Overview:
Frank was always trying to get orchestras to play his music, and the LA Philharmonic had agreed to play his new piece called 200 Motels, but they would only perform it if the Mothers of Invention would play too. Problem was that the Mothers were disbanded, and Frank had just been jamming with friends and session musicians for the last few months. To remedy this, FZ had to assemble a “new” MOI from musicians he’d been currently working with and members of the original Mothers who weren’t too angry with him for how the break up went. The result is this hodgepodge band that would perform about 6 dates and disappear forever. There are 3 tapes from this mini-tour: Two shows at the Fillmore East and the final Pseudo-orchestral LA show. These are really interesting shows from a rare and forgotten period of FZ’s career. They mostly play older MOI material, but there’s bits and pieces that would become staples of the New Flo and Eddie MOI later in the year. These aren’t the most incredible shows but they all have their moments and Frank seems in high spirits. I’d recommend all of these shows to a hardcore fan, especially the LA show for a very early performance of much of the music from 200 Motels.
The Band:
Frank Zappa – Guitar, Vocals, Serious Compositions
Ray Collins – Vocals, Fart Noises
Billy Mundi – Drums, Return from Rhinoceros
Aynsley Dunbar – Drums, Pure Energy
Jeff Simmons – Bass, Vocals, Wine
Don Preston – Keyboards, Synths, Jazz Aura
Ian Underwood – Alto Sax, Keyboards, Staying Power
Motorhead Sherwood – Baritone Sax, High School Friend
Recordings Available:
1970 05 08 or 09 – Fillmore East, New York, NY (Audience B+)
Another excellent Fillmore gig. The only info on the source of this recording is that it is one of the four shows at the Fillmore East on this tour. Frank and Ray talk to the audience throughout and put on a high spirited show. There’s an ongoing dialog about Louie Louie as the band tunes up (Audience: “Louie Louie!” “Don’t Play Louie Louie!” FZ: “The next time somebody famous like Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton come up here…. you tell them to play Louie Louie” ), and Frank starts the show with an excellent Wonderful Wino. The crowd keeps clamoring for the iconic song, Frank and Ray say “cum”, Frank makes fun of the Doors’ “The End” and the band plays a weirdo doo-wop shuffle that kinda turns into Big Leg Emma. They then play a really quick “itty-bitty” Louie Louie, to appease that one dude in the crowd (“I don’t want that boy to be unhappy”). Ray tries to sing Plastic People, but Franks makes him do the original. After this we get a more normal set (“the mediocre entertainment we had planned to give you”), consisting of the Peace Corps/Duke of Prunes Medley, How Could I Be Such A Fool (unfortunately missing the end), Son of Mr. Green Genes, the My Boyfriend’s Back medley, Call Any Vegetable and Oh No and the Orange County Lumber Truck medley. FZ even conduct the audience after the Peace Corps/Prunes event. Frank also tells Jeff “not so elaborate on the bass line” in Tiny Sick Tears, before deciding to give him a bass solo right in the middle of the tune! This is my least favorite of the three available shows for this outing, but still well worth finding.
1970 05 09 – Fillmore East, New York, NY (Audience B+)
Another nice Fillmore show and my favorite of the two. The recording is more muffled, but less distorted than the other Fillmore show. Frank’s less talkative at this gig (all the between song tuning has been cut out) but there are more musical highlights tonight. Frank intros the makeshift Mothers of Invention, mentions how they actually have a setlist for these shows, before starting the show with another version of the Peace Corps/Duke of Prunes Medley. It ends with a snork, and we’re pretty quickly in Wonderful Wino. Next up is a complete, lovely take of How Could I Be Such A Fool followed by a wonderful Chunga’s Revenge, with hot solos from Ian, Don, and Frank. After this we get an amusing, complete take of the My Boyfriend/Tiny Sick Tears medley, another rocking Call Any Vegetable and a very neat King Kong with a new theme and a performance of Igor’s Boogie! This ends the main set, and the group comes back for a “teenage encore”. They don’t perform “Valarie or some other piece of shit”, but instead we get an awesome performance of The Duke: containing Little House, Holiday in Berlin and Cruising for Burgers. A very entertaining show and the best normal gig available from this short tour.
1970 05 15 – Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (Audience B/A-)
“When you play music in a hall designed for basketball, you take your chances.” This show is part of an event referred to as Contempo ’70, a collection of new orchestral music to be performed at the Pauley Pavilion in LA in May 1970. This show is the reason this whole tour and group exist. They have to start without Don (because he’s busy throwing up), but Frank and the remaining Mothers open with the My Boyfriend Medley and follow it up with a performance of Call any Vegetable. It’s a really neat take, because it includes Integrales by Varese in place of the solo section. After this is the meat of the show, a half rock/half orchestral world premier of 200 Motels. This early version of the music is presented in a wildly different form compared to the movie and Bogus Pomp, and should be heard by all fans of the man’s orchestral works. The show is rounded out by a requested Plastic People and The Orange County Lumber Truck. A great, historic show that needs to be heard to be understood. The 200 Motels section of the recording is notably higher quality than the rest of the tape.
