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Frank Zappa — Willie The Pimp
Album: Hot Rats
Avg rating:
7.3

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1387









Released: 1969
Length: 9:13
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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I'm a little pimp with my hair gassed back
Pair a khaki pants with my shoe shined black

Got a little lady... walk that street
Tellin' all the boys that she cain't be beat

Twenny dollah bill (I can set you straight)
Meet me onna corner boy'n don't be late

Man in a suit with a bow-tie neck
Wanna buy a grunt with a third party check

Standin' onna porch of the Lido Hotel
Floozies in the lobby love the way I sell:
HOT MEAT
HOT RATS
HOT CATS
HOT RITZ
HOT ROOTS
HOT SOOTS

HOT MEAT
HOT RATS
HOT CATS
HOT ZITZ
HOT ROOTS
HOT SOOTS
Comments (184)add comment
Frank and the Captain killin' it!!
Posted 1 week ago by romangaslan    [ Reply ]
Captain Beefheart - gorgeous!
Posted 2 weeks ago by s310754    [ Reply ]
The opening to this makes a great ringtone.
Posted 4 weeks ago by Derecho    [ Reply ]
More Frank please BillG!!
Posted 1 year ago by Montreal_Mort    [ Reply ]
I suspect that over here on the Rock Channel is where Bill gets to show off his real chops! Old-school DJ, from when the term actually meant something more akin to musicologist or curator of recorded music?! Long live the Rock & Roll Archivist 🤘🏽 !
Posted 1 year ago by xc.farmer.antoine486    [ Reply ]
Posted 1 year ago by DavidBy76120    [ Reply ]
This may be the most off the wall, brilliant, unorthodox jam I have ever heard.  This dude and his band were in-sane-ly good.  
I'm sorry, Bernie (a 1976 college chum) for screaming that your Zappa and the Mothers fixation was bullshit. 
Posted 2 years ago by kingart    [ Reply ]
Ok BillG - big thanks for playing my fav song on my fav Frank album. But how about Peaches or Gumbo Variations?? Please?
Posted 2 years ago by Montreal_Mort    [ Reply ]
Good lord!
I believe I was just Willie The Pimped!.....  I cannot come up with any other verb form for this!
Posted 2 years ago by alain.brault    [ Reply ]
 Montreal_Mort wrote:

My fav Frank album!!




GREAT ALBUM!!! One of my top 5 favorite Frank albums! And, I like a LOT of his albums!
Posted 2 years ago by joejennings    [ Reply ]
My fav Frank album!!
Posted 3 years ago by Montreal_Mort    [ Reply ]






To the clown who put THUMBS DOWN:   I hope you wake up some day soon.
Posted 3 years ago by wiegandshawn    [ Reply ]
My favorite album back in the misspent youth.  Every track is amazing. 
Posted 3 years ago by szasz9595    [ Reply ]
Take a trip n' never leave the farm...
Posted 4 years ago by john_m_hopkins    [ Reply ]
 p_d_neumiller wrote:
It seems '69 was just a magical year for Rock music.
 

Oh yes it was!
Posted 4 years ago by bpemby    [ Reply ]
It seems '69 was just a magical year for Rock music.
Posted 4 years ago by p_d_neumiller    [ Reply ]
Pretty amazing guitarist.
Posted 5 years ago by zetaarae    [ Reply ]
 kingart wrote:
Man was out of his mind. 
Incredible jam. Nutso good. 

 

 
What he said. 
Posted 6 years ago by kingart    [ Reply ]
 Cynaera wrote:
Zappa. Wow. I can remember sitting in our across-the-street neighbor's basement bedroom listening to his "Freakout" album with a very weird lamp that cast images all over the walls because the heat from the light bulb made the carved shade spin around. A very ingenious invention. More so was Zappa, singing "It can't happen HERE... It can't happen HERE... I'm telling you, my dear, that it can't happen HERE..."  He gave me nightmares for years.

