The Roxy Band (1973-1975)

By the time Zappa was recovered enough to tour again, the members of the Flo and Eddie band had moved on to other things. So Frank put together a new band, one that would become many fans' favorite. This group was filled with amazingly good musicians, from Ian and Ruth Underwood to Tom and Bruce Fowler to George Duke and Jean-Luc Ponty. Oddly, the first thing Zappa did with this group was aim for the pop market, with two of his most mainstream albums, Overnight Sensation and Apostrophe('). Perhaps he was trying to raise the money he lost when he tried to tour the big jazz bands. Anyway, those two could be considered very good pop albums with some fantastic musicianship hidden away here and there. Of the two, I'd go for Apostrophe(') first.

The next release from this band was a live album that has become a favorite of many Zappa fans, Roxy and Elsewhere. If you like that one, the same band (and some of the same songs) is featured on You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2, featuring music played with even more precision and at faster tempos.

My favorite of the Roxy band albums is the last one that was released - One Size Fits All. If I had to pick one album for prog-rock fans to start with, this would be the one. It was one of the first two Zappa discs I bought (along with Hot Rats), and it hooked me. Fusion fans should love Inca Roads, which is considered by many to be FZ's single best song. Can't Afford No Shoes and Po-Jama People are catchy, blues-based rockers with great guitar work. Sofa is a beautiful, proggy instrumental in 3/4 time. San Berdino and Andy are great, high-energy rockers with some nice complexity and stop-on-a-dime musicianship. A little something for everyone.

With Captain Beefheart - Bongo Fury (1975)

Since Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart had been friends since childhood, and Frank produced Beefheart's breakthrough album Trout Mask Replica, it seemed inevitable that eventually they would join forces. It didn't last long, but it happened. The resulting band toured long enough to record the live album Bongo Fury before the strong personalities started to clash