Overview:
Little did the band know it, but this tour would end up as a transitional point between two eras of Frank’s career. There are many songs from the previous two tours along with a handful of new tunes that would be immortalized by the late 73 and 1974 bands (Village of The Sun, Echidna’s Arf, the reworked Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing, Penguin in Bondage and T’Mershi Duween all debut in Europe). Sal had been ousted following the Pacific tour and the band lacked a clear lead vocalist. George and Frank sing about two and a half songs each and the rest of the material is all instrumental. Also, Ian left all his saxes behind for this tour, opting instead to solo on a modified electric bass clarinet (I occasionally refer to him playing sax, know that isn’t entirely true, it simply bass clarinet that sounds like one). Because of these facts, this band has a very laid back, arthouse jazz kind of feel, unique in Frank’s work. These aren’t the most exhilarating shows out there, but there’s some incredible playing if you’re paying attention. Dupree’s are starting to really stretch out, the Village suite and the expanded Dog/Meat medley are fantastic right from the beginning and this is one of only two tours to regularly feature Brown Shoes Don’t Make It. George is also starting to get more comfortable singing, providing great vocals on Inca Roads and Village. Eventually, Ian and Jean-Luc finally leave Zappa’s musical universe and once Napoleon and Chester come in the music takes a much funkier turn. But before then, we get this wonderful little tour. This is an excellent, somewhat obscure era in Frank’s career, looked over only because it’s sandwiched between two more popular lineups.
The Band:
Frank Zappa – Guitar, Vocals, The Hook
Jean-Luc Ponty – Violin, Jazz Aura
George Duke – Keyboards, Vocals, Soul
Ian Underwood – Woodwinds, Keys, Honks
Bruce Fowler – Trombone, The Tango
Ruth Underwood – Inhuman Percussion, Vital Organs, Stella Artois
Ralph Humphrey – Drums, Duck Call
Tom Fowler – Bass, Sturdiness
Recordings Available:
1973 08 18 – KB Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark (Audience B+/B)
It’s the first show of the European tour and we get a slew of new arrangements, new songs and old classics from earlier in the year. The show opens on a nice Dupree’s Paradise, with an exciting intro featuring a little solo from Bruce. A fine Cosmik Debris with solos from Ian, George and Frank follow and the extended Dog/Meat medley premiers next, already perfect. Probably the most interesting thing in this show is the placement of Brown Shoes Don’t Make It right in the middle of the program. It’s a little shaky at parts, but still awesome to hear this song finally return. After this is the debut of the Village Suite and this take is as strong as the rest of them. Frank was certainly working on Echidna’s and Wash That over the previous tours, so it makes sense they premiered so solid. Nice versions of Montana and Farther O’Blivion end the main show. Frank asks the audience if they know what dental floss is (they apparently don’t) and later there’s a cool vamp during the tango variations and a little bit of conducted improv at the end of Ralph’s solo. Ponty quotes a second of Wash That Thing in the outro crash of music and a very nice encore Green Genes Medley ends the night. A solid concert and good B-tier show.
1973 08 21 – Solliden, Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden (TV A)
A classic recording featured on Beat the Boots as Piquantique. This date was broadcast on TV on the Swedish program Oppåpoppa. Cosmik Debris opens the show and we immediately realize Frank is on fire. The extended Dog/Meat medley sans Dog/Meat is next (I guess Frank only wanted new music on the broadcast). Montana’s next and this is possibly my favorite version of the tune. Frank just absolutely destroys his guitar. Dupree’s Paradise follows and Frank gives a little speech about the cold and clapping at rock concerts during George’s intro. Farther O’Blivion with a rare Join The March intro comes after Dupree’s, and Frank cues the Hook once during the tango variations. Frank wasn’t happy with the performance of Cucamonga and made the band repeat it. Unfortunately that’s the end of the show, no Village Suite, Dog Meat or Brown Shoes. Fantastic performances from the whole band captured on an excellent recording. The video is a great watch too!