And here I am, waxing rhapsodic about his work. Well, yeah, he haunted me. But he also inspired me, drove me to fits of rebellion, probably caused others in my life to think I'd gone totally bugf*ck... Point is, he was an artist who demanded interaction. If he accomplished his goal, a listener was moved to take some kind of action - whether it was to light candles, dance around naked, write a novel, park in a different space, or stand on the roof of a building and make shapes out of clouds.

Zappa was not a passive artist. He was a hellion, in the best possible way. More than that, I think, he was a humanist, getting his point across in his sometimes inane, seemingly-silly ways. He loved to point out the idiocy in humans by poking fun, or by slipping very sly snarkiness under the radar in his lyrics.

Love him or hate him - he'd grin at both extremes.  Zappa was his own man.  He left this earth too soon. And I love every damned thing he ever recorded.

 
JOY    : )    Peace
Posted 6 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
I'm a little pimp with my hair gassed back, pair a khaki pants with my shoe shined black and I gotta tell you folks Zappa makes my day : )
Posted 7 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
 nomnol wrote:
See what PSD brought me? Joyous!

 
Agreed
Posted 7 years ago by a_genuine_find    [ Reply ]
See what PSD brought me? Joyous!
Posted 7 years ago by nomnol    [ Reply ]
Creative choice yet I much prefer to hear Peaches En Regalia from Hot Rats (a classic!).
 
Posted 7 years ago by dougmbrown    [ Reply ]
primm wrote:
{#Boohoo} the fiddle player jean something or the other is smoking on this whole album one of franks best !

 
Jean-Luc Ponty is not on this song, it's Don "Sugarcane" Harris on this song.


Posted 7 years ago by stevetheshoe    [ Reply ]
This is the one song from him, I hear Rory Gallahger.

Go figure.  
Posted 7 years ago by idiot_wind    [ Reply ]
Orchids and waterfalls on the slideshow for Zappa/Beefheart's Willie the Pimp?!! Ain't you got no R.Crumb drawings of street life? 
Posted 7 years ago by rbrise    [ Reply ]
Love to hear some more Beefheart here...
Posted 7 years ago by rocklandlove    [ Reply ]
WOO-HOO ZAPPA BABY YEAH!!!!!     ahh, life is good  : )
Posted 7 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
Thank you! And more Frank! 
Posted 7 years ago by tmscahill    [ Reply ]
this set has been unreal!  Thanks RP!
Posted 7 years ago by podclimber    [ Reply ]
 TerryS wrote:

Unsure of the translation, but perhaps this lady would eat an LP, shoot some Tenessee whisky and toke on?



Lentils and potatoes?  yes GD is TN sour mash.  Blunt , slang noun marijuana inside a hallowed out cigar.


Posted 7 years ago by jbuhl    [ Reply ]
First I've heard this on RP.  Thanks PSD!!!
Posted 7 years ago by hschlossberg    [ Reply ]
Oh heck yes!
Posted 8 years ago by dsd    [ Reply ]
Zappa with Beefheart. It does not get any better than this!
Posted 8 years ago by thewiseking    [ Reply ]
Man was out of his mind. 
Incredible jam. Nutso good. 

 
Posted 8 years ago by kingart    [ Reply ]
I can only imagine what it must feel like to play music at this level of greatness.
Posted 8 years ago by GTT    [ Reply ]
Oh so bad . . . . .
Posted 8 years ago by jcords    [ Reply ]
In The Hall of The Mountain King and Frank. Somehow it works.
Posted 8 years ago by GeorgeMWoods    [ Reply ]
 jbuhl wrote:

No shit I dated this gal in college who would ate this up over dinner a shot of Goerge Dickel and a  blunt.

    

 
Unsure of the translation, but perhaps this lady would eat an LP, shoot some Tenessee whisky and toke on?
Posted 8 years ago by TerryS    [ Reply ]
 pankman wrote:
Man, this is heavy. Definitely no soundtrack for a candlelight dinner.
 
jessesteinen wrote:

Totally depends on the company!

 
No shit I dated this gal in college who would ate this up over dinner a shot of Goerge Dickel and a  blunt.

