Black Napkins

Black Napkins  alone is worth the price of the album , a simply lovely, sprawling instrumental featuring Frank's virtuosic guitar work and  unmatchable note-selection which is truly sublime.

The song  showcasing Frank's ability to be subtle, then intense with his very special guitar skills. This track is expanded upon and torch-lighted on future live and studio releases.

It has been a stage favorite since the time of its release, a solo where FZ gets to show you what he's made of, and in later years, it became a vehicle for the brass section usually featured.

The Track become one of Zappa's most popular guitar solo instrumentals (with Watermelon in Easter Hay being another one, for example). It  is one of the most elaborated guitar solo with full of wah wah effect played with feeling It has a superb main theme from the guitar as well as some great work from Bozzio on the drums.

Black Napkins and Zoot Allures, along with one other FZ solo (Watermelon in Easter Hay), are believed to have been considered by Zappa himself as his best work. The Zappa Family Trust goes so far as to ask cover bands to not cover these songs, and a posthumous album (Frank Zappa Plays The Music of Frank Zappa) is devoted entirely to tracing the progression of these three songs. Two of these solos are found on album Zoot Allures.

Personnel:

FZ--guitar

Terry Bozzio--drums

Andre Lewis--organ, vocal

Roy Estrada--bass, vocal

Napoleon Murphy Brock--vocal

This Song Has Appeared on:

Singles

You Are What You Is / Pink Napkins  - Frank Zappa (1981)

You Are What You Is / Pink Napkins  / Harder Than Your Husband  / Soup 'n Old Clothes - Frank Zappa (1981)

Goblin Girl  / Pink Napkins  - Frank Zappa (1981)

Albums

Zoot Allures

Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar as Pink Napkins

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6

Make A Jazz Noise Here

Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa (track 1 and track 2 - Zoot Allures version)

FZ:OZ

Halloween

Philly '76

Hammersmith Odeon (The Album)

Beat The Boots:

As An Am

Bootleg Recordings:

An Evening In Detroit

The version that made it onto the Zoot Allures album was performed at 76/02/03 Osaka Japan Kosei Nenkin Kaikan and was heavily edited. FZ removed Brock's sax solo.