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Be-bop Tango (of The Old Jazzmen's Church) - Frank Zappa



     
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Be-bop Tango (of The Old Jazzmen's Church) Lyrics


Frank zappa (lead guitar, vocals)
George duke (keyboards, synthesizer, vocals)
Tom fowler (bass)
Ruth underwood (percussion)
Jeff simmons (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Don preston (synthesizer)
Bruce fowler (trombone)
Walt fowler (trumpet)
Napoleon murphy brock (tenor saxophone, flute, lead vocals)
Ralph humphrey (drums)
Chester thompson (drums)
Debbie (background vocals)
Lynn (background vocals)
Robert camarena (background vocals)
Some of you may know that the tango, which is not a very popular dance anymore, was at one time reputed to be a dance of unbridled passion. back in the old days when it wasn't so easy to get you
Ks off, when it was hard to make contact with a member of the opposite camp and you had to resort to things like dancing close together and going hey...
Those were the days. well those days are probably gone forever, I don't know, unless nixon is going to bring them back a little bit later. but we have this very special highly evolved permutated
O. it's actually a perverted tango. by the time... yes, it's so perverted! this is the be-bop tango, a special entertainment event that includes choreography a little bit later, so watch out fol

You can turn on the big lights, we may need 'em. you know, the ones in the audience. heh heh. okay, 're you ready? not too fast now 'cause I wanna get the right notes on the tape 'n' this, this
O be the one. this has to be the one with all the right notes on it. okay, 're you ready? this is a hard one to play. one two three four...
The cowbell as a symbol of unbridled passion, ladies and gentlemen.
Now, as you might have noticed, bruce fowler has just completed some sort of trombone solo, based on the-ah, idea of an evolved tango-event. bruce has also prepared for you a demonstration of a
That he hopes will sweep the ocean right after the mud shark did. bruce is now warming up the important muscles of the body, in preparation...in preparation for the real live be-bop tango which
E gonna demonstrate. napoleon will assist him. napoleon just put your horn down, just relax, put your head back, here comes the drill. okay, heh heh heh, you know what I'm talkin' about? okay.
This is sort of like jazz in it's own peculiar way. jazz is not dead, it just smells funny! okay, let's go! yeah man, jazz man, you know what I mean? this is be-bop, even though you think it doe
Sound like that. be-bop! now, as you might have noticed, some of you with a musical education can tell that the notes that george just sang when he went: "this is be-bop, even though you th
T doesn't sound like that", is actually a sort of a twisted form of the theme of the tango itself which will get even more depraved as the number goes on. george will now attempt to dismemb
At melody, play it and sing it at the same time while... tu-dup. hey, that's the way! while we sort of dance to it. okay, try it george. tu-dup, tu-dee... oh yeah! as I was saying. now, what we'
E to do at this point is get some volunteers from the audience to... I know you will, oh God you will... we need some...heh heh heh... now, as a matter of fact you did, didn't you... no, we wann
E some people who've never tried it bef
Ore, who've never even thought of trying it before. a boy, a girl, preferably who like each other, who would like to come up here and attempt to dance to what george sings. do we have anybody wh
..you're one.
Okay, what's your name?
Carl.
Your name is carl? please carl step on to the stage. pleased to meet you carl. alright. okay? let's see-ah, is there anybody in the, in the back? where...oh-oh, hey! what's your name?
Rick.
Rick, and?
Jane.
Rick and jane and carl! alright, here's how it works: there's a beat going on like this; that's a pedestrian beat. you don't dance to that beat, you dance to what george sings, okay? the little
Okay? the little quick ones, okay? ready? george, make them dance!
Dup. no no rick, you're too reserved. ready? give it to 'em george! tu-dup, tu-dup pu-dee-da... no no, come on now, loosen up. listen, encourage them! when it... ah! okay! alright, one more time
Ce!
Tu-dup, du-dee-da... let's study this phenomenon. tu-duppy-dup-pu-dee-da... now look, rick and jane and carl, you're, you're wonderful but you're just too reserved. I still can... I know you wil
Ybe in a minute. okay, I'll t-tell you what: go back to your seats and we'll bring up the next batch. okay? carl, rick and jane! alright, you wanna try...?
Anything you say frank!
Oh my god! alright, you're name is lana, right? lana dance!
Du-dup-dee-dup... now that's more like it. du-dup-dee-dup... lana, you're so good we have to bring up some other people to assist you. brenda, imported from edward's air force base, where she...
Es and gentlemen, brenda... brenda is a professional harlot and she just got finished stripping for a bunch of guys at edward's air force base, and she made it down here in time for the show. tw
Rs of taking it off for the boys in the car, really good. okay. heh. brenda, brenda has a lovely assistant named carl, or robert james davis if you prefer. herb cohen, ladies and gentlemen! okay
Ce!
Du-du-dip... you're still too adagio, I keep telling you! du-dup-du-dee-da... turn on the bubble machine! dup-dee-da, dup-dee-da... god, is that a cheap bubble-machine! bow, du-du-du-du-du-da...
Es and gentlemen: don's ex-wife! ladies and gentlemen, you're probably sitting in your chairs, saying to yourselves: I could do that. and of course you can! and now is your big chance! all you h
O do, the first step is easy, all you gotta do is stand up. go ahead, just stand up. there you go, you are standing up. yes, some of you are not standing up but you won't have as much fun as the
Who are standing up. okay, turn on the big lights so everybody can see what's going on. yes, very many of you are standing up. okay, link your mind with the mind of george duke! and when...
Du-dup... that's it! when he plays those funny fast little notes, twitch around and have a good time with the be-bop tango, let's try it! anything you wanna do is alright. you gotta do anything
Anna do, it's alright. yes you got to know you came to the right place, tonight. (give me some of that wine now). as you might have guessed, ladies and gentlemen, this is the end of our concert.
Ike to thank you ver... wanna thank you very much for coming. hope you had a good time. bruce fowler on trombone, napoleon murphy brock on tenor sax and lead vocals, ruth underwood on percussion
Ph humphrey on drums, chester thompson on drums, tom fowler on bass and george duke on the keyboards. thank you very much. alright, alright...

