Best instrumental Zappa

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with little or no singing

King Kong suite

― CaptainLorax, Monday, 7 May 2007 19:54 (nineteen years ago)

the grand wazoo

― cutty, Monday, 7 May 2007 19:55 (nineteen years ago)

waka jawaka

― cutty, Monday, 7 May 2007 19:56 (nineteen years ago)

Inca Roads

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 7 May 2007 19:58 (nineteen years ago)

No, wait, RDNZL.

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 7 May 2007 19:59 (nineteen years ago)

"Waka/Jawaka"

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:13 (nineteen years ago)

Son of Mr Greengenes.

― everything, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:20 (nineteen years ago)

black napkins, the best guitar solo ever

― cutty, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:44 (nineteen years ago)

son of mr greengenes seconded!

― Emily Bjurnhjam, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:02 (nineteen years ago)

Is "Stinkfoot" the one that's just gnarly as humanly possible fuzz bass + drums + guitar? That one. Face-melting.

― nickalicious, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:12 (nineteen years ago)

That's ' (apostrophe). Def one of FZ's instrumental best, with no small amount of help from Jack Bruce.

― Sparkle Motion, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:25 (nineteen years ago)

Eat that Question is a contender as well.

― Sparkle Motion, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:26 (nineteen years ago)

I think you mean the title track from Apostrophe, but I'm not sure. The one with Jack Bruce on bass? (xpost!)

black napkins, the best guitar solo ever

Naw, that's "Watermelon in Easter Hay."

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:29 (nineteen years ago)

"Toad-o Line" on Joe's Garage Act. 1

― Alex in NYC, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:31 (nineteen years ago)

dudes its obv the whole side long jam that ends with 'village of the sun' on roxy and elsewhere. that is some of the best music.

― chaki, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:32 (nineteen years ago)

i mean it starts when village of the sun ends.

― chaki, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:32 (nineteen years ago)

4. Village of the Sun — 4:17
5. Echidna's Arf (Of You) — 3:53
6. Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? — 9:40

that sequence.

― chaki, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:33 (nineteen years ago)

so many to choose from ... gonna go w/ "watermelon in easter hay."

― Eisbaer, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:34 (nineteen years ago)

Chaki said what I was gonna.

― Dan Peterson, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:35 (nineteen years ago)

Fuck, this thread is going to push me into an all-Zappa week, I can tell.

Cutty, you may be right about "Black Napkins." I just put Zoot Allures on and that Strat he used on that Japanese tour (also on "Ship Ahoy") had an incredible fucked-up tone. Wild jumps from guitar to pure electronic noise, how'd he do that? (I don't really care how he did that, I'm just glad he did.)

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:37 (nineteen years ago)

still, i kinda agree w/ chaki -- roxy-era zappa is soooooo good. check out the roxy-era you can't do that on stage anymore as well, for some great music.

ahhhhh, "black napkins" is also so great -- damn!

― Eisbaer, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:37 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, the Helsinki concert YCDTOSA is fantastic. Even the room service comedy routine doesn't wear thin.

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

Wild jumps from guitar to pure electronic noise

seriously he goes into outer space at the end, sounds like rayguns

― cutty, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:47 (nineteen years ago)

fuck guys, i made a zappa instrumental mix about ten years ago and it was the greatest cd ever

― cutty, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:48 (nineteen years ago)

on that new OZ concert that just came out that Dweezil remastered (it kicks ass btw) he plays with a moogerfooger!

― chaki, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:49 (nineteen years ago)

anybody seen the new overnite sensation/apostrophe dvd? just netflixd

― cutty, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:58 (nineteen years ago)

I like Peaches En Regalia because I am obvious. Seriously though, the sax riff that comes in at 1:45, what a payoff.

― chap, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:03 (nineteen years ago)

Hot Rats on the whole makes this question extremely difficult.
Another one I forgot about: "The Little House I Used to Live In" off Burnt Weenie Sandwich.

― Sparkle Motion, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:11 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, speaking of fun guitar tones, how about the fretless guitar on "Filthy Habits" -- Classic or EPIC?

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:25 (nineteen years ago)

Which one's that on again?

Listening to Helsinki concert now--FZ's solo on Inca Roads is the same as on the LP version, right?

― Sparkle Motion, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:26 (nineteen years ago)

filthy habits is on sleep dirt. its super great.

― chaki, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:31 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, I think that was the first case of him plugging a live solo into an otherwise studio track.

"Filthy Habits" is on Sleep Dirt and Läther.
xpost

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:31 (nineteen years ago)

Oh yeah...that's next up then. Thanks.

