King Kong (1971 - Montreux)

For other versions of this song, see: King Kong.

Lyrics

Don Preston!

Players On This Song

• Frank Zappa - lead guitar
• Mark Volman - vocal
• Howard Kaylan - vocal
• Jim Pons - bass
• Don Preston - keyboards, electronics
• Ian Underwood - keyboards, alto sax
• Aynsley Dunbar - drums

Records On Which This Song Has Appeared

Singles

-

FZ Albums & Side Projects

• Swiss Cheese/Fire!

Tribute & Cover Albums

• Jean-Luc Ponty: King Kong
• Various Artists: Sonora
• The Muffin Men: God Shave The Queen as track 2 I Want You Kong and track 7 Kashmir Kong, starting with Kashmir
• Zappatistas: Live In Leeds
• The Wrong Object: Play Zappa as King Kong (George W. Bush version)
• Colin Towns + NDR Bigband: Frank Zappa's Hot Licks (And Funny Smells)
• Meridian Arts Ensemble: Ear Mind I
• LeBocal: Oh No ! ... Just Another Frank Zappa Memorial Barbecue
• Nasal Retentive Orchestra: Fric Out!

Notes About This Song

• Recorded live at the Montreux Casino, Switzerland on December 4, 1971.

• This is the tragic performance of "King Kong" during which the concert hall caught fire. From The Real Frank Zappa Book (pp. 112-13):

"(...) The 1971 European winter tour gets the award for being the most disastrous. On December 4, we were working at the Casino de Montreux in Geneva, Switzerland, right on the edge of the lake—just in front of Igor Stravinsky Street—a venue noted for its jazz festivals. In the middle of Don Preston's synthesizer solo on "King Kong," the place suddenly caught fire. Somebody in the audience had a bottle rocket or a Roman candle and fired it into the ceiling, at which point the rattan covering started to burn (other versions of the story claim the blaze was the result of faulty wiring). There were between twenty-five hundred and three thousand kids packed into the room—well over capacity. Since more kids were outside, trying to get in, the organizers had cleverly chained the exit doors shut. When the fire began, the audience was left with two ways out: through the front door, which was pretty small, or through a plate-glass window off to the side of the stage. I made an announcement—something like: "Please be calm. We have to leave here. There is a fire and why don't we get out?" You'd be surprised how well people who speak only French can understand you when it's a matter of life and death. They began filing out through the front door. As the room was filling with smoke, one of our roadies took an equipment case and smashed the big window. The crew then began helping people to escape through it into some kind of garden place below. The band escaped through an underground tunnel that led from behind the stage through the parking garage. A few minutes later the heating system in he building exploded, and some people were blown through the window. Fortunately, nobody was killed and there were only a few minor injuries—however, the entire building, about thirteen million dollars' worth, burned to the ground, and we lost all our equipment. We were in the middle of a sold-out tour with ten more dates to go. Back at the hotel, most of the band voted for finishing the tour—or at least trying." [See also: Smoke On The Water]

• This is the second documented version of "King Kong" in which the main theme is followed by a second theme—as would be the case in most subsequent versions (here: 0:26-0:50).