1973 08 23/24 – Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland (Official Release)
There were three shows performed across these two dates and a hybrid concert was released as Road Tapes Vol. #2 in 2013. Fantastic, fantastic takes of nearly every one of this band’s regular tunes. There’s a proto-version of the Pajama People lyrics over George’s Dupree’s intro and this tour’s only Big Swifty. There’s also a fun “make something up” improv moment that starts slow and tweaky before evolving into a quality blues jam. Frank speaks to the audience about the musical movie cue “Dunt-dun-dun”, he has a lot of fun saying it and eventually the jam comes to a close. The tango variations section in Farther O’Blivion features Frank describing the Hook of the tune, and cues said freaked melody a couple times. A take of Cosmik Debris from these shows was released as a digital download at some point, and I think fits well between Dupree’s and Village. I believe the CD version has more tuning and banter between songs than the streaming versions. Anyway you listen to them, these are really fantastic performances and a great choice for an official release. Listen to this first before anything else.
1973 08 26 – Kalvoya Festivalen, Sandvika, Norway (Audience A-)
The final Scandinavian concert is captured on the best sounding audience tape of the tour. Luckily the performances are great too. This tape is rare for the era and contains a short soundcheck from before the show. Just a few segments of the Dog/Meat medley, nothing too interesting. It cuts right to the Village suite, the first musical chunk of the night. Excellent performances as always, and it’s followed by Cosmik Debris, with a weird opening solo from Bruce. Blues trombone is a strange occurrence. The tune has a few cuts, but nothing major. Montana (“a song about the thing you put between your teeth to get the other things out”) is fun as always and Dupree’s features a flute solo instead of the usual trombone. It’s another cool, spacey performance but it’s unfortunately only captured on a significantly worse, B-/C+ recording. Brown Shoes is great as always (though Frank forgets the words to the chocolate syrup bit) and we get a classic Green Genes medley for an encore. Frank cues the Hook at the very end of the show and brings the night to a close. A very nice show, well worth a listen.
1973 08 28 – Stadthalle, Freiburg, Germany (Audience B)
A solid show in solid quality. A quality Dupree’s and Cosmik Debris open the night. The Dog/Meat medley is next, but a good chunk in the middle is missing. The Village suite is fantastic as always, and FZ plays with the theme of Wash That Thing during Ralph’s drum solo. Montana is next and goes directly into Brown Shoes in a rare and neat transition. FZ starts yelling “The Hook” after, and once the band finally hears him that ends the show. The encore begins with a short but ferocious Willie The Pimp, that slides into the Green Gene’s medley. It’s under three minutes, but it rocks. It propels the next three tunes into further greatness, and is the highlight of the tape. A solid show, but not one I’d often recommend (Except for the encore).
1973 08 30 – Stadio Comunale, Bologna, Italy (Audience B+)
Duprees opens this nice sounding show with a short but sweet intro from Mr. Duke. Frank introduces the band after the first tune, maybe for the only time this year. Another Cosmik Debris is next with another strangely awesome blues trombone solo. Ian has sax trouble during Dog Breath, but the rest of the medley is fantastic, and the sax problems give us a chance to hear the other instruments. FZ shouts “work out!” during Bruce’s RDNZL solo and Farther O’Blivion goes really wild during the tango variations. Frank comments that Ian’s take of the theme on modulated bass clarinet sounds like “little ducks” and starts to quote Funiculì, Funiculà. The band continues, Ruth plays a weird little composed melody (sounds like silent movie music or something) and Frank plays a long tasty solo after. Ralph’s solo and Cucamonga finish the show and Brown Shoes is now a standard, perfect, encore. A very good show and a nice addition to any 73 collection, especially with the wild, maybe-best-ever Farther O’Blivion.