    
Posted 8 years ago by jbuhl    [ Reply ]
While I do like this piece, I happen to prefer Francesco Zappa.
Sorry. 
Posted 8 years ago by TerryS    [ Reply ]
22
Posted 8 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
11
Posted 8 years ago by BowTieDad    [ Reply ]
I hear Hendrix."voodoo child?"..
Posted 8 years ago by idiot_wind    [ Reply ]
{#Boohoo} the fiddle player jean something or the other is smoking on this whole album one of franks best !
Posted 8 years ago by primm    [ Reply ]
 pankman wrote:
Man, this is heavy. Definitely no soundtrack for a candlelight dinner.

 
Totally depends on the company!
Posted 8 years ago by jessesteinen    [ Reply ]
 SuperWeh wrote:
solo gets a bit boring fairly quickly, guess you need to have been there (and drunk) or something.
 
Don't really agree SuperWen.  Not usually a guitar solo kind of a guy but this is the exception. It is absolutely smoking and in my opinion moves along well enough so I don't loose interest. 
Posted 8 years ago by ScottishWillie    [ Reply ]
Sadly this is the only time we hear the late great Captain Beefheart on RP. It'd be nice to hear Grow Fins or even Diddy Wah Diddy just once...  :)


Posted 8 years ago by Andybob    [ Reply ]
Great review!!  Frank probably have tried to get you to be his PR rep!!  

I don't bother to rate many songs one way or the other so I was surprised I'd already rated this an 8 before.  I re-rated to a 9....  Rather brilliant.   Back to tending my vegetables......   
 
coloradojohn wrote:
Perhaps no one ever wielded such imaginatively genius lyrical obliqueness with as much confidence and verve as Zappa could. He could generate a truly staggering symphonic Excentrifugal Forz on the guitar, too. There's always Korla Plankton; him 'n me can play The Blues...He'll straighten up his turban/ and inject a little ooze/ along a one-celled Hammond Organism/ underneath my shoes... 

 


Posted 8 years ago by freemusic    [ Reply ]
Great to be reminded of what a great guitarist Frank was.  Very fortunate to have seen him while this was the "norm". {#Laughing}
Posted 8 years ago by MilesW    [ Reply ]
So far ahead of his time.  In 100 years, Frank will be the Mozart of the 20th Century.
Posted 8 years ago by tmscahill    [ Reply ]
Perhaps no one ever wielded such imaginatively genius lyrical obliqueness with as much confidence and verve as Zappa could. He could generate truly staggering symphonic Excentrifugal Forz on the guitar, too. There's always Korla Plankton; him 'n me can play The Blues...He'll straighten up his turban/ and inject a little ooze/ along a one-celled Hammond Organism/ underneath my shoes...
Posted 8 years ago by coloradojohn    [ Reply ]
solo gets a bit boring fairly quickly, guess you need to have been there (and drunk) or something.
Posted 8 years ago by SuperWeh    [ Reply ]
Man, this is heavy. Definitely no soundtrack for a candlelight dinner.
Posted 8 years ago by pankman    [ Reply ]
My favorit couple!!
Posted 8 years ago by pilapus6    [ Reply ]
Well, that blew out the cobwebs.
Posted 8 years ago by NoEnzLefttoSplit    [ Reply ]
That woke me up! {#Eek}

In a good way
Posted 8 years ago by markybx    [ Reply ]
Every time I hear this song wind up I expect "Son of Mister Green Genes" to start up. I miss Frank Zappa
Posted 8 years ago by hanssachs    [ Reply ]
Ahead of his time from another dimension!

 
Posted 8 years ago by Peyote    [ Reply ]
{#Bananajam}
Posted 8 years ago by Alaindelon    [ Reply ]
This makes up for all the tracks RP have played recently that had me on PSD

More Beefheart
More Zappa please 
Posted 8 years ago by musicforme    [ Reply ]
Zappa and the Captain.  Not much more needs to be said.  10.
Posted 8 years ago by garyalex    [ Reply ]
This one needs a little more of guitar work...
Posted 8 years ago by raga    [ Reply ]
Your Captain speaking

https://www.theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/images/stories/FrankZappaCaptainBeefheartcptbeefheart_frankzappa.jpg
Posted 8 years ago by On_The_Beach    [ Reply ]
Somehow I forgot how Zappa jams.  Lost this album decades ago, probably to some roommate.  Need to get it again, though it would be a nightmare for my wife.
Posted 8 years ago by Typesbad    [ Reply ]
 kingart wrote:
This track is an off da meter jam.
 