― Sparkle Motion, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:32 (nineteen years ago)

rock hardy OTM re: rdnzl

― cutty, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:35 (nineteen years ago)

"Inca Roads". If that one doesn't count, then "Peaches En Regalia"

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:00 (nineteen years ago)

there is a part in inca roads that sounds like squarepusher in 1974

― cutty, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:29 (nineteen years ago)

I definitely think "Inca Roads" counts -- G. Duke's vocals are more like another instrumental part than like lyrics.

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:34 (nineteen years ago)

Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Just to land in the Andes?
Was it round
And did it have
A motor
Or was it
Something
Different

Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Fly along the mountains
And find a place to park itself

Or did someone
Build a place
To leave a space
For such a vehicle to land

Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Did the indians, first on the bill
Carve up the hill

Did a booger-bear
Come from somewhere out there
Just to land in the Andes?
Was she round
And did she have a motor
Or was she something different

Guacamole Queen
Guacamole Queen
Guacamole Queen
Guacamole Queen
At the Armadillo in Austin Texas, her aura,
Or did someone build a place
Or leave a space for Chester's Thing to land
*(Chester's Thing... on Ruth)*
Did a booger-beer
Come from somewhere out there
Did a booger-bear
Come from somewhere out there
Did the Indians, first on the bill
Carve up her hill
On Ruth
On Ruth
That's Ruth

― cutty, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:45 (nineteen years ago)

That's, like, a trombone part to me.

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:47 (nineteen years ago)

George Duke rules... at least on FZ's LPs. Sometimes he gets a little too Dukey Stick on his own.

― Sparkle Motion, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:56 (nineteen years ago)

"Blessed Relief" is probably my fave.

― Johnny Hotcox, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:13 (nineteen years ago)

Despite its eye-rolling title, "Alien Orifice" is perhaps my favorite.
Absolutely perverse syncopation...

― Joe, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:17 (nineteen years ago)

The thing I'm having trouble with in my brain is separating "best FZ instrumental pieces" from "best lengthy ripping guitar bits". I guess I would pick "Son of Mr. Green Genes" or "Little house I used to live in" for the former, and "the Torture Never Stops" (YCDTOSA v1 version) for the latter.

― Sparkle Motion, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:29 (nineteen years ago)

hot rats

― 600, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 01:15 (nineteen years ago)

I like Envelopes on Ship Arriving Too Late To Save a Drowning Witch. It has a high insanity factor.
Everything else mentioned so far is pretty great too!

― Moodles, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 01:54 (nineteen years ago)

i put the grand wazoo on this morning because this thread had me thinking about it and it blew my mind

blessed relief!

― cutty, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 13:37 (nineteen years ago)

also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_Diseases

― cutty, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 14:10 (nineteen years ago)

whoa! missed that completely

― Johnny Hotcox, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 00:10 (nineteen years ago)

"It must be a camel"

― baaderonixx, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 00:13 (nineteen years ago)

the grand wazoo is one of the best jazz albums of the 70's

― chaki, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 00:19 (nineteen years ago)

Moggio from The Man From Utopia. I really love the quirky melody on that one. Nearly impossible to play also.

― Marty Innerlogic, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 11:59 (nineteen years ago)

as much as the black page is held up as some amazing musical achievement, it's actually pretty annoying to listen to.

― chaki, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 18:22 (nineteen years ago)

There's this one random sped-up almost-ska jam from Lumpy Grave side A (near the end) that never goes on long enough.

This...

4. Village of the Sun — 4:17
5. Echidna's Arf (Of You) — 3:53
6. Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? — 9:40

...is so great, I may be misremembering the DVD, but don't some hot girls get up on stage during this part?

― nickalicious, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 18:38 (nineteen years ago)

mother mary and joseph

― cutty, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 18:41 (nineteen years ago)

I know it's a noob answer, but "Peaches en Regalia" all the way. Too much muso wankery among the later ones.

― The Deacon, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 21:17 (nineteen years ago)

The Gumbo Variations is really great, especially Sugarcane Harris' violin solo.

― earlnash, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 22:49 (nineteen years ago)

Ahead of Their Time deserves some love here.

― Rock Hardy, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 23:41 (nineteen years ago)

don't you people like "Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar"? some of that flies pretty high.

I have to go with "Apostrophe".

― sleeve, Thursday, 10 May 2007 01:39 (eighteen years ago)

two years pass...

FZ's guitar solo on "RDNZL" is just amazing. I know I've said it before.

― Beanbag the Gardener (WmC), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 23:24 (sixteen years ago)

six years pass...

I love the drum/percussion sound on "Son of Mr. Green Genes."

― ヽ（´ー｀）┌ (CompuPost), Tuesday, 16 February 2016 20:02 (ten years ago)

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