Overview:
After months working on 200 Motels, Frank and the band were ready to go back on the road. Jeff Simmons quit the band moments before the filming of 200 Motels, and Jim Pons, formerly of the Turtles, stepped in to replace him. George Duke leaves after the movie to play with Cannonball Adderley and he was likely tired of playing trombone and comedy routines. He was replaced by Bob Harris (No relation to the Bob Harris Frank would work with in the early 80s). He’s a good player but he isn’t around long enough to make his mark in the band. Jim Pons would stick around for the rest of the year, which is fantastic because his humor and voice bring so much to the band and music. The band has a much better selection of tunes than the last year, mostly new songs with a choice selection of tunes from the previous tour. This tour sees the premier of a number of new routines and medleys, mostly notable Billy the Mountain, The Peaches-Tears-Shove it Right in Medley and the revamped Groupie Opera. This is a very nice tour, and the first where the “new” Mothers start to become great. Some members of the band didn’t particularly like Bob Harris, so he was replaced with Don Preston in late July, putting an end to this particular line up. This feels like a somewhat transitional period with new music and old arrangements of tunes from the previous tour still developing. These are wonderful shows from a group that would only continue to improve as the year goes on. These tapes show the early development of this new band, and the great things they could already accomplish. Three Dog Night! Good God!! Aynsley Dunbar!!!!
The Band:
Frank Zappa – Guitar, Vocals, Ringleader
Howard Kaylan – Lead Vocals, Stardom
Mark Volman – Lead Vocals, Groupie
Ian Underwood – Keyboards, Saxophone
Jim Pons – Bass, Vocals, Bass Vocals
Aynsley Dunbar – Drums, Dancing
Bob Harris #1 – Keyboards, Replaceability
Recordings Available:
1971 05 18 – Bridges Auditorium, Pomona College, Claremont, CA (Audience B+/B)
The first show of the tour and the debut of Tears Began to Fall, Shove It Right In, Billy the Mountain and the new Groupie Opera. This date features almost all of the material this band regularly played, plus a few songs that would soon be dropped from rotation. The only thing that’s missing is King Kong, which I assume was played as an encore. The tape ends during Latex Solar Beef when the taper gets caught bootlegging! This show features the only known live version of Daddy Daddy Daddy from this band and one of three known performances of Twenty Small Cigars. Pretty good quality, nice solos, rare songs and the band is in a great mood. I’d say check this one out.
1971 05 22 – Selby Field, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH (Audience B+)
The second date of the tour. A shorter show, just a little over an hour. The tape starts with tuning and cuts to partway in Twenty Small Cigars. I think it’s possible they played Peaches, Tears and Shove it Right during the tape cut, because that’s how every other show from the period starts but it’s possible that Frank was trying new things out. After a wonderful performance from Ian we get the Status-Moon-Mom medley, another very early Billy the Mountain and an encore King Kong, still with Igor’s Boogie. A nice concert in good quality, worth a listen, if only for the rare Twenty Small Cigars.
1971 05 23 – Ohio Theater, Columbus, OH (Audience B)
Another quality show from early in the tour. We get the routine, but great Peaches-Tears-Shove Medley, the third performance of Billy the Mountain, The Groupie Routine and for an encore: King Kong. For some reason they skip The Mud Shark in the Opera. Also this performance of the Opera has the only known complete version of Latex Solar Beef with a guitar solo. Willie the Pimp wasn’t added until New York, possibly earlier. A fine show, worth a listen.
1971 05 2X – Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI & A Live-in-the-Studio Radio Performance
All that’s known from this show is a Latex Solar Beef solo released as a B-side and named “Junior Mintz Boogie” and one song from an FM broadcast around the same time. The FM track is a proto version of Magdelena with Howard singing the words to a Tolkien poem to the melody of the tune. Two very neat performances, worth checking out. Junior Mintz Boogie is available on the Mothers 1971.
1971 05 28 – Auditorium Theater, Chicago, IL (Audience C/C-)
Possibly a nice show, but awful sound quality. This show is notable for having the only full live performance of Twenty Small Cigars and the only known live performance of Tell Me You Love Me from the Flo an Eddie bands. There’s also a good Billy the Mountain, but this whole show is very quiet, distant and distorted. Hardcore completionists only. The solos from this night’s other show’s performance of Billy the Mountain were released on Finer Moments as The Old Curiosity Shop (listen to this before anything from this shitty audience tape).
1971 06 01-03 – Harrisburg, PA/Scranton, PA (Official Release)
This awesome hybrid concert is available on the Mothers 1971. Most of the concert is from the two shows performed in Harrisburg, and the last 20ish minutes are from Scranton. Rare performances of Call Any Vegetable, My Boyfriends Back and Tiny Sick Tears would be enough for me, but the Scranton portion has possibly the best ever Billy the Mountain solos, a standalone Willie the Pimp with the Turtles singing lead and the only known 1971 outro version of King Kong. Check this one out!
