasha Grey or Alan Moore, outside from music, respect Queen. Sasha Grey is fan. Moore not fan, but respect them.

[QUOTE] [b]thomasquinn 32989 wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

That's actually quite a lot coming from Zappa. Very little modern music actually impressed him.[/QUOTE]

He did always respect innovative production techniques, which is also what he seemed to appreciate in Queen.

I'm curious - what interview is this from?[/QUOTE]

Sorry for the delay. i´m agree with both of you! I could add that apparently he (frank) had a kind of structuralist view of music wich isn´t too common in the general public.

The interview was made by "It Magazine", Circa 1977 (acording my source it was the number 7, mainly dedicated to zappa´s music).

[QUOTE] [b]MERQRY wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]thomasquinn 32989 wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

That's actually quite a lot coming from Zappa. Very little modern music actually impressed him.[/QUOTE]

He did always respect innovative production techniques, which is also what he seemed to appreciate in Queen.

I'm curious - what interview is this from?[/QUOTE]

Sorry for the delay. i´m agree with both of you! I could add that apparently he (frank) had a kind of structuralist view of music wich isn´t too common in the general public.

The interview was made by "It Magazine", Circa 1977 (acording my source it was the number 7, mainly dedicated to zappa´s music).[/QUOTE]

Thanks, that's really interesting to hear! If it was roughly 1977, that puts it in the time Zappa made "Zoot Allures", a time when Zappa was more rock-oriented than usual, and moving away from his earlier work (it was the first album to drop the "& The Mothers of Invention" from the artist's name), plus, he was experimenting with weird studio techniques *a lot* (even by Zappa-standards) in the mid-70s, especially with superimposing guitar solos from one recording over another recording, so I can totally see how he found Brian's work interesting at the time.

Really nice to read something about Zappa on a Queen-forum! Even better to see that there are a lot of people here who also appreciate the guy!

By the way, when you say "structuralist view of music", do you mean structuralism - "theoretical paradigm positing that elements of human culture must be understood in terms of their relationship to a larger, overarching system or structure. It works to uncover the structures that underlie all the things that humans do, think, perceive, and feel" (like Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns), or are you referring to constructivism - the philosophical viewpoint that autonomous art does not exist, and that all art fulfills a (social) purpose, which results in the best art being that in which the maker finds a harmony between form and purpose?