Overview:
This is the Flo & Eddie Mothers at the peak of their game. They had finally figured out the best mix of comedy, rock, pop, jams and jazz that worked so well for this band. These concerts have such a fantastic energy that propels every song to new levels. Billy the Mountain and King Kong are major highlights of the tour, but there isn’t a bad song in rotation. The Groupie Opera is the best it will ever be, The Peaches-Tears-Shove it Right in medley continues to delight and the new Wino-Sharleena-Burgers suite is also fantastic. Another new medley is the one heard on Just Another Band From LA consisting of Call Any Vegetable, Eddie Are You Kidding, Magdalena and Dog Breath. By October, Eddie would be switched out for a fantastic rearrangement of Anyway The Wind Blows. We also see the triumphant return of the String Quartet and the new mini German Opera featuring Sofa and Stick it Out named Divan. Despite some slower moments in Divan and the Groupie material, these shows are non-stop hits. It’s such a shame that after only 18 months of the new Mothers of Invention, two consecutive disasters would put an early end to this band. At the show in Montreux, Switzerland, An audience member threw a firecracker into the roof of the concert hall which burned the venue down and destroyed all the band’s equipment. Six days later they played a successful show on rented equipment, but as the band was leaving the stage. A crazed “fan” ran up onstage and pushed Frank into the orchestra pit. This left Zappa in a wheelchair for 9 months and forced the rest of the band to find other sources of income. After these incidents, Frank would go on to produce my favorite music of his entire career, but it’s still so disappointing that this specific band was cut so short. Billy the Mountain and Divan would have continued to develop, and I imagine we would have gotten more Tears Began to Fall-esque poppy material with the Turtles. Thankfully, in the short time they existed they gave us a lot of fantastic music to enjoy and obsess over.
The Band:
Frank Zappa – Guitar, Vocals, Ringleader
Howard Kaylan – Lead Vocals, Stardom
Mark Volman – Lead Vocals, Godliness
Ian Underwood – Keyboards, Saxophone
Jim Pons – Bass, Vocals, Bass Vocals
Aynsley Dunbar – Drums, Dancing
Don Preston – Keyboards, Disaster.
Recordings Available:
1971 08 07 – Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (Audience B+)
click here to listen to the unofficial recording
The first and only complete performance from the short West Coast tour. This is the first show with Don Preston as a regular member and the concert that produced Just Another Band From LA. These are fantastic spirited and historical performances that every fan of this era should hear, especially since the Vaultmeister Joe Travers has said he hasn’t found the entire show in the vault. This show is filled with references to Eddie Sinclair and his double knit suits, playing off the then frequently broadcasted commercials in Los Angeles. We get the premier of the Divan suite, a slightly tweaked groupie Opera, and the unedited takes of the JABFLA songs. Call Any Vegetable features more Eddie Nalbandian jokes and some references to Safeway grocery stores, and Howard intros Magdelena with “A Hungarian folk song passed through the borscht belt by my sister Ava Gabor, 1962”. The show ends with a fantastic encore featuring a rare 200 Motels Finale (as heard on YCDTOSA Vol 6) and a guest appearance from Jimmy Carl Black to sing Lonesome Cowboy Burt! Get this show today!
1971 08 28 – Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR (Audience B-)
A short recording of Call Any Vegetable and Eddie Are You Kidding. The tape cuts in into an unknown vamp before the band starts Call Any Vegetable. It’s a fairly normal performance; Howard asks “Where can I go to get crabs out of my public hair in Oakland?” and also “Where can I go to get a lawyer to get me out of this abortion rap?”, and Frank talks about the future people running Portland (and sorta quotes the Mud Shark). This leads into right into the best part of the tape, the definitive version of Eddie Are You Kidding, with a full reenactment of the commercial being parodied. A short tape but definitely worth checking out.
1971 10 06 – Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA (Audience B/B-)
A nice show in listenable quality. Not particularly notable, but it’s got solid performances of the The String Quartet, The Wino-Sharleena-Burgers Medley, Billy the Mountain and the Groupie Routine. Billy the Mountain is censored at this show, but a better quality censored take can be found at the Toronto show. Still, it’s a good show, and worth finding if you’ve heard some of the bigger shows and are still craving more.
1971 10 11 – Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY (Two Shows – Official Release)
Two amazing shows from Frank’s sole appearance at the New York landmark. Awesome performances of basically everything this band could play (except the Groupie Opera). A monster King Kong and Billy would be enough for me, but both shows are filled with great versions of nearly all of this band’s classic songs (including rare tunes like the 200 Motels Finale and Who Are The Bain Police?). Call Any Vegetable features questions like: “Where can I go to get the runs in Manhattan?” and “Where can I go to get castrated in Central Park?”, and Frank gives a long speech about Carnegie Hall, and “expanding your consciousness”. Howard intros Anyway The Wind Blows with a story about “happy, fun filled, cherubic Pan” and starts Magdelena with “”Here’s a little story I learned upstream in prison, Folsom Prison, 1968.” The venue wanted exorbitant fees for Frank to record these shows, so he decided to record these shows himself with a portable tape recorded on the side of the stage. These are far from high fidelity recordings, but they’re still very enjoyable. Great shows, available on streaming. Check ’em out!
