Overview:
This is a great tour. This band is so unique and has so much fun, that it’s impossible not to get sucked into the music. It’s a new group that has to figure out how to play with a second drummer and a new lead vocalist. Listening to these shows chronologically is so much fun because you can hear all this classic music develop live on stage. Listen to the Be-Bop Tango break free of Farther O’Blivion and become a dancing extravaganza or track Penguin in Bondage as it seems to change every week. This band has so much personality, something that the preceding year or so of bands, though excellent and virtuosic, sadly lacked. Napoleon is fantastic, bringing iconic, funky vocals to Pygmy Twylyte, Cheepnis and Dickie’s Such as Asshole, just to name a few and George’s vocals on Inca Roads are always delightful. Chester fits in with the rest of the group perfectly and the trio of him, Ralph and Ruth is constantly mind-blowing. Ian leaves the band to “babysit” as Frank puts it, so this seemingly allows Frank to endlessly poke fun at Ruth. Trying to get her to solo, trying to get her to laugh and mess up, mentioning any mistake she makes, and of course the crazy-sexist-but-it’s-okay-cause-it’s-the-70s jokes in her nightly introductions. All of this leads to fantastic, joyful, spirited playing from one of Frank’s best ensembles.The fun they’re having on stage is clear and it reflects in the great music they created. This group didn’t have a very large repertoire (“hurtin’ for tunes” as Frank put it), but what they did play was always fantastic. This is the only tour for regular takes of the Be-Bop Tango Dance Contest, Dickie’s Such as Asshole (until 88), and the I’m the Slime-Big Swifty medley. This is also the first tour to feature two more fantastic medleys of the 73-74 era: Pygmy Twylyte-Idiot Bastard Son-Cheepnis and Penguin in Bondage-T’Mershi Duween-Dog/Meat-RDNZL, rounded out by the timeless classics of Cosmik Debris, Montana/Dupree’s Paradise and, my personal favorite, Village of the Sun/Echidna’s Arf/Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing. These shows also consistently feature rare on-stage moments, like a guest lecturer in Dupree’s Paradise or Frank giving the lightman a solo in the same tune. The performances just increase in confidence and energy as the nights go on, culminating in the legendary three-day run at the Roxy in LA. If you’re a fan of rock, jazz, funk or just having a good time, you’ll probably enjoy something from any of these shows.
The Band:
Frank Zappa – Guitar, Vocals, Hand Signals
Napoleon Murphy Brock – Tenor Sax, Flute, Lead Vocals, Assistance
Tom Fowler – Bass, Chair
George Duke – Multiple Keyboard Instruments, Be-Bop
Ruth Underwood – Percussion, Aromas
Bruce Fowler – Trombone, Dancing
Ralph Humphrey – Drum Set #1, Cowbells, Duck Call
Chester Thompson – Drum Set #2, Funk
Recordings Available:
1973 10 26 – Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin, TX (Soundboard A+)
The very first night of the tour is luckily available on an excellent sounding soundboard recording. It’s missing most of the intro, and we’re quickly in Cosmik Debris, followed by an excellent Inca Roads. A standard, though excellent Pygmy medley follows. A hot Big Swifty comes next and afterwards Frank announces the world premier of Dickie’s Such An Asshole. A rare Farther O’Blivion appears next before disappearing from setlists in a few days. Frank lets us know the “The Mudshark is passe” before we enter the Be-Bop Tango Dance Event and later references the guacamole queen, of Inca Roads fame. Cucamonga ends the main set, and the band returns for a full Green Genes medley to end the night. This is a good show, but since it’s the first concert of a new band, the performances don’t reach the heights of later in the tour (even a few days later). A good show, great sound (thanks to sound engineer Brian Krokus), but not a go-to recording.
1973 10 31 – Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (Two Shows – Official Releases)
“Happy Halloween to each and every one of you”. It’s the second year for Frank’s Halloween shows, and we’re still one year away from finding a home in New York, but that doesn’t stop the Mothers from putting on an incredible set of concerts. This is the first show where Frank announces that something is wrong with the E on Ruth’s vibraphone, and he would continue to make fun of Ruth for asking him to announce the missing note at the majority of the following dates. Frank name checks Indiana superfan Craig Eldon Pinkus during the intros to the early show and we get an exciting first set that opens with the Pygmy medley. Next up, Frank references the “go-go boy” from Down Beat at the previous Chicago show in May and plays a rare Penguin-Dog/Meat medley that opens with The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbeque and Kung Fu. This is followed by an awesome Village of the Sun medley with a crazy hand signal filled drum jam at the end of Wash That Thing. Montana and Dupree’s Paradise end the main set, with a scat battle between Napoleon and George in the intro to Dupree’s and a rare sax solo from Nappy after the theme. A nice early Dickie’s with Napoleon improvising vocals ends the early show and the second show begins with a solid Cosmik Debris and Pygmy medley. The late gig really kicks into gear with a fantastic I’m the Slime-Big Swifty medley of two and is followed by an in depth intro to the “San Clemente Magnetic Deviation”, with an explanation of the problem in aviation. The following Dickie’s goes off the rails during Nappy’s improv and Frank has to bring the band back on course. After this is the “new, improved version” of Farther O’Blivion, complete with “a special imported Mormon jazz ballet” performed by Bruce. The Tango doesn’t feature any on-stage audience participation yet, but there’s a some really fun hand signal based improv during the drum battle at the end where Napoleon sings some more “Dickie’s” style improv, George jams over a repeating “The Hook” and Ruth quotes a bit of Penguin in Bondage/Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing. The main set end with an abridged Penguin medley (no Dog/Meat) and a fun Inca Roads. The night comes to a close on one of the hottest Green Genes medley out there, concluding with even more of The Hook in Chunga’s. Overall these are two great shows excellently captured on a 4-track tape (thanks again to Brian Krokus). Maybe the best part of this date is how much fun Frank is having perverting his new band with all his insane hand signals. I mean The Hook is just everywhere this Halloween. Seriously, check these shows out on Spotify right now.
