Overview:
In April 1965, Frank Zappa was asked to join a Southern California rhythm and blues band called The Soul Giants. In just a few weeks the band had changed its name to The Mothers and by the following year they were playing original music to local drunk crowds who only wanted to hear Caravan and/or Louie Louie. There are really only two known major live recordings from this era, neither of which are complete, as well as two short jam snippets from other concerts. The recordings we have of the Broadside in Pomona, the earliest document we have of The Mothers, features the original four (Frank, Ray, Roy and Jim) playing a handful of covers, while the tracks from the Fillmore show are primarily songs soon to be released on Freak Out. The Frisco concerts also feature some extended jams, as do the two live fragments we have, and they both offer fantastic glimpses of Frank’s improving at a very early point in his career. This era of The Mothers is also characterized by it’s revolving door of musicians. Every recording has a different line-up, and there are a number of musicians who played with the band for a short time in this era that we have no recordings of (like Van Dyke Parks or Alice Stuart). This is a fascinating time for fans of FZ, and the small handful of material we have available is just enough to paint a picture of what was going on in ’65 and ’66. I personally really enjoy the raw, loose, bar band sound of these early performances and I’d love to see a major official release from this era.
The Band:
“Mother Superior” Frank Zappa – Guitar, Vocals, Musical Direction
Ray Collins – Lead Vocals, Tambourine, Harmonica, Bobby Pin & Tweezers
Roy Estrada – Bass, Vocals, ’37 Chevy
Jimmy Carl Black – Drums, Blankets
Elliott Ingber – Rhythm Guitar and Clear White Light (Early-mid 1966. Only heard on Fillmore Performances)
Del Kacher – Guitar (only heard on Freak Chouffle)
Billy Mundi – Drums (only heard on Freak Chouffle)
Don Preston – Keys (only heard on Freak Chouffle)
Various other musicians for short periods of time. See Planet of my Dreams for more info.
Recordings Available:
May 1965 – The Broadside, Pomona, CA (Partial Official Release)
These are the earliest available recordings of the Mothers as a band (live or otherwise), and they feature the original four-person configuration of just Frank, Ray, Roy and Jim. The Broadside was a regular spot for this early incarnation of the Mothers, in their native habitat of southern California. There are four tunes (or five depending on how you count) available from this era, three on the posthumous Joe’s Corsage, and one jam fragment on Mystery Disc. As far as we know, no Zappa originals were played during this period, only covers of popular or traditional songs. Vaultmeister Joe Travers unearthed some recordings for Joe’s Corsage that were undated, but most likely contain performances from The Broadside. They consist of a lovely take of the Righteous Brothers song “My Babe” (with a great solo from Frank), a medley of two traditional, sea shanty-esque tunes: Wedding Dress Song and Handsome Cabin Boy, and an excellent performance of the Marvin Gaye tune Hitch Hike. Additionally, a minute long snippet of a guitar solo from a cover of Muddy Waters’ Louisiana Blues was released under the title “Original Mothers At The Broadside” on Mystery Disc. This performance was un-professionally recorded by Motorhead, and probably comes from a different show than the other available tunes. And that’s all we have available from The Broadside. These are great performances from a band right on the cusp of breaking out of the local scene. Frank had joined the band only a month or two prior to these recordings, but he already fits right in. It’s unfortunate that there are less than ten minutes of material available from this time period, but there is some lovely music on these tapes, and they are well worth checking out, both historically and musically.
Late 1965 – Mondo Hollywood Party, Hollywood, CA (Partial Official Release)
Frank spoke about this track in a 1975 radio interview: ”This piece of music was recorded at a party in Hollywood. It was the first time the Mothers Of Invention had appeared in the civilized world. We had made our emergence from the Pomona area into Hollywood, and we were the entertainment at a party that they were using in conjunction with the filming of a picture called Mondo Hollywood.” None of The Mother’s music is actually heard in the film, but this was still a major breakthrough in FZ’s career (also, fun fact, Gail Sloatman, Frank’s future wife, happened to be at this event). A two minute segment of a guitar jam was released on Mystery Disc. It features some blistering playing from Zappa, and you can hear numerous local freaks in the audience screaming and shouting along to their performance. It’s not the best track Frank released, but it’s a really interesting historical document, and worth a listen.