1971 06 05-06 – Fillmore East, New York, NY (Official Release)
click here to listen to the first night
click here to listen to the second night
These four classic shows were released in full on the Mothers 1971. These shows of course were the source of Frank’s iconic album Fillmore East – June 1971. They are fantastic shows and presented in absolutely wonderful quality. There isn’t very much banter at these shows, just amazing performances. Each show has a performance of the Peaches-Tears-Shove Medley and a Billy the Mountain. The early shows have the old MOI medley and the late shows have definitive takes of the Groupie Opera. The early show on the second day starts with some rare improvisations. King Kong was played as an encore for each show, except for the second, which has a very rare Chunga’s Revenge. Don Preston was a special guest for the encores of each concert, and played a nice solo in each tune. And of course the encore of the final show, the last time Frank would ever play at the Fillmore, features guest appearances from John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The play Well, a song the Beatles would perform in the bars in Liverpool and a wild take of King Kong. These are fantastic, historically important shows and should be heard by all fans of Frank and this era.
1971 07 05 – CKGM-FM/CHOM-FM Montreal, QC (FM B+)
A very interesting tape. This is a 40 minute live-in-the-studio recording of the Mothers broadcast on the radio. Frank’s playing acoustic guitar throughout, Aynsley’s playing on like a tin can or something and Ian and Bob Harris are both playing clarinet. There’s rare performances of tunes that may or may not have been played in concert, including Daddy’s Home, a traditional polka, a handful of songs from 200 Motels and an early clarinet heavy version of Magdalena. I’m not going to write about all the tunes listed on this tape, as many are just a few second long quotes sung after a song suggestion. This is more rehearsal and fucking around than it is a concert. Not an incredible performance, but worth checking out for all the weird instrumentation and rare tunes.
The Songs Played:
Billy The Mountain – The ridiculous epic makes its debut on this tour. The piece was performed essentially as on Just Another Band from LA, but this version is heavily edited. Most notably, Frank edited out another verse about Billy leaving Las Vegas, and the entire solo section!. Every live performance of Billy contained a slew of fantastic solos in the middle of the Studebaker Hawk section right before he meets Billy. These solos are always excellent. Most performances feature solos from Bob, Ian (on Sax) and Frank, but this would change depending on how much time is left for the venue and/or Frank’s mood. Additionally, the Suite Judy Blue eyes section from JABFLA had not yet been added to the arrangement. The band is still mastering this wild piece so there is not much lyrical variation within these performances. The piece opens with the intro To Music For Low Budget Orchestra played by Ian on solo electric clarinet. This acts as an overture to the epic, and the Turtles dance around while Ian plays. In May, Billy was performed without an ending. The piece would end right before the line “We join Studebaker Hoch…”. Occasionally in these early takes, The Turtles would perform Hoch’s speech (Billy, we’ve come to reason with you…) on its own while Frank was introducing the tune. The song was first played in full at the Fillmore East. Billy the Mountain is one of my favorite songs from the maestro, and even though I prefer the takes with most material and variation from later in the year, these versions of Billy are still a lot of fun and show the development of the piece. The best take from this tour may be from the Scranton show, where Frank just absolutely loses it for his solo.
Bwana Dik – Part four of the Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. The bit about the groupie’s pregnancy started off with her being a star’s mom, but besides that not much change.
Call Any Vegetable – Played at least once in Harrisburg. This tune is nearly at the JABFLA version but there are still a few differences. The piece proper ends with a bit of the Royal March from L’histoire du soldat by Igor Stravinsky, followed by some huffing and moaning. During the moans, one of the Turtles yells “we came together” and Frank ends the tune by saying “what a pumpkin”. FZ would always finish his monologue with the second half of the speech from the beginning of Soft-Shell Conclusion (Muffins, Pumpkins, Waxpaper….) with some screams (Yeah!) from Mark and Howard. This section was edited out of the JABFLA take. The “where can I go?” section would not be added until August. Additionally the one known version features harmonica throughout the piece, most prominently during Frank’s solo.
Chunga’s Revenge – Played one time at the Fillmore East, as an encore to the third show. Performed essentially as it is on the titular album, except that during the head Jim is playing the second solo riff from King Kong. It’s a really cool mix of the two tunes. Ian, Don, and Frank produce dark, excellent solos. A highlight of the Fillmore set.
The Clarinet Polka – Played twice at the beginning and end of the Montreal radio live-in-the-studio recording. This is a popular traditional European polka that would pop up on command whenever Frank requested it. Played on two clarinets by Ian and Bob.