1971 10 13 – Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada (Audience B+)
Another great show from the late 71 band. This show starts with the String Quartet, but it sadly cuts right before FZ’s solo. We then get a rare transition into Anyway The Wind Blows, Magdalena (“Here’s a folk song I learned in a kibbutz in Israel, 1962”) and then King Kong! Fantastic versions of all these tunes. The band then takes an on stage intermission, before performing Peaches and Tears before another weird transition into Billy the Mountain. This is an excellent version of the epic with many references to Canada herself. Billy is also censored, with most “Fuck”s being replaced with less overt words. The show ends with a classic Mud Shark dance lesson and the concert comes to a close. A great show in very nice sound quality; worth finding!
1971 10 15 – Loew’s State Theater, Providence, RI (Audience C+)
This is a pretty bad sounding recording saved from being completely forgotten by a couple moments. It’s the only known late 1971 show with The Sanzini Brothers Routine, though this is performed basically as it always was. They play Pound for A Brown, Sleeping in a Jar and the Wino medley, but more importantly this tape has a fantastic King Kong, with parts of the “Lady of the Island” parody heard on Playground Psychotics and variations on It Can’t Happen Here. An awesome spontaneous moment captured on this lame tape. Following this they start the groupie opera, but the tape cuts before Willie the Pimp, another major bummer. Track down this show for King Kong, but there’s no need to listen to anything else.
1971 10 16 – SUNY, Stony Brook, NY (Audience A-)
A very nice recording of a standard, high-spirited show. Only the late show from this date is known to circulate among bootleggers. We get nice performances of the regular tunes (the Vegetable and Peaches medleys), ending with Billy the Mountain and Who are the Brain Police. Vegetable questions include “Where can I go to ball a science major on the football field?”, and “Where can I go to get my dingus mummified?” (Mark: “If I have any children they’ll go to jail too”, Howard: “Where can I go to get the first part of that joke?”). FZ talks about how glad the people of Long Island are that they don’t live in Lefrak City, and tells the Turtles to play the next part “sensitively, just like Donovan was performing this song”. Howard intros Anyway The Wind Blows with more Eddie Are You Kidding spiels and says Magdelena was “A song I learned last year as a matter of fact from Joan Baez on Max Yasgur’s farm”. Billy sadly cuts during FZ’s solo and the recording only returns for the final seconds. Still, this is a very nice show with very nice quality. No big surprises, but worth checking out.
1971 10 23 – Cowtown Ballroom, Kansas City, MO (Two Shows – Audience B+/B)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
Two excellent shows, the first in a series of fantastic shows from Kansas City in the 70s. The early show starts with the Vegetable-Anyway-Magdalena-Dog medley, but FZ sadly decides to leave out the improvised spoken intro to the second tune. Call Any Vegetable features the questions “If I have to take leak and I’m on the bridge between Missouri and Kansas, which way will it blow? and “Where can I go to hear 40 minutes of Korla Pandit at the organ?”. Frank talks about the concerned Midwesterner (“just think a few years ago you didn’t have this rancid place did yeah?), comments on the theory that Intelligent life can exist in all parts of the United States and tells the crowd to vote. Howard claims Magdalena was apparently “the former homecoming song for the Kansas City Athletics when they were making it”. Following Dog Breath we get a monster, near 30 minute King Kong and an encore performance of the 200 Motels finale with an awesome improvised coda that morphs into the most rocking take of It Can’t Happen Here ever played. The second show has less surprises, but is just as entertaining with great takes of the Peaches medley, The String Quartet, the Wino medley, Billy the Mountain and Brain Police. Billy is filled with references to Kansas City and Jeff Simmons’ wife for some reason. Two excellent shows from the end of this band’s American tour. Also you can hear the first time this midwestern taper asks to hear “Heat’s Out Every Night”, which they’ll ask at almost every following show in Kansas. Get these tapes!
1971 11 12 – ABC TV, Dick Cavett Show (TV Recording B+)
This tape is more historically interesting than anything but it’s a very neat event. It’s like it seems, Frank and the Mothers make an appearance on the Dick Cavett Show, a bygone late night talk show. Sadly only the audio was recorded. They play Sofa from Divan, Cavett interviews Frank about his lyrics and 200 Motels, and they finish with a hot Who are the Brain Police. The interview is interesting and the music is inspired. Though there are only two songs, this is a tape worth checking out.
