The Adventures of Greggery Peccary - Variation

Variation

Zappa played a much earlier version of this piece (via an acetate) on 99.1fm WPLR, Connecticut radio on April 23, 1975. In this version FZ introduces Quentin Robert DeNameland as the greatest living "two headed philostopher” known to mankind. Quentin’s philosophical spiel (Zappa’s voice effected by a variable speed oscillator a la “Dumb All Over”) goes on quite a bit longer than the official released Studio Tan versions or the Läther version. The spiel is specifically colored (a la madrigal style) by the musical accompaniment. Quentin is quite likely a spoof of the writing and speaking style of beat writer William S. Burroughs. The following is the entire philosophical speech as noted in the Zappa book, Them Or Us.

Well folks as you can see for yourself the way this clock over here is behaving: time is an affliction. Now this might be cause for alarm on a portion of you that’s from a certain experience I tend to proclaim: the eons are closing. Now what does this mean precisely to the layman? Simply this: Momentarily the need for the construction of the new light will no longer exist. Of course some of you will think, "Who is he to fell me from this light?" But in all seriousness, ladies and gentlemen, a quick glance at the erratic behavior of the large precision built time delineating apparatus beside me will show that it is perhaps only a few moments now… Look how funny it’s going around there! Personally I find mechanical nature of this to be highly suspicious. When such a device doesn’t go normal, the implication of such a behavior bodes not well (if you know what I mean). And quite naturally ladies and gentlemen if the mechanism in question is entrusted with the task of the delineation of time itself and ahh if such a mechanism goes “On the bum”…. or the fritz… Well, it spells trouble.

The outro music of Greggery Peccary in this version is also quite different from the official CD released versions. In this version Zappa opts for a tighter, less cluttered bravado sort of ending featuring a cartoonish, cascading marimba part.