"Montana" is a song composed by Frank Zappa for his 1973LPOver-Nite Sensation. The last track on the album is one of Zappa's most famous and renowned compositions. It features backing vocals by Tina Turner and the Ikettes throughout the entire track, notably on the middle and ending sections.
Song structure
The structure of "Montana" is intro-verses-chorus-solo-middle section-verses-outro. The lyrics, sung by Zappa in a humorous manner, talk about a person who decides to go toMontana to grow "a crop of dental floss," mounting a pony named "Mighty Little." He dreams to become a "dental floss tycoon," by commercializing it. The verses are filled with pseudo-ranch pronunciation and are intended to be very lighthearted. At 1:55, right after the chorus, Zappa plays a long guitar solo. Then, there's a complex middle section with vocals backed by percussion, singing some of the verses. Zappa follows singing the last verses and finally there's the coda, where the line from the chorus is repeated constantly and answered by a high-pitched "Yippy-Aye-O-Ty-Ay". This goes on until it fades out towards the six-and-a-half minute mark. Of the Ikettes' harmonies, Zappa later said:
Live
"Montana" quickly became a fan favorite and was often performed, especially during the 1973-1975, 1982, 1984 and 1988 tours. On stage, Zappa often altered the lyrics of the song and sometimes even the structure, to great extent. The version featured on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2, is an example of when he did this. Before the song starts, a fan asks them to play The Allman Brothers Band's song "Whipping Post." Frank jokes with the audience that they do not know the tune, Frank chooses to play "Montana" instead, yet he alters the lyrics, which later forces George Duke and Napoleon Murphy Brock to pay attention with the vocal backing. Meanwhile, at the beginning of the song, the band starts playing very fast, which causes Ruth Underwood and Chester Thompson to stumble at the drum fill, leading to more jokes from the rest of the band. The end of the song is a very long guitar solo, that around 9:55 turns into some kind of funkjam, and finally segues into a short version of "Big Swifty."
Other
The song was the B-Side of "I'm the Slime" and many years later, put on the Strictly Commercial compilation.