1971 11 19 – Folkets Hus, Stockholm, Sweden (Audience B/B-)
A solid show and the first of the catastrophic European tour. Nothing particularly groundbreaking, the band is in an good mood and there’s great renditions of the Vegetable medley, the String Quartet, The Wino medley and the Mud Shark + the Groupie Opera. For an encore we get this band’s premier performance of I Wanna Hold Your Hand (with some accompanying amusing dialog). This show’s Call Any Vegetable is notable for having two guitar solos! The second arises in the monologue section. Howard asks “Where can I go to get a dildo in Stockholm?” and “Where can I go to to listen to my PA feedback?” (“At the Folkets Hus!”), Frank says that “the theme of our program will be just how swift it is to be on the road for Scandinavian Europe”, then starts playing his guitar. It doesn’t really go anywhere but it’s still neat to hear. The words to Anyway The Wind Blows apparently came from Mark after he finished “picking cheese out of his hair” and I couldn’t make out the intro to Magdelena. Unfortunately, this show lacks King Kong and Billy the Mountain. There’s also a fair amount of cuts, especially in the beginning of the groupie routine. A nice start to a great tour and a quality show to fill out one’s collection, but not the first show I’d pick out
1971 11 20 – Fyens Forum, Odense, Denmark (Audience B/B-)
This historically important and musically wonderful show appeared in early 2024, 52 and a half years after it was recorded! It’s an okay recording, kinda boomy but overall listenable when it really matters. I also believe that the sound of this concert in person probably wasn’t too fantastic, because the Mothers are all using borrowed equipment. The night starts with Mark announcing that “in case you haven’t already been told, all of our equipment is in Sweden. Our truck broke down and we have no equipment. The group before us has been so nice to let us borrow theirs.” Frank felt that this show was basically a bust, so he refunded the ticket price to the audience, and even told the band they could drink a little before the show. They didn’t come all the way out to Odense for nothing though, so they’re still going to put on a hell of a show for their unsuspecting Danish audience, and since they’ve got nothing to lose tonight they’re gonna stray a bit off the beaten path.
The show begins with a nice, surprising I Want To Hold Your Hand, followed by a fun performance of the Vegetable medley, minus the titular tune and the improvised intro to Any Way The Wind Blows. This is a good performance of the medley, but the muffled, boomy sound makes any spoken, improvised dialog nearly impossible to decipher. They tune up for a while, then begin a long, instrumental, mostly improvised jam, starting with an incredibly early version of The Grand Wazoo! Then to get things even better, this leads into a really neat version of Sleep Dirt, and the whole 30 minute event is concluded with a fantastic, classic boogie. The rest of the show is rounded out with a spirited version of the Groupie Opera, and the rocking version of Who Are The Brain Police as a sick encore. Despite all the roadblocks leading up to this gig, Frank and The Mothers provide an excellent show, and we get one of this band’s best instrumental showcases! Check this one out! (at the very least listen to the big Grand Wazoo-Sleep Dirt jam in the middle!)
1971 11 21 – KB-Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark (Two Shows – Audience B+/B)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
Two excellent shows. The first show sadly cuts short, but has great takes of the Call Any Vegetable Medley, Divan and the String Quartet. This performance of Pound for a Brown is notable for having a solo from Frank and Don! Tonight’s Vegetable questions include “Where can I go to get the runs in Copenhagen?”, “Where can I go to To lose an equipment truck in Sweden?”, and “Where can I go to To get a duplicate key made to Mark’s room?”, and FZ talks to roadies Paul Hoff and Dave O’Neal about equipment issues during his monologue (while the Turtles sing their names). Howard tells a story about his European pornography and his uncle before Anyway The Wind Blows and describes Magdalena as “A legend told in story and song by Hans Christian Anderson”. The early show is nice, but the second show is where things get really interesting. The earliest known Zanti Serenade (an awesome 15+ minute take) starts the late show, followed by the Peaches medley and the only known performance of the Elephant Beer! A possibly improvised jam with lyrics about Danish booze. This is an awesome tune and it makes me wish this band did more like this. Rounding out the show are more standards from this group (the Peaches medley, Divan and more takes of the Vegetable medley and the String Quartet) , performed to the regular excellence. Howard needs to know “Where can I go to have a rancid sausage that will give me the runs?”, and “Where can I go to buy elephant beer?” and “Where can I go to look at the Little Mermaid?” (“In Jim Pons’ bathroom!”), and Frank says “It’s a wonderful time to be alive, even in this rancid snowstorm” (also when he says “weather report”, one of the Turtles sing the Billy the Mountain news sting. The lyrics to Anyway The Wind Blows come from the toilet paper found in Howard’s bathroom and before Magdalena we’re told” the following selection was taken from Michael Lander’s (?) horoscope September 6th 1928″ . The main set ends with a jamming Wino Man and Sharleena (leaving out Cruising For Burgers) and another rocking Who Are The Brain Police ends the night. An easy highlight of the tour, find these shows!