Concentration Moon – Played essentially as on We’re Only in it for the Money, but without the middle spoken section and a few other changes. The ending is now rearranged in a new slow, vocal-showcase-y version. I love this new ending and these are by far my favorite performances of this tune. Additionally this tour typically includes The Sanzini Brothers, a comedy routine holdover from the last tour, right in the middle of the song. This involves the Turtles running around, yelling and doing dumb tricks to great amusement. It’s harmless stuff, but it was probably a lot funnier live. Always preceded by Status Back Baby, and followed by Mom & Dad.
Daddy Daddy Daddy – Performed once at the first show of the tour. Essentially performed as on 200 Motels, but with an interesting spoken segue into Twenty Small Cigars. One of my favorite of Frank’s pop tunes, I wish this one stuck around. An interesting and rare acoustic version can be heard on the Montreal live-in-the-studio tape.
Daddy’s Home – Played once at the Montreal Radio live-in-the-studio recording. This is a charming little doowop sung wonderfully by the Turtles.
Do You Like My New Car? – Part seven of the Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. Mark and Howard were always playing around with and improvising off the “script” of this tune, usually to humorous results.
The Groupie Opera – This refers to the long suite of music that makes up most of the Fillmore East Album. The lyrical content of this music all harkens back to 200 Motels. On this tour the suite consists of Little House I Used to Live in, The Mud Shark, What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are?, Bwana Dik, Latex Solar Beef, Willie the Pimp, Do You like My New Car? And Happy Together. Willie the Pimp was not added to the Opera until the Fillmore shows. On at least one occasion the Mud Shark was dropped from the normal routine and Little house went straight into What Kind of Girl. This medley was longer, funnier and overall stronger than the previous year’s version.
Happy Together – Part eight of the Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. A great end to the opera. Frank has the Turtles in his band. How could they not play Happy Together? An interesting and rare acoustic version can be heard on the Montreal live-in-the-studio tape. This take is mixed with the monologue from Penis Dimension, really cool.
Improvisations/Jams – This band rarely delved into full blown improvisations, but the few times they did are highlights of the tour. The third Fillmore show starts with some short tweaky improv and the encore to the final show ends with a long jam session with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Just more reasons to check out the Fillmore shows. On the Montreal radio live-in-the-studio tape, the band jams and improvs quite a bit. The jam in this tape includes bits of Pirate Jenny & Nikki Hoi.
King Kong – The beast continues to change on this tour. In the first weeks of the tour, similar to 1970, the format was 1st Theme, 3rd Theme, Bob Harris Solo, 2nd Theme, Igor’s Boogie Pt. 1, Igor’s variations, Frank Solo, Ian Solo, Aynsley solo, 2nd Theme, 1st Theme. An excellent new guitar based riff shows up on this tour, starting after the Boogie. By the Fillmore shows the tune gets rearranged a little. The 1st take of the 2nd theme, Igor’s Boogie and its variations are dropped, leaving just amazing jamming in the middle of the tune. The piece is played as an encore at the Fillmore for three of the four shows, with Don Preston playing a guest solo on each performance. The final encore performance features John Lennon and Yoko Ono and some wild improv from everyone involved. Additionally there is a performance of the 2nd theme on its own used as an outro at the Scranton show. This is the only time outside of 1970 the tune was used like this. There are some great versions of this seminal tune from this tour; absolutely worth checking out.
Latex Solar Beef – Part five of the Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album, but with one additional section edited out from the album. After the first verse, Howard sings an improvised set of lyrics starting with “in the jungle baby” and relating to all things jungle-y. This part of the tune is always hilarious, and I wish Frank kept it around for longer. Before the Fillmore shows there was a short solo at the end of this tune. By June, Willie the Pimp had emerged from the end and replaced the solo in Latex. The segue between this tune and Willie the Pimp is one of Frank’s best.
Little House I Used To Live In – Part one of the Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. There’s always a short guitar break, where Frank inserts some tasty licks. Almost always followed by The Mud Shark.
Louie Louie – Played once at the first show of the tour. Somebody screams it out at every show, and Frank decides to accommodate them on this occasion. He starts playing a very slow, subdued version. The riff and the Turtles follow with very slow, quiet restrained vocals. A very funny performance lasting about 2 minutes. Stuff like this is why I love collecting tapes.
Magdalena – Played on two occasions during live-in-the-studio radio performances. The earliest take comes from a Detroit radio show. This take is only the melody of the piece sung with the words from a J.R.R. Tolkien poem. A very weird performance worth seeking out. The tune reappears in a more familiar state at the Montreal Radio live-in-the-studio recording. Besides the strange instrumentation present on this recording, there’s also prominent clarinet in the arrangement and other small differences. This one’s worth hearing too!
