Them or Us

Some consider “Them or Us” Zappa’s last studio album, inasmuch as a typical rock studio album. But “Thing-Fish” was released just a month later and it, too, is largely a studio album. Both albums contain live elements as well, despite the material being predominately recorded in a studio. However, with Zappa, it’s difficult to find any “studio” album that didn’t have some live material in the mix. If one wants to differentiate between “Them or Us” and “Thing-Fish,” the former is Zappa’s last mostly-studio release general song material, whereas “Thing-Fish” is a studio release of a themed, concept album reflecting a failed attempt by Zappa to produce a Broadway show.

But a lot of that is just blah-blah-blah.

“Them or Us” presents us with a wide variety of material, from the doo-wop cover opener “The Closer You Are,” to the hard-rock blues cover of The Allman Bros. “Whippin’ Post.” There’s even some of Zappa’s more complex material, such as “Sinister Footwear.” Originally released as a double album, it goes all over the place. Not a bad release, as it has some gems, but not a great one among Zappa’s releases either. Unless you’re a collector and must have every Zappa release possible – such as with my curse – you can easily skip this one. Most every tune on it, including the really good ones, can be found on other releases and compilations, often with better arrangements and performances. Except, perhaps, “Ya Honza,” and “Marque-son’s Chicken.” But more on them in a moment.

The opening cover song by Earl Lewis and Morgan “Bobby” Robinson, for example, can be found on YCDTOSA Vol. 4, and the second song, “In France”, shows up as well on YCDTOSA Vol. 3. Of course, the difference being with the version of “In France” on this release you get Johnny “Guitar” Watson along with Napoleon Murphy Brock, who are not in the YCDTOSA version.

Then along comes “Ya Honza,” which is “Sofa” from “One Size Fits All” with the lyrics backwards, as well as backward fragments of “You’re a Lonely Little Girl” from “We’re Only In It For The Money.” Among Zappa’s studio tracks, this is one of his best. This interesting twist on two of his earlier songs is accompanied by a hard-driving guitar rhythm and ends with a searing shred of a guitar solo that knifes through your brain like a sonic scalpel. You aren’t going to find this track any where else.

This arrangement of “Sharleena” is better than the performance on YCDTOSA Vol. 3, even if it does have Dweezil playing on it, but it’s not a reason to buy this release.

While “Sinister Footwear II” shows up in many places, this particular performance – mixed from two shows – is really interesting. The first half comes from a Nov. 15, 1981 performance at the Painter’s Mill Music Fair in Owings Mill, Md. The guitar solo is taken from a June 23, 1982 performance at Sporthalle, Boeblingen, Germany. It is a huge, soaring solo with frenetic picking and maniacal string bending driven by Chad Wackerman’s relentless drumming.

There’s nothing particularly exciting about the next track, “Truck Driver Divorce,” other than the segue guitar solo, which is actually a solo from a performance of “Zoot Allures” from the Nov. 17, 1981 show at The Ritz in New York City. It’s an odd splice of the tape, as it appears to me that these two songs share nothing in common musically.

Next comes one of Zappa’s best straight-up hard rock songs, “Stevie’s Spanking.” Zappa takes a back seat on this one, playing rhythm guitar while Steve Vai – of whom the song is about – plays the first solo and Dweezil performs the second solo. This song also demonstrates how pointless it is sometimes to call a Zappa album a studio album. This performance is pieced together with at least three segments from shows in Minneapolis, New York City, and Munich, Germany.

Zappa throws in a prurient song with “Baby Take Your Teeth Out,” from which we are thankfully relieved with the instrumental “Marque-son’s Chicken,” which, unfortunately, doesn’t turn up anywhere else.

“Planet of My Dreams” is a curious number from Zappa’s never-produced “Hunchentoot,” a play that went nowhere. But it’s a throw-away, nonetheless. “Be In My Video” doesn’t excite me much either. It’s a rip on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance!” and the music videos of the era, and not a very sophisticated one at that. The title track gives us a decent guitar solo taken from the Stadio Communale show in Bolzano, Italy, from July 3, 1982.

The next song, “Frogs With Dirty Little Lips,” is one Zappa co-authored with his son, Ahmet. This puerile little ditty uses a Landini cadence, according to the book Cosmik Debris: The Collected History and Improvisations of Frank Zappa.

The real star of this release is the last track, The Allman Bros. classic “Whippin’ Post.” The back story on this song begins in a 1974 concert in Helsinki (see YCDTOSA Vol. 2) when a fan shouts out “Whippin’ Post!” Ten years later, Zappa has a band that can deliver and they learn this rocking blues number that not only keeps true to the Duane Allman composition, but carries Zappa’s unique signature as well. You should also compare it with the performances on “Does Humor Belong in Music” and the bootleg “Frank Zappa’s Best Band,” which covered a show in Binghampton, N.Y.

This is a decent release, but not necessarily a “must-have” for your collection. Unless, of course, you are a complete Zappa geek like I am. By the way, I would like to express my great appreciation for Román García Albertos, whose website Information Is Not Knowledge I have found to be invaluable. Check it out.

I rate this three of five stars. Add your own rating below.





Released Oct. 18, 1984, Barking Pumpkin Records/Capitol Records.

LP release:

Side One

The Closer You Are (2:58)
In France (3:30)
Ya Hozna (6:26)
Sharleena (4:33)

Side Two

Sinister Footwear II (8:40)
Truck Driver Divorce (9:03)

Side Three

Stevie’s Spanking (5:24)
Baby, Take Your Teeth Out (1:24)
Marque-son’s Chicken (7:34)
Planet Of My Dreams (1:40)

Side Four

Be In My Video (3:39)
Them Or Us (5:08)
Frogs With Dirty Little Lips (2:46)
Whipping Post (7:32)

CD release

1. The Closer You Are (2:55)
2. In France (3:33)
3. Ya Hozna (6:27)
4. Sharleena (4:33)
5. Sinister Footwear II (8:39)
6. Truck Driver Divorce (8:59)
7. Stevie’s Spanking (5:24)
8. Baby, Take Your Teeth Out (1:54)
9. Marque-son’s Chicken (7:34)
10. Planet Of My Dreams (1:37)
11. Be In My Video (3:39)
12. Them Or Us (5:23)
13. Frogs With Dirty Little Lips (2:42)
14. Whipping Post (7:32)

Personnel:

Frank Zappa – guitar, keyboards, vocals, arranger, producer, main performer, assistant
Tommy Mars – keyboards, vocals, soloist
Patrick O'Hearn – wind, bass guitar
Scott Thunes – vocals, Minimoog, synthesizer, bass guitar
Johnny “Guitar” Watson – vocals, guitar
Ray White – guitar, vocals, backing vocals, choir, chorus, harmony vocals, harmony
Moon Unit Zappa – vocals
Ed Mann – percussion
Chad Wackerman – drums, vocals
Ike Willis – vocals, backing vocals, choir, chorus, harmony vocals, harmony
Arthur Barrow – bass guitar
Napoleon Murphy Brock – saxophone, vocals, harmony vocals, harmony
Brad Cole – piano
Roy Estrada – vocals, backing vocals, choir, chorus, harmony, bass guitar
Bob Harris – keyboards, vocals, harmony vocals
Thana Harris – vocals, harmony
Steve Vai – guitar, soloist, fills
Dweezil Zappa – soloist, guitar
George Duke – keyboards, vocals, piano
Bobby Martin – keyboards, saxophone, vocals, falssetist, harmony vocals, harmonica

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 4

With the fourth installment of the “You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore” series, Zappa returns with a song lineup from a variety of shows covering many different periods of time. And while many individual songs include parts from different performances mixed together, there are several songs that were not mixed that way, presenting an unedited version of a song from a single show. That can be a rarity with Zappa recordings.

As mentioned, Vol. 4 lacks a specific theme or show for focus, covering instead a wide array of eras and bands in much the same way Vol. 1 did. There are a few gems on this release that are special not so much because of their performances, but because they show up at all.

