Willie the Pimp

"Willie the Pimp" is a blues rock song from Frank Zappa's 1969 album Hot Rats. It features an idiosyncratic Captain Beefheart vocal and one of Zappa's classic guitar solos. It is the only track that is not instrumental on the album, though the track features a long guitar solo.

"Willie the Pimp"
Song by Frank Zappa
from the album Hot Rats
ReleasedOctober 10, 1969
GenreBlues rock, hard rock, jazz rock
Length9:25
LabelBizarre/Rykodisc
Songwriter(s)Frank Zappa
Producer(s)Frank Zappa

The song appeared as an instrumental on Zappa's Fillmore East – June 1971, originally split as the last track on side one (2'50") and continued on the first track on side two (1:54) of the LP. Another short instrumental version appeared on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 as a 2'06" segue between "My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama" and "Montana".

The album title Hot Rats comes from a lyric of Willie the Pimp. The origin of the song was explained in a conversation Zappa recorded in 1969. This interview recording was later released as "The Story of Willie the Pimp" on the Zappa album Mystery Disc.

The song was ranked number 75 on the list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" of Rolling Stone.[1]

Musicians

Hot Rats version

Fillmore East

You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4

Cover versions
  • Juicy Lucy covered "Willie the Pimp" on their 1970 release Lie Back and Enjoy It, their version was included in Andy Votel's compilation Vertigo Mixed, released in 2005.
  • Aynsley Dunbar recorded a 14'55" version with his band Blue Whale in 1971. Dunbar was the drummer for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at the time the album was released.
  • Stack Waddy on their 1972 album Bugger Off!.
gollark: SwitchCraft uses something like 16GB.
gollark: Minecraft uses *all* RAM.
gollark: Because if not, no player will particularly care.]
gollark: Is this meant as server *hosting*, or something?
gollark: Kind of hard to pronounce, I admit.

References
  1. "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" at the Wayback Machine (archived May 31, 2008). Rolling Stone. 2008. Retrieved 2011-01-25. "Zappa's guitar improv never sounded more bluesy —or more jubilant— than it does on this song. His greasy skids and howling-dog tone —and the way he breaks into note-cluster fisticuffs with the rhythm section— are playfully impulsive. And that deep vocal? Zappa's teenage chum Captain Beefheart."
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.