1973 11 04 – Whitman Auditorium, Brooklyn College, New York, NY (Two Shows – Audience A-/B+)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
“I can hardly believe I’m really in Brooklyn”. Frank starts off the early show on this date with a really amusing story about a Brooklyn woman he had encountered earlier in the day, and adds the suffix “torp” to everyone’s names for some reason. He announces Ruth’s brother Charlie “a marginally Brooklyn person himself” is in the audience and also forgets to introduce Tom (“listen folks after seeing that Brooklyn woman this afternoon….”). The show starts with an always excellent Pygmy medley and a wild Inca Roads where Frank completely demolishes the ending of the tune with hand signals. This is followed by some fun audience participation where Frank teaches the crowd the hand signals to look worried and the classic: make the highest noise you can. Next is the now set in stone Penguin-T’Mershi-Dog/Meat-RDNZL medley, except Frank has decided to insert a slow performance of Kung Fu right before the solo in Penguin. FZ also forgets the lyrics and has to stop the song in the second half (damn Brooklyn women). RDNZL (with a small cut in Frank’s solo) brings the show to a close and the awesome Slime-Swifty medley ends the first concert. The latter show begins with Frank telling the crowd some bathroom graffiti he read, “If Jesus was Jewish, why did He have a Puerto Rican name?”, and introducing the band. Cosmik Debris starts us off, the always delightful Village medley is next, and road crew member Oscar gets a special birthday celebration at the end of Wash That Thing. Somebody brings out a cake for him and they play him Happy Birthday, which is of course destroyed by hand signals. The Pygmy medley, Montana/Dupree’s (with some great Hook moments in George’s Intro) and Dickie’s Such an Asshole end the main set. Green Genes medley is our encore once again, but sadly Bruce doesn’t solo in King Kong. All in all, these are two really fun shows that capture this great band in a great mood, and they document some rare moments and performances. Nice recording too, very listenable. Check these shows out.
1973 11 06 – Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY (Two Shows – Audience B+/B)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
The early show on Long Island starts with Frank and his engineers struggling, to no avail, to stop the school’s radio station from coming through Frank’s amplifiers. The show must go on though, and luckily the station can’t be heard when the band is playing. We get another tight Pygmy medley and another weirdo Penguin medley with Kung Fu inserted right before Frank’s solo in Penguin. The Village medley is fantastic as always and Frank has great spoken introductions for all three pieces. This is the first show with Napoleon taking lead vocals on Village of the Sun, which is nice to finally hear, and the duck call sounds like it’s attacking George at the end of Wash That Thing. An awesome I’m The Slime (“It’s a riddle song”) and monster Big Swifty end the main set. George, Bruce and Tom all solo and Frank conducts the band into a frenzy before morphing into the jazz standard Coquette and finally ending with Frank conducting the Mother’s along with the audience. They return for an encore with Dickie’s Such an Asshole and the first show comes to a close. The second show begins and the radio broadcast is still present. Frank introduces the light man Unity, our guest lecturer Bruce “Chapanec” and mentions there are a couple members of Blood, Sweat and Tears in the audience tonight, Zappa alum Tom Malone and guitarist Georg Wadenius. Cosmik Debris and Montana open the show, followed of course by Dupree’s Paradise. We get a hot, though somewhat regular performance of Dupree’s until after Frank’s solo when the guest Bruce comes on stage for a totally whacked lecture on mammary hormones. He says Ruth was tested on in his lab, which I’m not sure if this is true or not, but it’s a really insane story. Inca Roads and another hot Pygmy medley follow, and the main set ends with the first known standalone Be-Bop Tango dance event. It still lacks on-stage participation, but this time around Frank gets the masses to sing along with George’s demented little notes, right before Ruth plays her be-bop teardrop solo. The tune comes to a close with a percussion/drum duel like usual. One of the final performances of Cucagmonga ends the main set and the encore for tonight is the always fiery Green Genes medley. The recordings can be a little distorted but they’re generally very nice sounding, especially if you don’t mind the giggling stoners in the audience. Definitely worth a listen.
1973 11 07 – Orpheum Theater, Boston, MA (Audience B+)
This is a solid show, nice performances and nice sound. The singular show opens with the Pygmy medley, and is followed up by the village medley, both excellent as always. Ruth has been thinking “What can I do that will get you hot?” in Wash That Thing and Frank cues many repetitions of the Hook during the ending drum battle. Next up is a nice Inca Roads, which is followed by a poll. FZ asks the audience to shout to determine the percentage of the audience by gender, their sexual orientation and if they’re in the workforce. Pretty neat to hear. The rest of the show continues as normal, with nice takes of the Penguin medley and Montana/Dupree’s Paradise. Dupree’s is fairly normal too, until Frank starts directing the band after Bruce’s solo and tells us that Unity, their light man, is going to play a stage lights solo. At this point the tape abruptly ends. A nice show, but not with much you can’t find on other recordings.