1971 11 23 – Rheinhalle, Düsseldorf, Germany (Audience B+/B-)
Another fantastic show from the European tour. The show starts with a shorter Zanti Serenade but it’s just as hot as the others from this tour. They then follow it with I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Divan in one of the weirdest openings to a concert in FZ history. Great performances of the Wino Man and Call any Vegetable medley followed by a fantastic 35 minute King Kong and rocking Brain Police. Tonight’s questions are “Where can I go to learn all about bean bags in Dusseldorf?”. “Where can I go to get drunk in the dressing room?”, “Where can I go to get a cowboy shirt just like Mark has on?” and “Where can I go to get the runs with Fritz Rau?!” and FZ talks about the concerned pop consumer today, name drops some people I can’t make out in his Vegetable monologue. Howard tells a long story about food poisoning and Ravi Shankar before Anyway The Wind Blows, and intros Magdelena with “These immortal words were once uttered in this very hall by Goebbels and Hitler himself”. The encore is a one time performance of Peaches en Regalia and Happy Together in a row. It makes for an excellent end to a show, like the biggest hits from both Frank and the Turtles. This show has lots of fun local references and name drops to German promoter Fritz Rau, who FZ would later memorialize in song with Shall We Take Ourselves Seriously. This is a great show in pretty good quality. Worth finding.
1971 11 24 – Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany (Audience B)
Another very solid, wonderful show from this joyous band. Good enough audio quality, but there’s some pretty nasty tape cuts that hamper the show. The show cuts in during Call Any Vegetable, so it’s likely all of Zanti Serenade was missed. Also missing is most of Stick it Out, the ending of King Kong (Frank’s solo on) and the entire beginning of Billy the Mountain (cuts in during Ian’s solo). That being said, there’s a lot to like here. Great tales of legitimately all the regular tunes, Don, Ian and Aynsley give hot performances in King Kong, and we at least get some solos from Billy. Howard asks “Where can I go to play in an auditorium that once held several politicians?” and “Where can I go to watch my equipment break down?” and Frank talks about if they can convince Berliners that it’s a wonderful time to be alive, and comments on the “hall designed for the performance of music”. Anyway The Wind Blows was told to Howard by his dying Uncle Ralph, and the text to Magdalena is apparently “interesting documentation from the literature cited by Maximilian Schell at the original Nuremberg trials”. Also this show has the last known performance of the Groupie Routine. It’s one of the best takes, with hints of Dr. John in the Mud Shark and Captain Beefheart in What Kind of Girl. Not the best show of the 1971, both well worth a listen.
1971 11 27 – The Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands (Audience B+/B/B-)
Possibly the best show from this band. Fantastic takes of pretty much all of this band’s regular material (missing only King Kong and the Groupie Opera), plus the sofa suite in Dutch and the longest known Billy the Mountain! Everyone in the band gets a chance to solo and the tune comes in at just under an hour. There are multiple recordings for this show, and the audio quality changes throughout, but it’s always listenable. Tonight’s Vegetable questions are hard to make out, but I heard “Where can I go to get my sewer fixed?”, and something about Dutch chocolate, and Frank talks about how their water gets shittier every week, and how the Netherlands fit into Europe as a whole. Howard talks about the red light district before Anyway The Wind Blows, and says “Adlai Stevenson uttered these immortal words as he choked in your very country on a Peter Stuyvesant [a cigarette]” before Magdalena. We get one of this band’s best encores: 200 Motels Finale, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Who are the Brain Police! Overall this is a fantastic show, with constantly excellent playing and listenable, occasionally nice, audio quality. The only downsides are a short Zanti Serenade, probably the least interesting of the tour, and the lack of King King. The rest of the concert more than makes up for this though. This show gets a strong, strong recommendation.
1971 11 28 – Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany (Two Shows – Audience B-/C+)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
Two standard shows in pretty bad quality. The first show is listenable and the second show is on the line between listenable and too distant. Musically these concerts feature the same energy and tunes as many of the other shows in Europe and the same high quality of musicianship, they just sound too bad for me to recommend. Howard asks “Where can I go to have a frankfurter in Frankfurt?” and “Where can I go to listen to air force radio?” and FZ talks about “the concerned enlisted man today”, and some stuff I can’t make out, while the turtles sing “Hot Spots”. The lyrics from Anyway The Wind Blows come from an air sickness bag being used by an “elderly Pakistani gentleman” and the tape quality is once again too bad to make out the Magdalena intro. Both shows have great Zanti Serenades; the early show has a monster King Kong and a fun 200 Motels Finale/I Wanna Hold Your Hand encore, and the late show has the last known performance of Billy the Mountain. There’s also a cut in the first show that basically skips Frank’s whole Pound solo. Check these tapes out only if you’ve heard every other show and still want more.
