Frank Zappa
“Anyone who knows Zappa appreciates that he always felt words didn’t belong with music. That’s why a lot of his lyrics seem to be nonsense, and so out there. And Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow Suite is gloriously ludicrous. Who else would write a song about frozen dog piss? Some of the lines in the song are bonkers, but work brilliantly. It’s a really funny song, but set against that is the sort of musicianship you’d come to expect from the man. It’s of the highest calibre, and underlines what a phenomenon he was. His guitar playing alone takes you on a journey nobody else could emulate.
“I first met Frank in 1984 when I moved to LA. Some friends of mine threw a welcoming party and asked me
who I’d most like to have there. Without hesitation I said, ‘Frank Zappa.’ These people turned out to live next door to him! They gave me his private phone number and told me to call him. But I was so terrified, I couldn’t bring myself to do so. A couple of weeks later, when they realised I hadn’t called, they phoned Frank and put me on to him! He invited me over to his house. I had to have a couple of large whiskeys beforehand, but he was tremendous. He gave me a tour of his studio, and then we sat down for a couple of hours and chatted. He gave me a bottle of whiskey, which he said I had to drink out of the bottle; he didn’t drink or take drugs, so it was left up to me to get through it. We kept in touch occasionally after that. But I have never forgotten the terror I had at the mere thought of meeting him. I was such a huge fan that when he played multiple nights at Hammersmith Odeon in 1977, I bought 12 tickets in the front row for each of those gigs, for me and my mates.
“My favourite Zappa period is the one that starts with the Fillmore East – June 1971 album, which for me has the greatest segue you’ll ever hear on a live record. It also takes in Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe (’). And it’s the last one that has the Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow Suite.”