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THEM OR US

 Truck Driver Divorce

Notes and Comments
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From: Bill Lantz <lantz@primenet.com>
  Another piece that saw it's debut in 1980 as a meltdown, Frank reciting the lyrics over the band basically improvising.
From: naurin@mbox300.swopnet.se (Jon Naurin)
  ...though in 1980, it was merely a short "poem" a la Dangerous Kitchen, recited in meltdown style over an improvised accompaniment. The lyrics were slightly different, for example it's somebody's brother-in-law who's trying to pooch your old lady. But the string beans to Utah were there.
From: |Spider Gecko| <socamh@emory.edu>
  I believe that the solo is the Ritz 11/17/81 Zoot Allures solo overdubbed onto a studio drum track. The drum track doesn't seem to be in any particular time signature, just a steady 8th note pulse. It's odd that what might be FZ's best known concert only has one tiny snippet released from it.
From: jqc8339@is2.nyu.edu (Jason W. Carucci) writes:
  I don't know if this has been pointed out before, but here goes anyway. I just recently acquired a tape of the 11/17/81 show at the Ritz, NYC. Upon hearing the solo in Zoot Allures I knew that it was very familiar. I figured it was probably from Guitar so I sat down and listened to the whole album and nothing. Then one day I put on Them or Us and there it was, Truck Driver Divorce. The guitar solo and the bass part are from the Ritz show, but I think that the drums are different (I'm not sure about that though).
From: spb0377@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu
  Correct. When I first heard this solo on the record I wondered if FZ had put the solo on backwards or something like that, but the Ritz tape revealed the truth about it. I'd still like to know where the drum part on the album came from, though.
  To Album Refs
To Global Refs
Truck driver divorce!
It's very sad
(Steel guitars usually weep all over it)
From: Vladimir Sovetov <sova@kpbank.ru>
  It's well known fact that Frank really hated country music.
From: Michael Pierry <stilliving@home.com>
  Really? I don't find that to be the case at all. Find me the interview wher e he clearly states his deep, burning hatred of the entire genre of country music.
From: naurin@mbox300.swopnet.se (Jon Naurin)
  I'm sure I have at least one interview where he says that he hates c&w - I'll try to dig it up. Not that he expressed a "deep, burning hatred of the entire genre", but that's not what Vlad implied either, wassit?
  Oh, here's at least one quote, from Nigey Lennon on the Dr Demento show:
  Dr.D: "Nigey; was there any kind of music that Frank did not like?"
  N.L: "Yeah, I can can tell you: He hated, and 'til his dying days hated, commercial country. We used to have fights all the time, because I always loved western swing music, the oldern type from the 30s-40s, and Frank used t o call it all kinds of unprintable things. And he used to make fun of me for liking it, 'cuz he really didn't like it."
  To Album Refs
To Global Refs
Oh, go ride the bull!
Yes, go ride the bull!
  To Album Refs
To Global Refs
Make it go up 'n down
'N when you fall off,
You can eat the mattress!
From: lantz@primenet.com
  There was a fad in the late 70's and early 80's in the US in some Cowboy/Country/Western bars out here to ride electronic bulls in the bars. Kind of like an indoor rodeo. When you got thrown off, instead of hitting the dirt like in real bull riding, you hit cushions or mattresses to break your fall. I guess Frank was saying just that, you can land on a mattress. The expression "eat" as in "eat dirt" usually refers to falling face first into whatever. So eating the mattress would probably mean going face first into the mattress.
  To Album Refs
To Global Refs
TRUCK DRIVER DIVORCE!
IT'S VERY SAD!
Bust yer ass
To deliver some string beans,
Deliver some string beans,
Deliver a whole bunch of string beans,
To
UTAH!
From: moggi0@aol.com (MOGGI0)
  Please could someone tell me where and HOW the concept of delivering "Stringbeans to Utah" appeared in the whole scheme of things?
  Am I right in thinking this part of the project/object first appeared on 'No Not Now', then as part of Ike's dialogue in Thingfish and, of course 'Truck Driver Divorce'?
  Could anyone let me know of any more appearances of this conceptual continuity strand in FZ's work, and does it have any connection with the Utah events mentioned in YCDTOSA3 ("You know what happened")
From: biffyshrew@aol.com (Biffyshrew)
  Actually, "Truck Driver Divorce" came first, having been performed live in 1980.
From: kde8356447@aol.com (Kde8356447)
  ... but I have read (in Society Pages perhaps?) that in fact it is a continuation of his series of homages to Roy Estrada! Roy used to drive lumber trucks in Orange County y'know, and later (still?) returned to teamstering for a living. Bust yer ass......
From: "Peter de B. Harrington" <harring@helios.phy.ohiou.edu>
  Well in No Not Now, the String Beans are delivered to Donny and Marie for their Hawaian Lunch. Plus the transcontinenal hobbie horse is really the truck, and the trucker fashions himself a cowboy.
From: dont@reply.via.email.com (Jeff Robison)
  Well, as a lifetime resident of Salt Lake City, I know that we are honored to have the highest per capita string bean consumption of any of the 50 states (and most likely all tropical possessions).
  I think that this is because string beans are one of the cornerstones of the Mormon diet. Along with mashed potatoes, pot roast, and of course: Jell-O. We eat so much fucking Jell-O here, they use us as guinea pigs for their new flavors. The new "Cranberry" variety was a huge success here, but the "Champagne" flavor didn't do so well (which was to be expected because Mormons don't have a goddamn clue how champagne should taste). One thing is for sure: You would call me a liar if I told you some of the ways people prepare Jell-O here in Utah... It borders on sick and disturbed. But I digress...
  I'm sure that Donnie & Marie (who are also Utahns and Mormons) love string beans, too. Rest assured that they've also eaten their fair share of Jell-O in their time. I bet that they like the lime-flavored Jell-O with the shredded up carrots in it. Mmmm... that's good eatins.
  Of course, the "Hawaiian Lunch" refrence comes from the TV ads that Donnie & Marie did during the late 70's. Those spots must have tickled Frank because he used the "Come On And Go Hawaiian" jingle in several songs (i.e., the ending of Strictly Genteel on MAJNH). The thought of squeaky-clean Marie Osmond "biting it" never fails to make me smile. ;)
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