The New Orleans Saints have been to Kansas City. Four times to be exact. Three of those match ups–in 1976, 1991 and 2008–ended in a Saints victory, with the only loss coming in 1997. The Saints came, they saw and, on a respectable 75% of those occasions, they conquered.
The boys in black and gold will return to Kansas City, a town that is inexplicably located in Missouri (there’s probably a perfectly good reason for this, but it’s more fun to be dismissive) this Sunday when they take on the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium. Both teams are ranked third in their respective divisions with 2-3 records, so it seems like it should be a good game on paper. In reality, it will only be a good game if the Saints win.
Frank Zappa has also been to Kansas City. In fact, he sort of named a song about the occasion.
Recorded at the Cowtown Ballroom on December 2, 1972, “Been to Kansas City in A Minor” is a glorious horn-infused blues jam that finds Zappa and his so-called Petit Wazoo band in top form. In just over 10 minutes, the 10-piece outfit seamlessly jumps from masterful solo to masterful solo before topping it all with a frenetic crescendo. There’s a trumpet solo, a slide guitar solo, a trombone solo and an old-fashioned electric guitar solo from Zappa himself. It’s damn good stuff, and relatively accessible compared to large chunks of Zappa’s catalog.
“Been to Kansas City in A Minor” got an official release in 2006, when it was included on the live album Imaginary Diseases. The compilation featured a variety of tracks from Zappa’s 1972 tour with the Petit Wazoo band, a musical behemoth that featured Zappa (conductor, guitar, vocals), Tony Duran (slide guitar), Jim Gordon (drums), Dave Parlato (bass), Tom Malone (sax, piccolo, trumpet, tuba), Malcolm McNabb (trumpet), Gary Barone (trumpet, flugelhorn), Glenn Ferris (trombone), Bruce Fowler (trombone) and Earl Dumler (woodwinds).
Frank Zappa and the Petit Wazoo brought their A game to Kansas City on December 2, 1972. Let’s hope the Saints do the same this Sunday.
Check out our Saints Songs of the Week from Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5.
