Frank Zappa's JOE'S GARAGE: Classic or Dud?

End credits

since i'm really busy now (so busy that i shouldn't even be bumming around on ILX), i'll be brief -- (a) FZ's "tossed salad" approach to lyrics-writing was at its peak here (many of which seemed to be band in-jokes, but who cares?; (b) despite his slagging of punk-rock ("some new kind of English disease"), in spirit joe's garage is much closer to punk/new-wave than to late-seventies dinosaur rawk; (c) thematically, it's the closest Zappa ever came to wearing his heart on his sleeve; (d) "Watermelon in Easter Hay" is the FZ Rosetta Stone (which kinda relates back to (c)); and (e) "catholic girls," "wet t-shirt night," "stick it out," and "sy borg" (hello mistah sinkah!) make me smile like a motherfucker.

oh yeah, for alex -- (a) the blackface was originally meant to be Zappa's cover for Läther -- don't know why exactly it got stuck onto Joe's Garage, but it did; (b) not aware of any long-standing feud between Toto and FZ -- i suspect that he just thought that they were an inviting target

it's actually called "carolina hard-core ecstasy," and it's on bongo fury (with captain beefheart!)

Dale and Terry Bozzio on vocals, too.

http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/lyrics/Joe's_Garage.html

(which is a flippin great site)

J's Garage is one of FZ's best. And second Vinnie's drumming -- "Packard Goose"!!

god, i really miss not having FZ around during days like this.

Hahahahaha

Being that they used to be sold separately, I didn't hear VOL. II & III probably until about 1992. By that time, Vol. I had cemented itself as a perennial favorite of mine. I remember listening intently to Vol. II & III during a pointless car trip around New Jersey and not being as engaged as I was hoping to be (but that may be because the person behind the wheel of the car was an insufferable simpleton who had an inate gift for making every situation intensely unpleasant). I don't know if I'd call it "some of the worst music I've ever heard in my life" (I reserve that sort've poison prose for more deserving targets), but I'll agree that it doesn't measure up to the surreal majesty of Vol. I.

Last night, whilst flying from my in-laws in Texas (leaving my wife and child in the grips of that crazy family for another two days) I cursed the dark of the plane (dimmed so that the rabble could watch "Catwoman") and staved off ennui via an airing of various tracks from Joe's Garage. I know I mentioned it upthread, but the guiter segueway between "Wet T-Shirt Night" and...er..."Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" (dubbed "Toad-O Line," as it borrows and deftly re-wires several melodic chunks from said yawn-rockers' early signature hit, "Hold the Line") remains one of the most striking, lyrical and emotive solos I've ever heard (and that includes those by your patron saints like Hendrix, Page et. al.) That it accompanies a particularly unsavory and silly narrative is incidental. It's a beautiful bit of electric guitar playing, and if you haven't heard it, you're missin' out.

yea this album is fukkin great. loo hoo seel has messed my mind up but i still love her!

he used to cut my grass he was a very nice boy

Hate the comedy songs, love Bozzio's John Smothers impersonation, really love "Watermelon in Easter Hay."

And here comes the icepick in the forehead!

One of my roomates in lolcollege was involved in a production of this (this was in 1999 & iirc was the first time it had actually been performed). The thing started out very modestly & grew to spark the interest of Ike Willis & he came out & performed his orig parts w/ the group! The whole thing was a lot of fun & Ike even used my guitar amp & pedals for the event, which was far better use than I ever put them to.

Mostly dud. Hasn't aged well. The production actively tries to subvert the music for most of Acts II and III (except for "Watermelon in Easter Hay", of course). This is consistent with the storyline of the album, but it doesn't make for a satisfying listening experience. Act I is better, but not Classic.

Pillbox that's an awesome story! Ike rules!

Joe's Garage is definitely a Classic!

This is much closer to Classic than Dud. Not on par with straight-up classics like Freak Out, Lather & Roxy & Elsewhere - Not on the dud list with Ship Arriving Too Late & Man From Utopia. Overall very entertaining. Let us intone a hymn to the iron sausage.

they mus be bracketin rich craft

One of my favorites ever.

Yep - I laughed loud & long when I heard 'bout 'pracketin richcraft.' That's some funny stuff.

i wabe my bag; u wabe yon?
well how much id dey wabe?

i mean that bald headed john king of the plookers thing is fukkin loaded with one liners that get me chuckling everytime

Still love this record.

Yeah, it has many terrible moments, but I love it all the same

I liked it when I was 14. Now I can't stand any Zappa music with vocals (I still like his jazz-fusion albums, though).

I definitely feel like I've "outgrown" Zappa but I bet "Stick it Out" would still make me laugh today

I mean, "fuck me, you ugly looking son of a bitch" is indeed a solid gold lyric.

I definitely feel like I've "outgrown" Zappa but I bet "Stick it Out" would still make me laugh today

You mean it made you laugh once? Crikey. Horrible album, just the thought of Zappa doing that Central Scrutinizer shit between the track... ugh.

good god, the album isn't funny but your being mad at people for once having been twelve year old boys is the best argument one can make in favor of this record

"stick it out" actually dates back to a flo and eddie era piece from 1971 (the same piece that "sofa" comes from, which is why half the lyrics are in german). flo and eddie's groupie songs aren't funny either but they at least have a sense of exuberance that redeems them somewhat.

it's Ike Willis, man.