June 24-25 1966 – The Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA (Partial Official Release + Soundboard A-)
click here for the circulating board tape
These two gigs at the Fillmore are another set of important shows for the early Mothers. The band was opening for comedian Lenny Bruce, and also promoting their first album, which was set to be released to the public at large on June 27th. Guitarist Elliott Ingber had joined the group earlier in the year, and would leave the band not long after these performances, so these are the only live recordings we have of his tenure with The Mothers. A selection of tunes from the 25th, all from Freak Out, are available on the 4-disc version of MOFO (Motherly Love, You Didn’t Try To Call Me, I’m Not Satisfied, Hungry Freaks Daddy, and Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder). These are really cool performances, they show the core band in action, stripped of the added orchestration from The Mothers Auxiliary heard on the studio album. Concert promoter Bill Graham introduces the band as they walk on, and Frank makes amusing comments between each song (Ex. “Uh, we’re supposed to plug our album, some of which are on sale in the back of the building. It’s a pretty commercial thing to do, but we’re in this for the money“). Frank notes before I’m Not Satisfied that the Cherry Sisters (“the Mothers Ballet Company”) will be dancing to some of the tunes while they play. There’s also a circulating board tape which captures a short part of what’s likely the other night’s show. It starts with a snippet of Frank talking about “one of John Cage’s oldies but goodies” before cutting to a guitar solo that immediately turns into the melody of Toads of the Short Forest. That then quickly morphs into I’m Not Satisfied and the Wedding Dress Song/Handsome Cabin Boy medley with a nice long guitar jam (including a Funiculi Funicula quote). After Frank wraps up, Ray comes in with a harmonica solo and the tape cuts before he finishes. Some other moments from these shows were released on Mystery Disc (Band Intros and Plastic People), YCDTOSA5 (Downtown Talent Scout) and Lumpy Gravy (Another Pickup). These other performances are all heavily edited down, and clearly do not depict the full picture of what was happening on stage. All put together these offer the best glimpse of The Mother’s in 1966, even if the available recordings can be fragmented at times. Joe has stated that the tapes for these shows are incomplete, and kind of a mess, with parts of the bootleg recording not existing in the vault, and other part’s that are exclusive to Frank’s tapes. Whatever the case, I’d love a full release of everything available from these dates, along with any other live material available from early in The Mothers’ existence. There are some great, lively performances out there from these shows, and they are all well worth a listen.
September 1966 – Unknown Venue (Partial Official Release)
The only other live material we have comes from a fairly obscure release, the 2014 Birthday Bundle, which I believe was an iTunes exclusive. It’s one track entitled Freak Chouffle’, and it consists of an excellent jam featuring Frank and Del Kasher trading solos over a lively beat for 6 and a half minutes. It’s a really fun performance, it’s the only document we have from Del’s short time with The Mothers. Also, it’s the first recording available to feature Don Preston and Billy Mundi. A wonderful hidden gem of a track, well worth a listen, again both historically and musically. Though you can’t find the track on iTunes anymore, it’s available on YouTube, so check it out!
The Songs Played:
1965:
Hitch Hike – This tune is a vocal R&B number sung by Ray with a short guitar solo from FZ. It was originally released by Marvin Gaye in 1962. Ray’s great here, very in his element. The one available performance was released on Joe’s Corsage.
Jam – A two-minute jam excerpt from the party for the movie Mondo Hollywood was released on Mystery Disc. It features some nice FZ soloing, with screaming accompaniment from the freaks in the audience. It’s unknown if this is from a larger song or simply an improvised jam, but there is definitely way more recorded than what was released. It’s a fun little jam, but it cuts before much can happen.
Louisiana Blues – A short clip of this performance is available on Mystery Disc named “The Original Mothers at the Broadside”. It’s a pleasant blues jam with a nice solo from Frank, but only about a minute is available. Frank played a longer edit of this jam in a 1971 interview, and this edit features the lyrics to the tune immediately after the end on Mystery Disc, revealing what song this jam originally came from.
My Babe – This is a short vocal ditty sung beautifully by Ray with an FZ solo in the middle. What’s not to like? Originally recorded by the Righteous Brothers and released in 1963. Like with Hitch Hike, the one available performance we have was released on Joe’s Corsage.
Wedding Dress Song/Handsome Cabin Boy – These are two traditional, sea-shanty-esque songs that Zappa played around with in a medley throughout the 60s (A studio version can be heard on The Lost Episodes). The melodies for both songs are played on the guitar, and there’s no improvisation in the one known 1965 performance; It leads directly into Hitch Hike. Once again, the one available performance we have was released on Joe’s Corsage. They are a very pleasant set of tunes, and I’m glad Frank continued to play around with them for a few more years.