The first track, “Little Rubber Girl,” typifies how many of Zappa’s live songs were put together for release. The intro portion of the song comes from a 1984 show at the Bismark Theater in Chicago, while the main song is taken from the 1978 Halloween show at the Palladium in New York City. If you hear something familiar in this song, it’s because it contains a quote from “Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder,” from the debut album “Freak Out!”

The next three songs are single edits: “Stick Together” is from the Dec. 18, 1984 show at the Queen Elizabeth Theater in Vancouver, and both “My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama” and “Willie the Pimp” are from the Dec. 23, 1984 show at the Universal Amphitheater at Universal City, Calif. This performance of “MGWTKYM” is very tight and includes an intense, albeit very brief, guitar solo.

One of the intriguing items on this release is track 7, “The Evil Prince,” a song from Zappa’s ill-fated attempt at a Broadway show, “Thing-Fish.” This version is pieced together from two performances with the main portions of the song coming from the 1984 Vancouver show, and the guitar solo coming from the Sept. 24-26, 1984 shows at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. Ray White’s vocals are outstanding in this, his voice strong and clear. Zappa’s guitar solo is inspired and delicious; it’s some of his best picking.

The “Let’s Move to Cleveland Solos” include saxophonist Archie Shepp during this performance from an Oct. 28, 1984 show at the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall in Amherst, Mass. Shapp plays an inspiring solo that includes beautifully rendered melodies as well as precision squawks and squeaks that are both amazing and spot-on in terms of the composition’s structure. Allan Zavod provides the keyboard solo, an up-tempo jazz performance that I think would sound positively heavenly had it been played on a grand piano as opposed to the electronic instrument.

The interesting rarity “You Call That Music?” goes all the way back to the original Mothers of Invention as it comes from a Feb. 14, 1969 show at the McMillin Theater at Columbia University in New York City. This piece is focused on percussive instruments, something that Zappa really had an affinity for (his musical career began as a teenager playing drums).

The solos in “Pound for a Brown” are taken from the Oct. 28, 1978 show at the Palladium in New York City. Originally released on “Uncle Meat,” this song shows up frequently at Zappa shows and in many mutations (it’s one of the bonus tracks on the CD release of “Zappa in New York”). This release also has a very rare performance of “Filthy Habits,” which comes from “Sleep Dirt” and “Lather.” It is pieced together from two performances from the 1988 European leg of the ill-fated Best Band tour. Zappa’s solo on this is really filthy, and I mean that in a good way. While this sounds great on electric guitar, it’s solos like this that lead me to often wonder what Zappa’s scores would have sounded like had be become the “classical” composer that he always wanted to be.

Zappa’s relationship with Captain Beefheart was always a tortured one, but when the two high school friends clicked, they produced together some fantastic music. This “original version” of “The Torture Never Stops” from “Zoot Allures” is a prime example. Next to “Inca Roads” from “One Size Fits All,” “Torture” is one of Zappa’s most popular songs in his concert lineups, with variations of solos showing up sampled in much of his later works and releases. But this performance is really like none you’ve probably heard released anywhere else. With this May 21, 1975 performance from the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, we get a bluesy interpretation of the song with Captain Beefheart’s guttural voice and shrieks set to a hand-clapping rhythm. Classic stuff. If you were in Austin to see that show, you witnessed something special and rare.

On Disc Two, we get a crazy performance of “Stevie’s Spanking,” which is pieced together from three European performances in 1982. Steve Vai kicks off the first solo with some maniacal shredding, with Frank following up with the second (Zappa’s solo begins at 4:41 into the song). Then at about 7:27 the two of them start shredding together, creating a sonic wall of guitar power. There’s only one other dueling guitar solo that comes close to this explosion of controlled distortion, and that is the solo during “Oh Jim” on the “Lou Reed Live” release.

We get another great solo from Frank in the next song, “Outside Now,” which comes from “Joe’s Garage.” What makes this track particularly nice is that it is taken from a single show at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pa., from Nov. 10, 1984. The later track “Florentine Pogen,” a complex but very cool piece, is interestingly not only pieced together from different performances, but different bands as well: a 1974 performance in Helsinki and a 1979 show from the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

This is followed by three arcane bits that ought to please any Zappaphile. The first, “Tiny Sick Tears,” is based on the pop song “96 Tears” by ? And The Mysterians and includes a reference to Jim Morrison and The Doors’ song “The End.” What I find very interesting about this song is the way Frank describes mundane activities by using terms that reflect the described action as it really is. There are references in some biographical works that Zappa dabbled with Buddhism for a bit, and evidence of this periodically turns up in his work. The way the lyrics describe going to the kitchen and getting a raisin cookie and putting it in “your eating hole” might sound a bit stupid initially, but these concrete description of everyday activity is really quite brilliant in my view. As Zappa says on the track, “Some people would say it’s bullshit, but we love it, don’t we kids?”

And then there’s “Smell My Beard,” from a 1974 show at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, N.J. This is a sort-of quasi-spoken word bit accompanied by George Duke’s wild keyboards emitting a variety of somewhat cosmic-like sounds. This “story” leads into the next track from the same gig, “The Booger Man.” What’s a Zappa show without a bit of puerile humor?

Doo-wop fans are treated with this CD as well, with the second disc closing with a medley of this genre.

There’s a lot of good material on this release, something for just about every Zappa fan, with a smattering of nearly every major lineup. Realistically, anyone interested in Zappa could simply collect the YCDTOSA series and have a respectable representation of Zappa’s material from throughout his career.

I rate this 4.5 of five stars. Add your own rating below.




Release date: June 14, 1991 on Rykodisc

Track listings

Disc One

1. Little Rubber Girl - 2:57
2. Stick Together - 2:05
3. My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama - 3:20
4. Willie The Pimp - 2:06
5. Montana - 5:48
6. Brown Moses - 2:38
7. The Evil Prince - 7:12
8. Approximate - 1:49
9. Love Of My Life (Mudd Club Version) - 1:59
10. Let’s Move To Cleveland Solos (1984) - 7:10
11. You Call That Music? - 4:07
12. Pound For A Brown - Solos (1978) - 6:30
13. The Black Page (1984) - 5:15
14. Take Me Out To The Ball Game - 3:01
15. Filthy Habits - 5:40
16. The Torture Never Stops (Original Version) - 9:16

Disc Two

1. Church Chat - 2:00
2. Stevie’s Spanking - 10:51
3. Outside Now - 6:09
4. Disco Boy - 3:00
5. Teen-age Wind - 1:54
6. Truck Driver Divorce - 4:47
7. Florentine Pogen - 5:10
8. Tiny Sick Tears - 4:30
9. Smell My Beard - 4:31
10. The Booger Man - 2:46
11. Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy - 6:28
12. Are You Upset? - 1:30
13. Little Girl Of Mine - 1:41
14. The Closer You Are - 2:05
15. Johnny Darling - 0:52
16. No, No Cherry - 1:26
17. The Man From Utopia 1:15
18. Mary Lou - 2:16

You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 3

With six volumes to this collection, I wanted to break up the monotony of simply posting about the tracks on each issue. And with Volume three, I thought it might be a good time to explore the issue of bootlegging again.

Clinton Heylin reveals in his 1995 book “Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry,” Zappa’s intense hatred of bootleggers. But this hatred was not simply over money, as Zappa suggests in the opening track of the first “Beat the Boots” release, “As An Am.” In that sound bite, Zappa states that it angers him that bootleggers will record concert performances of material he hasn’t released yet. But there was another factor in Zappa’s antipathy for bootleggers, and that centered on Zappa’s control issues.

“Zappa had always been a control freak,” writes Heylin, “and hated the idea of bootleggers offering an alternative to his own, sometimes questionable, decisions about what should and should not be made available.”

Heylin interviewed a particularly prolific bootlegger identified as “Richard,” who was very likely a huge thorn in Zappa’s side.

“I’m a big Zappa fan,” says Richard. “In fact, my ‘Mystery Box’ got Zappa as upset as Columbia got over ‘Ten of Swords’ (a Dylan bootleg that Richard compiled).” Zappa was apparently so upset about the release of ‘Mystery Box’ that he contacted the FBI, which apparently had no interest in investigating the allegations.