1973 11 11 – William Paterson College, Wayne, NJ (Two Shows – Soundboard B+ & Audience B/B-)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
The early show for this college date is largely captured on a pretty nice soundboard recording (A lower generation copy would improve the sound). It’s a pretty standard show, but that means high quality performances of Montana/Dupree’s, the Pygmy-Idiot-Cheepnis medley (“bullets can’t stop it, rockets can’t stop it, the campus police can’t even stop it!”), Inca Roads, Dickie’s and for an encore, I’m The Slime/Big Swifty. Frank cues Nappy and George to croak out “very interesting…” before George starts the Dupree’s theme and Frank plays a surprise solo in Inca Roads. Otherwise this is a very nice, standard show. Not many surprises, but no disappointments either. The late show starts very quickly with another raucous, early, Be-Bop Tango extravaganza. Frank has the audience “swear a be-bop oath” and declares that “New Jersey will be the be-bop capital of the world”. Frank brings on stage “Charles Joseph”, maybe the first ever Be-Bop Tango dancer, and he has a good time. The regular drum duet almost segues into the percussion only Cheepnis, but instead we get one of the last live performances of Cucamonga. Cosmik Debris is the second song tonight and in between George and Frank’s solos, Nappy sings some improvised lyrics about Gurus a la Dummy Up. A really fun performance. Frank then announces that they’ve modified the lyrics to Village of the Sun, but I can’t tell what names they’ve changed. Frank declares “Ruth will actually play a solo and we know it” in Wash That Thing and the tune goes wild during the drum duet, with a bass solo, conducted improv, a percussion (Ruth!) and guitar jam and a slow reprise of the Echidna’s Arf ending. Finally they go into a weird percussion (more Ruth!) jig to close out the song. An awesome version of the Roxy classic. After all that the show ends with the Penguin medley minus RDNZL. Frank once again forgets the words in Penguin in Bondage and has the band repeat a section and the show ends with another classic Green Genes medley encore. Two great, fairly short, fairly nice sounding shows. Worth a listen.
1973 11 14 – Masonic Auditorium, Detroit, MI (Audience B-/C+)
This audience tape was re-discovered in 2023 and contains a never-before-heard (well since the original performance) late ‘73 show! Unfortunately, this is a pretty crummy recording, easily the worst from the tour. This tape starts off mid-way through a solid Cosmik Debris, and after this Frank introduces and then delivers another excellent early Pygmy medley. Following the always fun trio-of-tunes Frank introduces “The Tango”, and asks the crowd if they want to compete in a dance off against Patterson, New Jersey (though I assume he means Patterson College in Wayne, NJ). He shuts down a rabid fan (“Forget about Dinah-Moe Humm, we’re not gonna play it, we haven’t practiced it.”), and they start The Be-Bop Tango at a breakneck tempo. They successfully complete the theme, Bruce whips out another excellent, “jazz and/or be-bop trombone solo”, Frank makes George sing his little notes, and then brings Melanie “Milesudevitch” on stage to dance (“They used to tease me about my name too, so I know where you’re coming from”). FZ then instructs the crowd to dance for a little while, but after this we get a rough cut right to George singing Straight No Chaser. Ruth’s Be-Bop Teardrop solo comes soon after, followed by the regular exciting drum duel between Ralph and Chester, and the final known performance of Cucamonga finishes the extravaganza (Frank yells “Hubba Hubba” in the middle of it for some reason too). Zappa then makes an incredibly smooth transition by announcing “In the next episode, we have a song about flying saucers”, and playing a great Inca Roads (with lovely solos from the regular participants, and a cued Hook). Next is another fun performance of the Penguin medley with nice solos throughout, but there’s a small tape flip partway through Penguin and another in the middle of RDNZL that hamper the listening experience. After RDNZL we get a sick performance of Montana. Frank’s solo is on fire like usual, and instead of a transition into Dupree’s we get a crazy, jamming “Yippy-Ty-Yo-Ty-Yea” ending, longer than any other Montana performance I’ve ever heard. Nappy just keeps singing until Frank ultimately cues the Hook, and the main set comes to a close. They return for an excellent encore consisting of the Green Genes medley. The tape quality absolutely leaves something to be desired, but we get a very good performance nonetheless. The recording cuts out during the whacked outro to the medley, and brings this night to a close. This is a quality show, but the tape sound is not. I’d like to recommend this show, but it’s easily the worst sounding document of the tour. Hardcore ‘73 fans will fawn over this, the rest can check out anything else from this tour and be happy.
1973 11 18 – University Of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada (Soundboard A)
A Canadian tango starts yet another college show, this time captured on an excellent soundboard. Even though “Be-Bop, as a concept, is too evolved for a Canadian audience” Frank brings John and Linda on stage to dance their hearts out to George’s little notes. Frank tries to get them to loosen up but to no avail. They do find a man in the balcony who can dance though. Frank then gives Ruth her be-bop teardrop solo spot, and decides to highlight the rhythm section with a short bass solo from Tom before a percussion battle featuring all three contestants. Ruth is caught off guard when Frank points to her and you can actually hear her go “Oh!”. “She’s so sensitive she misses 15% of her cues per night”, which quickly increases to “25% of her cues tonight” when she’s not immediately ready to abruptly segue into T’Mershi Duween. This then turns into a great I’m The Slime-Big Swifty little medley of two, followed by the Pygmy medley. After this the show closes, most likely, with Montana and Dupree’s Paradise. George goes nuts in his intro, with lots of laughing and video game-esque noises which Frank explains is the “sample and hold circuit”. Ruth even plays a little marimba solo over it. Frank then wonders “when you play a solo in a song why should it merely be notes” and instructs the band to add “three random non-musical moments” into each of their solos. Nappy speaks during his flute solo, Tom does something visual for his solo, and I think Bruce removes the slide from his trombone and maybe hands it to George? It’s hard to tell, but afterwards Frank starts singing some dumb doo-wop-esque vocals and even drops a “Moo-Ah” before starting his solo. He plays the Nowhere Riff a bit and the band joins in, but the tape unfortunately ends before the song finishes. Despite the unfortunate cut, this is a great, great tape, easily one of the best recordings of the year (thanks to, yet again, sound engineer Brian Krokus). Check it out.
