Mar 24 2008
Frank Zappa: Watermelon In Easter Hay
Happy Easter everyone. Well’ I found something with Easter in the title anyway. According to Zappa Wiki Jwaka the full title of this instrumental piece is “Playing A Guitar Solo With This Band Is Like Trying To Grow A Watermelon In Easter Hay.” Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore and grew up, mostly in Edgewood Maryland, near Aberdeen Proving Grounds, a military facility, where his father worked as a chemist. The Zappas kept gas masks in their house, in case of a chemical accident at the proving ground, where tons of WWI era mustard gas were stored. This may have had an effect on Frank’s music. The Zappas moved to California when Frank was twelve years old.
Watermelon In Easter Hay is one of Zappa’s later compositions featuring a full band, with brass, reeds, electronic keyboard, percussionists, drums, two guitars and bass. It first appeared on his 1979 album “Joe’s Garage.” Zappa shows a high degree of control over the characteristics of his guitar and amplifier. He employs distortion, uses feedback to give amazing sustain to some notes and bends notes with the tremolo bar on this Fender Stratocaster.
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Frank Zappa is an iconic seventies musician that I’ve been meaning to write about in my blog (which is about the seventies). Thanks for the inspiration!
Came along way from playing Bicycle.
Kyle
I liked his music. Still do!
The Guitar is Not a Fender Stratocaster.
It’s a custom built generic Strat type. The neck is not a fender scale length.
FZ was mainly a Gibson player. His career of greatest improvement as a guitarist were made during the years of him wielding Gibsons, so he kind of got used to the scale length. He made another leap when he was sold a (SG style) guitar with an extra fret e flat… so then had guitar necks made with Gibson Scale, and 23 frets.
His Hendrix guitar was Hendrix body, with neck type discussed.
This performance you see above was from Barcelona 1988, and broadcast on TVE (espania) just before the Bull fighting. I was there!
deepinder cheema
I noticed the hot rail pickups but not the logoless headstock. It would make sense that Frank would want a shorter scale length, to feel more like like his SG. I understood the Frank’s Hendrix guitar was the one that was burned in the famous photo.
I saw Frank play, with the Mothers, at the Electric Factory in Philadelpha, may years ago.
Non guitar freaks may safely ignore this conversation.
I loved this clip, grinned like a freak through the whole thing. Thanks for posting this.
SB