“I guess,” Richard continues, “the problem was that Zappa was doing his (own) ‘You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore,’ his ongoing series which has just ended, and ‘Mystery Box’ was like a giant ‘You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore.’ A lot of reviews were saying that ‘Mystery Box’ was better because it was chronological and didn’t jump all over the place and didn’t have all these stupid edits in it. That kind of thing can annoy you if you’re an artist putting out your own thing.”

Zappa blamed bootleggers for profiting off his material and that caused him to lose money. But Zappa had so many other things going on in the legal realm that were costing him money that to point to bootleggers as a culprit seems more like an effort to eschew responsibility for his own travails. And besides, as “Richard” points out, most Zappa bootleggers recorded concerts and distributed their recordings for free or at a cost that was just enough to cover their own costs. The Zappa audience was too esoteric to make any real money off of, so most Zappa bootleggers were doing it because they loved his music.

And besides, the criticism that Zappa was a bit overzealous with his editing that turned a song from one performance into a quilt of sound clips from multiple shows was justified. What started as a technique in the early days that enhanced the quality of his recordings later turned into an obsession that might have improved the sound quality of a recording, but which also led some of his music losing its gut.

This was because Zappa believed that music was unemotional, that it was merely sound. The idea that music had an emotional element was absurd to him.

From Barry Miles’ “Zappa: A Biography”: “See, I take a real cold view about that stuff. I think that music works because of psycho-accoustical things – like the way in which a line will interact with the harmonic climate that’s backing it up. And all the rest of it is subjective on behalf of the listener.”

One of Zappa’s musical idols and influences, Igor Stravinsky, was even harsher in his view regarding music’s ability to convey emotion: “I consider that music, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all, whether a feeling, an attitude of mind, a psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature, etc… Expression has never been an inherent property of music.”

From that perspective, it is no wonder that Zappa spent hours and hours splicing bits and pieces of performances together and calling it a “live” performance, even when he would dub in a studio cut. To him, it was just music, just notes on a sheet of paper.

It is incredible that both Zappa and Stravinsky would have such points of view given that it is quite clear that each composed music that told stories. And how do you tell an emotionless story?

Two tracks on this recording really challenge this notion, both on Disc two: “Zoot Allures,” and “King Kong.” I can’t see how Zappa can play “Zoot Allures” without him channeling emotion into his guitar playing. He could play it strictly as music, as lines and dots on a page, but it is clear that he doesn’t. And the classic piece “King Kong” in all its many permutations; does not the fact that a performance is altered either through style or time signature change the impression the audience experiences from the piece? Zappa seems to lay all responsibility for any emotional response on the listener rather than the music; yet he ignores how that listener response changes when he changes the timbre or tempo of a song.

Just a few comments about this particular recording, which overall is pretty damn good.

Dweezil’s guitar solo on the opening track “Sharleena” is competent, but rather boring and simplistic. It is only when father and son begin playing together that the solo finally gets interesting.

“Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind” is actually a composition by former Mothers of Invention member Jeff Simmons, which he released on an album of the same name in 1970. Zappa plays guitar on the Simmons release as well.

“Drowning Witch” is a compilation of edits from shows at Stadio Communale, Bolzano, Italy, July 3, 1982 and the Bayfront Center Arena, St. Petersburg, Florida on Dec. 1, 1984 and the Bismarck Theater, Chicago, from Nov. 23, 1984, and the Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Wash., Dec. 17, 1984. It also contains musical quotes from a Hawaiian Punch commercial, Dragnet (Schumann/Rósza) and Le sacre du printemps (Stravinsky).

This CD contains the only releases of “Ride My Face to Chicago,” “Carol, You Fool,” and “Chana in De Bushwop,” which were performed at the Bismarck Theater, Chicago, Nov. 23, 1984. The latter song also included Diva Zappa.

“Zoot Allures” contains two edits, with the first part from Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, Osaka, Japan on Feb. 3, 1976, and the guitar solo from Les Arenes, Cap D'agde, France May 30, 1982.

The sequence of “Society Pages” through “Charlie’s Enormous Mouth” comes from the Halloween show at the Palladium in New York in 1981.

“Cocaine Decisions” is comprised of two edits from the Bismarck Theater, Chicago, Nov. 23, 1984, and Stadio Communale, Palermo, Sicily, July 14, 1982.

This is the only official release that has “Nig Biz,” and it comes from the show at the Stadio Communale, Palermo, Sicily, July 14, 1982. It also contains a musical quote from “The Tracks Of My Tears” (Robinson/Moore/Tarplin).

“King Kong” contains musical quotes from “Shakin’ All Over” (Heath), “Big Swifty,” “Yo Cats” (FZ/Mariano), “Uncle Meat,” “A Love Supreme” (Coltrane), “Midnight Sun” (Hampton/Burke/Mercer) and the “William Tell Overture” (Rossini). It is also comprised of too many edits from various shows to enumerate.

“Cosmik Debris” contains portions from three shows including the Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Wash., Dec. 17, 1984; the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, Ore., Dec. 20, 1984; and the ending from The Pier, New York City, Aug. 25-26, 1984. It also contains a musical quote from “Who Knows” (Hendrix).

I rate this four out of five stars. Add your own rating below.





Released Nov. 13, 1989 on Rykodisc; various live recordings from Dec. 10, 1971 to Dec. 23, 1984.

Track listings:

Disc one
1. “Sharleena” – 8:54
2. “Bamboozled by Love/Owner of a Lonely Heart” – 6:06
3. “Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up” – 2:52
4. “Advance Romance” – 6:58
5. “Bobby Brown Goes Down” – 2:44
6. “Keep It Greasey” – 3:30
7. “Honey, Don’t You Want a Man Like Me?” – 4:16
8. “In France” – 3:01
9. “Drowning Witch” – 9:22
10. “Ride My Face to Chicago” – 4:22
11. “Carol, You Fool” – 4:06
12. “Chana in de Bushwop” – 4:52
13. “Joe’s Garage” – 2:20
14. “Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?” – 3:07

Disc two
1. “Dickie’s Such an Asshole” – 10:08
2. “Hands With a Hammer” (Bozzio) – 3:18
3. “Zoot Allures” – 6:09
4. “Society Pages” – 2:32
5. “I’m a Beautiful Guy” – 1:54
6. “Beauty Knows No Pain” – 2:55
7. “Charlie’s Enormous Mouth” – 3:39
8. “Cocaine Decisions” – 3:14
9. “Nig Biz” – 4:58
10. “King Kong” – 24:32
11. “Cosmik Debris” – 5:14

Personnel:

Frank Zappa – arranger, editing, keyboards, lyricist, vocals, producer, main performer, liner notes, guitar, compilation
Mark Volman – vocals
Howard Kaylan – vocals
Lowell George – guitar
Denny Walley – guitar
Steve Vai – guitar
Dweezil Zappa – guitar
Jim Sherwood – guitar, vocals, wind
Ray Collins – guitar, vocals
Ike Willis – rhythm guitar, vocals
Ray White – rhythm guitar, vocals
Ian Underwood – guitar, wind, alto saxophone, keyboards
Patrick O'Hearn – bass guitar, wind
Roy Estrada – bass guitar, vocals
Jim Pons – bass guitar, vocals
Scott Thunes – bass guitar, vocals, synthesizer
Tom Fowler – bass guitar, trombone
Peter Wolf – keyboards
Allan Zavod – keyboards
Andre Lewis – keyboards
Don Preston – keyboards, electronics
George Duke – keyboards, vocals
Tommy Mars – keyboards, vocals
Bobby Martin – keyboards, vocals, saxophone
Napoleon Murphy Brock – saxophone, vocals
Bruce Fowler – trombone
Bunk Gardner – horn, wind
Ralph Humphrey – drums
Art Tripp – drums
Chester Thompson – drums
Chad Wackerman – drums, vocals
Jimmy Carl Black – drums, percussion
Aynsley Dunbar – drums
Terry Bozzio – drums, soloist, lyricist
Ruth Underwood – percussion, keyboards
Ed Mann – percussion
Diva Zappa – lyricist
Mark Pinske – engineer
Kerry McNabb – engineer
Bob Stone – engineer, engineering supervisor, remixing, supervisor

Halloween 1981 The Palladium late show

What is really amazing about the 1981 Halloween shows at the Palladium is that they were simultaneously broadcast live over radio and on MTV. And the second show kicks off with a kickass performance of “Black Napkins” from “Zoot Allures.” Granted, Zappa had already warmed up pretty well with the early show, but opening a show with this number, composed around an intense guitar solo, is very ballsy.