1973 11 22 – Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY (Two Shows – Audience B+/B)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
This early show on Thanksgiving in Manhattan is an absolute riot. Marty Perellis announces this is a no smoking hall, Frank introduces himself as Zack Glickman and lets us know that Ruth’s whole family is in the audience. The show opens with the Pygmy medley featuring the first known Dummy Up. Cosmik Debris is next and Frank says “you might not believe this you little turkey” for Thanksgiving. Next he says they have a song for the holiday about Turkey farmers and play the first known Village of the Sun with the guitar intro heard on Roxy and Elsewhere. The whole medley is taken at a really slow tempo, and Frank says “Ruth is thinking… what can I do to surprise Freckles?”, which refers to Ruth’s sister (who was probably in the audience). Wash That Thing totally falls apart after this, I think Ruth might be doing something, and the tune ends with a bunch of laughing before the coda. The Penguin medley is next and the opening tune has of course changed again, This time there’s some unique lyrics to the pre-solo section (see song entry for more info). Dickies ends the main set and features the newly rewritten end lyrics. The encore for this show is totally out-there. We get a mutated performance of Louie Louie (turned into Brian Brian to reference soundman Brian Krokus and further tease Ruth), a fun impromptu take of the Mudshark (once again, see song entry for more info) and a jam over the Louie Louie chords. The first show comes to a close with the tour’s last performance of Kung Fu and one of the Dupree’s licks. The second show opens with the most successful Be-Bop Tango yet, featuring lively dancing from Catherine and “Mungus”. Frank dares his percussionist “Faster Ruth Faster!” during her be-bop teardrop solo and the drum solo segues into the first all percussion Cheepnis. A nice Inca Roads comes next, and the audience recorder must be running out of tape because he skips nearly everything but the solos in the Pygmy medley and the following Montana. It’s cool he saved the improv though, nice thinking unknown taper. He captured enough of Cheepnis to hear references to local music industry people Bill Graham and Ron Delsner. Dupree’s intro features Frank telling a long story about a jazz jam session at the song’s namesake bar and ends with a anti-drug lecture (“pour yourself a spoonful of Comet”). Frank mention’s Ruth not being ready to play George’s insanely quick Dupree’s intro, and Napoleon kinda babbles for a while before his flute solo. The tune progresses like normal and the tape unfortunately ends during the closing guitar solo. Frank really really teases Ruth in these shows, and you can tell she’s nervous playing in front of other family. This leads to some truly funny on stage moments amongst the fantastic performances. Not the best sound quality on these tapes, but still very much worth a listen.
1973 11 23 – Massey Hall, Toronto, ON (Two Shows – Audience A-/B+)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
Frank opens this Canadian early show by introducing himself as “Ronny Hawkins” and starting the night with the Pygmy medley, featuring a now regular Dummy Up. Inca Roads features a very nice solo from Frank between George and Bruce. Someone yells “far out!” right before the Penguin medley and Frank repeats the phrase a couple times throughout. Penguin in Bondage also still features the additional lyrics heard the previous night. Montana and Dupree’s follow with Straight No Chaser quotes in George’s intro and Frank declaring “every night in this part of the song we try to make Ruth laugh”. They play a bit of Louie Louie and proceed with a regular but fantastic Dupree’s. The early show ends with another great oldies medley. The late show begins with a quick intro to a second Canadian Be-Bop Tango dance contest. There’s a long full band jam after Bruce’s mutated solo with lots of guitar and quotes from One Shot Deal and Coquette. William and Cathy come on stage to dance to what George sings, but they must not do well because Frank says “be-bop is too hard to concentrate on, we’ll play a Neil Young medley later” and segues into this tour’s only Camarillo Brillo, with a nice little solo from George. Frank cues the Hook and we get a drum duet with Tango quotes, kind of encapsulating Camarillo within the be-bop extravaganza before they slide into another all percussion Cheepnis. This ends and the tape cuts back into the theme of Big Swifty, and after George and Frank’s solos, Frank starts playing Eat That Question! Bruce plays the first solo over the Swifty vamp but the tape sadly ends before the band finishes. Despite the abrupt ending, these are two great shows that any fan of Roxy and Elsewhere would likely enjoy. Check ’em out.
1973 12 01 – SUNY, Stony Brook, NY (Two Shows – Audience A-/B+ & Audience B)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
This final New York date opens with another great Pygmy medley. The first tune features a really fun Dummy Up and in Cheepnis Frank states that “the peasants in this area call [the monster] Herb Cohen”. The Penguin medley is next and the first tune has finally reached completion. The always dazzling Village suite is next, with a weird laughing and spoken word section (possibly Nixon and or Ruth related) at the end of Wash That Thing. I’m The Slime comes next but Frank unfortunately leaves out the solo. A sick Big Swifty featuring the I Come From Nowhere Riff immediately follows and almost makes up for the lack of Slime solo. Inca Roads closes the main set and features a cool bass solo from Tom. The Green Genes medley with an especially great Chunga’s closes the early show. The recording of the second show cuts in on a loose performance of Babette, which inspires Frank to start singing What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body. A nice Cosmik is next, followed by an equally fun Montana and Dupree’s Paradise. Frank quotes the Holiday in Berlin/Inca Roads pre-solo theme in his Dupree’s solo and this tune segues right into Echidna’s Arf. Frank announces due to the ongoing energy crisis, they need to leave town early and have to end this date short. So there’s no walk off for an encore and they finish the night with a fitting Dickie’s Such an Asshole. Overall these are two very good shows, with performances up to par with the rest of the tour, but without enough highlights to make me give a recommendation.
