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SHIP ARRIVING TOO LATE TO SAVE A DROWNING WITCH

 I Come From Nowhere

Notes and Comments
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I come from nowhere
And you should go there
Just try it for a while
The people from nowhere
Always smile
  Always wondering is it a song about abuse of chemical substances or another flashback from Frank' cheesy movies boyhood?
  Some strictly technical notes once again:-))
  Vocals: Roy Estrada, Bass: O'Hearn (source: Watson)
From: gaffney@iconn.net (Sean Gaffney)
  Does anyone know where the guitar solo from I Come From Nowhere comes from? O'Hearn is the bassist, but it does seem a bit xenosynchrous. Is it from a show, the studio, or does it indeed 'come from nowhere'?
From: Pat Buzby (spb0377@alpha.cc.oberlin.edu)
  It is a studio solo, one of very few from that era in FZ's career. FZ talked about the process of recording this song in his Guitar Player (or one of those guitar magazines) interview from 1983, reprinted in the book Secrets From The Masters.
From: Tom Mulhern's 83 Guitar Player Zappa interview
  http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~splat/interviews/gp83.htm
  FZ: On the Drowning Witch album, the solo on "I Come from Nowhere" was a studio solo, and that was like two hours worth of work to get a sound that I thought was suitable. And then about 20 minutes worth of playing: punching in or doing a take and not liking it and wiping the whole thing, or fixing part of it, or just tweezing it up.
  Q: On "I Come From Nowhere" there's a strong dissonance, like a minor second clashing in the first few bars. Is that guitar?
  FZ: That is a bunch of bass harmonics a half step apart. He's playing what I think is a little three-part harmonic chord.
  Q: What kind of guitar and enhancements did you employ for the solo about two-thirds of the way through that song?
  FZ: It was the Les Paul played through a Carvin amp. I think it's straight, no effects. That was just what it needed, I thought.
  Q: Did you record the rhythm track live and then mix in the solo and overdub parts?
  FZ: Oh, no. Here's how that song started off: The original track was a rhythm box, and then the vocals were added. Then some guitar parts were added -- not the solo, just the orchestrational parts. Then the guitar solo was added on top of the rhythm box track, and the drums were added to play along with the guitar solo. The bass track was added last.
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