Probably because of the live broadcasts as well, the set list is actually pretty tame, although the songs are performed exceptionally well. But even the second song, “Montana” is nothing like the studio version or any other live version I have heard. It is frankly quite tame and even a tad disappointing.

The band is tight, however. Their playing during “Easy Meat” is outstanding. And we're treated to another stupendous Zappa solo. But what really gets me is the polyrhythmic structure to the solo section. Chad Wackerman is really amazing during this section, which finishes with a time signature I still haven’t figured out.

Both the early and the late shows pull heavily from “You Are What You Is.” The band gives “Society Pages” a very funky beat that is utterly delicious. Ray White gives “I’m a Beautiful Guy” a very Rat Pack sound that is sumptuously glib. The band’s expertise is exemplified again with “Beauty Knows No Pain,” a number so tightly orchestrated that any fuck up would stand out like a hardon at a junior high dance.

Steve Vai’s guitar playing is a bit understated on “Charlie’s Enormous Mouth,” but make no mistake, it is excellent. We get a reggae rhythm with “Fine Girl,” as well as some keyboard playing by Tommy Mars that I actually enjoy; his falsetto singing is also quite good.


The bands returns to “You Are What You Is” with a couple very tightly performed songs: “Teenage Wind,” and “Harder Than Your Husband.” About the latter, I get the feeling that the song is both a rip and an homage to the Rolling Stones’ “Girl with the Far Away Eyes.” What some listeners fail to grasp is that a Zappa spoof that is obviously directed at a particular artist or band isn’t necessarily done because Zappa dislikes the target. Some were darts thrown with unmistakable disdain. But remember that Zappa often did satires of doo-wop music; yet he held a deep regard for that genre.

Talk about a heavy rock beat, “Bamboozled By Love” comes along and crushes your head. Ray White is getting off on his Allman Bros. muse. It is an incredible interpretation of the song. And the guitar solo is worthy of adoration, although it is too short.

“Sinister Footwear” comes along, showing some more of Zappa the composer, and for true Zappa fans, pieces like this are gems. I really like Bobby Martin’s keyboards just before Zappa’s guitar solo. The precision of the setup is chilling, as the mood is completely translated and delivered with impeccable skill. Jesus, this shit is good! Again, even Tommy Mars’ keyboards are excellent, recalling a choir of voices bringing a triumphant crescendo (sorry, I’ve never been a fan of Tommy Mars’ style of playing. It has always struck me as rather pedestrian, like he was stroking Keith Emerson).

“Stevie’s Spanking” is a grandiose heavy metal head-banging splurge of electronic musical madness that delights the synapses. After all, “it’s not that he required grooming.” You can tell how Stevie Vai was influenced by Zappa with his guitar solo. While distinctly different in timbre, you nonetheless hear the Zappa influence. And when the two of them are jamming together, it’s killer.

The two CDs that make up this boot are nicely divided, with the first disc ending with a commercial break for the live FM broadcast. CD 2 picks up with “Cocaine Decisions,” a song that wouldn’t be released for another two years on “The Man From Utopia.”

Next comes an obscure blues number, “Nig Biz,” a substantial surprise in many ways considering the concert was still being broadcast. This is a rollicking blues number that officially appears only on YCDTOSA Vol. 3 and “The Dub Room Special” DVD. Next come another two songs from “You Are What You Is,” beginning with “Doreen,” which in this live version really lacks the oomph of the official release. This is followed by “Goblin Girl,” a song seldom performed live, but which was a welcomed number in the show’s lineup considering it was, after all, Halloween. It’s a very short rendition of the song, coming in at less than two minutes, quickly transitioning into the more complex “The Black Page #2.” I have to comment here that Ed Mann’s percussion, particularly with the vibraphones, is outstanding and precise. Wackerman’s drumming is also spot-on. But, of course, Zappa’s solo on this number is exquisite as well.


This concert’s performance of “Tryin’ to Grow a Chin” in my opinion is merely mediocre. The playing is great, but it’s just not the same without Terry Bozzio singing. What follows is much better, a very cool interpretation of “Strictly Genteel,” sans vocals. While there are a lot of good songs on this boot, this performance of “Strictly Genteel” is worth tracking it down alone. There’s even a section almost four minutes into the song that recalls sounds from the “Burnt Weeny Sandwich” era. The song acts as an end to the FM broadcast, with Frank coming in and saying goodnight. However, the FM broadcast didn’t end until about half way through the next song, “The Torture Never Stops,” which Zappa proclaims is “a traditional Halloween number.” It is the title number for a DVD released in 2008 that contains video from both the early and late shows. Frank says “Good night to our television audience” at the end of this, but there is still plenty more.

The “rest of the show” starts with “Joe’s Garage,” which is followed by “Why Does It Hurt When I Pee.” Unfortunately, there is some feedback buzz in the background during portions of these songs. Two long classics come up next with “The Illinois Enema Bandit” and perhaps one of Zappa’s most brilliant as well as flexible compositions he ever wrote: “King Kong.” To demonstrate its flexibility, the band performs it with a reggae beat and a variety of interesting percussive solos, featuring some very cool “outside” playing by Ed Mann. Of course, there is a guitar solo. The show closes with “Auld Lang Syne.”

This Web site outlines the various official formats that material from the two 1981 shows was released on.

I rate this 4.5 of five stars. Add your own rating below.



Track listing

CD1
Black Napkins – 6:53
Montana – 3:44
Easy Meat – 6:44
Society Pages – 2:29
I’m A Beautiful Guy – 1:53
Beauty Knows No Pain – 2:52
Charlie’s Enormous Mouth – 3:36
Fine Girl – 3:09
Teenage Wind – 2:57
Harder Than Your Husband – 2:23
Bamboozled By Love – 5:26
Sinister Footwear – 6:38
Stevie’s Spanking – 6:32

CD2
Cocaine Decisions – 4:48
Nig Biz – 5:03
Doreen – 2:02
Goblin Girl – 1:45
The Black Page #2 – 4:14
Tryin’ To Grow A Chin – 2:27
Strictly Genteel – 6:41
The Torture Never Stops – 12:46
Joe’s Garage – 3:40
Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? – 2:38
The Illinois Enema Bandit – 10:44
King Kong – 11:59
Auld Lang Syne – 2:57

Players

Frank Zappa – guitar and vocals
Steve Vai – guitar
Ray White – guitar and vocals
Scott Thunes – bass
Chad Wackerman – drums
Ed Mann – percussion
Tommy Mars – keyboards
Bobby Martin – keyboards

Halloween 1976 Felt Forum Late Show

The late show at the Felt Forum in New York City on Halloween, 1976, was a decent concert. When Frank teases the crowd after the “Purple Lagoon Intro,” which includes Terry Bozzio’s outstanding drumming, with the promise, “I just hope we can make this program everything you hoped for tonight,” you know this is going to be a good show.

But this particular bootleg, an audience recording, really sucks. You can barely hear the concert’s greatness through the crowd chatter, and the guy that keeps yelling “Frank Zappa sucks donkey balls!” is really super annoying. There is also the small matter that I don’t have any art work to go with this. Hence the lame images.