True that!
 

Take that, GD and Garcia.
 
Um, WTF?

Posted 8 years ago by k-man    [ Reply ]
We NEED to have more Zappa here!
Posted 8 years ago by Jelani    [ Reply ]
Overlooked, underrated.
Posted 8 years ago by allenrudd    [ Reply ]

LOLZ FUCKIN ZAPPA is alright.

 

I can't turn this loud enough.


Posted 8 years ago by blotto    [ Reply ]
Zappa! WooHoo!
Posted 8 years ago by stalfnzo    [ Reply ]
Zappa.... nice.
Posted 8 years ago by bozobit    [ Reply ]
gotta 10 it

FUCKIN' ZAPPA BABY YEAH!!!!! 
Posted 8 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
Lyrics say

Standin' onna porch of the Lido Hotel
Floozies in the lobby love the way I sell

But in the song that last word sounds like 'smell'. 

Smell sounds more like Zappa.

This track is an off da meter jam. 
Take that, GD and Garcia.
 
Posted 9 years ago by kingart    [ Reply ]
Frank's guitar can melt your brain...
 
Posted 9 years ago by MilesW    [ Reply ]
What a blessing. I've got a friend who insists on testosterone driven guitar music that I can't stand. Love this riff by Frank and will play this for him to set him straight. Play it again, Sam ... errrr Bill!
Posted 9 years ago by SonomaRising    [ Reply ]
Bill—thanks for this.
Posted 9 years ago by WonderLizard    [ Reply ]
Beefheart ah sang'n and Frank Scratch'n it out {#Guitarist}
Posted 9 years ago by jbuhl    [ Reply ]
 Singlow wrote:
Willie wonka Zappa'd to death in a loud jango fantango of rat hot blammin' music
 
Sassafras on the up-dike and Milwaukee, too.
Posted 9 years ago by WonderLizard    [ Reply ]
Thanks guys - I used PSD on something else playing and landed on Zappa.... what a landing it was... {#Cheesygrin}
Posted 9 years ago by MM_Oz    [ Reply ]
Couldn't agree more...
 {#Wall}{#Fire}

nikki54 wrote:
OMG! My mom was right! It is only  noise!!!!

 


Posted 9 years ago by WhiskeyDude    [ Reply ]
 nikki54 wrote:
OMG! My mom was right! It is only  noise!!!!

 
Yes, she IS right. Happening, innovative, ballsy, fun, dynamic avant noise. Sure, Zappa could be a snarky lyrics-and-music pain in the ass. My mid ' 70s college pal Bernie drove me nuts with the constant LPing of the Motherfuckers of Invention. But I didn't appreciate Zappa and his band at the time. This track, and others, are 8s and 9s. Listen to that jam, man.  Perhaps the Allmans, the Dead, etc. enjoyed a few seminars at Zappa U.  
Posted 9 years ago by kingart    [ Reply ]
Willie wonka Zappa'd to death in a loud jango fantango of rat hot blammin' music
Posted 9 years ago by Singlow    [ Reply ]
Frank,

we miss ya.
Posted 9 years ago by dangoebel    [ Reply ]
Love this album and all concerned, from the moment I picked it up as a kid for 25 cents in a repair shop.  Had to stop what I was doing now and just listen.
Posted 9 years ago by GTT    [ Reply ]
OMG! My mom was right! It is only  noise!!!!
Posted 9 years ago by nikki54    [ Reply ]
The socket wrench is a bit high in the mix
Posted 9 years ago by MJdub    [ Reply ]
 onerb wrote:
Thank You!!