1973 12 08 – Roxy, Los Angeles, CA (Invite-Only Show – Official Releases)
The first show of the legendary Roxy performances is this invite only rehearsal/soundcheck performance on Saturday night. It opens with a 20 minute version of Pygmy Twylyte/Dummy Up featuring ex-Mother Jeff Simmons, the same take edited down on Roxy and Elsewhere. There’s another take of Dummy Up, with snorks from Dick Barber and a mad scientist’s laboratory kind of storyline. This is followed by hot takes of Echidna’s Arf and Wash That Thing, which transition into an X-rated version of Louie Louie called Orgy, Orgy. This goes into an equally fun, Penguin medley, that ends on Uncle Meat. The solo in Penguin from this show is the one Frank used on Roxy and Elsewhere. The Mother’s are being filmed the whole time and Frank is frequently talking to the camera crew, the soundmen and his LA friends in the audience. This is an excellent, loose, fun little show, that’s a fantastic sign for the next couple days.
1973 12 09 – Roxy, Los Angeles, CA (Two Shows – Official Releases)
The first real Roxy show starts on a rocky start. “Something terrible has happened”. There’s problems with the cameras, so the band has a little blues jam before Frank starts Cosmik Debris. The rest of the show (and the following three shows) is just firing on all cylinders. A fantastic Pygmy melody is next, followed by what may be the best Penguin medley ever. T’Mershi Duween and Dog/Meat are just so ungodly tight and this is easily my favorite RDNZL of the year. The first main set ends with a classic Montana/Dupree’s. Tom Fowler plays the melody on the fast post-vocal section in Montana and plays it again in his solo in Dupree’s, with Ruth and others joining in. Dickie’s is the encore, Nappy misses the “Gonna get your number” verse but still brings the first show to a fun close. It’s hard to say, but the second show might be the best night of the whole run. A great Inca Roads opens the set, followed by a fantastic Village medley. Frank’s spoken intro to Village on Roxy and Elsewhere is from the late show. This night’s Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? features the original take of the second half of the Roxy album version. This show’s take is probably my favorite version out there. Frank’s uncut solo at the end is just the best thing ever. This is followed by the excellent Slime-Swifty medley featured on You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1. The main set closes with a fantastic alternate Be-Bop Tango (Compared to the album), with a battle between Nappy on sax and Bruce on trombone. Carl and Brenda dance, and then Frank brings up another pair, Todd and Lana, and lets them try to tango. This eventually morphs into a fantastic Green Onions frenzy that brings the show to a close. They come back on stage for a fantastic Green Genes medley, starting with King Kong. This is an awesome performance, and a fantastic end to this show. It goes without saying but these are two fantastic, incredible shows that should be heard by any self-respecting fan.
1973 12 10 – Roxy, Los Angeles, CA (Two Shows – Official Releases)
The final night of the legendary run begins with a fantastic Montana/Dupree’s with lots of fun visual antics. Video of these first two songs were released on zappa.com a long time ago and can still be found on YouTube. Cosmik Debris is next, followed by another lively Penguin medley. RDNZL ends on some fun audience participation, with Frank conducting the crowd through the usual post-RDNZL measure of dancing. Another fun Pygmy medley (sadly with no Dummy Up) brings the show to a close and another nice encore Dickie’s ends the first show. Probably the least interesting show of the run, but let me tell you it’s still a Zappa Roxy show, so it’s still worth your time. Yet another excellent Penguin medley starts the show and is followed by the Village suite used (with overdubs) on Roxy and Elsewhere. The drum solo in Wash That Thing is different from the album version and segues into a mesmerizing percussion-only Cheepnis. Frank tell’s the audience they’ve “been fooled” and gives the spoken introduction to Cheepnis heard on Roxy, followed by the take used as a basic track for the album. Next we get a very special Pygmy Twylyte, where famed Groupie Pamala Miller comes on stage to eroticize the Mothers while they perform the song. It goes into the Idiot Bastard Son, which dwindles off into the famed spoken opening of the Be-Bop Tango Dancing Event. This final show at the roxy features the full unedited version of the perverted tango used on the Roxy album. This of course ends with a performance of the Brock-Zappa song “Anything You Wanna Do” and the main set comes to a close. For an encore we get a third Dickie’s Such An Asshole and the legendary Roxy performances come to an end. Everyone knows this already, but these are all fantastic shows that capture one of Frank’s greatest bands at the height of their prowess.
The Songs Played:
Anything You Wanna Do – This tune appears once on this tour, the performance heard at the end of The Be-Bop Tango on Roxy and Elsewhere. It’s a really fun, simple little blues rock jam, probably written by Frank and Napoleon. A very nice way to end the main set of the last Roxy show (and the eponymous album).
Babette – This simple, FZ-penned, doo-wop tune first appears at the Stony Brook late show. It sounds pretty much as it does on the You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore series, and is presumably still about man-dog love. The tape cuts in mid-performance and it only lasts for about a minute before Frank starts singing What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? over the same vamp.