The opener “Stink Foot,” from “Apostrophe(‘)” is a song that Frank tells the crowd he opened the early show with. This is significant because when Zappa played back-to-back shows on a single night, the song sets were never identical and seldom included any of the same individual songs. The guitar solo on this, although muffled in the bootleg, comes forward enough for you to hear Zappa inject a bit of blues into the tune. And then you hear him interrupt the song, apparently to re-tune his guitar, after which he goes through a series of ripping arpeggios to ensure his axe is truly in tune. After that, I believe he slips back into the solo he initially intended on playing. Bozzio does an outstanding job of staying in time with this unpredicted interruption.

The “Poodle Lecture” is a routine that Frank included in a lot of shows during that era, but here it’s not that enjoyable because instead of just hearing the crowd’s general response to Zappa’s narration, you get to hear individual voices, like that annoying guy who was yelling “Frank Zappa sucks donkey balls!”

Bianca Thornton belts out the vocals to “Dirty Love” from “Over-nite Sensation,” but you can barely hear her. What you do hear, however, is enough to make you wish you were there to hear it. We do get to hear another great solo from Frank. However, it appears that he was having some trouble that night keeping his guitar in tune. He abandons his efforts to move into “Pound For A Brown,” a tune from “Uncle Meat,” which turns out to be the band’s first live performance of the tune. A few more attempts at tuning his guitar and then the song begins.


You can hear Frank starts things with a “One-two-three-four,” but this song is way beyond and normal 4/4 time signature. There’s so much going on with this song with Patrick O’Hearn’s bass playing and Terry Bozzi’s precision drumming. All that frenetic activity initially sounds somewhat out of line with Zappa’s playing, but as the song progresses, the synchronicity of the players activity becomes apparent. Things finish with an excellent drum solo from Bozzio, so impressive you can hear the comments and awe from the audience.

Not sure, but when the band slows things down during “Wind Up Workin’ in a Gas Station,” a song from “Zoot Allures,” it sounds like they are either taking a shot at Grand Funk or maybe Kansas. Probably the latter, as about that time Kansas was fairly popular.

Bozzio gets to work his vocal cords in “Tryin’ to Grow a Chin” from “Sheik Yer Bouti,” but the substandard recording of the bootleg is such you really can’t hear much beyond the bass and rhythm guitar lines.

Normally, live performances of “The Torture Never Stops” include famously intense guitar solos out of Frank. Halloween 1976 was a bit of an exception to this. In addition to the performance being marred by the chatter of some guy who is close to the person recording the show, Frank is still having trouble with his guitar. He goes through a solo, but you can tell he seems to be preoccupied with his guitar. And then later in the solo, someone yells, “What is this shit?” To which Zappa replies that he’s tuning his guitar, followed with a “Why don’t you go fuck yourself?”

Ray White and Zappa trade solos during “City of Tiny Lights,” a song constructed to accommodate a lengthy guitar solo. However, the solo isn’t as imaginative as what one might expect out of Frank, leading me to think that he was holding back a lot during this show because of whatever problems he was having with his instrument.

Bianca Thornton’s voice comes through much more clearly during the last song on Disc 1, “You Didn’t Try to Call Me,” a song that goes all the way back to “Freak Out!” She’s gives it a really full, bluesy and spiritual feel. Yet, the band sort of disintegrates into a bunch of dinking around. To me, another solo was probably intended to go along with this song, which would have been bitchin’ to go along with Thornton’s singing, but given what happened early in the show, I think Frank basically punted.

Disc 2 continues with “Manx Needs a Woman,” a short piece that was on the “New York” release, which is followed by “Titties ‘n Beer,” featuring Terry Bozzio as the Devil. Eddie Jobson has some trouble keeping the beat on his keyboards while Bozzio is busy in his role as the Devil, but the routine apparently works the crowd into an enthusiastic frenzy. You get a better sense of Bianca Thornton’s voice toward the end of this, as she sounds very Stevie Nicks.


Zappa overcomes the previous issues with his guitar as he rips into “Black Napkins,” but two-and-a-half minutes into the song, the guitar playing abruptly stops to be replaced by some vocalizations by it sounds like both Zappa and Bianca Thornton. The crowd does not sound all that pleased, recognizing something wrong with the sound. Was Frank having another guitar issue? But the crowd slowly gets into the vocalizations despite the fact that the sequence lacks any cohesion. Someone eventually starts playing an electric violin, but there is no credit for this, and there doesn’t appear to be any reference of someone playing electric violin here as well. The style of playing sounds very much like Jean Luc Ponty. That’s my guess, supported in part by the fact someone in the crowd shouts his name. Some subdued guitar playing follows this, but Frank picks up the intensity a bit when we’re about 12 minutes into the song. If he did have guitar issues earlier in the show, by the end of this song he has surely overcome them: you hear Zappa losing himself in the song, his playing becoming effortless. I have to wonder, however, if it’s a different guitar, because it has a slightly different sound than the one he started with. You can’t tell because this is an audience recording, and the sound quality shifts frequently because of that alone.

Next come “Advance Romance,” a very heavy song that Zappa played a lot, but didn’t show up on any official “studio” recording. Rather, it appears on the live recordings “You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore” volumes 3 and 5, as well as on “Oz.” This concert’s version has a pretty kick-ass bass solo by O’Hearn, if you can make it out. Plus, Zappa’s guitar playing has definitely overcome whatever problems were encountered earlier in the show. Again, despite how shitty this bootleg recording is, the ability to hear solos like this make having these bootlegs rewarding. The solo in this song is why this recording gets two stars instead of one.

Zappa delves into a pretty sweet performance of “What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are?” with Bianca Thornton, who sings a soulful accompaniment that also shoots back with a satirical tongue that keeps Frank in his place. While I still like the version from the “Fillmore East” concert recording, this one is good too.

Of course, after a song like that, it’s not surprising the group launches next into “Dinah-Moe Humm.” This is followed with “Camarillo Brillo,” which slows down toward the end as was typical of concerts from this era, because it was usually followed, as it is here, with “Muffin Man,” a song first released on “Bongo Fury.” In this case, John Smothers sings the song. Was this someone from the audience? This was not unusual for a Zappa show, as long as you were well-behaved, but as it turned out, Smothers was Zappa's long-time bodyguard. And Zappa delivers again with outstanding playing, albeit interrupted by a glitch in the download.

I rate this recording two of five stars. Add your own rating below.



Content was edited and a correction made on Oct. 25, 2009, correcting the name John Scuthers to John Smothers.


Disc 1:
Crowd Noise
1 Purple Lagoon Intro
2 Stink Foot
3 Poodle Lecture
4 Dirty Love
5 Pound For A Brown
6 Wind Up Workin’ In A Gas Station
7 Tryin’ To Grow A Chin
8 The Torture Never Stops
9 City Of Tiny Lights
10 You Didn’t Try To Call Me

Disc 2:
11 Manx Needs Women
12 Titties ‘n Beer
13 Black Napkins
14 Advance Romance
15 What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are?
16 Dinah-Moe Humm
17 Camarillo Brillo
18 Muffin Man

Frank Zappa-vocals, guitar
Ray White-vocals, guitar
Patrick O’Hearn-vocals, bass
Terry Bozzio-drums
Eddie Jobson-keyboards
Bianca Thornton-vocals

Zappa in New York

Frank Zappa was well-known for inserting enigmatic references to all types of “relevant” musical and lyrical material into his music. These arcane references could be lyrics that either recall previously released material, or even foreshadow material that was yet to be produced. It can be references to other works by other composers; references to current events; historical figures; places and people from his personal past.

The 1978 live recording “Zappa in New York” is a good example of how Zappa wove outside influences into his music, as well as a prime example of how easy it can be to over-read inferences into his material. Case in point: the first track on the release, “Titties & Beer.”

The discussion on this song at the Web site Arf alludes to a connection between “Titties & Beer” and “L'histoire du Soldat,” an old Russian folk tale that Igor Stravinsky had set to music. While the connection is plausible, perhaps it is more likely that Zappa just took the libretto from “L'histoire du Soldat” and altered it in his own twisted way. The song is among his better comedic material, showing much more imagination musically than much of the previous comedic material he composed with Flo & Eddie (see “Fillmore East: June 1971” and “Just Another Band From L.A.”) While the Flo & Eddie material became quite tiresome at times, “Titties & Beer” has an engaging, albeit old-as-the-hills, story line that is carried by truly astounding music.

