Zappa's best bass player

[CrusaderFrank]

Arthur Barrow
Tom Fowler
Arthur Barrow
Scott Thunes
Patrick Ohearn
Roy Estrada
Or

Arthur Barrow

Pick one

Arthur Barrow

 

[Hellbilly]

Define “best.”



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[Billy_Kinetta]

Wasn't it Arthur Barrow?

 

[Pogo]

Arthur Barrow
Tom Fowler
Arthur Barrow
Scott Thunes
Patrick Ohearn
Roy Estrada
Or

Arthur Barrow

Pick one

Arthur Barrow

Joe McCarthy.

Patrick O'Hearn worked with FZ? Who knew

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Define “best.”



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Um, the one I like best. What's your definition

 

[Harry Dresden]

a poll in 2004 on talk bass.com was this....

Who's Your Favorite Zappa Bassist?
Poll closed Apr 14, 2004.

1. Roy Estrada
   1 vote(s)
   1.9%
2. Patrick O'Hearn
   7 vote(s)
   13.2%
3. Arthur Barrow
   4 vote(s)
   7.5%
4. Scott Thunes
   12 vote(s)
   22.6%
5. Erroneous
   1 vote(s)
   1.9%
6. James "Bird Legs" Youman
   0 vote(s)
   0.0%
7. Tom Fowler
   9 vote(s)
   17.0%
8. Max Bennett
   1 vote(s)
   1.9%
9. Dave Parlato
   0 vote(s)
   0.0%
10. Jim Pons
    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
11. Shuggie Otis
    3 vote(s)
    5.7%
12. Never listened to Frank Zappa
    15 vote(s)
    28.3%

 

[rightwinger]

They all sucked

Mothers of Invention were just terrible

 

[Hellbilly]

Define “best.”



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Um, the one I like best. What's your definition

When it comes to music, I don’t believe there is a best.
I know for a fact if you played in Zappa’s band, you are an excellent musician. He would not tolerate any less.
When Steve Vai wanted to play with him, Frank gave him an incredibly difficult passage to play. Steve said he couldn’t play it, to which Frank replied, “Linda Rondstadt is looking for a guitar player.”
That was Frank Zappa.
So no best only favorites.



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[Billy_Kinetta]

I dunno. Jimmy Carl Black WAS the Indian of the group.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

a poll in 2004 on talk bass.com was this....

Who's Your Favorite Zappa Bassist?
Poll closed Apr 14, 2004.

1. Roy Estrada
   1 vote(s)
   1.9%
2. Patrick O'Hearn
   7 vote(s)
   13.2%
3. Arthur Barrow
   4 vote(s)
   7.5%
4. Scott Thunes
   12 vote(s)
   22.6%
5. Erroneous
   1 vote(s)
   1.9%
6. James "Bird Legs" Youman
   0 vote(s)
   0.0%
7. Tom Fowler
   9 vote(s)
   17.0%
8. Max Bennett
   1 vote(s)
   1.9%
9. Dave Parlato
   0 vote(s)
   0.0%
10. Jim Pons
    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
11. Shuggie Otis
    3 vote(s)
    5.7%
12. Never listened to Frank Zappa
    15 vote(s)
    28.3%

Scott Thunes was a monkey compared to Barrow, no offense to Scott. Maybe it was having Vinny Colaiuta as the drummer but Barrows work on SUNPYG was just otherworldly

 

[Harry Dresden]

Define “best.”



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Um, the one I like best. What's your definition

When it comes to music, I don’t believe there is a best.
I know for a fact if you played in Zappa’s band, you are an excellent musician. He would not tolerate any less.
When Steve Vai wanted to play with him, Frank gave him an incredibly difficult passage to play. Steve said he couldn’t play it, to which Frank replied, “Linda Rondstadt is looking for a guitar player.”
That was Frank Zappa.
So no best only favorites.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

vai played on a few of zappas albums the first of them when he was 20 years old.....
As a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, Vai transcribed some of Zappa's most rhythmically complex music, using a range of conceptualizations for the notation of rhythmic music. Vai says "While transcribing the material, I was often confronted with situations that led me to reach into the intuitional areas of my imagination to come up with various notational devices and constructions that I had never seen before. I soon discovered that many contemporary composers were then (and are still) using these notations". These concepts can be seen throughout the "Frank Zappa Guitar Book", which were composed of Vai's guitar and drum transcriptions from various Zappa albums. Vai toured with Zappa from 1980 to 1983, performing selections of this technically demanding music with Zappa's band at the time.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Define “best.”



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Um, the one I like best. What's your definition

When it comes to music, I don’t believe there is a best.
I know for a fact if you played in Zappa’s band, you are an excellent musician. He would not tolerate any less.
When Steve Vai wanted to play with him, Frank gave him an incredibly difficult passage to play. Steve said he couldn’t play it, to which Frank replied, “Linda Rondstadt is looking for a guitar player.”
That was Frank Zappa.
So no best only favorites.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

vai played on a few of zappas albums the first of them when he was 20 years old.....
As a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, Vai transcribed some of Zappa's most rhythmically complex music, using a range of conceptualizations for the notation of rhythmic music. Vai says "While transcribing the material, I was often confronted with situations that led me to reach into the intuitional areas of my imagination to come up with various notational devices and constructions that I had never seen before. I soon discovered that many contemporary composers were then (and are still) using these notations". These concepts can be seen throughout the "Frank Zappa Guitar Book", which were composed of Vai's guitar and drum transcriptions from various Zappa albums. Vai toured with Zappa from 1980 to 1983, performing selections of this technically demanding music with Zappa's band at the time.

 

[Pogo]

I dunno. Jimmy Carl Black WAS the Indian of the group.

So one day I'm at the radio station and the door buzzes. There's a musician there I didn't know was coming. He says "Hi I'm Jimmy Carl Black" and without a moment's hesitation I said "and you're the Indian of the group!". He dug it.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Arthur Barrow's work on Shut Up N Play Yer Guitar is what decided it for me.

He was able to craft amazing bass melodies that supported the Zappa Colaiuta superstructure without stepping over them