1973 08 31 – Palasport, Rome, Italy (Audience B)
A long soundcheck opens this Italian night. The crowd is hyped, and so is Frank. The show starts with a mega Dog/Meat melody and Frank carnival barks the name of songs during the medley (“Kung Fu! The New Dance Craze Sweeping through Sicily!”, “Exercise Four!” etc.) Next up is a “song from our new album”, Montana, followed by an awesome Dupree’s Paradise with an extra solo (from George) and the always delightful Village suite. A sick Cosmik with a single solo from Frank follows and it’s one of the best of the tour. The crowd go wild when they segue into a special version of Arrivederci Roma to end the show. They come back on to play Brown Shoes and some more Arrivederci Roma and return for a second encore to play Mr Green Genes, King Kong and make a weird segue into The Be-Bop Tango. Frank plays a sick solo after the tango variations and Cucamonga ends the show. This is a great show, The crowd is hyped, cheering and singing along to their favorite songs and the band is eating it up. Easily one of the best shows of the tour, and the merely acceptable sound quality does nothing to hamper my enjoyment.
1973 09 02 – Mehrzweckhalle, Wetzikon, Zurich, Switzerland (Audience B+/B)
This great show starts out with a humorous intro that goes through the components of the extended Dog/Meat medley. After the opening eight songs we get the premiere of the George Duke sung Inca Roads. A fun performance, though not as confident as the future takes. A standard Ian-George-Frank Cosmik is followed by some fantastic free improv that starts tweaky with Tom and ends chaotically with Frank. The frenzy ends and Frank announces that he’s been taught the Swiss word for dental floss. He proceeds to use it during the following Montana, to the delight of the Swiss people. Dupree’s is next and it starts crazy and stays crazy throughout. After Ponty fills his regular solo spot, we get a long solo from Ruth of all people! She solos on a few of her instruments before Frank brings the tune to a close with a long fantastic solo, ending on an Echidna’s Arf quote. For an encore we get another excellent Brown Shoes that segues directly into Farther O’Blivion (including Join the March and Eat my Starch). George takes Ponty’s spot in Farther Oblivion and Frank quotes Sweet Leilani over the tango variations. There’s a short Jam at the end of Cucamonga and this awesome show comes to a close. Easily one of, if not the, best show of the tour. Listen to this one.
1973 09 03 – Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany (Audience A-/B+)
Frank opens this show with “a song from Weasels Ripped My Flesh” and talks about the German censored cover before an excellent performance of the big Dog/Meat medley. Another awesome Village Suite follows and Cosmik Debris has a nice set of solos (including one from Jean-Luc). Frank rips into Guru Maharaj Ji and his tour canceling ulcer before Cosmik and says Big Swifty is next. He must change his mind because we get a fun Dupree’s instead with a bonus solo from George. Frank wraps up the tune with some tasty guitar work, ending the main set. For the encore Frank lets the audience choose between Brown Shoes and the Green Gene’s medley, and they pick the latter. All three tunes are great as always and Frank solos over the ending Green Gene’s melody a little. A very nice show with very good sound. Nothing insane but still a lot of fun. Check this one out.
1973 09 05 – Stadthalle, Offenbach, Germany (Audience C+/C)
This show seems like it was really good, but it’s nearly impossible to enjoy on this lousy recording. There’s a lot of laughing, but you can never really make out any banter on stage. The setlist is Dog/Meat, Cosmik Debris, the Village Suite, Montana and Dupree’s. All of these are quality performances, but they’re basically unlistenable. Frank announces the start of Exercise 4 during the medley and Cosmik Debris features many solos, including a rare vibraphone solo from Ponty (probably, it’s not announced but it’s certainly not Ruth). There’s some crazy antics before the Village Suite. Something about “the closest thing to Billy the Mountain” and “too much wine”; I can’t make much out. The main set ends with a solid Montana-Dupree’s combo. Frank announces Brown Shoes for an encore but the tape ends before it starts. A nice show on an awful tape. Hardcore completionists only.