Enjoy the lyrics !!!
Frank Vincent Zappa (1940-1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer, bandleader and producer. He was one of the most prolific musicians of his time, releasing over fifty albums of original material spanning over a thirty-five year career.

Born on 21st December 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland, Zappa's earliest influences were 1950s pop and rock (such as doo-wop and rhythm and blues), and 20th-century classical composers including Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varèse. His output was divided between adventurous instrumental compositions and succinct, catchy rock songs with ribald, satirical, or comically absurd lyrics. On stage he demanded virtuosity and spontaneity from his musicians, and employed many performers who would later go on to achieve fame in their own rights. He directed and released a number of films featuring himself, his musicians and entourage, including 200 Motels and Baby Snakes.

His career started in 1955. His earliest recordings date from the mid-1960s, and include collaborations with his school friend Captain Beefheart. In 1965 he joined a bar-band called The Soul Giants, quickly dominating its musical direction and rechristening it The Mothers. Their first release (as The Mothers of Invention; the name alteration requested by their record company) was the 1966 double album Freak Out!. The line-up of the Mothers gradually expanded to accommodate Zappa's increasingly ambitious and avant-garde music, but by 1969 he decided to work outside the band structure, focusing on his solo career, and effectively disbanding the Mothers in 1971.

The beginnings of his solo career in the late sixties and early seventies was characterised by a strong free jazz influence, with albums containing little, if any, lyrical content, such as Hot Rats, Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo. Towards the mid-seventies his albums became more rock-orientated, with a combination of jazz fusion instrumentation and rock song structures. This more accessible sound bore reasonable mainstream appeal, especially with the release of the well-advertised albums Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe (') (which both went Gold), but Zappa's unpredictably eclectic output never led to solid mainstream recognition. He receieved uniformly lukewarm reviews from popular music publications such as Rolling Stone throughout his career. In his late seventies' output, the gulf between his humorous songs and more lengthy, complex instrumental music widened, and albums, such as Zappa In New York, Joe's Garage: Acts I, II & III, and Sleep Dirt displayed, by track, both sides firmly segregated.

Zappa saw a second run of success in the early eighties with the release of many albums with predominantly comedic rock songs, but later continued to experiment with virtually every style of music through the eighties, and was productive as ever until his death. His output in this later-career period included two albums of strikingly original classical music with the London Symphony Orchestra, an electronic take on 18th-century chamber music (written by the obscure Italian composer 'Francesco Zappa', no relation), an album of synclavier compositions (misleadingly titled Jazz From Hell which garnered a Grammy award), a double-CD release of electric guitar instrumental music (the laconically titled Guitar) and a plenitude of official live releases, revisiting fan-favourites as well as showcasing Zappa's talent for reinventing the music of others; his version of Stairway To Heaven becoming a word-of-mouth favourite.

Zappa produced almost all of his own albums, spending many hours in the studio recording and manipulating tracks, and was always at the forefront of emerging technologies; from tape editing, collage, multitrack and overdubbing in the sixties to digital recording, electronic instruments and sampling in the eighties. Conversely, Zappa was also a obsessive self-archivist, recording virtually every one of his live performances, and often using live recordings of new material without needing to enter the studio. The archive of tapes at his family home in Los Angeles continues to be a source of posthumous releases for the Zappa Family Trust. He was also noted as a spotter of talent and his shifting line-up of musicians included Lowell George, Jean-Luc Ponty, Terry Bozzio, Chad Wackerman, George Duke, Mike Keneally, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai, as well as giving Alice Cooper his first break in music and working again with his old collaborator Captain Beefheart when his career was in decline.

In the late 1980s he became active in politics, campaigning against the PMRC's music censorship scheme and acting as culture and trade representative for Czechoslovakia in 1989; and considered running as an independent candidate for president of the US.

His death in Los Angeles, California, on 4th December 1993 came three years after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

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Frank Zappa