When I bought the LP the year it was released, the next track was “I Promise Not To Come in Your Mouth.” However, the CD version of this release gives us a much broader experience of the concerts it was taken from, a series of shows between Christmas and New Year’s in 1976 at the Palladium in New York City. On the CD, the second track is an instrumental version of “Cruising for Burgers,” which first appeared on “Uncle Meat.”

The LP release I purchased in 1978 didn’t have “Punky’s Whips,” but this is a great addition to the CD release. First you’ve got Don Pardo introducing the song. Pardo was gigging with “Saturday Night Live,” and Zappa had guest-hosted the show in 1976, as well as appeared as its musical guest. It was a brilliant show because he played “The Slime,” a superb coup to the inanity of broadcast television. Zappa re-wrote a portion of the song for Pardo to be performed on the show, and apparently a musical relationship was struck, leading to Pardo joining Zappa at the Palladium.

Let’s recall the era. In 1976, the sexual revolution in America was reaching its, err, climax, as was the gay movement. Sexual freedom was so prevalent – as was the androgyny of the time exemplified by such musical artists as Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Lou Reed and Brian Eno – that it was not uncommon for straight guys to take a walk on the wild side from time to time. So the story line in “Punky’s Whips” is quite plausible: a self-professed straight man develops a sexual obsession for glam rock star famous for his pouty lips. Not that Terry Bozzio (Zappa’s drummer at the time and the target of the song) himself had a true yen for a sexual liaison with Punky Meadows of the glam band Angel; rather, Frank was using as his story-telling vehicle that element of bisexuality that briefly showed its face before the advent of AIDS. After all, Bozzio sings quite plainly that “I ain’t really queer.” Zappa’s intent for the song was strictly to zing Meadows for his outrageous pout.


The Washington City Paper in 2002 reported that most of Angel’s members didn’t like Zappa’s song so much, temporarily blocking its release on the original vinyl version that was pressed. But Punky Meadows told the reporter that he was flattered by the song. “I thought it was cool. Frank is very satirical, so you can’t have a thin skin. I found it kind of flattering.”

Good for you Punky.

Next comes “Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?”, but let’s move on to the last song on the first CD; “The Illinois Enema Bandit.” Reality makes its way into the Zappa catalog, as Don Pardo sets the story line. I like how this is set to a traditional blues style, as this makes the song. And I also really like the lyric, “The Illinois enema bandit/I heard he’s on the loose!” While the rest of the song is explicit in its content, the double entendre in this lyric is beautiful. Zappa, also, takes the traditional blues style to exciting new extremes with his guitar solo, coupled with seamless time changes managed expertly by Bozzio’s drumming.

The true Illinois enema bandit was a man named Michael Kenyon, who, for approximately 10 years, had committed a series of robberies during which he also gave his female victims enemas. According to Neil Slaven’s book, “Electric Don Quixote,” Zappa reveals that he first heard about the enema bandit from a radio news report while travelling after a gig that was in Normal, Ill.

The end of the song is filled with several “project/object” references, such as when Ray White sings that he “ain’t talkin’ bout Fontana,” an allusion to Potato-headed Bobby, a character who first appeared on the album “One Size Fits All” in the song “San Ber’dino.” And just before the finish, Zappa brings in a reference from the “Freak Out!” album with a bit from the “It Can’t Happen Here” section of the song “Help, I’m A Rock.”


By the time I heard the album “Apostrophe(‘)” I was recognizing how Zappa continually referenced other material from his catalog. While I knew the references were intentional, I didn’t know the reason behind them. Consider what he says in his autobiography:

“Project/Object is a term I have used to describe the overall concept of my work in various mediums. Each project (in whatever realm), or interview connected to it, is part of a larger object, for which there is no ‘technical name.’”

There are many other good songs on this recording. When first released on vinyl, this was the recording that debuted “Big Leg Emma,” a song originally recorded to appear on “Absolutely Free,” and which appeared later in the CD release of that album. Personally, I’m glad it was not released with “Absolutely Free.” The song works well on the New York album, but is really out of place on the former.

I rate this recording four out of five stars. Add your own rating below.



Album release date: March 1978, Warner/Discreet Records.

Original vinyl release:

Side One
Titties & Beer (5:31)
I Promise Not To Come In Your Mouth (3:31)
Big Leg Emma (2:09)

Side Two
Sofa (3:15)
Manx Needs Women (1:39)
The Black Page Drum Solo/Black Page #1 (4:06)
Black Page #2 (5:25)

Side Three
Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me? (4:18)
The Illinois Enema Bandit (12:09)

Side Four
The Purple Lagoon (16:20)

CD release:

Disc One
Titties & Beer (7:36)
Cruisin' For Burgers (9:12) - bonus track
I Promise Not To Come In Your Mouth (3:32)
Punky's Whips (10:50)
Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me? (4:12)
The Illinois Enema Bandit (12:42)

Disc Two
I'm The Slime (4:24) - bonus track
Pound For A Brown (3:41) - bonus track
Manx Needs Women (1:50)
The Black Page Drum Solo/Black Page #1 (3:50)
Big Leg Emma (2:17)
Sofa (2:56)
Black Page #2 (5:36)
The Torture Never Stops (12:35) - bonus track
The Purple Lagoon/Approximate (16:41)

Personnel:

Frank Zappa (conductor, lead guitar, vocals)
John Bergamo (percussion overdubs)
Terry Bozzio (drums, vocals)
Mike Brecker (tenor sax, flute)
Randy Brecker (trumpet)
Ronnie Cuber (baritone sax, clarinet)
Eddie Jobson (keyboards, violin, vocals)
Tom Malone (trombone, trumpet, piccolo)
Ed Mann (percussion overdubs)
Lou Marini (alto sax, flute)
Lou Anne Neill (osmotic harp overdubs)
Patrick O'Hearn (bass, vocals)
Don Pardo (sophisticaded narration)
David Samuels (timpani, vibes)
Ruth Underwood (percussion, synthesizer)
Ray White (rhythm guitar, vocals)

Great Wazoo EP

Both the Grand and Petit Wazoo tours in the fall of 1972 went without any official releases of any of the shows until January 2006 when “Imaginary Diseases” was released representing the Petit Wazoo, and November 2007 when “Wazoo!” was released to represent the Grand Wazoo tour. So for 34 years, Zappaphiles had to rely on bootleg releases to get anything on the tour, which covered mostly the U.S., but had three gigs in Europe. And the price tag on the “official” releases proved to be a shocker for more than just a few fans: $30 for the latter release ($26.99 at Amazon.com).

One of those bootlegs is the “Great Wazoo EP”, which appears to be a recording from the Sept. 15, 1972, show at Deutschlandhalle in Berlin. That conclusion is based on a number of somewhat conflicting factors. The cover art of the EP explicitly states it was recorded at this show. The only other European venues on the tour were in London and the Netherlands. The Grand Wazoo tour schedule here indicates that there was a stop on this date at the identified venue, as does this site. This information seems to outweigh the text on the EP cover, which identifies it as a recording of the Petit Wazoo tour (the EP’s title is “Frank Zappa & the Petit Wazoo Orchestra”) rather than the Grand Wazoo, as well as the inconsistencies in the set list established for that date and the songs that are identified on the bootleg.

The EP has three songs identified as “Berlin Blues,” “Variant Processional March (Regyption Strut),” and “Die Neuen Braunen Wolken.” That seems to fit with the set lists for the Sept. 15, 1972, concert as identified by the Zappateers site as well as this one, which were listed as follows: New Brown Clouds, Big Swifty, Approximate, For Calvin And His Next Two Hitch-hikers, Think It Over (The Grand Wazoo), The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary, Dog Meat, improvisations, Blues For A Minute, Penis Dimension, Variant Processional March (Regyptian Strut), Chunga’s Revenge.


“Die Neuen Braunen Wolken” translates into “New Brown Clouds,” and the “Variant Processional March” is clearly identified. The only dubious song left is “Berlin Blues,” as it is identified on the bootleg, which might be “Blues for A Minute.” If I am in error, I hope someone will correct me.