The Songs Played:
200 Motels (including A Pound For A Brown, Oh No, Envelopes, Little House I Used To Live In, Bogus Pomp, World’s Greatest Sinner, Holiday In Berlin, Strictly Genteel, Duke Of Prunes, Who Needs The Peace Corps?, What’s The Name Of Your Group, Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue) – This monster is performed by The Mothers and The LA Philharmonic at the final concert of the tour. This piece includes material from older MOI Albums (Pound for a Brown, Oh No, The piano Intro from Little House, Holiday in Berlin, etc.) And never before heard material (Parts of Bogus Pomp and still unreleased music. Parts are performed solely by the orchestra and parts solely by the Mothers. Most of it is composed but there are improvised sections. This is really a piece that needs to be heard to be comprehended so that’s about as well as I feel I can summarize it. The piece at this point is about an hour. There is a fantastic chart with a breakdown of the separate components of this performance over at IINK that does a better job analyzing this monster than I possibly could. This is a wild piece of music that should be sought out by the orchestral buffs reading this.
Blowing Discordant Sounds – This is the name given to the free improv/soundcheck of the LA Philharmonic before they perform 200 Motels. It sounds like the name.
Big Leg Emma – Not played really, but in response to fervent requests for Louie Louie somebody starts to play a drum beat and someone on keys starts to play the “ma-ma-ma-ma-ma Emma ” part of Big Leg Emma. Only lasts a few seconds. “That as good as Louie Louie?”
Call Any Vegetable – This tour features the debut of the new reworked version of this Absolutely Free tune that would be played for the next year and a half, but of course there are some differences from this tour’s take and the version released on Just Another Band From LA. These performances start with about 45 seconds of Agon by Igor Stravinsky and end with a bit of the Royal March from L’histoire du soldat, also by Igor, huffing and “what a pumpkin”. “Holding your hand” has already been changed to “holding your joint” by this point and the post-solo section features a short back and forth between Frank and Ray. FZ would always finish his monologue with the second half of the speech from the beginning of Soft-Shell Conclusion (Muffins, Pumpkins, Waxpaper….). This section was edited out of the JABFLA take. Also the “where can I go?” Section would not be added until August of the next year. Ray sings the majority of the vocals, occasionally doing his best Beefheart impression, with Frank singing/speaking other parts. Frank always plays a hot solo in the middle, except at the LA show where Integrals takes its place, and the solo section is preceded by a quote from Jupiter by Holst. An awesome version of this classic tune.
Chunga’s Revenge – An excellent version of the Chunga’s Revenge title track. This tune is played as on the eponymous album. Ian gets a sax solo, than Don, and the affair concludes with an excellent solo from Frank. Another treat from the Fillmore shows.
Cruising For Burgers – This is the end tune of The Duke, preceded by Little House, The Mud Shark and Holiday in Berlin. These performances have one repetition of the guitar intro heard on Playground Psychotics, followed by an instrumental take and then a vocal run through sung by Ray and Frank. A nice version of the Uncle Meat classic.
Holiday In Berlin – Part three of The Duke; This tune is preceded by Little House and The Mud Shark and followed by Cruisin for Burgers, as it would be for the rest of the year. This tune is played essentially as on Burnt Weeny Sandwich, complete with an outstanding proto-Inca Roads solo.
How Could I Be Such A Fool? – Played pretty much as on Freak Out. A slow take, beautifully and sincerely sung by Ray. Adds nice contrast to the Fillmore shows.
Integrales – This piece by Edgar Varese shows up twice during the Mothers set in LA. The LA Philharmonic played the dark piece before the Mothers set, and it must have inspired Frank because he plays it in place of the Solo in Call Any Vegetable and starts playing it at the end of the King Kong jam with members of the orchestra. This is a moody, mildly frightening piece like a lot of Varese’s work. It’s a surprise and delight to hear it pop up amidst other songs at this show.
King Kong/Igor’s Boogie – King Kong starts to change up a bit on this tour. The theme starts as normal and is then immediately followed by a new, short, third theme to King Kong. Motorhead gives his solo like usual and the secondary theme is played, before fading away into a keyboard duet of part one of Igor’s Boogie! It’s played twice before a new fourth theme to King Kong is introduced! This fourth theme is also a variation on the beginning phrase of Igor’s Boogie. After an instrumental verse, Ray sings along with the melody and gives an inspired vocal solo, Frank follows this up with a short rhythm guitar jam before a drum solo (or duet?). Frank announces the end of the concert, a happy mother’s day and they play the main theme again. After the very last repetition of the main theme there’s a slow, meltdown-y, ending. At the LA concert, a few members of the LA Philharmonic stay after 200 motels to improvise in the middle of this tune. A simplified version of the tune is played here, just the first and third themes at the beginning. This performance starts tweaky, morphs into a boogie and finishes with a half electric/half orchestral Integrales. Both performances from this era are definitely worth hearing.