1971 12 04 – Switzerland Casino, Montreux, Switzerland (Audience A/A-)
An excellent recording of one of Frank’s most infamous shows. The band tears through the set, with fantastic takes of Zanti Serenade, The Peaches Medley, the Vegetable Medley, and Divan with plentiful references to Swiss Cheese, fondue and St. Bernards, but the show comes to a terrifying end. Tonight’s Call Any Vegetable includes questions like “Where can I go to drink Slivovitz in the Alps?”, “Where can I go to have equipment problems in Montreux?” and “Where can I go to get a shirt just like Jim’s wearing?” and Frank talks about Swiss culture in his monologue (so ice skates, St. Bernards and fondue). The words to Anyway The Wind Blows come from an “old weathered beaten man” who Howard found lying in the snow and before Magdalena he announces “Here are the ingredients for the Nestle chocolate that you turkeys eat everyday”. The fun comes to an end though when, at the start of Don’s solo in King Kong, someone throws some firecrackers into the rafters of the venue’s ceiling and the casino goes up in flames. The last sounds on the tape are FZ telling the audience to please exit in an orderly fashion, and the sounds of the taper sprinting out. Deep Purple was in attendance, and the event inspired Smoke on the Water. These tapes were released as part of the Beat the Boots series as Swiss Cheese/Fire! The Mothers managed to escape the fire, but lost all of their equipment. This is an awesome and historic show, that luckily was captured in fantastic quality. It should be in every fan’s collection.
1971 12 10 – Rainbow Theater, London, UK (Official Release)
Only six days after the “disaster in Montreux”, the band is back on stage in London with rented instruments and gear. Little do they know another tragedy is soon to come. This show circulated as a rough sounding bootleg for years before the full concert was finally released in the Mothers 1971. The full show is one of the best this band played, despite the problems coming with new equipment. It starts shaky, but they quickly gain confidence. Following a shortened performance of Divan, we get the best Pound of the tour. A slew of solos, secret words, and a weird Crosby Stills and Nash parody. 15+ minutes of great music. This show also contains one of the greatest King Kongs ever played, nothing out of the ordinary, just fantastic playing. The band come back for a wonderful encore of I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and as Frank is putting away his guitar, a crazed man in attendance who believed FZ was eyeing his girlfriend ran on stage and pushed him into the orchestra pit. The incident nearly killed FZ, put an abrupt end to the Flo and Eddie Mothers, and left Frank in a wheelchair for 9 months. This, like the Montreux show, is an excellent and historic show that should be heard by all Zappaphiles.
The Songs Played:
200 Motels Finale – Played essentially as on 200 Motels. For some reason this tune is never tracked by itself on that album and is included as the second half of Strictly Genteel. This is a rocking, overlooked number that’s a great addition to this band’s repertoire.
Anyway The Wind Blows – A reworked version of the Freak Out classic. These performances are actually closer to the Ruben and the Jets version, but with a different, chugging kind of accompaniment and more energy. The ending is totally reworked too, it’s an up-tempo boogie where the Turtles repeatedly sing the title. I love this band’s take on this song, super catchy and beautiful, definitely my favorite version. This tune almost always started with an improvised story of how Howard “discovered” the lyrics to the piece. Always followed by Magdalena and almost always preceded by Call Any Vegetable. This song first appeared in October and is another of Frank’s great reworkings.
Billy The Mountain – The epic 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 Don, Ian (on Sax) and Frank, but this would change depending on how much time is left for the venue and/or Frank’s mood. At most Aynsley would solo after Ian and at the very least Frank would take a solo. In October, even more parts were added to the massive story. When the phone rings, in the secret briefcase, “Lil’ Emil” now answers and asks Studebaker to recite a code. The Turtles then in unison recite the “Tibetan memory trick” an old Jerry Lewis bit that always just blows me away. I think Billy the Mountain is one of Frank’s funniest and best written stories and that these are the best performances. The solos are always incredible and the lyrical mutations are everywhere. Basically every location and minor plot points of every performance changed based on the location of the night’s show. Another major highlight of the tour. For more info on the specific differences between performances of Billy the Mountain, see Charles Ulrich’s in depth analysis here: http://fzpomd.net/vaudeville/btm.html
Bwana Dik – Part four of the complete Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. The bit about the groupie’s pregnancy has been changed to Hodgkin’s Disease, which the band chants while Howard sings the opening lyrics. Additionally the Lumpy Gravy intro (Girls from all over the world) is played WAY slower. These two small changes really elevate this song to another level, definitely my favorite version.
