http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZVpOg8qHL0

Wonderful.

Consider this, Eric. It gets kind of intesnse at about 1 minute. Not really child's play.

...But they keep trying.This kid does a good passage of the opening figure, in the style of the 1977 show....

Some people will always think it's a bunch of noise. But a few years ago, Terry Bozzio, the player most associated with the piece, played it nice and slow, with a backbeat, so that we could figure out what was going on.

Terry still thrills the shit out of me.

This first sixty seconds of this can change your life.

I am falling in love with this little girl, who is persistent.

Not the favorite tour ('81), only some of the favorite players, but this version gives a pretty clear idea of what was happening melodically. I like to clutch my testicles for the modulations that happen around 2 minutes.

Terry tells the tale.

The first drummer seen in this clip is actually Vinnie Colaiuta. When Bozzio left the band, the world just assumed that FZ would never find another talent so attuned to his needs, so capable of performing his work.

But Vinnie is a once-per-century genius...

Zappa used to do a lot of solos over a two-chord vamp. Some nights he was hot, some nights he was OK. But listen to the first two minutes of this, an "OK" night for Frank. Colaiuta is on fire, hanging off of him like cheap suit, like a hound dog in the mood to chase when the hunter has a head cold. Zappa stutters at :37, and at 1 minute even, he must be fucking flabbergasted. Hold on there fella, I'm just getting started....

Note how Zappa mixed the record: Guitar and drums right up front, all the rest of the players in deep background.

Where do you find talents like that?

FZ was amazing. Spanks for sharing these awesome vids, cridmeister. Loves ya!

It's really great in stereo.

Also I confused the clips. I'm just sick about this.

Vinnie's brief appearance ---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaVQWhFFPbU

The eyeglasses fooled me. This could happen to anyone, really.