Overview:
After disbanding the original Mothers, FZ performed a handful of concerts in California as Frank Zappa and the Hot Rats or Chunga. There are only 2 known recordings from this period, but boy are they fantastic. In a huge change from the original Mothers, this band is only 4 or 5 pieces, depending on the occasion, and mostly just jams. No weirdo improv, no Gas Masks, no Chamber music, just amazing Jazz-Rock. Every second of these shows are filled with intense, awe inspiring jamming and anyone who is a fan of Hot Rats, probably my personal favorite Zappa album, needs to seek out these two shows right now.
The Band:
Frank Zappa – Guitar, Compositions
Ian Underwood – Alto Sax, Keyboards, Staying Power
Max Bennett – Bass, Gumbo
Don “Sugarcane” Harris – Violin, Vocals, Keyboards (LA)
Ed Greene – Drums (San Diego)
Aynsley Dunbar – Drums, Energy (LA)
Recordings Available:
1970 02 08 – Sports Arena, San Diego, CA (Audience B-,C+)
“There’s no vocals, all we do is play music”. The earlier Hot Rats show is an excellent show captured on a poor audience recording. They start off with a Blues in C and the music doesn’t stop until the tape cuts 50 minutes later. Following the blues jam is an excellent King Kong, the earliest known Chunga’s Revenge, and the tape ends with The String Quartet. Sadly the post Sleeping in a Jar jam cuts after a few minutes, but if you can handle sub-par sound this is a tape worth seeking out.
1970 03 07 – Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA (Audience A-)
Now this show is one of my favorite Zappa shows period. Aynsley Dunbar replaces Ed Greene and the astounding Don Harris join the band and they play some of the best music Frank performed. It starts with an excellent Sharleena, similar to the Lost Episodes take, and that’s followed by the only known live performance of the song Twinkle Tits (with a bit of Little House I Used to Live in). The tape sadly cuts out mid-solo, but returns in time to capture the entire composed ending (a piece played by the ‘69 Mothers, formerly known as Interlude). A wonderful Directly From My Heart To You comes next, with a fantastic violin solo courtesy of Mr. Harris. A 25+ minute, mind-melting Chunga’s Revenge ends the main set, and a fun instrumental Willie the Pimp finishes the night. This show captures the feeling of the Hot Rats album more than any other in FZ’s career. Every song performed is excellent, all the musicians are on fire, and the song choice is amazing. The recording is great and gets an easy recommendation.
Two Other Shows I Consider Loosely in this Era
1969 10 24-28 – Festival d’Amougies, Amougies, Belgium (Audience B)
FZ hosted this music festival and was a guest performer for a number of acts. There are audience recordings of him jamming with The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, Pink Floyd, Caravan, Sam Apple Pie, Blossom Toes and Captain Beefheart. These are all okay jams, but the real reason you’d search out these tapes are for the historical novelty of FZ playing with these bands. There are official releases of the Pink Floyd and Blossom Toes jams from the respective artists.
1970 07 25 – Riviera Festival, Valbonne, France (Audience B+)
FZ jammed with Jean-Luc Ponty on violin, Alby Cullaz on bass, Aldo Romano on drums at a Music Festival in France in Summer 1970. Frank had already started his new Mothers of Invention at this point, but this show is more similar in tone to the Hot Rats shows from earlier in the year. The promoters and Ponty assumed Frank would come to the festival with the new MOI, but he came alone and they had to quickly pull a band together. The end result is a neat set of loose jamming (except for the head of King Kong) from FZ and some great French jazz musicians. Worth finding for the jazz buffs and buffettes.
The Songs Played:
Blues Jam – Frank starts off the San Diego show with a “Basically worthless but fun to warm up with blues shuffle in the key of C”. Frank counts off the band and gives a mean solo, followed by an Underwood keyboard solo, which are always enjoyable and FZ solos a little more. Max then gets a short, barely audible, bass solo and Frank concludes the affair by cueing King Kong. A really cool start to a show.
Chunga’s Revenge – This seminal instrumental’s earliest known appearance is at the San Diego show where it still lacked a name. Frank referred to it as “a Bolero and it’s in the Key of G”. This performance lacks the confidence of all future performances and the guitar intro from the studio track, but the theme is mostly complete. Following the theme we get a nice solo from FZ and another melodic keyboard solo from Ian. Once Ian’s solo winds down, Frank starts a Pound for a Brown. About a month later this tune reappears at the LA Show named The Clap and in a more recognizable and powerful form. The guitar intro is now in place, and the song is played as it would be for years to come. This performance is a true monster and features outstanding solos from Frank, Ian, Don and Aynsley, with excellent support from the rhythm section. Frank plays two guitar solos and Don plays one on organ and one on violin. The tune ends with Frank playing the intro guitar riff and a short improvised guitar coda to close the song and the show. This is one of the best Chunga’s ever and another reason to get the LA show.