The Be-Bop Tango – The perverted tango takes North American by storm. It starts off as part of two of Farther O’Blivion, but by November the Steno-pool section gets dropped, and Cucamonga only lasts a few more days (last appearing on November 14th). In each performance Bruce plays a mutated solo after the demented theme, and Frank announces that Bruce, and his assistant Napoleon, will perform a “fantastic Mormon jazz ballet” to the little be-bop notes that George will sing. After this, Ruth plays her “be-bop teardrop solo”, consisting of her take of the theme of the tango (Frank drops this section before the Roxy shows for whatever reason). This is followed by a drum battle between Chester and Ralph (and sometimes Ruth). On a few occasions, Toronto being a great example, the Tango goes wild and we get solos from Frank, Tom and/or George at some point in the extravaganza. George would frequently quote Monk’s Straight No Chaser at some point in the madness. Beginning in New Jersey, Frank starts to bring real contestants from the audience to attempt to dance to George’s be-bop notes. At this point the Tango Dance Contest has truly begun. Frank razzes the contestants and says some of the funniest one-liners of his career during these events. Once Cucamonga is dropped for good, the drum solo would segue into a number of tunes incl. T’Mershi Duween (11 18 Waterloo), Cheepnis (percussion only – 11 22 New York), Camarillo Brillo (11 23 Toronto), Green Onions (12 09 The Roxy) and Anything You Wanna Do (A song written by Frank and Napoleon, heard on Roxy and Elsewhere from 12 10). A bass drum and horn lick from the middle of the tango could be cued at any time by Frank, and was known as The Hook. It was also worked into many normal arrangements, like in the Green Genes medley and the end of Montana. Every one of these Tango extravaganzas are ridiculously fun, and they seem to only ramp up in excitement as the tour goes on. A highlight of the tour.
Big Swifty – This Waka/Jawaka tune was regularly played on this tour, usually appearing out of Frank’s solo in I’m The Slime. The composed sections of the piece are largely unaltered, except for differences in instrumentation. On Waka/Jawaka there are more solos following the closing themes, but here the tune ends immediately following the second composed section. George and Frank typically are the two soloists in this tune, and Frank would regularly cue multiple hand signals during George’s solo. Bruce gets space to jam in Brooklyn, and in Toronto he gets a solo after Frank has the band play Eat That Question mid-song. Frank starts playing the I Come From Nowhere riff in Stony Brook, and the Hempstead take is a true monster performance with solos from Bruce and Tom, conducted improv, quotes from Coquette, and audience participation. Overall, though not typically as monstrous as the studio take, this tour has some really fun Big Swiftys.
Camarillo Brillo – The Overnite Sensation tune appears once on this tour, appearing out of the Be-Bop Tango drum solo at the Toronto late show. Frank starts the opening chords and the Mothers join in with a nice, funky take of the song. George plays a great solo and Frank cues more drums to continue the show. Another reason to check out the Toronto show.
Cheepnis – This Roxy classic debuts on this tour, nearly complete. Frank writes and adds the funky “here comes that poodle dog”/”here fido” section to the tune in the recording studio immediately after the Roxy dates. These are always really fun performances of this quickly abandoned tune and Nappy does a fantastic job with the vocals. It was originally written as part of the musical Hunchentoot in 1972 while Frank was recovering from his attack at the Rainbow Theater. This band also played the tune as a percussion only number a few times, usually with Frank later telling the audience that they’ve “been fooled” and only heard part of the song. These performances are crazy and like T’Mershi Duween and Dog/Meat, showcase how ungodly amazing the trio of Ralph, Chester and Ruth were. The full-band version was almost always played as the final song in a medley with Pygmy Twylyte and The Idiot Bastard Son.
Cosmik Debris – “Gurus are for shit” This tune appears pretty much as it would on Apostrophe(‘). Frank continues to mess with the solo spot in this tune. The typical performance features a solo from George and Frank, but occasionally Napoleon would take a sax solo too. At the Wayne, New Jersey show, Nappy does some Guru-styled dummy up lyrics after his sax solo. At the first Roxy show, they’re having equipment troubles so there’s some nice blues solos before Frank starts the lyrics. I prefer when Frank gets the only solo spot in this tune, but these are still some nice, funky, bluesy takes.
Dickie’s Such An Asshole – Frank would frequently announce this tune as “The San Clemente Magnetic Deviation, subtitled Dickie’s Such An Asshole”. This demented political blues tune pokes fun at everyone’s favorite president; Richard Nixon. This tour is right in the highpoint of the Watergate scandal, and this tune is an excellent, hysterical relic of the era. George and Frank each play a fun, funky blues solo in the middle of the tune, and Nappy improvises some lyrics afterwards. This is then followed by a quote from You Cheated, You Lied, originally released by the Slades in 1958. Nappy’s vocal improv section becomes more structured (“He gave the tapes to…”) starting sometime in mid-November and Frank completely changes the lyrics to the last verse around the same time. I love that Frank keeps the quote from Midnight Sun, despite changing the lyrics no longer referencing Nanook Rubs It. Overall this is a great tune, and a really fun artifact of the 70s.
Dog/Meat – This amazing medley of The Dog Breath Variations and Uncle Meat is one of the best pieces from this ensemble. It’s beautifully arranged for this unique orchestration, and I think this might be the tour for this piece. These performances are instrumental and lack all the studio madness from the album versions. Frank clearly loved these songs, bringing them back here and 19 years later for his final tour with the Yellow Shark. Almost always preceded by T’Mershi Duween and followed by RDNZL.
Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? – This Roxy tune is at the height of his power on this tour. A typical version features an excellent solo from Bruce, Frank tells us what Ruth has been thinking in the middle of the tune, George wows us with a typically fantastic solo and this is followed by a lively drum duel. 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. In Brooklyn, the Mother’s play Happy Birthday for road crew member Oscar, and someone wheels him out a cake. This tune was always preceded by Echidna’s Arf (which was almost always preceded by Village of the Sun). Frank would make the band members do some kind of timed act during the breaks of silence in the repeat of the theme, like spinning in a circle or pretending to comb their hair. 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. This is THE tour for this song, every performance seems to have something fun happen during the ending, be it a guitar solo, a duck call battle or a wave of hand signals.
Dupree’s Paradise – 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 Napoleon (typically on flute), Tom, Bruce and finally Frank over a spacey, jazzy vamp. Frank, like in most songs on this tour, would cue many hand signals in this tune, always leading to a good time. Some fun oddities: Napoleon plays a fun sax solo on Halloween, special guest Bruce Chapanec(?) gives a lecture on mammary hormones in Hempstead, light-man Unity “performs” a stage light solo in Boston, Frank instructs the band to add non-musical elements to all their solo in Waterloo and he tells a fictional story about the real Dupree’s Paradise bar in Watts at the Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Always played following Montana and connected to it by The Hook. Parts of the introductory keyboard-bass-percussion licks could (and would) be cued by Frank at any time with hand signals. Overall this is an excellent tour for this monster song, and this tune only gets better over the next year.
Eat That Question – This Grand Wazoo classic appears only once on this tour, At the Toronto late show. Frank starts playing the classic riff during his solo in Big Swifty and the band joins in on the tune pretty quickly. They play the Ponty-era arrangement, with the coda performed after the main theme and before the solo section. Bruce plays a hot solo over the Big Swifty vamp, and the tape cuts, ending the show. A cool performance of this cursed song. Why is seemingly every performance of this tune cut short?
Echidna’s Arf – This song flourished on this tour. At this point in time it was known as Excentrifugal Forz (unrelated to the Apostrophe tune) and Frank would often introduce it as being about “some sort of flying device that changes sporting goods equipment into musical instruments”. This tune never really changed, but I believe it to be one of Frank’s most timeless and perfect compositions, so I don’t think it ever needed to. It was almost always preceded by Village of the Sun and 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 returns as the beginning of the Penguin-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 followed by the reworked Kung Fu. This tune and Kung Fu get dropped from the Penguin medley after the first couple dates, so we only have one known performance of this tune from this tour, on Halloween. It’s a bummer this tune gets dropped, but at least the Halloween performance is a great rendition captured on a great recording.
Farther O’Blivion – This classic tune appears for the final time on the first few dates of this tour. 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 sax solo from Nappy. Additionally, Frank would often play his guitar between the composed lines of the Steno-pool segment, creating a very pretty and calming soundscape. This is followed by a proto-Be-Bop Tango Dance Event, which is explained in more detail in the Be-Bop tango section of this page. The tune ends with a drum battle and a smooth transition into an instrumental Cucamonga. This tour’s version is spiffed up, with lyric-less vocals, and a new boogie-esque section. At the end of the Halloween section, Frank cued some unique, Dickie’s style lyrical improv from Napoleon. Nice performances, but ultimately I’m glad parts were dropped so we could get the full Be-Bop experience.
The Idiot Bastard Son – This 60s tune is beautifully performed on this tour. Napoleon brings a great flair to the vocals and Ruth’s performance of the melody is always lovely. Almost always played in a medley between Pygmy Twylyte and Cheepnis. Fans always give a big cheer when this song comes up, which kinda surprises me. Who’d think this tune is a crowd pleaser?
I’m The Slime – This fan favorite returns this year in top form. Frank starts the tune with the main riff, and rips off a fantastic solo after the vocals. Starting in December, Bruce sings “That’s right folks” through his trombone mute. This tune would almost always transition to Big Swifty at the end of Frank’s solo. This tour produced some really great performances, maybe the best I’m the Slimes of Frank’s career.
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, a rundown of just the main theme (“did a vehicle”) followed by essentially the post-guitar solo section of the One Size Fits All version. On this tour George sings lyrics over pretty much all the written parts. In what would become the second solo spot we get two great solos from George and Bruce. In New Jersey and Toronto, Frank plays a cool jazzy solo in addition to the regular two and in Stony Brook Tom gets a rare Inca solo. George’s “thank you honey” to Ruth was actually a regular part of the arrangement. Overall these are really fun performances, probably the best of all the 1973 takes.
Kung Fu – 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. This tune is performed at least once (with The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbeque) as part of the beginning of the Penguin medley (a holdover from the last tour), but was dropped after the first few shows. These performances contained the shuffle intro heard at the end of the European tour. Once it was dropped from the Penguin medley, Frank tried to insert it before the solo section in penguin, leading to two of the weirdest Penguin in Bondage performances ever (in Brooklyn and Hempstead). After these dates the tune is finally dropped from setlists, until it returns as the final encore at the early show at the Avery Fisher Hall. A very weird, rarely played tune, but a treat to hear when it pops up.
Louie Louie – This tune appears a few times on this tour, never played straight. At the first show at the Avery Fisher Hall, for an encore, Nappy sings two takes of “Brian Brian” (Modified to reference soundman Brian Krokus, and to tease Ruth), sandwiching an impromptu version of the Mudshark. The later performance is more of a jam over the Louie Louie riff. The other performance happens at the Roxy invite-only event and mutates to become “Orgy Orgy”. The band also quotes the tune during the Dupree’s intro in Toronto. If the Mother’s are playing Louie Louie, you know it’s a good tour.
