Monday, October 23, 2023

dcclxxxii. ZAPPA, Frank: Mr. Green Genes/Son of Mr. Green Genes

dcclxxxii. ZAPPA, Frank (1940-1993)

Mr. Green Genes (1969)
FZ, guitar, vocals, percussion
Ray Collins, vocals
Jimmy Carl Black, drums
Roy Estrada, bass
Don Preston, keyboards
Billy Mundi, drums
Bunk Gardner, woodwinds
Ian Underwood, keyboards, woodwinds
Art Tripp, drums, percussion
Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood, tenor saxophone
Ruth Komanoff (Underwood), percussion
Buzz Gardner, trumpet
(3:14)

Eat your greens
Don't forget your beans & celery
Don't forget to bring
Your fake I.D.
Eat a bunch of these
MAGNIFICENT
With sauerkraut
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Sauerkraut!
Eat a grape, a fig
A crumpet too ...
You'll pump 'em right through
Doo-wee-oo

Eat your shoes
Don't forget the strings
And sox
Even eat the box
You bought 'em in
You can eat the truck
That brought 'em in
Garbage truck
MMMMMMMMMMMMouldy
Garbage truck
Eat the truck & driver
And his gloves
NUTRITIOUSNESS
DELICIOUSNESS
WORTHLESSNESS

Son of Mr. Green Genes (1969)
FZ, guitar, octave bass, percussion
Ian Underwood, keyboards, woodwinds
Max Bennett, bass
Paul Humphrey, drums
Lowell George, guitar
(8:57)


Frank liked to use "Son of" in a lot of his titles. This time the son has vastly outdone his dad.

The melody is the same, but Zappa plays a long guitar solo -- one of his very finest.
  • Zappa often said how he hated the ii/V/I cadence -- so prominent in most pop (and classical) music.
  • Here's the harmony of this 16-bar form:
    • ii/V ii/V ii/V ii/V ii/V ii/V ii/V ii/V I/vi I/vi I/vi I/vi IV-V / vi / bVII / bVII
  • Note the last four bars, crawling up to the tonic -- IV-V-vi-bVII -- but no tonic; back to ii -- completely avoid a tonic resolution!
  • guitar solo = 9 times through the form!
    • 2x features Ian Underwood playing complex scales ...
    • 3x features sax riffs for the first 8; FZ picks up the solo in Bar 9 ...
    • 4x = check out the incredible riff in bars 71-72 ...
    • 5x = beautiful off-beat accents (bars 97-98) ...
    • 6x = Zappa adds a non-chord C-Sharp and G-Sharp ...
    • 7x = amazing trills! (bar 129) ...
    • 8x = That simple/silly lick in the C/Am section (bars 153-155) ...
    • 9x = On the B-Flat chord, he stacks fourths (E-Flat; A-Flat; D-Flat) (bars 175-176) ...
Andy Aledort's transcription:









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cmlxxxix. MARTIN, Joe: A Dream

 cmlxxxix. MARTIN, Joe (1970-       ) A Dream (2009) JM, bass Chris Potter, tenor saxophone Brad Mehldau, piano Marcus Gilmore, drums (9:19)