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Joe (guitar)
Rock guitarist and protagonist of Joe’s Garage, a rock opera released on three LPs by Frank Zappa in 1979. Joe starts out practising in his garage with his friends, playing an unpretentious, likeable three-chord song. Joe plays a second-hand Stratocaster with a whammy bar through a “cheesy little amp with a sign on the front said Fender Champ.”
Pretty soon Joe gets caught up in the seedy underbelly of the music industry, meeting various shady characters and participating in all kinds of perverted acts. He gets thrown in jail and when he is released, music appears to be prohibited by society. He quits playing, goes insane, and ends up secretly dreaming up imaginary guitar notes.
On the triple album, Joe is portrayed by singer/guitarist Ike Willis.