1973 09 08 – Vorst Nationaal, Brussels, Belgium (Audience B-/C+)
Another very bad recording, but it’s a little better than the previous gig. The whole soundcheck/intro is captured, but the opener, the Dog/Meat medley, is basically completely missing from the tape. The Village suite comes next but it’s too fragmented and distorted to really enjoy. By the end of Wash That Thing the sound has slightly improved and the frequent cuts have ended. We get some cool free improv with nice violin and guitar solos. Ralph needs one of his drums fixed after Wash That Thing so Frank dubs these improvisations “Music for Broken Drum and Stella Artois”. After the jam, We get what’s maybe the only ever Monster Montana! George takes the first solo followed by Jean-Luc and Tom! Frank finishes the affair with a final hot solo. The show ends with a stand alone Be-Bop Tango (Just the composition, but Frank yells something during it). Brown Shoes is the encore, but it cuts out after a couple minutes. The recording returns mid-T’Mershi Duween (The earliest known recorded performance!) and the night ends. A shitty recording of a great show. Worth it for the last 25-ish minutes though.
1973 09 11 – Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, UK (Audience B+)
A very nice show kicks off the Mothers short UK tour. Strangely enough, the night opens with Brown Shoes Don’t Make It. Odd but fun. Frank’s feeling chatty tonight, he talks a bit between songs and lets us know the “The hits keep comin at ya”. A solid multi solo Cosmik is next, followed by a wicked Village suite. This then progresses into a sick Dog/Meat medley with first known Penguin in Bondage solo. The transition to Frank’s solo is really rough, but it’s still neat to hear and we get a nice Montana-esque solo. Frank once again barks out Ian’s name before Exercise 4, and RDNZL brings a nice close to the main set. There’s no encore walk off, Frank decides it’s too inane and they’ll just keep playing. The last chunk of the show is pretty wild. A brand new T’Mershi Duween goes right into a hot Willie the Pimp. This segues right into King Kong, which gets a single solo from Ponty before moving into the Green Gene’s ending. We get a last minute performance of the Hook, and the night is over. A short but lovely show captured on a very nice recording. Not the most out-there performance but still worth your time. A strong recommendation.
1973 09 13 – Town Hall, Birmingham, UK (Audience C+/B-)
Yet another great show on a lousy tape. The sound isn’t the absolute worst, just very distant and hissy. With a discerning ear and the volume turned way up you can still enjoy this show. The night opens with a really hyped and together T’Mershi Duween, probably only the 4th or 5th performance, and follows straight into Inca Roads (I’m glad it’s back). Actually, this whole show is played without breaks. The Dog/Meat medley is next with an awesome solo in Penguin and a new shuffle intro to Kung Fu. RDNZL goes straight into Echidna’s Arf, which is really neat; It makes you realize how alike the two tunes are. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing is always great. Montana is always great. Dupree’s is always great and it’s here where they really take off. George’s start is beautiful as always and pretty quickly Frank starts to play the Nowhere Riff. George gets to play more after that, followed by more Nowhere riff and finally the theme of the tune. Ponty, Tom and Frank get to solo in the body of the tune. FZ starts playing Big Swifty at the end of his solo and the whole band immediately comes back in. Frank starts soloing again in the middle of the theme and quickly after moves into T’Mershi Duween. Even more guitar and he starts slowly playing the ending melody of Echidna’s Arf! The full band comes in and after a few seconds and the show comes to a wonderfully abrupt end. The Mothers return for an encore and without a word they continue Echidna’s Arf. Frank starts playing the Nowhere Riff on top of that mixed up with the long descending guitar line from Echidna’s. Chaos ensues as Frank and the band begin to play parts of many Zappa tunes at once (including Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?, Willie The Pimp and King Kong). This is followed by solos from Jean-Luc and Ian (the latter of whom drops a quote from Brown Shoes Don’t Make It), more weirdness and a solo performance of the Idiot Bastard Son from Ruth. Frank, I think, then feels bad about teasing Willie The Pimp earlier and rips into a hot, straight version of it right in the middle of all this weirdness. This devolves back into playing the Nowhere Riff, and then singing the Nowhere Riff! One final long descending Echidna’s Arf riff and the show is over. The vocals on this tape are very hard to make out, but the instrumentals don’t actually sound too bad. Despite the rough sound, this show is just too crazy to not recommend. Check out at least the final Dupree’s and ensuing improv.