Call Any Vegetable – Played Essentially as on Just Another Band From LA, but with a couple differences. 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. Starting between Carnegie Hall and Stoney Brook, The Turtles would scream “Dildo!” instead of “Yeah!”, and for the final performance in Montrose its simply “Penis!” (You’re guess is as good as mine). The monologue section would typically venture into spoken improv, as heard on JABFLA and on at least one occasion in Stockholm we get a spontaneous guitar solo in that spot. One of FZ’s best rearrangements hands down and a highlight of the tour.
Cruising For Burgers – A great version of the Uncle Meat classic. These performances have two repetitions of the new guitar intro not heard on Uncle Meat, followed by an instrumental take and then a vocal run through sung by Mark and Howard. Always preceded by Wonderful Wino and Sharleena. Between the two intro guitar riffs is the final “me” of Sharleena; Another really great segue.
Divan – AKA The Sofa Suite is a long theatrical epic about God, His girlfriend, a magical pig and the home movie they make. And of course the majority of this piece is in German, as that’s what God speaks when it’s “heavy business”. This song can be broken down into 5 parts: Once Upon a Time, Sofa, Magic Pig, Stick it Out and Divan Ends Here. Sofa and Stick it Out were later released on their own and are more individual tunes so I will write about them in their own entries. The remaining three pieces feature Frank and the Turtles telling the confusing story with musical accompaniment. I enjoy this piece, I love the early renditions of Sofa and Stick it Out, and I like a lot of the story sections, but the ending goes on way too long. Also this is one of Frank’s worst stories, there’s barely a plot and no semblance of a real ending. I love the idea of writing a song in German for the fun of it, possibly just to confuse your audience. This tune was largely scripted, though it did feature room for lyrical improvisation. Except at its premiere performance, this tune was always followed by the String Quartet. Typically there would be a cold cut between the two songs, but occasionally there would be conducted improv between them. At the Rainbow Theater, only the first two songs were performed. Despite its flaws, this is a joyous epic that needs to be heard to be believed.
Dog Breath – Played essentially as on Just Another Band From LA, but a little longer. The JABFLA take is edited, it is missing the first half of FZ’s solo. In concert the Turtles would sing “Hear my plea” Frank would take a more sedated solo, we’d get more “Hear my plea”s and then a more frenzied solo as heard on the official album. This is another one of Frank’s all time greatest rearrangements, and another tour highlight.
Do You Like My New Car? – Part seven of the complete 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.
Eddie Are You Kidding? – Essentially played as on Just Another Band From LA, but longer. Frank edited out bits from basically every section on the tune to clean it up. There’s only two known takes of this song, and they’re both pretty sloppy, but still a lot of fun. My favorite take is from the short Portland tape. It features a full, humorous reenactment of the Zachary All commercial that inspired the song. Worth checking out. Always preceded by Call Any Vegetable.
The Elephant Beer – A one time, possibly improvised performance from the Copenhagen late show. Frank starts with a likely composed riff (you can hear it in the jam the night before in Odense) and Mark joins in with possibly improvised/possibly written lyrics about Denmark, its beer and what it does to his guts. Then in the middle we get a short Underwood sax solo and longer solos from Frank and Don. Mark sings “gimme some Elephant Beer” throughout and eventually the band segues into Call Any Vegetable. A great tune with great performances and another reason to get the Copenhagen tape.
The Grand Wazoo – A proto-version of this Zappa classic first appears on its own in Odense. Frank plays the first half of the opening riff, and leads the band into a sick jam vehicle. The Turtles sing lyrics (“Over, Over, Over, Just Think It Over!”) on top of the riff, and we all have a great time. Ian (on sax), Don (on acoustic piano!), Frank and Aynsley all solo, and the jam leads right into a heavy version of Sleep Dirt, another fantastic rarity. In Copenhagen and Rotterdam, Frank quotes a different part of the final tune during his solo in Pound For A Brown (I kinda consider this the main theme of the Grand Wazoo), showing that he had multiple components to this song floating around his head at this time. But anyway, this is a really cool one time jam, something any fan of 1972 Frank would enjoy, and the primary reason to check out the Odense tape.
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. At the beginning of this era, 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. By October Little House was dropped from setlists and The Mud Shark could either be played as the first part of the medley or on its own. The piece is played essentially as heard on the Fillmore East album, but there are some small changes here and there that make the ones from this era my favorite takes.
Happy Together – Part eight of the complete 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?