I think he's talking about earlier versions pre-Ike Willis

no, I mean Ike Willis's delivery of the lines is what makes it funny to me

Got it, Ike is great, but then so are Flo and Eddie

good god, the album isn't funny but your being mad at people for once having been twelve year old boys is the best argument one can make in favor of this record

that's not so much an argument as an admission

"Jeez, if you think this is puerile shit that's exactly what Zappa wanted you to think"

Cheers Frank

It wasn't very large
There was just enough room to cram the drums
In the corner over by the Dodge
It was a fifty-four
With a mashed up door
And a cheesy little amp
With a sign on the front said "Fender Champ"
And a second hand guitar
It was a Stratocaster with a whammy bar...

Down in Joe's Garage
We didn't have no dope or LSD
But a coupla quarts'a beer
Would fix it so the intonation
Would not offend your ear
And the same old chords goin' over 'n' over
Became a symphony
We would play it again 'n' again 'n' again
Cause it sounded good to me...

oh, please, don't think i'm arguing in favor of the album - for the most part it is indeed legit terrible. i'm simply saying that as bad as it is, people who insist that finding the word "uranus" inherently funny is a stupid and wrong thing nobody, including twelve year olds, should ever under any circumstances do are _worse_.

The word Uranus is funny, "Stick It Out" isn't, so I don't know what you're talking about.

Also Zappa was 38 years old when he made the album, not 12 or whatever age frogbs was when it made him laugh, which he didn't specify in his original post.

can take it or leave zappa these days but would basically break it down to

search: freak out, were only in it for the money, absolutely free, uncle meat, lumpy gravy, weasels ripped my flesh, hot rats, overnite sensation, that live one with beefheart, eat the music documentary and his court appearances battling censorship

destroy: everything else, particularly anything with flo and eddie - zappa on zappa live show which rivaled the parliament show for sheer excess (after 4 hours of parliament i think there is such a thing as too much funk)

some of those later live albums are pretty good

grand wazoo and waka/jawaka are insane and impressive and crazy achievements in a way i don't want to listen to very often

that's most of Zappa's career to me. even his later albums have some jaw-dropping bits on them but they're just dripping with contempt. so much "fuck you, if you wanna hear something real you gotta sit through a bunch of toilet humor, misogyny and idiot pastiche, which is actually a PARODY, and it's FUNNY because its so dumb and if you ain't laughin you just don't get it, just like the fat girls can't get my WEENIE!"

grand wazoo and waka/jawaka are insane and impressive and crazy achievements in a way i don't want to listen to very often

I'm listening to "The Grand Wazoo" right now, I hate Zappa's vocals but I'm remembering that I hate this stuff even more. God knows what people get out of this.

bus driver told me today that zappa played paris and challenged audience members to out gross him, resulting in one taking a shit on stage and zappa pretending to spoon it. etc. etc. man zappa was so terrible in many ways

I dunno, I love The Grand Wazoo

All opinions are valid.

bus driver told me today that zappa played paris and challenged audience members to out gross him, resulting in one taking a shit on stage and zappa pretending to spoon it. etc.

I had forgotten about this urban legend. It's from the same file as the "Rock Star X had his stomach pumped and it was full of semen!" story and the "Alice Cooper (later Marilyn Manson) threw a bunch of puppies into the audience and said he wouldn't start the concert until people had stomped them all to death!" story. Schoolyard classics.

"Waka/Jawaka" now. The first track has some good guitar playing but lasts about a week - I kept thinking it was going to fade out! The rest of it is dull as hell. I'd rather listen to "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" tbh.

bus driver told me today that zappa played paris and challenged audience members to out gross him, resulting in one taking a shit on stage and zappa pretending to spoon it. etc. etc. man zappa was so terrible in many ways

― Ross

man i love fifty year old urban legends that _still_ circulate. as far as i can tell zappa wrote his book pretty much exclusively to say that those urban legends are false. didn't work!

lol and i read that book years back, shame on me

cannot believe people still tell that one. I once, as a child, heard a variation that it was alice cooper who took said dump and that zappa's response was to eat it.

yeah he was like "you hear what he did in Paris?"

he then told me apparently a legit story where he saw Zappa in the early 70s, and Frank ate grapes for a hour until thousands left and then Frank said to the crowd "you're my true fans"

my favorite was that Ozzy Osborne would pass a bucket around the crowd and the audience would spit in it then he would drink all the spit

hey man did you hear what frank zappa did in paris in the early '70s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxUTfoXfXsw

pretty cool actually

God knows what people get out of this.

There's a gorgeous bit of pedal steel guitar playing by Sneaky Pete on the second side of Waka/Jawaka, and the final track on The Grand Wazoo, 'Blessed Relief', might be Zappa's prettiest tune.

That's all I got.

OTM on the pedal steel, pity about the song though.

he then told me apparently a legit story where he saw Zappa in the early 70s, and Frank ate grapes for a hour until thousands left and then Frank said to the crowd "you're my true fans"

he's done the album equivalent of this so many times I can't help but think this one might be true

he's done the album equivalent of this so many times I can't help but think this one might be true

The question is, did he learn the trick from Neil Young, or vice versa?