1973 09 14 – Empire Pool, Wembley, London, UK (Audience B+/B)
The final show of the tour and it’s got another great weirdo setlist. Frank lets us know at this show they’re going to “Leitmotif our fucking brains out” meaning they’ll be some tunes appearing more than once at this show. The night opens with a more-confident-but-still-proto-version of T’Mershi Duween before transitioning directly into the Be-Bop Tango, freed from the constraints of Farther O’Blivion. Bruce plays a mutated trombone solo, George plays a little bit of Holiday in Berlin during the tango variations and then we go straight into another multi-solo Cosmik Debris. Next is the big medley, featuring the new Penguin solo and a weird swinging Kung Fu with shuffle intro. RDNZL > Inca Roads > Echidna’s Arf > Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing is as fun as it seems, but there’s an unfortunate tape cut and we lose a good chunk of Wash That. Ralph’s solo goes directly into a drum heavy reprise of The Be-Bop Tango. Another drum solo and we get a reprise of T’Mershi Duween. This then segues into some George Duke improvisations, signaling the beginning of Dupree’s Paradise. It’s an excellent take with solos from Jean-Luc, Tom and Frank, and conducted improv. It comes to an end with a long quote of the I Come From Nowhere riff. For an encore we get the last performance of Brown Shoes for six years (with a jamming coda including a quote from Sweet Leilani) and an awesome Chunga’s Revenge with solos from Jean-Luc and Frank. The night of course ends with the ending of Mr. Green Genes. This is the last of Frank’s “rock” shows with Jean-Luc Ponty, and more monumentally Ian Underwood. Ian had played hundreds of shows with the Mothers since 1967 at the Garrick Theater, and his absence ends an era in Zappa’s career. This is a fantastic show to conclude things on, and a real highlight of the year. There’s no breaks during the entire main set, and it’s a joy from start to finish. Check this one out.
The Songs Played:
Arrivederci Roma – A popular Italian song written in the 50s and featured in an Italo-American movie, released in English as the Seven Hills of Rome. The Mothers play it twice in Rome, at the end of the main set and after the first encore. It’s a cute rendition, made even more amusing by the Italian crowd just going nuts for it.
Big Swifty – Played fully one time in Helsinki and quoted once during improvisations in Birmingham. The composed sections of the piece are largely unaltered, except for differences in instrumentation. On this tour the piece is shorter than the studio take, but still filled with fantastic jazz-riddled improv from Frank’s A-class musicians. The Helsinki performance features excellent solos from George, Jean-Luc, and Frank. On Waka/Jawaka there are more solos following the closing themes, but here the tune ends immediately following the second composed section. An excellent monster song, though played way too rarely.
Brown Shoes Don’t Make It – This Absolutely Free epic returns out of left field to become a regular encore for this band. These performances are excellent and they absolutely capture whatever strange feel the original version was trying to evoke. Frank and George sing the whole tune, and as a whole pretty much every part from the studio take is played here. The only thing I noted was The “baby, baby” section is played instrumentally. This is a somewhat hidden masterpiece in Frank’s large catalog, and the fact that this is one of the rare tours where it’s played at all elevates this weird little tour to a new level. Make sure to hear this band’s take on this song at one point, if you’re reading this you won’t regret it.
Cosmik Debris – This tune appears pretty much as it would on Apostrophe(‘), complete with an excellent guitar solo. Frank continues to mess with the solo spot in this tune. Basically every show has a different set and number of soloists. Ian, George, Jean-Luc, Bruce and Frank all get moments to play in this song. Jean-Luc (I assume) actually plays a vibe solo in the middle of the song in Offenbach. I typically feel when Frank is the sole soloist in this tune there’s more energy to his guitar work and it elevates the song overall, so those takes from this tour (Helsinki and Rome) are my favorites, but I also have a soft spot for takes with a deranged blues trombone solo from Bruce. Also, not sure exactly why, but I feel Jean-Luc always really delivered in this tune.
