Water Walking and Bicycle Blowing (part 1)

Andre, , , ,

Most of you are probably already familiar with the following videos:

(The remainder of Zappa’s performance can be found here.) These videos have made the rounds numerous times over the years, but I don’t know if anyone’s ever looked into any possible connections between Cage and Zappa. To me, these two performances and their respective contexts are too similar to be coincidental. I think it’s very likely that Zappa saw Cage’s appearance on television and modeled his own performance on it. Even if there isn’t such a direct connection between the two videos, I think it’s more than likely that Zappa at least had some of Cage’s theory in mind.

I think there’s a lot to say here, so I’ll limit my discussion here to a little background info on the two videos. I’ll follow up in a second post with a brief analysis of Zappa’s discourse regarding Cage.

The first video shows John Cage in his February 24, 1960 appearance on the CBS game show I’ve Got a Secret. Typically, the show features contestants with unusual, amazing, embarrassing, or otherwise humorous secret. A panel tries to guess their secret using only yes/no questions. The host, Garry Moore, considered Cage’s secret–

I’m going to perform one of my musical compositions … The ‘instruments’ I will use are: a water pitcher, an iron pipe, a goose call, a bottle of wine, an electric mixer, a whistle, a sprinkling can, ice cubes, 2 cymbals, a mechanical fish, a quail call, a rubber duck, a tape recorder, a vase of roses, a seltzer siphon, 5 radios, a bathtub, and a grand piano.

–to be intriguing enough to forgo the game in hopes of allowing time for the entire piece to be performed (with the further hope of a Q&A afterwards).

water walk 1

Floorplan for Cage’s Water Walk [1]

The piece Cage performed, Water Walk, was an adaption of his earlier piece Water Music (1952) which is generally thought of as the first of Cage’s so-called “theater pieces.” Cage originally adapted the piece for a performance on a different game show, the Italian program Lascia o Raddoppia (loosely translated: “double or nothing”) in January of 1959.

cage_Buongiorno

John Cage on Lascia o Raddoppia with host Mike Buongiorno

On Lascia o Raddoppia, contestants answered questions on a topic of their choice. If they were successful, they were invited back the following week to answer harder questions for progressively larger winnings. A contestant who made it through all five weeks stood to win five million lire (approximately eight thousand dollars). Cage, an accomplished mycologist, answered questions about mushrooms with the aid of an interpreter. Cage made it through all five weeks and bought a new piano with his winnings upon returning home. More significantly, Cage was also invited to perform one of his compositions each week of show. Water Walk adapted the earlier Water Music to be more appropriate to the televised medium.

water walk 2

Detail of the score for Water Walk [2]

Compared to Water Music, Water Walk is much simpler. Cage’s specifications for the timing of various events are much less specific. More significantly, however, Cage seems to have introduced a greater degree of humor to the second piece, pandering to the lighthearted nature of television and its audiences. I think the added humor was something that would surely have appealed to Zappa.

(The only other performance of Water Walk by Cage was done on The Henry Morgan Show in June of 1959.)

In the other video, we see Zappa performing on The Steve Allen Show three years later. Zappa’s piece, a “concerto for two bicycles, a pre-recorded tape and the musicians in the back” is much more improvised. As Zappa points out in the pre-performance interview, he hadn’t been playing the bike very long.

Jerry Hopkins, the show’s talent coordinator recalls how Zappa landed the gig:

The rules for my job were simple. Get someone who was genuinely eccentric or who did something at least a little strange or out-of-the-ordinary, but never make fun of them—the idea was to have fun with them. And, no fakes, no frauds, no bogus acts looking for exposure and willing to do anything to get it, no put-ons or send-ups, no cons. Because, Steve assured me, they never, ever worked, and they embarrassed everyone.

Only once did I ignore his advice and that was when I got a call from a young man who identified himself as Frank Zappa. He said he wanted to teach Steve how to “blow bicycle.” “Blow bicycle,” I repeated.

“Yeah, you know, like, the bicycle is a musical instrument.”

(You can read the rest of Hopkins’ account here.)

Zappa’s performance even got a write up in a local Cucamonga newspaper:

“Ontario Composer, Steve Allen To Play Wacky Duet”

Frank Zappa, 22, Ontario resident and composer of music, serious and otherwise, will be seen on television tomorrow night playing a bicycle concerto for two with Steve Allen. The show is at 11 p.m., Channel 5. “It’s very funny,” said Zappa. “You play a bicycle by plucking the spokes and blowing through the handle bars.” Other methods of producing “cyclophony” is to stroke the spokes with the bow of a bass fiddle, twirl the pedals and let air out of the tires. The Zappa-Allen concerto will be abetted by a man in the control room fooling around with a tape recorder and by a jazz group which will supply toneless background noise. Zappa studied music and art at Chaffey College. He wrote the score for “The World’s Greatest Sinner,” a low-budget tale about a sacrilegious imposter who repents. “Sinner” had its premiere at Vista-Continental Theater, Hollywood, and opened Wednesday at the Ken Theater, San Diego. Zappa writes musical commercials for TV and radio. They are recorded at Pal Studio, Cucamonga. [3]

These videos both provide neat examples of how the frequently-opposed worlds of art and pop occasionally intersect. A lot of the responsibility for these meetings can be placed on television. I haven’t quite worked this out completely yet, but it seems that for Zappa, the added visual dimension of televised performance goes hand in hand with what he thought about Cage.

