King Kong

Zappa composed the instrumental track titled "King Kong" in 1967. The composition quickly became a concert and fan favorite, and appeared in numerous different versions on multiple releases.

The eponymous film "King Kong" (1933) is a classic American monster movie directed by Merican C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack. The story is about a film crew who sail to a mysterious island where gigantic creatures live. There they capture a gigantic gorilla called Kong and bring him to New York for exhibition. The monstrous ape escapes and destroys everything until it climbs on top of the Empire State Building where the animal is killed off by planes.

The film was an enormous success at the time and the inspiration for numerous other monster movies and remakes. Today it is considered to be a cult classic.

Versions of this Song

Lumpy Gravy version

• King Kong (1967 - Hollywood)

Tis The Season To Be Jelly version

• King Kong (1967 - Stockholm)

Uncle Meat version 1

• Prelude To King Kong

Uncle Meat version 2

• King Kong Itself (As Played By The Mothers In A Studio)
• King Kong (It's Magnificence As Interpreted By Don DeWild)
• King Kong (As Motorhead Explains It)
• King Kong (The Gardner Varieties)
• King Kong (As Played By 3 Deranged Good Humor Trucks)

Uncle Meat version 3

• King Kong (Live On A Flat Bed Diesel In The Middle Of A Race Track At A Miami Pop Festival)

Electric Aunt Jemima version

• King Kong (1968 - Essen)

Ahead Of Their Time version

• King Kong (1968 - London)

Our Man In Nirvana version

• King Kong (1968 - Fullerton)

The Ark version

• Uncle Meat / King Kong

Disconnected Synapses version

• King Kong (1970 - Paris)

Swiss Cheese/Fire! version

• King Kong (1971 - Montreux)

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3 version

• King Kong (1971/82 - various)

Make A Jazz Noise Here version

• King Kong (1988 - various)

Hammersmith Odeon version

• Hammersmith Odeon (The Album)

Halloween 77 version

• Halloween 77

The Roxy Performances version

• The Roxy Performances

Out-Takes

• Ian Underwood Whips It Out (Live On Stage In Copenhagen) (sax solo, on Uncle Meat)
• Black Beauty (guitar solo, on Mystery Disc)
• Baked-Bean Boogie (guitar solo, on You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5)
• The Nancy & Mary Music (series of improvisations, on Chunga's Revenge)
• Lonesome Electric Turkey (Moog solo, on Fillmore East, June 1971)
• White Person ("mystery word" section, on You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6)
• Now You See It - Now You Don't (guitar solo, on Tinsel Town Rebellion)
• Too Ugly For Show Business (guitar solo, on Frank Zappa: Guitar)
• That's Not Really A Shuffle (guitar solo, on Frank Zappa: Guitar)
• Diplodocus (guitar solo, on Trance-Fusion)
• Section 8, Take 22 (on The Lumpy Money Project/Object)

Tributes & 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!