Dog/Meat (incl. Exercise 4, Dog Breath, The Dog Breath Variations and Uncle Meat) – An amazing medley and one of the best pieces from this ensemble. It starts with Exercise 4, (which is some moody chamber music from the beginning of the Uncle Meat Variations on Uncle Meat) and then goes into a jamming instrumental version of Dog Breath. This second tune features two short fantastic solo spots for Jean-Luc to show off. He pretty much always plays the same thing in these spots, like in a number of his solo spots on this tour, but it’s a really excellent addition to the song and almost always gives me chills. This then goes into the Dog Breath Variations and then Uncle Meat, like what was played on the Grand Wazoo tour and what will be played on the 74 tours. This medley was always preceded by The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbeque, Kung Fu and Penguin in Bondage (in that order) and followed by RDNZL. There’s very little improv in this tune, but it’s just so perfectly composed and performed that I listen to it pretty much every time it comes up.
Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? – This tune has finally reached a state of compositional completion. It is now largely as it would appear at the Roxy a few months later. Ian plays the first solo on a modulated bass clarinet and Bruce and George each get a chance to stretch out in the second solo spot. A drum solo from Ralph follows and the tune then ends with two performances of the coda heard on the Roxy version, with a variation on the phrase between the two repetitions, and a honk on the duck call. Frank’s solo on Roxy and Elsewhere was, unfortunately, a one-time only performance, and the coda would basically always follow the drum solo. It was always preceded by Echidna’s Arf (which was almost always preceded by Village of the Sun). I love this medley of tunes, it’s maybe my favorite chunk of music in Frank’s whole catalog, but that’s a nearly impossible thing to nail down.
Dupree’s Paradise – “This is dedicated to a bar…in Watts”. Another classic of the 1973 and 1974 bands. This tune would become a true monster improv song by the end of next year, and it grows in strength over every tour. In a regular performance we get a jazzy, funky and/or soulful piano introduction from Mr. George Duke, often with conducted improv from Frank, before George takes us into the beauty that is the theme of Dupree’s Paradise. Following this we get inspired solos from Jean-Luc, another Mother and then Frank over a spacey, jazzy vamp. Bruce typically gets the middle solo, but on occasion Frank would give it to Ian or Tom (or at the Wetzikon show, Ruth!). In Munich we get an early monster performance, with five solos in the expected section. Not quite the beast from following tours, in my opinion the more solos in this tune the better, but it’s still a great time. Often played as an opener or following Montana.
Echidna’s Arf – This tune premiers on this tour and comes out of the gate fully formed. At this point in time it was known as Excentrifugal Forz (unrelated to the Apostrophe tune). It sounds pretty much as it would at the Roxy, apart from instrumentation. It was almost always preceded by Village of the sun and always followed by Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing. I love this medley of tunes, it’s maybe my favorite chunk of music in Frank’s whole catalog, but that’s a nearly impossible thing to nail down.
The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue – This Weasels deep cut is resurrected as the beginning of the new, expanded Dog/Meat medley. It’s way faster but the song is played in all its glory. There’s no improvisations, just the composed bits, and the tune is always followed by the reworked Kung Fu. An excellent start to this tour’s big medley.
