Stairway to Heaven-1988 tour

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The band that Frank Zappa had put together for his ill-fated 1988 tour ( the tour was cut short because of

Frank Zappa´s disagreements with various members), which these recordings are taken from, was simply amazing. There were twelve members in that group which meant that in addition to the more ordinary rock instrumentation there were also a five-piece brass section. That band could do just about anything IMO.The version of Stairway to Heaven is quite different from the original. First of all the rythm section plays an off-beat reaggae rythm. Secondly there´s lots of brass in the song and of course this version features the distinct vocals by Ike Willis. It actually comes off as a rather beautiful tribute even though the ironic distance and humour is intact ( lots of weird noises in the background).

Frank Zappa - lead guitar, computer-synth, vocal

Ike Willis - rhythm guitar, synth, vocal

Mike Keneally - rhythm guitar, synth, vocal

Bobby Martin - keyboards, vocal

Ed Mann - vibes, marimba, electronic percussion

Walt Fowler - trumpet, flugel horn, synth

Bruce Fowler - trombone

Paul Carman - alto sax, soprano sax, baritone sax

Albert Wing - tenor sax

Kurt McGettrick - baritone sax, bass sax, contrabass clarinet

Scott Thunes - electric bass, mini-moog

Chad Wackerman - drums, electronic percussion