1966:
Downtown Talent Scout – This obscure tune was very rarely played, but it did pop up at the Fillmore ‘66 gigs. It’s very similar to Trouble Every Day, but the lyrics relate to the mysterious government agents that would spy on the freak scene in LA in the 60s. Frank released this performance on You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5, but it’s almost certainly edited down. We know this because the one other known performance from Denver ‘69 features a long, tasty guitar jam (and Frank even comments that the last time they played the tune was at the Fillmore in ‘66). The track ends with FZ yelling “blow your harmonica son”, and it’s clear they kept going after this. This tune isn’t too memorable (especially in its current state), but there’s nothing wrong with it either.
Go Cry on Somebody Else’s Shoulder – This Freak Out song was only ever played live a handful of times, but it was played at least once in 1966 (as heard on the 4-disc MOFO). The tune is sung by Frank and Ray, with FZ providing dumb low doo-wop vocals, and improvising the spoken teenage ending (“We had a teen-age love…. and you still got pregnant”). Frank also changes the fourth line from “And you say you’re back to stay” to “And you say you wanna buy some acid”, which was a regular part of the live arrangement (at least from this point on). Other than that, the arrangement is essentially the same as on the studio album.
Hungry Freaks Daddy – This Freak Out opener is a regular staple of the original Mothers repertoire. It’s essentially performed as on the studio album, two-part guitar solo and all. The one available recording we have of this tune from this era comes from the 4-disc MOFO, and it is the only version of this tune I’ve heard where Frank doesn’t replicate the lick in the middle of his solo from the studio (heard about 1:35 into the studio take). This is also the closest to the album this tune ever gets live, as all future versions feature some kind of mutation from the original. Anyway, Hungry Freaks is a classic Zappa tune, and it’s well represented by the ‘66 band.
I’m Not Satisfied – This Freak Out tune is the only song from this era that we have two live performances of, one from the 4-disc version of MOFO, and one from the bootleg tape. The two takes are largely the same, but the bootleg one is a little sloppier. Overall though, it’s essentially performed as on Freak Out, with the regular depressing lyrics over the rocking beat.
Jam – The circulating bootleg tape from the Fillmore cuts in during a guitar solo, which likely came from a longer improvised jam. It’s only a fragment of a solo, but after a few seconds Frank starts to play the theme to Toads of the Short Forest! I love this short little piece and am always glad to hear it turn up on the rare occasion it does. They then quickly segue into I’m Not Satisfied, and the jam comes to an end. The Another Pickup segment of Lumpy Gravy features a brief harmonica jam snippet from the Fillmore show as well. Freak Chouffle’ from the 2014 Birthday Bundle is another improvised jam, but this one comes from a little later in The Mother’s history. It features Frank and Del Kacher trading solos for a few minutes, with a little bit of Don Preston action near the end. Really fun stuff, check ’em out!
Motherly Love – This is the only known live performance of this tune, from any of Frank’s many bands is available on the 4-disc MOFO. The arrangement is basically the same as in the studio, except the words are a little dirtier (“No need to be lonely” vs. “No need to be horny”). A solid, fun song. It’s a bummer we don’t have any other live takes of this tune.
Plastic People – Plastic People live is a totally different beast than what was recorded for Absolutely Free, basically the only connection is the lyrics. The words are the same, but every live version of this tune is a biting direct parody of Louie Louie. Frank released an edited version of a performance from the Fillmore on Mystery Disc, which consists of about 45 seconds of Louie Louie/Plastic People, before a surprise edit to a guitar jam, which almost certainly comes from a different song, likely a long improvised jam. A fun track, but certainly not as enjoyable as hearing the full performances, wherever they may be.
Wedding Dress Song/Handsome Cabin Boy – This medley of two traditional tunes was still in setlists by the time The Mothers came to the Fillmore in June of ‘66, but it’s now followed by some excellent jamming. Frank plays the Wedding Dress Song on guitar, and Ray joins him on harmonica for the Handsome Cabin Boy. FZ begins the jam with a tasty, though slightly long guitar solo that quotes the Italian classic Funiculi Funicula, and after FZ’s solo, Ray blows his harmonica until the tape cuts. A fun performance well worth finding!
You Didn’t Try To Call Me – This Freak Out classic is essentially played as on the studio album, the main difference coming in Frank’s improvised teenage rantings at the end, which never fail to make me chuckle (“Don’t I use enough rose oil on my pompadour?”). This is the straightest this song is ever played, as every following performance is either played as a waltz, or is closer to The Ruben And The Jets arrangement. And once again, the sole known performance from this era is available on the 4-disc MOFO.
Life On The Road 