Music Banter - View Single Post

Lisnaholic · 03-05-2016, 05:51 PM

^ Haha, yeah, she cheated a bit there, with her "by the time I got to Woodstock". Apparently she was inspired by then boyfriend Graham Nash's account of events, so maybe that's permissible.

He Phoned It In!

The Blimp is a great track which was recorded under strange, unplanned circumstances. After writing a "spontaneous poem" the Captain rang up Frank Zappa and had Jeff Cotton recite the poem while he (CB) played sax in the background. Says Zappa, "I was in the studio mixing some other tapes...the band that' s actually playing on The Blimp is The Mothers of Invention. The vocal was recorded by telephone...I taped it in the studio and recorded it onto the piece of tape that I had up at the time, which was my track. The piece is called Charles Ives. We used to play it on the '68-9 tour."

So that explains the short FZ exchanges front and back of this extraordinary song, though nothing quite explains the magic of Jeff Cotton's impassioned one-take delivery.

Spoiler for The Blimp lyrics:

If you don't know the song, you should really open the lyrics spoiler before you click clack here:-

03-05-2016, 05:51 PM	#7 (permalink)
Lisnaholic ...here to hear... Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: He lives on Love Street Posts: 4,444	^ Haha, yeah, she cheated a bit there, with her "by the time I got to Woodstock". Apparently she was inspired by then boyfriend Graham Nash's account of events, so maybe that's permissible. He Phoned It In! The Blimp is a great track which was recorded under strange, unplanned circumstances. After writing a "spontaneous poem" the Captain rang up Frank Zappa and had Jeff Cotton recite the poem while he (CB) played sax in the background. Says Zappa, "I was in the studio mixing some other tapes...the band that' s actually playing on The Blimp is The Mothers of Invention. The vocal was recorded by telephone...I taped it in the studio and recorded it onto the piece of tape that I had up at the time, which was my track. The piece is called Charles Ives. We used to play it on the '68-9 tour." So that explains the short FZ exchanges front and back of this extraordinary song, though nothing quite explains the magic of Jeff Cotton's impassioned one-take delivery. Spoiler for The Blimp lyrics: Master master,this is recorded thru uh flies ear 'n you have t' have uh flies eye t' see it It's the thing that's gonna make Captain Beefheart And his magic band fat Frank it's the big hit It's the blimp It's the blimp Frank It's the blimp When I see you floatin' down the gutter I'll give you uh bottle uh wine Put me on the white hook Back in the fat rack Shad rack ee shack The sumptin' hoop the sumptin' hoop The blimp the blimp The drazy hoops the drazy hoops They're camp they're camp Tits tits the blimp the blimp The mother ship the mother ship The brothers hid under their hood From the blimp the blimp Children stop yer nursin' unless yer renderin' fun The mother ship the mother ship The mother ship's the one The blimp the blimp The tapes uh trip it's uh trailin' tail It's traipse'n along behind the blimp the blimp The nose has uh crimp The nose is the blimp the blimp It blows the air the snoot isn't fair Look up in the sky there's uh dirigible there The drazy hoops whir You can see them just as they were All the people stir 'n the girls knees trembles 'n run 'n wave their hands 'n run their hands over the blimp the blimp Daughter don't yuh dare Oh momma who cares It's the blimp it's the blimp. If you don't know the song, you should really open the lyrics spoiler before you click clack here:- __________________ "Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953 Last edited by Lisnaholic; 03-05-2016 at 06:04 PM.