In both of these videos, what interests me is the awkward mix of polite respect and anxious laughter on the parts of the hosts and the audiences of each show. I think that these two videos give us an intimate glance a very specific moment in the history of avant-garde music. Audiences (and television programmers) were still receptive to experimental ideas, which themselves hadn’t yet been relegated to exclusive academic circles.

From my perspective, nearly fifty years later, it’s remarkable how adventurous television programming was in the middle of the twentieth century. It’s easy to complain about the lack of this sort of programming nowadays, but I think these examples might give us a better understanding of the current situation.

References:
[1] Taken from William Fetterman, John Cage’s Theatre Pieces: Notations and Performances (Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996), 33.
[2] Ibid., 35.
[3] As of yet, I have not been able to find an accurate citation for this article. Based on the details it came from a Cucamonga, CA newspaper and can be dated to March 13, 1963. A transcription of the text can be found here.
Water Walking and Bicycle Blowing (part 1)

84,938 thoughts on “Water Walking and Bicycle Blowing (part 1)”

  1. o universo dos tecidos impressos em 3d para a moda 3d

    寮樺ぇ 銉涖兂銉?銇煋鍥姐伄銉堛儸銉炽儔 銈枫儳銉冦償銉炽偘銈勩偘銉儭銇亰銇欍仚銈佺垂浠?/a>銉炪儍銈广儷銈层兗銉?缇庛儨銉囥偅銇櫥绔滈杸 绛嬭倝鐢峰コ銇岀銇勯珮宄跺眿銇ぇ鐩涙硜 efight 銈ゃ兗銉曘偂銈ゃ儓 鏍奸棙鎶€鎯呭牨銈掓瘞鏃ラ厤淇?/a>anap 銉撱偔銉?120 寰冲旱銇瓙渚涚敤鍝併伄涓彜銇傘亽銇俱仚銈儯銉愩儔銉偣 angel r 銈ㄣ兂銈搞偋銉偄銉笺儷 ar8401 銉涖儷銈裤兗銉嶃儍銈偢銉ｃ偓銉笺儔銉曘儸銈儫銉嬨儔銉偣

  2. comprar t锚nis converse all star preto e branco online e barato

    写械褌褋泻懈械 泻褉芯褋褋芯胁泻懈 nike air max 90 833376 602 胁 懈薪褌械褉薪械褌 屑邪谐邪蟹懈薪械薪邪褋褌械薪薪褘械 褔邪褋褘 屑械褌邪谢谢懈褔械褋泻懈械 谢邪褌褍薪褜 la redoute泻褍锌懈褌褜 卸懈谢械褌泻邪 nike classic white 锌芯 芯褌谢懈褔薪芯泄 褑械薪械卸械薪褋泻懈械 褋锌芯褉褌懈胁薪褘械 泻芯褋褌褞屑褘 2018 屑芯写薪褘械

  5. adidas jeremy scott men shoes gold

    ray ban rb3016 clubmaster gafas de sol todos los colores espejo hombre mujerhibote gafas para ni帽os gafas de lentes transparentes marco geek nerd gafas con forma de coche gafas caso ropa y accesoriosmoncler eyewear gafas de sol con efecto carey hombre…

  6. spectacular savings on womens fila sport activate pocket high

    斜邪褋泻械褌斜芯谢褜薪褘械 泻褉芯褋褋芯胁泻懈 nike zoom hyperrev 2015 skyked 胁 褏邪褉褜泻芯胁械nike air max 90 斜械谢褘械 卸械薪褋泻懈械泻褉芯褋褋芯胁泻懈 nike lebron 13 屑褍卸褋泻懈械褌芯谢褋褌芯胁泻邪 nike wmns hyp fleece 泻褍锌懈褌褜 芯褉懈谐懈薪邪谢 胁

  10. nmd cs2 primeknit women

    po啪i膷ov艌a krojov pre拧ovmagnetick媒 n谩ramek 10vysok茅 s钮ahovacie nohavi膷ky babell bbl 069 samanta spodn茅zlate d臎tsk茅 n谩u拧nice

  11. new balance in offerta su amazon buyvip

    sofie schnoor shirt green skjorter fra sofie schnoor tilshirley bredal merino uld shorts berry rosastock foto af par sorte ruskind kvinders hé…¶jhå¿™lede sko isoleret pæ°“ hvid baggrundvaretype lå¿™derjakke farve sort fed faux lå¿™derjakke fra global den er nå¿™st…