 
Ditto!!...Not enough Zappa in the air these days
Posted 9 years ago by ColdMiser    [ Reply ]
Standing on the porch in his Lederhosen. Ausgezeichnet!
Posted 9 years ago by theralph    [ Reply ]
Thank You!!
Posted 9 years ago by onerb    [ Reply ]
FZ guitarero !!
 
Posted 9 years ago by Rikki_dont    [ Reply ]
 Lindo525 wrote:
That playing is why he "had" to record "Shut Up n Play Yer Guitar".

Haven't heard this in years. Wow. Just Wow.

10 

 
I was thinking about that album (or CD) as well.  Used to play it a lot — some seriously good guitar work!
Posted 9 years ago by drictor    [ Reply ]
That playing is why he "had" to record "Shut Up n Play Yer Guitar".

Haven't heard this in years. Wow. Just Wow.

10 
Posted 9 years ago by Lindo525    [ Reply ]

Man, that's just great music.  Might have to push it to a 10.

Thinking back to '75, 17 years old, saw the band in CT.  Loved it then and love it now.


Posted 9 years ago by drictor    [ Reply ]
Thank you! I'm now cleansed of that crappy Chris Hillman you smeared on my ears a little while ago, FUCKIN' ZAPPA BABY YEAH!!!!!
Posted 9 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
My god...the man could played guitar. This is freakin smoking. Reminds me of Frank Morino and Mahogany Rush. 

Overall, I just wish his music was a little more approachable for the masses.

 
Posted 9 years ago by idiot_wind    [ Reply ]
And now, the jazz stylings of Frank Zappa!
Posted 9 years ago by Webfoot    [ Reply ]
Thank you for playing Frank!!! Awesome! 
Posted 9 years ago by tmscahill    [ Reply ]
 SparkyMarky wrote:
One of the best rock songs of the last 40 years - a profound tapestry of Frank guitar and the Captain's vocals. Love it

 
No.

Really, NO - It is not one of the best rock songs of the last 40 years.

Posted 9 years ago by bill-1956    [ Reply ]
Aaahhhh, finally, some Real Music!  Guitar is totally awesome man, so so cool
Posted 10 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
One of the best rock songs of the last 40 years - a profound tapestry of Frank guitar and the Captain's vocals. Love it
Posted 13 years ago by SparkyMarky    [ Reply ]
 rdo wrote:

 I think I may need to go to the doctor now because this song has given me ear cancer.     
 
That may be from trying to keep your ears too tightly-closed, or restricting them to a narrow spectrum of musical styles.  Maybe not.


Posted 14 years ago by Proclivities    [ Reply ]
Thank-you Bill.  RIP Captain Beefheart.
Posted 14 years ago by tbaloney619    [ Reply ]
Wahoo!
first time hearing this here.
I lub it!
Posted 14 years ago by Jelani    [ Reply ]

Excellent Bill G. Excellent !!

To The Captain . . .& Frankie Z   {#Cheers}


Posted 14 years ago by nuggler    [ Reply ]
RIP Captain.
Posted 14 years ago by GawgaBoy    [ Reply ]

Sheik Yerbouti _Frank Zappa by ~OhioArt2
©2006-2010 ~OhioArt2

From the cover of Sheik Yerbouti .


Posted 14 years ago by calypsus_1    [ Reply ]
Zappa. Wow. I can remember sitting in our across-the-street neighbor's basement bedroom listening to his "Freakout" album with a very weird lamp that cast images all over the walls because the heat from the light bulb made the carved shade spin around. A very ingenious invention. More so was Zappa, singing "It can't happen HERE... It can't happen HERE... I'm telling you, my dear, that it can't happen HERE..."  He gave me nightmares for years.

And here I am, waxing rhapsodic about his work. Well, yeah, he haunted me. But he also inspired me, drove me to fits of rebellion, probably caused others in my life to think I'd gone totally bugf*ck... Point is, he was an artist who demanded interaction. If he accomplished his goal, a listener was moved to take some kind of action - whether it was to light candles, dance around naked, write a novel, park in a different space, or stand on the roof of a building and make shapes out of clouds.