Enough of all that, let’s get to the music!

“Berlin Blues” is likely a representation of one of the few times Zappa bothered to play a solo during the Grand Wazoo tour. Conducting and managing a 20-piece band didn’t necessarily leave a lot of time for Frank to cut loose on his axe. This song is a very laid back blues piece that has minimal accompaniment and could possibly have been something he would do to give the larger band a rest. It may also have been something Zappa would play to give his audience a rest too, by providing some more “accessible” and listenable music between the more demanding pieces.

Next is “Variant Processional March,” more commonly known as “Regyptian Strut,” which has the full band playing. Nothing particularly interesting in this, given the quality of the bootleg. The orchestration of the number sounds impressive, but its depth just doesn’t get carried through the bootleg.

The final song on the EP is “Die Neuen Braunen Wolken,” which is also listed on “Wazoo!” as the fourth movement to “The Adventures of Greggery Peccary.” Despite the poor sound quality, the impeccable playing of the musicians during this complex and undoubtedly difficult piece comes through beautifully.

This is a very simple EP bootleg that provided for many years one of the few glimpses of what the Grand Wazoo touring band sounded like. Obviously, it’s not for everyone, particularly in light of the subsequent release of “Wazoo!”

I give this recording three of five stars. Provide your own rating below.


The twenty musicians in the Grand Wazoo band were:

Jay Migliori--flute, saxophone, clarinet
Mike Altschul--piccolo, bass clarinet
Ray Reed--saxophone, clarinet
Charles Owens--saxophone, clarinet
Joann Caldwell McNab--bassoon
Earle Dumler--oboe
Jerry Kessler--cello
Malcolm McNab--trumpet
Sal Marquez--trumpet
Tom Malone--tuba
Bruce Fowler--trombone
Glenn Ferris--trombone
Ken Shroyer--trombone
Ian Underwood--synthesizer
Jim Gordon--drums
Dave Parlato--bass
Tony Duran--slide guitar
Tom Raney--percussion
Ruth Underwood--percussion
Frank Zappa--guitar

Imaginary Diseases

Why the Zappa Family Trust hasn’t been more energetic in re-mastering and releasing the plethora of live material it undoubtedly has is beyond me. There have been a few posthumous releases, but not nearly as many, in my opinion, that could be potentially released. One that allegedly was pressed into a limited CD release (I question the “limited” designation because it can be readily ordered from online retailers) is “Imaginary Diseases,” a musical quilt of outstanding live performances that included some of the musicians from a “big band” Zappa had assembled, composed of players primarily associated with the “Grand Wazoo” through “Apostrophe(‘)” era. If you don’t have this one in your Zappa collection, you’re really missing out.

Some interesting background on this recording in light of the fact it was dubbed the Petit Wazoo tour, a 10-piece band that Zappa toured with that was a smaller version of the 20-piece Grand Wazoo band that had also briefly toured.

That era of recordings and the sound it produced is primarily exemplified by the albums “Waka/Jawaka” and “The Grand Wazoo.” However, the Petit Wazoo tour really only had a few of the musicians from either album. Slide guitarist Tony Duran shows up in the credits on “Waka/Jawaka,” “The Grand Wazoo,” and “Apostrophe(‘),” but not “Over-nite Sensation.” Jim Gordon (more on him in a moment) shows up only on “Apostrophe(‘)”, while horn player Malcolm McNabb appears on “The Grand Wazoo.” Bruce Fowler’s trombone debuts on “Over-nite Sensation,” and appears as well on “Apostrophe(‘).” Many of the other musicians that appeared on these recordings, particularly the jazz-fusion albums, don’t show up at all on “Imaginary Diseases.”

What did show up consistently is the sound that had its genesis on “Waka/Jawaka,” and which fully flowered on “The Grand Wazoo.” The latter album was released at the time “Imaginary Diseases” was recorded. This sound had in many ways influenced almost every composition Zappa did from then on.

The recording opens with the curious “Oddients,” a bit of avant-garde inviting Zappa’s signature audience participation. But the curiosity quickly vanishes with “Rollo,” an instrumental that also appears on some bootlegs with vocals.

“Been to Kansas City in A Minor,” is classic 12-bar blues with some ripping great guitar work by Zappa. This is also when Jim Gordon’s drumming becomes very noticeable. His beat keeping is outstanding, sounding very basic and yet filled with a soaring personality that gives his drumming a character I have heard very few times from others. Why then, with such skill, does Gordon not play on more recordings with Zappa? His background as a session drummer is vast, having played with Delaney & Bonnie, which then led to a gig on Eric Clapton’s first solo album. He’s banged skins with Traffic, Joe Cocker, Buddy Guy, Joan Baez, George Harrison … the list goes on and on.

But alas, Jim Gordon had a dark side that included battles with mental illness, some think schizophrenia, that eventually rendered him incapable of sticking in the music business and which led to him murdering his mother in 1983. Gordon already had reportedly established a somewhat erratic pattern within the music business, and with Zappa’s low tolerance for musicians who require too much management, Zappa probably saw a glimpse of Gordon’s demons and likely decided he didn’t want anything to do with them.

While the next track’s title somewhat resembles the song from “Apostrophe(‘),” the song “Farther O’Blivion” has very little to do with the suite that ends with “Father O’Blivion.” But this little gem, which Zappa announces at its start has a tango in the middle of it, is an excellent jazz smoothie that features, of all things, a tuba solo! And an outstanding one at that. This song also contain musical themes and set pieces that Zappa later incorporated into future items, such as “Gregerry Peccary.” Gary Barone’s trumpet work during the tango section is excellent. The frenzied horn section as well during the latter part of the second third of the song is again excellently accentuated by Gordon’s flawless drumming. Gordon’s drum solo is equal parts fascinating and thrilling; it’s almost as though he is telling Ginger Baker, through his drumming, to take a break. You can hear people in the background cheering him on, as he is seemingly possessed – yet he doesn’t forget himself. He finishes right on cue for the rest of the band to come in and complete the song.

Things return to a meatier audio treat with “D.C. Boogie,” which starts out in a very soporific (and by that I mean morphine-like rather than sleep inducing) bluesy style that reminds me of something that The Velvet Underground wished it could have done, or something that Can would likely have done, except that Can would recognize Zappa’s genius and brilliant playing and just sit back and enjoy the damn thing. This groove is good, and it contains some guitar work by Zappa that truly is something different. He ventures into a musical and tonal realm in this song that I, frankly, haven’t heard out of him that often. The Muse captured Frank that night, and thankfully wouldn’t let go for 13 minutes. Again, Gordon’s drumming is beautifully subdued, yet right on target. The song is called a boogie largely because of its second half, when Frank calls upon the crowd to offer its input as to how the song ought to end. The crowd’s choice was a boogie, although one has to wonder if Frank had already had his mind made up. But when the song resumes after this brief respite, a freaking awesome boogie it is. And again, I cannot comment enough about Gordon’s drumming here, because it sounds like two drummers, in the style, for example, of The Grateful Dead. The final guitar solo in this would make Duane Allman weep.

The title track is full-blown Wazoo-ness. And, I’m sorry to keep repeating myself, but when Zappa takes off in his searing guitar solo, Gordon is right there keeping tempo perfectly. The guitar solo is very “Apostrophe(‘)” as well. While Zappa supposedly never played this jam live that he recorded with Jack Bruce, this track comes closest to what I think it might have sounded like. And incidentally, Gordon was on “Apostrophe(‘),” so he would have been keenly familiar with Zappa’s style on that song.

The CD closes with “Montreal”, which probably has my favorite guitar solo on the entire album. My favorite, again, because of Gordon’s drumming. It’s almost like Zappa and Gordon are sharing musical brains. It’s a very basic rhythm, but soooo effectively delivered you can hear the crowd getting into the jam. I really think that Zappa and Gordon connected musically on this tour in a way Zappa hasn’t been able to do with a drummer very often. He mentions in his autobiography that it was difficult to find a drummer that would keep up with what he was doing on the guitar. But somehow, I feel that Gordon does more than keep up with Zappa on this set. Listen closely. I think Gordon anticipates Zappa.

