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Hocus Pocus: the magic of wizardry
In 1973 the Dutch Guitar player Jan Akkerman was chosen Best Guitarist In The World by the readers of Melody Maker. He was together with Hammond organ player and flautist Thijs van Leer member of the progressive rock band Focus.
Here they are, the magic of wizardry, introduced by Gladys Knight:
And maybe this tune sounds familiar. And a live version:
And for those who don't know Gladys Knight, here she is with The Pips:
No kids’ stuff
Frank Zappa is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time. But working with him was not a matter-of-course. For example, (the legend says that) only three drummers throughout his career were able to play 2 specific songs of his successfully. Here you have drummer Terry Bozzio (and guitarists Steve Vai & Zappa’s son Dweezil) playing on “The Black Page”, that’s no kids’ stuff:
One of the other drummers is named Chad Wackerman.
He says that auditions for Zappa’s band were gruelling. Read this story, playing in odd time signatures like 21/16 and 19/8…!
Son Daron of Varatan & Zepur Malakian also wanted to play the drums when he was a little child, but he got a guitar from his Armenian parents because “you can’t turn the drums off”. If you like the better metal work, you can see here the result of their argument:
Daron Malakian is placed 30th in Guitar World’s List of The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time.
A Whole Lotta Yoko
Here is a link to another legendary combination: Lennon & Zappa. Warning: take care of your eardrums, Yoko Ono is making an awful noise. Also the audience boo'd Yoko after this performance.
When it comes to Zappa, you have to be all ears. He was a self-taught man who was influenced by avant-garde, R&B and modern Jazz. In his younger days he wrote classical music and played the drums in R&B bands. In his career he experimented a lot with different styles and he produced the majority of the albums he released (more than 60), solo or with his band The Mothers of Invention. Here you’ve got Zappa and his band fooling around with “Stairway to heaven” by Led Zeppelin:
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