Little House I Used To Live In – Played essentially as on the Fillmore East 1971 album, but with an additional very short intro and no Flo and Eddie. Part one of The Duke; This tune is followed by The Mud Shark, Holiday In Berlin and Cruisin for Burgers as part one of The Duke, just as it would be for the rest of the year. There’s unfortunately no solo section, but Holiday in Berlin makes up for that.
Louie Louie – Played at one of the Fillmore shows due to one persuasive audience member. Ray starts to sing Plastic People but Frank tells him to do Louie Louie, and he seems to just barely remember the words which just makes it more enjoyable. Interestingly, at the LA show a fan requests Louie Louie and gets Plastic People, I guess it just depended on Frank’s mood. Both takes are about 2 minutes long.
The Mud Shark – Part two of The Duke; This tune is preceded by Little House and followed by Holiday in Berlin and Cruisin for Burgers. A proto-version of the Fillmore East tune, this is really just a 30 second jam between the end of Little House and the start of Holiday in Berlin. By the end of the following year it would have evolved an arpeggio, a rock n roll sex story and a dancing lesson.
My Boyfriend’s Back/I’m Gonna Bust His Head – A hilariously dumb dollop parody/tribute from the old MOI. The first song was originally released by The Angels in 1963, but the author of I’m Gonna Bust His Head is unknown. It starts slow but then quickly switches to an up-tempo boogie. It’s either by FZ or a forgotten 50s or 60s artist. Both songs are sung energetically by Ray
Oh No – Played independently of Let’s Make The Water Turn Back & Harry You’re a Beast for the first time, but still always followed by The Orange County Lumber Truck. Features a hot guitar solo from Frank. Ray sings the lyrics and there is an instrumental reprise of the “and in your dreams” section after the solo. During the LA encore, only the “dreams” and guitar solo section are played as a lead into Orange County.
The Orange County Lumber Truck – This is a strange version of the Weasels tune. It starts like normal, preceded by Oh No, but after the intro they morph into like 15 seconds of Linda Lu by Ray Sharpe, before returning to the regularly scheduled arrangement. Frank and/or Ray interject some words in the silences between repeats. Following the head, there’s a new short chugging intro leading into the solo section. The thing is that on this tour this is a drum solo/duo only vehicle. After many minutes of drumming, the band comes back in with a slow version of the theme to end the song. These performances are cool and I love the quote from Linda Lu, but the lack of a real jam keeps me from coming back.
Son of Mr. Green Genes – Actually a mix of Green Jr. And Mr. Green Gene’s. The song starts like Son of, but after an instrumental verse or two Ray comes in to sing the entire song. After this there is a neat transition from “worthlessness!” To the solo section where Don, Ian (on sax) and Frank get a chance to play. Frank and Ian’s solo’s are especially hot. Frank quotes his own solo from Hot Rats, followed by a section highlighting the backing piano riff from the end of the Hot Rats version, but played on guitar. Frank solos some more and we get a final slow repetition of the riff to end the song. A highlight of the Fillmore shows.
Tiny Sick Tears – A 96 Tears Parody. Ray sings a couple corrupted verses of 96 Tears and throws a few “babys” in there for good measure. After this Frank recites what’s called “the cookie jar lecture”, a semi-improvised monologue about a lonely teen and parental rebellion. Always preceded by My Boyfriend’s Back/I’m Gonna Bust His Head. At one of the Fillmore shows, FZ comments on Jeff Simmons Bass playing and then tells him to take a solo, which was dubbed by tape traders as Jeff Simmons Whips It Out. Frank doesn’t give his monologue after this; He says he’s tired of it.
Who Needs The Peace Corps/Duke of Prunes – The highlight of the tour for me is this rare medley only known to be performed by this short lived band. Peace Corps is played through instrumentally, except Ray sings “Go To San Francisco”. Then we get 4 of the drum riffs following that line on the album and a segue into a lovely instrumental Duke of Prunes. This then leads into a equally lovely solo section that features Ian on keys, and then Frank on guitar. The two produce beautiful melodic solos before flowing back into Who Needs the Peace Corps at the line “How I love ya Frisco”, and finishing the song. These are delightful performances and my main reason for returning to these tapes.
Wonderful Wino – This Simmons/Zappa rockin’ classic makes its MOI debut on this tour. The tune starts with Bringing in the Sheaves like always and Ian’s sax is prominent throughout the whole tune, something lacking from future performances. Simmons and Frank share the vocal duties and Frank gives an inspired solo in the designated spot. After this is the “Five Bucks and a Hot meal” section, followed by a longer, even hotter solo from Frank. After the solo Frank deadpan says “Gimme five bucks for a hit meal and maybe an old overcoat or two” and the song ends on a dime. This is a great version of one of my favorite of Zappa’s straightforward rock tunes.
Life On The Road 