I rate this recording with five out of five stars. Leave your rating below.


Recorded at various live gigs Oct. 27, 1972 to Dec. 15, 1972; Released Jan. 13, 2006 on Zappa Records (limited release).

All tracks by Frank Zappa.

"Oddients" – 1:13
"Rollo" – 3:21
"Been to Kansas City in A Minor" – 10:15
"Farther O'Blivion" – 16:02
"D.C. Boogie" – 13:27
"Imaginary Diseases" – 9:45
"Montreal" – 9:11

Personnel:

Frank Zappa – Conductor, Guitar, Vocals
Malcolm McNabb – Trumpet
Gary Barone – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Tom Malone – Tuba, Saxes, Piccolo Trumpet, Trumpet
Earl Dumler – Woodwinds
Glenn Ferris – Trombone
Bruce Fowler – Trombone
Tony Duran – Slide Guitar
Dave Parlato – Bass
Jim Gordon – Drums
Composed/Produced/Performed/Edited/Mixed/Tweaked by Frank Zappa

Vaultmeistered by Joe Travers/Mastered by Doug Sax & Robert

Hadley/Liner notes by Steve Vai.

Bongo Fury

“Bong Fury” was a decent live recording representing some shows Zappa did while paired up with Captain Beefheart. But like some of Zappa’s other projects, was spoiled by Frank’s impulsive need to re-mix material in the studio, even adding tracks that were entirely studio produced at the expense of removing live tracks.

Zappa’s relationship with Beefheart was never an easy one. He spends considerable time in his autobiography discussing his encounters with the avant-garde musician nee Don Van Vliet. That relationship went back to the days not only prior to Beefheart’s Magic Band and before the Mothers as well, but back to the two men’s school days. It’s worth mentioning what went on during the production of “Trout Mask Replica,” as Zappa’s description of this project provides an excellent vignette on Van Vliet’s manic persona.

Recorded between November 1968 and April 1969, the production of “Trout Mask Replica” presented some interesting challenges, Zappa writes in his autobiography. For example, Zappa got the idea of recording the tracks at the house where the band lived, placing the various instruments in different rooms to take advantage of the unique acoustics offered in each room. But Beefheart apparently accused Zappa of trying to produce the album “on the cheap,” and demanded that they finish the project in a real studio.


Now, if you’re familiar at all with Beefheart’s voice, you know he sounds like a crazed Howlin’ Wolf amped up on handfuls of amphetamines and on the verge of his vocal cords exploding.

“Ordinarily a singer goes in the studio, puts earphones on, listens to the track, tries to sing in time with it and away you go,” Zappa writes in his autobiography. “Don couldn’t tolerate the earphones. He wanted to stand in the studio and sing as loud as he could – singing along with the audio leakage coming through the three panes of glass which comprised the control-room window. The chances of him staying in sync were nil – but that’s the way the vocals were done.”

Van Vliet and the Magic Band loved the final product, and it became the group’s quintessential recording. The album was released in June 1969, and later in the year, Zappa accompanied Van Vliet and his group to Europe as their road manager for the Amougies festival. “Trout Mask Replica” at the time and to this day remains highly regarded as a masterpiece of avant-garde and blues despite its at times atonal and rhythmically difficult delivery. Matt Groening’s comments about the album demonstrate that it was not an easy one to grasp for many listeners. I also admit that while I did not hate the album on its first listen, it kind of bugged me. Nonetheless, it really is a brilliant recording because of both Van Vliet’s incredible lunatic genius and Zappa’s outstanding recording and mixing.

Despite that, and despite the continued influence the album has had on the pop music world, Beefheart always remained on the far extreme of the business. He recorded many other albums, some of which came close to the brilliance of “Trout Mask Replica,” but as Zappa described it, Van Vliet was in continual contractual bondage with record companies and couldn’t make a dime. Zappa re-connected with Van Vliet in mid-1970s for the “Bongo Fury” tour, at a time when Van Vliet, as Zappa described it, was “just about destitute.” (A note here: Zappa states in his autobiography, “The Real Frank Zappa Book,” that Van Vliet joined him for the Bongo Fury tour in 1976. Yet the album “Bongo Fury” was released in late 1975, having been recorded earlier that same year. This curious error should be evidence to anyone who wants to develop any expertise on any subject that even the subjects of such investigation occasionally have mistaken memories and sometimes muff the facts.)


“Life on the road with Captain Beefheart was definitely not easy,” Zappa relates in his autobiography. “He carried the bulk of his worldly possessions around in a shopping bag. It held his art and poetry books and a soprano sax. He used to forget it in different places – just walk away and leave it, driving the road manager crazy. Onstage, no matter how loud the monitor system was, he complained that he couldn’t hear his voice. (I think that was because he sings so hard he tenses up the muscles in his neck, causing his ears to implode.)”

Which brings us to the opening track of “Bongo Fury.” This live performance from the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, launches with the track “Debra Kadabra,” complete with Van Vliet’s raucous vocals and guttural beat poetry style delivery. Things get a bit more melodic with the next track, “Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy,” a song that shows up frequently in Zappa’s live shows. Great guitar solo here; pure jam. Beefheart returns with a spoken-word piece, “Sam with the Showing Scalp Flat Top,” that has an intriguing story line that is made all the more interesting by Van Vliet’s alliterative delivery. This is followed by Beefheart’s vocals on the country-esque ditty “Poofter’s Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead.” The bluesy “200 Years Old” is an added studio track that on first listen might sound like it’s still part of the live show.

Good stuff so far, but it all gets spoiled by the frustrating fade out at the end. I mean, why? That’s followed by another studio track, “Cucamonga” that really sounds out of place. It just doesn’t fit in with the mood that was established by the prior tracks. Placed in different context (like maybe on “Zoot Allures”), “Cucamonga” might have sounded much better, but stuck on “Bongo Fury,” it sounds like crap.

Eliminate that song, extend the harmonica and guitar at the end of “200 Years Old,” and the rest of the album would seamlessly return with “Advance Romance.” I would even accept wholeheartedly the fact that “200 Years Old” is a studio intrusion and was not part of the show. You got to love Denny Walley’s slide guitar on “Advance Romance,” it is sweet stuff. And Zappa’s guitar work on this track is brilliant as well, as usual. The spoken-word “Man with the Woman Head,” reminds me of a smoky café straight out of the 1950s Beat scene.

But what really makes this album memorable is “Muffin Man.” It represents one of Zappa’s most recognizable melodies.

Despite the other gems on this recording, I’m only rating this album as OK, largely because of the two studio tracks. Those items, in my view, should have been left off to allow more room for other songs out of the Bongo Fury tour. Interestingly, those two studio tracks apparently were never performed live.

I rate this three out of five stars. Add your rating below.


Released Oct. 2, 1975, DiscReet Records.

Track listing:

Side one
"Debra Kadabra" (live) – 3:54
"Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy" (live) – 5:59
"Sam With the Showing Scalp Flat Top" (live) – 2:51
"Poofter's Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead" (live) – 3:03
"200 Years Old" – 4:32

Side two
"Cucamonga" – 2:24
"Advance Romance" (live) – 11:17
"Man With the Woman Head" (live) – 1:28
"Muffin Man" (live) – 5:34

Personnel:

Terry Bozzio – drums
Michael Braunstein – engineer
Napoleon Murphy Brock – saxophone, vocals
Captain Beefheart – vocals, harmonica
George Duke – keyboards, vocals
Bruce Fowler – trombone, dancer
Tom Fowler – bass, dancer
Frank Hubach – engineer
Kelly Kotera – engineer
Kerry McNabb – engineer
Davey Moire – engineer
Cal Schenkel – design
Bob Stone – engineer
Mike Stone – engineer
Chester Thompson – drums
Denny Walley – vocals, slide guitar
John Williams – photography, cover photo
Frank Zappa – vocals, guitar