Zappa was not a passive artist. He was a hellion, in the best possible way. More than that, I think, he was a humanist, getting his point across in his sometimes inane, seemingly-silly ways. He loved to point out the idiocy in humans by poking fun, or by slipping very sly snarkiness under the radar in his lyrics.

Love him or hate him - he'd grin at both extremes.  Zappa was his own man.  He left this earth too soon. And I love every damned thing he ever recorded.
Posted 14 years ago by Cynaera    [ Reply ]
Excellent album cover.
Posted 14 years ago by Zep    [ Reply ]
I think I just enjoyed a Frank Zappa song...  I feel dirty.
Posted 14 years ago by Wasted    [ Reply ]
We'd listen to this and compare it to Clapton, Garcia, and god knows who. Imagine our surprise many, many years later when we found out that Hot Rats was a jazz-rock fusion experiment. Oh. We thought it was just rock'n'roll.
Posted 14 years ago by WonderLizard    [ Reply ]
 rdo wrote:
I think I may need to go to the doctor now because this song has given me ear cancer.     
 
You can get both exams with the same lubed glove in the same visit.

Posted 14 years ago by The_Enemy    [ Reply ]
loving this {#Bananajam}
Posted 14 years ago by Huey    [ Reply ]
 rdo wrote:
I think I may need to go to the doctor now because this song has given me ear cancer.     
 
lobotomy might help'ya rdo

Posted 14 years ago by BowTieDad    [ Reply ]
 rdo wrote:


Are you being serious?  I want to laugh at your post because it is so unusual, but I think you are truly concerned about this and you are surely right to be so.  I think I may need to go to the doctor now because this song has given me ear cancer.     
 

dto. ! {#Frustrated}
Posted 14 years ago by Wuddi    [ Reply ]
 justin_thyme wrote:
Frank Zappa died so young (53), and so needlessly, from prostate cancer — a disease that can nearly always be detected at a curable stage with a combination of PSA blood testing and a digital rectal exam.  It's a shame that so many men are phobic about a having a doctor's gloved-n-lubed finger briefly up their butts, even if only once every couple of years; many lives could be spared if that attitude were to change on a large-scale basis.  {#Sad}
 

Are you being serious?  I want to laugh at your post because it is so unusual, but I think you are truly concerned about this and you are surely right to be so.  I think I may need to go to the doctor now because this song has given me ear cancer.     
Posted 14 years ago by rdo    [ Reply ]
 justin_thyme wrote:
Frank Zappa died so young (53), and so needlessly, from prostate cancer — a disease that can nearly always be detected at a curable stage with a combination of PSA blood testing and a digital rectal exam.  It's a shame that so many men are phobic about a having a doctor's gloved-n-lubed finger briefly up their butts, even if only once every couple of years; many lives could be spared if that attitude were to change on a large-scale basis.  {#Sad}
 

I concur Justin. An oz of prevention is worth a lb of cure ...+ I wish he was around a little longer.....

Posted 14 years ago by parttime    [ Reply ]
Frank Zappa died so young (53), and so needlessly, from prostate cancer — a disease that can nearly always be detected at a curable stage with a combination of PSA blood testing and a digital rectal exam.  It's a shame that so many men are phobic about a having a doctor's gloved-n-lubed finger briefly up their butts, even if only once every couple of years; many lives could be spared if that attitude were to change on a large-scale basis.  {#Sad}
Posted 14 years ago by justin_thyme    [ Reply ]
you all should have around in the early seventies. great band that will never die
Posted 14 years ago by solrac    [ Reply ]
yes one of the few Zappa songs that I really like.   great to hear once in a while, as you said.  this came on a vinyl compilation put out by the record company.   there were ads on the sleeves for various compilations.  they were $3-4.00 each.   This one had Capt. Beefhart, Tim Buckley, the Mothers and more.   Far out stuff!!

 hoppin_bob wrote:
So very good.
I do not need to hear it often... but I do need to hear it.  So tight, so rehearsed.... just amazing after all these years.
I think this is among Frank's best... and I love that Sugar Cane violin.
 


Posted 14 years ago by musickat    [ Reply ]