Directly From my Heart to You – A straightforward and excellent version of the Weasels Ripped my Flesh tune originally released by Little Richard. Don sings the tune and gives a fantastic violin solo in the middle. Another one of Frank’s excellent, underappreciated cover tunes.
King Kong – Quickly arising out of the intro blues at the San Diego show, this song is still the beast it was in the last decade. Ian plays the melody on keys, and then Frank comes in with an incredible, though short, starting solo. Ian follows up with another long, hot keyboard jam. In the middle of Ian solo, the band switches to a slower, bluesier groove and Ian just keeps going, while Frank slowly gets more involved with rhythm guitar. Max gets another short solo, then the band jams for a little before its Ian’s turn on Alto Sax. Ian whips it out and Frank starts his second (!) solo by playing the secondary theme of King Kong. Frank gives an amazing solo and then Ed Greene gets a spotlight, before the reprisal of the head. It’s crazy to hear what a different rhythm section can bring to this old Mothers tune. Every second of this near 20 minute monster is excellent and should be sought out by fans of the very large gorilla.
A Pound for a Brown – Frank plays the melody to this tune on guitar and follows it with a nice guitar solo, like he had been for the last 2 years. Not a mind blowing performance, but nice to hear. Part one of The String Quartet; Followed by Sleeping in a Jar . Only played at the San Diego show.
Sharleena – The vocal classic shows up at the LA show and is closest in comparison to the Lost Episodes track. Harris gives a sweet solo followed by a nice but somewhat short FZ solo. An instrumental take of the “I would be so delighted” verse follows the solos, and the tune ends with a jam to the “send my baby home to me” verse. Excellent stuff. Sung by Don and Frank.
Sleeping in a Jar – This tune immediately follows A Pound For a Brown as part two of The String Quartet and is played as it was in the 60s. The arrangement hasn’t changed, but the melody is now only played on keys and guitar. Following the head we get a long improvised jam that’s always a delight to this listener’s ears. At the San Diego show, Frank gives a hot solo, followed by Ian on sax, but unfortunately the tape ends a few notes into Max’s solo.
Twinkle Tits (incl. Interlude) – An original FZ composition that, as far as we know, was only ever played live at the LA show. It sounds like a more upbeat version of the Little House intro heard on the Fillmore East album. FZ and Harris play the theme, followed by a long guitar break and a reoccurrence of the head. Then, out of nowhere, it segues into theme C of Little House I Used to Live In! (the part around three and a half minutes into the Burnt Weeny Sandwich take). After this Harris takes a nice solo and Ian follows it up on keys, while Bennett plays the bassline from the end of the Gumbo Variations. FZ then erupts into the scene with wild guitar. There’s some awe inspiring playing here, before one of the worst tape cuts in Zappa bootleg history, leaving Frank’s solo without an end. The recording resumes at the beginning of the composed end of the tune, a piece occasionally played by the ‘69 Mothers and known at the time as “Interlude”. It’s a jazzy little number, with a pleasant, catchy melody, and it works well as an ending to this tune. Frank was constructing a studio version of Twinkle Tits during the “Hot Rats 2” sessions in March 1970, but never finalized the project. The studio take (eventually released on Funky Nothingness), contains a cool acoustic bass, guitar and tack piano intro not heard on the live take, and lacks the Little House section. It’s hard to say exactly why FZ put the Little House bit into the live arrangement, but he was probably just experimenting with conceptual continuity. This is an excellent tune, and yet another reason to grab the LA show. It’s a shame FZ never got around to releasing this song in his lifetime, because it’s really something special.
Willie the Pimp – The Hot Rats monster is played instrumentally this time through, with FZ reciting a bit of the lyrics for the crowd beforehand. The solos in order are Frank, Don, Ian on organ and then Max. Everyone gets a spot to solo on this tune except Aynsley, who I assume did but is missing from the tape. A cool version, but I’m never a huge fan of the multiple shorter solo numbers, I’d prefer one or two longer ones. Played as an encore at the LA show.
Life On The Road 