21 December 1940 — 4 December 1993
Frank Zappa has probably had more impact on my approach and attitude towards music than anyone else. I tentatively popped a copy of ‘Tinseltown Rebellion’ into my cheesy teenage tape machine at the age of 14 and thought it was wonderful, but never got round to exploring any further at the time (probably lack of money and too many other things I wanted to listen to). Then, at 17, I was suddenly ready. Bought ‘Hot Rats’ and, later, ‘Sheik Yerbouti’, borrowed a couple of other things, and I never looked back. The other day, I realised I probably hadn’t listened to any Zappa for a couple of weeks and promised myself that today I’d listen to nothing else. It’s times like these when I wonder whether I actually *need* any other CDs…
Despite my total Zappa obsession, I’ve never properly played any of his music, apart from practising the odd snippet here and there. I did a style analysis for Guitar Techniques magazine a couple of years ago, but that was all strictly “in the style of”. I figured it was about time I remedied this so here’s a little cover version (I took a couple of liberties with the bass line in places)…
Thanks Frank!