Farther O’Blivion – “Psychedelic Music is here to stay”. This classic tune reappears in April of this year. This song is actually the original form of three different pieces of music from Frank’s career: The Steno-pool section from Greggery Peccary, The Be-Bop Tango and Cucamonga. The tune starts with an instrumental Steno-pool and is followed by a beautiful violin solo from Ponty. Additionally, Frank would often play his guitar between the composed lines of the Steno-pool segment, creating a very pretty and calming soundscape. Following the violin solo, there’s then some unique transitional music between the first solo section and the astonishing Be-Bop Tango. Then, after the most insane tango known to man, we get an equally mind boggling Bruce Fowler trombone solo. This is followed by what I call the Be-Bop Tango variations, where each member of the band plays the theme of the tango at different tempos and with different inflections, creating a neat, psychedelic atmosphere. Finally, after all this, Ralph plays an always interesting drum solo and the tune ends with an instrumental take of Cucamonga. Several times on this tour Frank would cue the band to play what he calls “The Hook”, which at this point in time was about the last minute of the Be-Bop Tango. By October, the phrase will refer to just the first 12 notes of this tour’s Hook. In Rome Frank had the band start Farther O’Blivion with the tango and he ripped out a fantastic solo after Ruth’s performance of the melody. In Brussels and Liverpool, the Mother’s played the tango on its own (The former performance lacks a trombone solo). Occasionally, Frank opened the tune with a short section of wild instrumental music called Join the March and Eat My Starch (later heard in Greggery Peccary). No matter the permutation, these performances are always out there and wonderful, even if Ponty’s solo rarely changes from night to night.
Inca Roads – This One Size Fits All masterpiece still has a way to go until the version we know and love. This tour’s take opens with a cocktail lounge introduction crooned by Mr. George Duke. The swanky beginning adds the familiar lyrics to the piece and totally changes the feel of the song to a goofier, sleazy vibe. After this there’s a quick segue to what is basically heard on the Lost Episodes, an instrumental rundown of just the main theme (“did a vehicle”) followed by essentially the post-guitar solo section of the One Size Fits All version. In what would become the second solo spot we get two great solos from George and a second Mother Jean-Luc, Ian or Bruce). On the final night of the tour, we were gifted three solos in this tune. These performances are always fun to hear and a nice sign of things to come in the following tour.
Improvisations/Jams – Frank and the gang “make something up” at four dates on this tour: Helsinki, Wetzikon, Brussels and Birmingham. Each performance has a unique vibe and set of solos. Ian starts off the Helsinki improv and makes it very tweaky, but Frank ends up lecturing the audience about a horror movie sound cue (DUNT-DUN-DUN!) To bring the night to a close. The Wetzikon improvisations starts with Tom and ends with some great guitar demolition from Frank (reminds me of the Scranton 71 Billy the Mountain). Frank dubs the Brussels performance “Music for Broken Drum and Stella Artois”, because of a running joke at the show and because Ralph’s getting his drum fixed at the beginning of it. This take starts off real weird with percussion and synths, before eventually delving into a jam. The Birmingham improvisations are interesting because they contain a number of quotes from various Frank Zappa compositions. Overall this is a great tour for improv, despite only popping up at a handful of dates.
Kung Fu – “A sparkling number that has cowbells matched up with vibraphones in it”. This tune reappears so different and so much faster then the 1969 arrangement that I can barely even tell that they are the same piece. It’s a crazy abstract jazz number that’s actually kinda catchy if you hear it enough times. At the Birmingham show Frank gives this tune a weird shuffle intro, and at the London show the shuffle returns and infects the whole tune with a swinging beat. Definitely the weirdest performance out there of an already weird song. Always perfectly placed between The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbeque and Penguin in Bondage in this tour’s excellent, expanded Dog/Meat medley.
Montana – This classic about a dental floss farmer is in top form on this tour. It’s played pretty much as on Overnite Sensation, but without the non-Frank sung lyrics. Frank’s solos are always hot and delectable on this tour, definitely worth a listen. In Brussels, Frank decides in the moment to make Montana a monster song and we get solos from George, Jean-Luc and Tom before Frank wraps up the tune. A great performance of a classic song. Often followed by Dupree’s Paradise.
