King Kong (The Gardner Varieties)

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

Lyrics

Instrumental.

Players On This Song

• Frank Zappa - guitar, percussion
• Jimmy Carl Black - drums
• Billy Mundi - drums
• Roy Estrada - bass
• Don Preston - electric piano
• Ian Underwood - electric organ, piano, harpsichord, celeste, flute, clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax
• Bunk Gardner - piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, bassoon
• Arthur Tripp - drums, timpani, vibes, marimba, xylophone, wood blocks, bells, small chimes
• Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood - tenor sax, tambourine

Records On Which This Song Has Appeared

Singles

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FZ Albums & Side Projects

• Uncle Meat

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 at Apostolic, NYC from October 1967 to February 1968.

• This version of "King Kong" is subdivided into five parts ("King Kong Itself", "King Kong II", "King Kong III", "King Kong IV" and "King Kong V"); "King Kong VI" is not part of this recording, but is a live version of the song recorded at a later date.

• The wholte suite follows a head-solo-head structure:
  • Theme A (played twice) - "King Kong Itself"
  • Solos - "King Kong II", "King Kong III", "King Kong IV"
  • Variation of Theme A - "King Kong V"