Improvisations/Jams – This band rarely delved into full blown improvisation, but there are a few choice occasions where we get treated to some amazing improvised jams. The first big one comes from Kansas City, where after an encore performance of the 200 Motels Finale, Frank decides to let loose and give us some fantastic, guitar-based, high-spirited improv. The Turtles chant the final lines of the 200 Motels Finale before morphing into the most rocking take of It Can’t Happen Here imaginable. A must hear performance! We then get a wonderful, improvised boogie at the end of the awesome Grand Wazoo-Sleep Dirt Jam in Odense, and we get The Elephant Beer the day after in Copenhagen, but it’s not clear how composed this tune was. Additionally Frank would occasionally conduct shorter spontaneous improvisations between songs or within larger jams/songs like King Kong. This band could really play when they went for it, I just wish they did more often!
I Wanna Hold Your Hand – The first time Zappa would ever cover the Beatles was in Europe 1971. It’s a very energetic, fun and faithful rendition of the tune and a joy to hear whenever it shows up. It’s also the very last song of the tour, the encore of the rainbow show.
King Kong – The beast returns in a new form. This time the structure is: the main theme, the third theme, solo, second theme, main theme, slow meltdown-y ending. The playing is always fantastic this time around and an easy highlight of the tour. Typically they start with some Don Preston madness before Frank starts to play the secondary vamp from earlier in the year and Ian plays an amazing solo. On rare occasions Ian would play a synth solo instead of sax. Aynsley would usually follow and Frank would wrap up to jam with a thoughtful inspired and often beautiful solo. Often Frank would conduct the Turtles and/or the entire band into some wilderness between or right in the middle of the solos. At the Providence show some vocal improv eventually morphs into It Can’t Happen Here. In the London performance Frank quotes what would become the beginning of Big Swifty. In the early part of the tour, The Turtles would sing lyric-less vocals over the final repetition of the theme, but by the end of the European leg this morphed into singing the title over the closing notes. These are absolutely fantastic performances from King Kong and some of the best of Frank’s career.
Latex Solar Beef – Part five of the complete Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. This tune is finally complete, and would be performed like this for the rest of the year. The segue between this tune and Willie the Pimp is one of Frank’s best. Gives me chills every time.
Little House I Used To Live In – Part one of the complete Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album, but with an additional guitar break early in the song. Both spots are more dramatic than the previous tour and Frank just goes nuts. Unfortunately, this song was only played once at the Pauley Pavilion before being dropped from setlists forever. After August, the Groupie Opera would always start with the Mud Shark.
Lonesome Cowboy Burt – Played one time at the Pauley Pavilion with special Guest Jimmy Carl Black. Performed essentially as on 200 Motels, but with more energy. A nice performance, and an awesome encore to the LA Concert.
Magdalena – This nasty little bop is played essentially as on Just Another Band From LA. Additionally, every performance starts with a quick improvised line about how Howard learned the story and the ending rant would change every night, usually to fit the new location (Example from the Carnegie Hall show: “Here’s a little story I learned upstream in prison, Folsom Prison, 1968. Hey!”). Despite the wildly vile lyrics, I think this is one of Frank’s most beautifully written songs, and I love hearing it when it shows up.
The Mud Shark – Part two of the complete Groupie Opera. Played essentially as on the Fillmore East album, but now with a full blown dancing lesson. The dance comes at the end and involves swimming with your hands and sticking your head under the legs of the person in front of you. Apparently at Carnegie Hall they had people leaving the concert doing the Mud Shark in the aisles and out into the street!
Peaches En Regalia – Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. A fantastic version of the Hot Rats tune, perfectly arranged for this band. The Turtles now sing the overdubbed parts heard on the released album. Always followed by Tears Began to Fall, which is in turn almost always followed by Shove it Right in.
A Pound for a Brown – This perfectly composed Uncle Meat tune appears once again as a guitar solo vehicle. The band play a much prettier arrangement of the song, compared to the 60s version, before Frank launches into guitar heaven. On a few occasions Frank would give others in the band a chance to solo. Don gets a solo at the early Copenhagen show, and there’s a full blown monster performance at the Rainbow. At the Rotterdam and Copenhagen late shows Frank quotes what would become The Grand Wazoo! Another reason to collect shows from this era. Always followed by Sleeping in a Jar. This tune also frequently followed the Sofa Suite.
The Sanzini Brothers – A comedy circus-y routine from the previous tours. The Turtles would run around and scream for a bit whenever Frank decided it should happen. Only known to be played on one occasion in this era at the providence show. Probably more fun live, these are now just harmless vignettes between songs.
Sharleena – A fairly reworked version of the Chunga’s Revenge tune. The song starts mostly as normal but is played significantly faster. As the tune goes on the differences from the original increase. It starts to rock more, the “I would be so delighted” section is comically faster and it’s followed by a jam while the Turtles cry out to Sharleena. There’s a guitar riff, the band stops and Mark or Howard (I’m never sure who) sing some improvised lyrics, a couple more lines about Sharleena and finally “Send my baby home to…me.” The “me” actually comes in the beginning of Cruising for Burgers, linking the two songs. It’s always followed by Wonderful Wino and almost always followed by Cruising for Burgers. At the Copenhagen late show, they never stop jamming after the “delighted” section and after a few minutes Frank quiets the band and ends the concert. Another reason to check out the Copenhagen shows.