Penguin In Bondage – Another classic tune from Roxy and Elsewhere that premiers on this European tour. This song debuts largely as it would appear on said album, but with a few key differences, chiefly the lack of a solo. This tune wouldn’t get a solo section until the band hits the UK at the very end of the tour, and those performances, though hot, are pretty shaky. These solos also sounded more like a typical Montana jam than the later bluesy penguin guitar spots. Also, The Roxy and Elsewhere take is edited and is missing the minute long instrumental takes of the “little penguin, dirty little bird” section heard before the solo on the releases of this song from the 84 and 88 tours. This section was played with the tune on every known live performance, and I assume it was removed from the Roxy and Elsewhere version to make the transition between two sources sound better. I think it adds to the song, and I’m glad Frank kept it for future performances. Anyway, this is a solid version of this tune, though significantly more fun once it gets a solo. Always played between Kung Fu and Exercise Four in this tour’s Dog/Meat medley
RDNZL – This tune regularly appears throughout the tour, but in a pretty different state compared to what appears on Studio Tan. Ruth’s beautiful composed solo hadn’t been written yet, and we get four shorter improvised solos interspersed throughout the song, from Jean-Luc, Frank, Bruce and George. It’s also missing the “We can share a love” swinging section and the Dupree’s Paradise lick ending heard on the studio take and 74 performances. On this tour this song comes at the end of the fantastic expanded Dog/Meat medley, and the tune really benefits from this placement. After each performance Frank would conduct a measure of silence and every member of the band would mime playing for a few seconds .Though I prefer the finished RDNZL, I have a soft spot for the 73 version. These performances are always energetic and fun, and rarely skipped when listening to a show, even if there are better takes out there.
Medley: Son of Mr. Green Genes/King Kong/Chunga’s Revenge – This fantastic medley showed up early in the year and would continue to be played until December. It jams together three of the best instrumentals of the first chunk of Frank’s career with a different band member contributing a great solo in between each piece. Ian gets the solo in Green Genes, I assume harkening back to his role in Hot Rats. Jean-Luc and George get solos in King Kong (the first and third themes) and Frank wraps up the affair with a usually tremendous solo in Chunga’s before bringing us back to the end of Mr. Green Genes. In Freiburg Frank throws an excellent Willie the Pimp onto the beginning. In Rome, the medley ends when George’s King Kong solo slides into the Be-Bop Tango. The encore at the Liverpool show goes T’Mershi Duween>Willie The Pimp>King Kong>Mr Green Genes>The Hook and on the final night of the tour in London Chunga’s Revenge starts the medley. To close the tune, the band would segue into a quote from Also Sprach Zarathustra followed by some fast percussion fills, then a blues walk down and a frantic Midnight Sun quote give an insane end to the medley. I love the performances of these tunes from 1973, yet another reason to return to tapes from this year.
T’Mershi Duween – This tune named after little Moon Zappa’s imaginary “queen of the desert” was written before the Frankfurt show on September 7th in Frank’s dressing room, and the earliest performance we have is from Brussels the next day. Frank must have really liked this tune (I do for sure), because they play it at every following show. They even played it two times at each of the last two dates. This song is still really shaky on this tour (I think like 3/4 nights have false starts), but the performances get stronger as the days go on. A favorite tune of mine from the Roxy era, and it’s really cool to see it premier and develop over the final shows of this tour.
Village Of The Sun – This Roxy-era classic debuted at the beginning of this tour sung by Mr. George Duke and with a different intro than on Roxy and Elsewhere. This version features a beautiful full band melody at the start and end of the tune. It’s a nice piece but also kinda goofy. I like this version, but I think the officially released take fits the mood of the tune more. George’s vocals are really pleasant and fun, and these performances are a very early example of Frank pushing him to sing. Overall a great take of a great tune, though not the absolute best versions out there. It was always followed by Echidna’s Arf and Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing. I love this medley of tunes, it’s maybe my favorite chunk of music in Frank’s whole catalog, but that’s an impossible thing to nail down.
Willie The Pimp – This Hot Rats tune is played three times on this tour, once in Freiburg as an opener to the Green Genes medley, again in Liverpool sandwiched between T’Mershi Duween and King Kong, and finally in the middle of the crazed improv that ends the Birmingham show. The first performance starts with a heavy drum intro and the other two start cold with Frank’s guitar. They’re all mini-performances like in 1971, but Frank packs so much fire into just a few short minutes that I can’t complain. Three excellent versions of a classic tune.
Solo Table:
Life On The Road 