In France I have always loved this, in no short part to Johnny Guitar Watson's vocals.... I honestly don't know how someone from France would feel about. This is a cool kind of blues groove. This is another variation on the fifties thing, and has a really cool blues vibe about it.
This song was originally performed to the tune of 'In Cars' by Gary Numan during the mid-1980's European tour.
Steve Vai - a rough history The JEM guitar Interview Talking about Zappa Some guitar techniques Stevie's Spanking with Zappa 1981 May 1981 Zappa Tinseltown Rebellion Fine Girl Easy Meat For The Young Sophisticate Love Of My Life Ain't Got No Heart Panty rap, Tell me you love me, Now You See it now You don't, Dance Contest, Blue Light, Tinseltown Rebellion, Pick Me I'm clean Bamboozeld By Love, Brown Shoes Don't Make It, Peaches 3 1981 - Shut Up And Play Yer guitar - Frank Zappa Guitar Book sept 1981 Zappa You Are What You Is Teenage Wind Harder Than Your Husband Doreen, Goblin Girl, Theme From the 3rd movement of sinister footwear Society Pages, I'm A beautiful Guy, Beauty Knows No Pain Charlies enormous mouth, Any Downers, Conehead, You Are What You Is You Are What You Is - video Mudd Club, The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing, Dumb All Over Heavenly Bank Account, Suicide Chump, Jumbo Go Away, If Only She Woulda, Drafted Again NYC Palladium 1981 - with Zappa May 1982 Zappa Ship Arriving Too Late to Save A Drowning Witch No Not Now Valley Girl I Come From Nowhere Drowning Witch Envelopes Teenage Prostitute Mar 1983 Zappa Man From Utopia Cocaine Decisions The Dangerous Kitchen Tink Walks Amok The Radio Is Broken Moggio The Man From Utopia Meets Mary Lou Stick Together Sex Jazz Discharge Party Hats We Are Not Alone Jan 1984 Zappa Flex-able + leftovers Little Green Men Viv Woman Lovers Are Crazy Salamanders In The Sun Boy/Girl Song The Attitude Song Call It Sleep Junkie Bill's Private Parts Next Stop Earth There's Something Dead In Here Oct 1984 Alcatrazz - Power Live dvd Oct 1984 Zappa - Them Or Us The Closer You Are In France with David Lee Roth - Big Trouble The Crossroads dual For The Love Of God -live with the Metropole Orchestra
An album I tend to overlook and not play much for no good reason - every time I get reacquainted I find it's got lots of good stuff and I enjoy it top to bottom!
Ya Hozna This is great. I have loved it since I first heard it. We have a solid rock backing track with a layering of reversed vocals from older tracks. Those tracks are, Sofa, Lonely Little Girl and Valley Girl. It has this eerie, otherworldly sound to it, the Sofa sections are particularly awesome. The lead break by Vai is sensational, and came about by Zappa cueing Vai to play a solo to a completely different song, then chopping it out, and putting it in here. The track has a hypnotic effect, and suppose some may not like it, but I reckon it is great. This is just another wonderful piece of diversity from this crazy and wonderful Zappa album.
Sharleena This is a great redo of a much older Zappa track from the relatively early years. The arrangement is wonderful and it works really well for me. Here we actually get a young Dweezil tearing up the fretboard.
Yes, this is brilliant. The drumming deserves a special mention. Steve really tears it up. Does anyone know what song he was originally soloing on?
I never realised the solo was backwards too! This thread is great. I’m discovering stuff all the time. Hitting a real Zappa roll!