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.
Sleep Dirt – This great guitar tune actually was written around 1971, and gestated in Frank’s mind for many years until its eventual release of the album of the same name. This tune appears once in full at the Odense show, and later appears in the middle of a monster Pound For A Brown in London. The Odense performance begins with an incredibly heavy take of the beautiful arpeggio, and Ian plays a beautiful sax solo on top of the vamp, as it softens and fades away. Eventually the familiar notes return, but only for a bit before Frank conducts a crash and leads the Mothers into more improv. The London appearance isn’t a full performance, but instead the beautiful backing shows up for a minute in the middle of some Pound For A Brown improvisations. We get a couple glimpses of this great, rare song in 1971, before it disappears for a few more years, but when it’s around it’s always well worth a listen.
Sleeping in a Jar – The Uncle Meat tune is played instrumentally a few times through. Each repetition of the theme is performed a little differently, and Frank provides guitar throughout. The final phrase is played very slowly and majestically, usually features some vocal improv and typically leads into Wonderful Wino. Always preceded by Pound For a Brown.
Sofa – Essentially performed as Sofa #2 on One Size Fits All, but completely in German. This piece makes its debut on this tour, four years before it would appear on a record, as a part two of Divan. Instrumentation is totally different, with the tune being carried mostly by Ian’s electric clarinet. The Turtles sing the lyrics wonderfully and there are always a couple lines from Eddie Are You Kidding at the end. These are far from my favorite takes of Sofa, but they’re still a delight to hear.
Stick it Out – Essentially played as on Joe’s Garage. This piece makes its debut on this tour, eight years before it would appear on a record, as part four of Divan. This is a more skeletal and rocking version compared to the studio take, and it absolutely kills. The tune is played through once in German and then again in English. There’s no Sy Borg, as that was only connected to this tune during the production of Joe’s Garage. The ending is different too. Instead of the “What’s a girl like you?” Spiel and the quote from Latex Solar Beef, we get a meltdown section with scream and moans, before the Turtles belt out “I hear and obey Short Girl!” An awesome performance of a too rarely played song.
The String Quartet – Not referred to as such on this tour, but this is the name applied to A Pound for a Brown and Sleeping in a Jar. Interestingly, Frank never announces Sleeping in a Jar, only Pound.
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). Instead Don now plays the melody to that line on synth. 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 almost always followed by Shove it Right In.
What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are? – Part three of the complete 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. Three Dog Night Members replace Alice Cooper in the “It gets me so hot I could scream” section and, after The Bullet, the Turtles now scream “Fire!”, like in Stick It Out from Divan. It’s also possible they’re singing “Liar!” like in the Three Dog Night tune and like they would sometimes sing in Stick It Out. A fun bit of conceptual continuity. Overall these have the most improv of any performances of this song are probably my favorite takes of this demented blues tune.
Who are the Brain Police? – This tune is barely recognizable from the Freak Out version. It starts out with a prominent guitar riff, different from the 1970 On the Road version, before Mark and Howard come in to belt out the lyrics. After this it’s an absolute jam with a killer solo from Frank. Who would have guessed this song could go so hard? The tune ends with a showcase of the lead singers and a new tweaky guitar coda that’s more similar in tone to the studio take. Usually played as an encore or closing number and what a way to end a show.
Willie The Pimp – Part seven of the complete Groupie Opera. Essentially played as on the Fillmore East album. 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. Every performance from this year is worth repeated listens.
Wonderful Wino – The Turtles now sing lead in this oft reworked Simmons-Zappa tune. The tune is faster and more comedic than other takes, but still rocks and features a hot solo from Frank in the regular spot. The song still starts with Bringing in the Sheaves and often follows the String Quartet. It’s always followed by Sharleena, which in turn is almost always followed by Cruising for Burgers.
Zanti Serenade – This is a long improvised jam that begins many of the European shows. Each performance starts with very eerie solo Synth music from Ian and Don(I think) usually joins in before long. After a few minutes Aynsley comes in, followed shortly after Jim, then the synth players really start jamming. The Turtles would sometimes moan eerily over parts of the keyboard solos. Eventually Frank comes in and wraps everything up with a fantastic solo. Frank describes these jams as “really just a sound check with the audience in attendance”, but I think they’re much more than that. They show, right at the beginning of the concert, that this band could play some incredible music, alongside the wild lyrics. Almost every one of these is worth hearing, with London and Montreux having possibly the best takes.
Billy The Mountain Solo Table:
Life On The Road 