"A Little Green Rosetta", by Frank Zappa, is the final song on the 1979 concept album '' Joe's Garage Acts II & III''. The main character from this triple-album

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

is faced with the decline of the music industry, and is forced to work on an assembly line placing little frosted rosettes on top of muffins at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen facility (a self-reference to Zappa's private studio) The song forms a ''coda'' for ''Joe's Garage'', completing the song cycle of the album. The opening narration by Zappa as the Central Scrutinizer, describing his job at the facility, is nearly identical to the opening preamble to the 1975 song "

Muffin Man "The Muffin Man" is a traditional nursery rhyme, children's song, or children's game of English origin. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 7922. The man in question, who lived on Drury Lane in London, may have been a man whose professi ...

" from ''

Bongo Fury ''Bongo Fury'' is a collaborative album by American artists Frank Zappa and the Mothers, with Captain Beefheart, released in October 1975. The live portions were recorded on May 20 and 21, 1975, at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Te ...

''. "A Little Green Rosetta" is the only song on ''Joe's Garage'' where Zappa's entire studio band sings along to the chorus. Zappa's dialogue in the Joe's Garage recording also lampoons

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the '' Modern ...

's status as one of the highest-paid session drummers in popular music. This song was analyzed in the books ''Zappa'', and ''Academy Zappa''. An earlier recording of the song was made at the Record Plant in Los Angeles in 1975. The 1975 recording featured only brief piano and vocal parts from Zappa. This was included in the ''

Läther ''Läther'' (, or "''Leather''") is the sixty-fifth official album by Frank Zappa. It was released posthumously as a three-CD set on Rykodisc in 1996. The album's title is derived from bits of comic dialog that link the songs. Zappa also explained ...

'' album in 1977. It was not officially released at the time, but was widely traded among Zappa fans as a bootleg recording before its official release in 1996. At one point in the song Zappa quotes from the U.S. doowop song ''Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am The Japanese Sandman)'' by The Cellos.

Personnel

* Frank Zappa – lead guitar, lead vocals *

Warren Cuccurullo Warren Bruce Cuccurullo (born December 8, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, restaurant owner and former body builder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s ...

– rhythm guitar, vocals * Denny Walley – slide guitar, vocals *

Ike Willis Isaac Willis (born November 12, 1955) is an American vocalist and guitarist who was a regular member of Frank Zappa's studio and touring bands from 1978 until the last tour in 1988. He did not tour with Zappa in 1981 and 1982 because he wanted ...

– vocals * Peter Wolf – keyboards *

Tommy Mars Tommy Mars (born Thomas Mariano on October 26, 1951) is an American keyboard player known for his work with Frank Zappa. Mars began piano lessons at age eight, and later his instrument range expanded to various keyboards and synthesizers. Mars g ...

– keyboards *

Arthur Barrow Arthur Barrow (born February 28, 1952) is a multi-instrumental musician, best known for his stint as a bass guitar player for Frank Zappa in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Early life Barrow was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1952 and grew up in ...

– bass, backing vocals *

Ed Mann Ed Mann is a musician who has been "a drummer and piano dabbler since childhood." He is best known for his mallet percussion performances onstage with Frank Zappa's ensemble from 1977 to 1988, and his appearances on over 30 of Zappa's albums ...

– percussion, vocals *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

– drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Green Rosetta, A 1979 songs Frank Zappa songs Songs about music Songs about occupations Song recordings produced by Frank Zappa Songs written by Frank Zappa