  22. little pirate girl kids costume girls costumes

    eu39 tane膷n茅 top谩nky akces ps is ekru sat茅n 7 cm slim emptydreven媒 pracovn媒 st么l artemob ethandetsk媒 p铆sac铆 st么l stoli膷ka bambino r么zne farby siv谩d谩mske top谩nky guess

  25. combo teclado y mouse corsair k55 harpoon

    i mentioned above that the swing out stands feel well built in factlatest true wireless bluetooth earbuds headset with portable charging case mic 5steelseries rival 600 gaming mouse skin war light by gaminglogitech cordless desktop mx5000 laser compute…

  31. south indian traditional pavadai

    good quality lingeriecandy cherries mens transparent thong sheer mesh ultra mini bikininew fashion 2016 summer denim female dress korean thin short sleeved cotton solid color plus sizealicia lara croft looks just like the new tomb raider video games

  34. reebok rea zquick tr 3.0 aerobics gympaskor black white man

    芯写械卸写邪 卸械薪褋泻邪褟 褌褍褉褑懈褟薪邪褕懈 胁褋械谐写邪 谐芯褌芯胁褘 锌芯屑芯褔褜 胁邪屑 褋 胁褘斜芯褉芯屑. 蟹胁芯薪懈褌械 懈褋胁邪写械斜薪芯械 锌谢邪褌褜械 鈩?7 褉邪蟹屑械褉 44 46 48 芯褌 泻芯屑锌邪薪懈懈 褋胁邪写械斜薪褘泄 褋邪谢芯薪 斜械谢邪褟泻褍锌懈褌褜 褝褎褎械泻褌薪芯械 泻褉邪褋薪芯械 锌谢邪褌褜械 褋 褉邪蟹褉械蟹芯屑 褑械薪邪

  35. 泻褍锌懈褌褜 褉褞泻蟹邪泻 褔械褉薪褘泄 staff 28l camo black 胁 泻懈械胁械 芯褌

    glo story s枚t茅tbarna n艖i pufi kab谩t xl esunder armour elasztikus n艖i fejp谩ntnedyn f疟z艖s n艖i fels艖 feh茅r adryfashion n艖i ruha web谩ruh谩zp贸l贸 szabadid艖 茅s utcai ruh谩zat

  39. arrigo tas lederwaren heren cognac

    koszulka je藕dziecka polo horsense classic damskama艂y plecak z kolekcji posiada wyj艣cie na s艂uchawkitorby pi艂karskie i treningowecz贸艂enka ry艂ko cz贸艂enka ry艂ko cz贸艂enka ry艂ko

  41. adidas edge lux roze lichtroze

    secador de cabelos taiff new blackcal莽as jeans denuncia com ofertas incr铆veis nocamisa laco cetim e malha off white lucyintheskyblusa lisa com gola com la莽o mulher tamanhos grandes preto kiabi

  43. 褋锌芯褉褌懈胁薪邪褟 褋褍屑泻邪 04 褏邪泻懈 泻褍锌懈褌褜 胁 屑邪谐邪蟹懈薪械 褋褍屑芯泻 mospel

    wolford night sparkle fishnet tightsgirls leggings cat jack neon pink m target inventory checkeriridescent leggings silver douuod fashion teenindira high waisted front zip stretch vinyl leggings miss circle

  45. dam tamaris 1 1 25242 27 120 vita uni k盲ngor

    f枚r att l盲gga till n氓gra extra vid byst och h枚fter ska du g氓 efter pl盲teradmantel kl盲nning enkel utekv盲ll dam 30 outfits eleganta kl盲derv氓ra b盲sta catering tips inf枚r br枚llopbr枚llopskl盲dsel herr kl盲dsel f枚r brudgum m盲n

  46. 蟿蟽维谓蟿蔚蟼 蟽伪魏委未喂伪 蟺位维蟿畏蟼 superdry 3 tone logo montana grey

    褋褍屑泻邪 谢褍懈 胁懈褌芯薪 斜芯谢褜褕邪褟谐芯褉芯写褋泻芯泄 褉褞泻蟹邪泻 写谢褟 薪芯褍褌斜褍泻邪 褔械褉薪芯 斜芯褉写芯 surikat 18谢. 屑褍卸褋泻懈械 褉褞泻蟹邪泻懈泻褍锌懈褌褜 泻芯锌懈褞 褋褍屑泻懈 furla 褋褍屑泻懈 philosophy 泻褍锌懈褌褜. 泻褍锌懈褌褜 褋褍屑泻懈泻褍锌懈褌褜 锌谢褟卸薪褍褞 褋褍屑泻褍 褑胁械褌 芯褉邪薪卸械胁褘泄

Comments are closed.