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 throughout this tour. It usually starts with a fun instrumental Mr. Green Genes, with a short solo from Napoleon. This is followed by the one and only King Kong (the first and third themes) with solos from Bruce (except in Brooklyn) and George, and Frank wraps up the affair with a typically tremendous solo in Chunga’s before bringing us back to the end of Mr. Green Genes. On this tour the reprise of Mr Green Genes is riddled with Frank’s favorite cues from the year, the Dupree’s Lick and of course the Hook. 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. In Stony Brook Frank starts the medley with Chunga’s Revenge and at the Roxy, King Kong. I love the performances of these tunes from this tour, the mutations in Green Genes make it my favorite of the year.
Montana – This classic about a dental floss farmer is in top form on this tour. It’s played pretty much as on Overnite Sensation, with Napoleon and George in place of the Ikettes. Frank’s solos are always hot and delectable on this tour, definitely worth a listen. Always followed by The Hook and Dupree’s Paradise.
The Mudshark – The legend of the Mudshark returns for an encore at the first Avery Fisher Hall show. During Louie Louie, Frank sees some people dressed like chickens, which reminds him of animal husbandry, which in turn reminds him of The Mudshark. He starts to instruct the dance and realizes they should just attempt the song. George and Nappy provide some fun “Mud Sh-Sh-Shark”s and Frank tells the ancient fable, with various new sidenotes. This time he talks about how Mudsharks have gotten bigger since the times of the Beatles, while George plays stings from the Be-Bop Tango Dancing Event. Frank then starts taking answers from the audience on where he should stuff the Mudshark. Frank then feels they’re ready to do the dance and declares “we’ll just entertain ourselves for a while” and proceeds to unleash an excellent little guitar solo before returning to Louie Louie/Brian Brian. A really fun moment, another reason to check out the Avery Fisher Hall shows.
Penguin In Bondage – This tune is in constant development over the whole tour. First off, 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. On this tour the tune now has a new, fun, cowbell and guitar riff after the “little penguin” part and before (and sometimes after) the solo section. Frank really experimented with the pre-solo section at the Avery Hall New York and Toronto shows, adding more guitar breaks and new lyrics to the cowbell riff (“Pink(?) and white, livin’ in bondage”) and, surprisingly, they sing a variant on the lyrics heard in the 1984 takes over the horn riffs (“Little penguin, jumping through the hoop”). Unfortunately, Frank drops the lyrics and cowbell part after these shows. The craziest performances of the tour are from Brooklyn and Hempstead because Frank decides to insert Kung Fu of all things before the solo. These feature a really funny overlap of the opening horn sting from Kung Fu over the pre and post solo link from Penguin. It’s just whacked. Anyway, this is a great, fun tour for Penguins. Always followed by T’Mershi Duween, which in turn is usually followed by Dog/Meat and RDNZL.
Pygmy Twylyte (incl. Dummy Up) – This wonderful little tune finally returns now that the Mothers have a lead singer again, and the results are just fantastic. For most of the tour, after they play the entirety of what’s heard on Roxy and Elsewhere, Frank plays a tasty solo and Napoleon returns to sing the tune again. Starting with the Avery Fisher Hall shows in New York, Nappy sings some improvised anti-drug lyrics before Frank’s solo, a segment which would come to be known as Dummy Up. Jeff Simmons guests at the invitation-only show at the Roxy and together with Frank and Napoleon, create the funniest Dummy Up out there. They actually do two takes of Dummy Up, the first being more successful and what ended up on the album. Frank, for some reason, decides against using the segment on the last day of the Roxy set, reverting to the guitar solo only form for both shows. Pygmy Twylyte (with or without Dummy Up) was almost always played as the start of a medley featuring The Idiot Bastard Son and Cheepnis. This is a really fun tune, and a highlight of Nappy’s tenure in the Mothers.
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 three shorter improvised solos interspersed throughout the song, from Bruce, Frank, 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 Penguin-T’Mershi-Dog/Meat medley, and the tune really benefits from this placement. This is my favorite tour for the early RDNZLs, and the first Roxy show has my favorite version period. After each performance Frank would conduct a measure of silence and every member of the band would mime playing for a few seconds. At the Roxy, he has the audience do a dance during the break too. 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.
T’Mershi Duween – This fantastic “bongo number” is in top form on this tour. It’s much, much more confident compared to the last tour and the amount of percussion on this tune is absolutely mesmerizing. The Roxy Movie has probably the best version. Almost always played as part two in the Penguin in Bondage medley, between Penguin and Dog/Meat.
Village Of The Sun – At the beginning of this tour this Roxy-era classic was 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 I don’t feel it’s a perfect fit for this tune. Napoleon takes over the vocals starting on November 6th (Hempstead) and sings the tune for the rest of his time in the band. The familiar intro heard on Roxy and Elsewhere doesn’t appear until November 22nd (New York). This is pretty easily my favorite intro to the tune, it just perfectly sets the mood for the Village. It’s really interesting to hear this song develop as the tour goes on. Village of the Sun 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.
What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? – This tune arose out of Babette at the Stony Brook late show. Frank says he was originally inspired by this dumb little doo-wop vamp to write the lyrics to this song, and Frank sings them over the Babette vamp. Not a breathtaking moment, but fun to hear.
Solo Tables:
Life On The Road 