Sinister Footwear II Here we get one of Zappa's instrumentals. We start with a nice drum fill that moves into a series of nice melodic keyboard phrases, that are gentle and move nicely through some subtle changes. This dirty guitar comes in and then we move into a series of sections punctuated by percussion and it moves into this somewhat classical reflection, with the dancing piano in the back, and the guitar moaning and grumbling. This gives way to some keyboard arpeggios, and then guitar riff plays against that. We burst into a lead break proper, and for me it is never a bad thing to hear Zappa burst into a lead break. I seriously imagine Vai watching Zappa's every move when he went into a lead break, because I know I would have. We move again into the piano section, augmented with some synth behind it. Then we get some more Mann on percussion doubled with synth. This track is in a line of tracks the was part of what was originally part of a suite, called if I remember rightly the Poodle suite, that goes back at least to the Flo and Eddie days. I am not sure if this was part of it, or just an offshoot. We also have some conceptual continuity from Stinkfoot and such also. The whole Zappa catalog is a strange and interbred series of ideas that move forward and look back at the same time, and even just that is a really interesting thing to me. In terms of this track on this album, it is just another really interesting change of colour that keeps this album really interesting for me.
Here is a live version from the 1981 Halloween show. It shows more clearly what is going on and who is doing it.
Truck Driver Divorce This is a bizarre track, that is part country tune, part meltdown vocal, part instrumental entertainment. We have a lyrical conceptual continuity link to No Not Now, from Drowning Witch. Essentially I looked at a lot of these types of tracks a a good way of putting one of Frank's live solo's that he liked onto an album in the context of a song. We get a fair bit of Frank's tapping, which was generally done by bouncing the pick off the fretboard further down the neck.... In the context of the album, it is strange ina way, Zappa gives Steve and Dweezil a couple of lead breaks , and then throws in side two, as almost, "That's nice guys, but I'm the boss" lol
Stevie's Spanking This is actually quite remarkable in a lot of ways. Although Zappa often referred to band members and tour managers etc in his songs, to memory it was extremely rare, if ever that Zappa dedicated whole songs to one of his band members.... Miles David doing the track John Mclaughlin comes to mind as a similar situation, in obviously a completely different band, but no matter the subject matter of the lyrics, it is quite an honour to have someone like Zappa dedicate a whole song to you, and in my mind at least, seems to be a huge show of respect for Vai. Obviously we get a great Vai lead break. This is followed by Dweezil taking a lead as well. The song is one of Zappa's humourous smutty songs. with lots of interesting little sections that really make it a a very cool track on this album.... again of another flavour, which keeps this album so interesting to me.
This is an edit as such that goes straight to the meat. It is from Rome, Italy and we get Zappa and Vai taking turns at making the fretboard explode, and then coming together for a dual overload that is just excellent, and as a guitarist I love that.
Baby Take Your Teeth Out Maybe I'm childish but I always found this hilarious. This track is kind of a variation on the doo-wop with a bit of pop, and bounces along in a joyous, dancing vibe, until we get to the instrumental bridge that adds colour to the track and makes the track something more again. This isn't The Grand Wazoo, but I love it anyway
Sinister Footwear and Truck Driver Divorce both get huge thumbs up from me, though for different reasons. String beans to Utah, I say. And yes indeed, Stevie's Spanking is not just fun and an excuse to rock out and go crazy on the fretboard, it's also Zappa's nod to Vai in Frank's own inimitable way and that adds further value. Plus, I can't imagine higher kudos than Frank Zappa giving you a guitar solo spot on his album. Special mention to Bobby Martin's splendid vocal, and much respect to the hair brush, banana, zucchini, vibrato bar, umbrella, etc., that sacrificed themselves for the world to have this song.
That video clip from Rome is so inspirational. Steve make everything look effortless. Of course, we’re used to that now, but this is nearly 40 years ago! is there a tab anywhere?
I've loved Vai since his DLR days, and I think he gets lumped in with shredder guitarists, when he is in fact more of a composer. That is how he got his 'in' with Zappa - charting songs - and that shows in his more recent recorded work. That said, I prefer his band-based playing. I find his later instrumental work a bit more esoteric and harder to sit through. Both Passion & Warfare and Fire Garden are great albums that I can enjoy fully , but his other ones are tough for me. I like a challenging listen, but I think some of this stuff just doesn't connect with me. But his work on both DLR albums, with Whitesnake, and with the Vai band were all terrific. That is the Vai that I love. He plays for the song there - which I feel his mentor Joe Satriani always does even on instrumental work. He also was alwasy a terrific role model for young musicians, appreciative of everything he accomplished, and respectful to those who helped him get there. He never ever seemed to have an ego.