Mom & Dad – Played essentially as on We’re Only in it for the Money, but a little slower and without all the snorks and extra studio madness. The band provides beautiful accompaniment and the Turtles handle the vocal chores. I’ve never been a huge fan of Frank’s singing on that album, so I actually prefer these takes. I think Flo and Eddie are more successful when they’re singing more energetic songs, but they clearly love the material and give it their all, so these performances are still nice to hear. Always preceded by the Status Back Baby and Concentration Moon
My Boyfriend’s Back – Only known to be played once, in Harrisburg on The Mothers 1970. Following the Status-Moon-Mom medley the Turtles burst into this old stupid doowop tune. The old Mothers would play this song in combo with an FZ original called I’m Gonna Bust His Head, but on here only the first song is played. The Turtles scream out the rewritten perverted lyrics with childlike glee. Followed by Tiny Sick Tears, like in the 60s. One of the funniest moments of the tour.
The Mud Shark – Part two of the complete Groupie Opera. Played essentially as on the Fillmore East album, but without the story. The first time Frank told the story of the mud shark as heard on that album, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Every prior performance was just a short jam with the Turtles dancing around. This version emphasizes the beat and loose melody of the tune, and I actually prefer it to the take with the story. This tune was skipped for some reason at the Columbus show. An interesting and rare acoustic version can be heard on the Montreal live-in-the-studio tape. Frank would sometimes say “The Mud Shark dancing lesson” but there wouldn’t be an actual verbal lesson until the next tour.
Peaches En Regalia – Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album, but with slightly less Flo and Eddie (the album has overdubs). A fantastic version of the Hot Rats tune, perfectly arranged for this band. Always followed by Tears Began to Fall and Shove it Right in. Almost always starts the show.
The Sanzini Brothers – A comedy circus-y routine from the last tour. The Turtles would run around and scream for a bit whenever Frank decided it should happen. On this tour the routine only shows up in the middle of performances of Concentration Moon, in one of FZ’s weirdest mutations. They continue to perform “The Pyramid Trick” on this tour and they also debut “The Sodomy Trick”. I think that’s enough of a description of this song for now.
Shove It Right In – This is a medley of three songs from 200 Motels: She Painted Up Her Face, Half a Dozen Provocative Squats, and Shove it Right In. The songs are played in the same order as on the studio album, but without the orchestral interludes. Additionally most of the background vocals and sound effects are left off these live performances. This medley ends with a spoken outro from Frank (“Shove it right in, and pull it right out….) and some vocal gymnastics from the Turtles. A wildly vile set of songs, but an absolute banger. That’s Frank for ya. An interesting and rare acoustic version of She Painted Up Her Face can be heard on the Montreal live-in-the-studio tape.
Status Back Baby – Essentially performed as on Absolutely Free. The Turtles pump so much energy into the tune it’s fantastic. This time it’s Petrushka and Agon by Igor Stravinsky in the middle. Always played first in a medley with Concentration Moon and Mom & Dad.
Tears Began To Fall – Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album, but without overdubs (the repeated “tears began to fall again” in the outro). This might just be my favorite of Frank’s pop songs, obviously inspired by the Turtles. It’s just so infectiously catchy. Always preceded by Peaches En Regalia and followed by Shove it Right In.
Tiny Sick Tears – Only known to be played once, in Harrisburg on The Mothers 1970. This is really just 96 Tears by ? and the Mysterions, but sung in a very slow, mocking tone. They sing the first 2 verses and then “You’re gonna cry, cry, cry, cry, cry, cry, cry…” until your ears begin to bleed. A hysterical performance that’s very different from the original Mothers takes. Another tune I wished they played more often.
Twenty Small Cigars – Performed three times in the first week of the tour before being dropped forever. The theme is played twice and Ian gives a beautiful solo in the middle. This is an absolutely excellent version of this Chunga’s Revenge tune. I wish it stuck around for the rest of the year! Unfortunately the two available listenable performances are both incomplete, one misses the beginning and the other the end. These versions also have lyrics! One of the Turtles sings the title over the first phrase of the tune. Both listenable performances are definitely worth hearing.
Tell Me You Love Me – Played once in Chicago. This is essentially a faster take of the Chunga’s Revenge studio version. I like this song but the quality of this tape is too bad for me to recommend it.
What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are? – Part three of the Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. Moreso than on previous tours, The Turtles would frequently play around with the lyrics of this tune, to humorous results. For instance, the city, what Howard puts on his face and what the groupie wants to get it with all change from night to night.
Willie The Pimp – Part seven of the complete Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. Starting at the Fillmore shows this tune would creep out of the end of Latex Solar Beef and Frank would blow us away with his guitar. Incredible performances, a highlight of the groupie routine and the tour. On at least on occasion in Scranton this tune was played on its own with the Turtles singing the vocals! Frank plays a tasty solo, followed by Ian and Don! A great rare take of one of Frank’s most fun tunes. Every performance from this year is worth repeated listens.
Billy The Mountain Solo Table:
Life On The Road 