Overview:
This is a weird tour. There’s nothing wrong with it on its own, but when it naturally gets compared to the legendary late 73 shows, the equally fun 74 Ten Years of the Mothers lineup and later 74 bands, it’s hard not to think of this tour as a lesser outing. This, I believe, is really just a factor of the setlists and the available recordings. This tour has a lot of positives. We get the premier of Andy and Florentine Pogen off of One Size Fits All (not to mention a reworked, nearly complete Inca Roads) and both songs feature really interesting and unique early arrangements. They start off shaky, and it takes a bit for all the new tunes to solidify, but they’re really wonderful. Jeff Simmons is fantastic and it’s great to hear him return. I can’t believe Frank rehired him after he quit the band days before 200 Motels, but I’m glad he did. His be-bop guitar is a very nice addition to tunes like Montana and Andy and is an easy highlight of the tour. Dupree’s Paradise is also fantastic this winter, with at least 6 excellent solos from the band in every version. Most performances feature a fun lecture from Frank after George’s funky intro, and at three of the shows Frank solos over the Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy vamp! Another defining feature of this band is it’s wild ten-piece medley (Andy>Florentine Pogen>Kung Fu>Penguin in Bondage>T’Mershi Duween>Dog/Meat>RDNZL>Village of the Sun>Echidna’s Arf>Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?). This a fantastic suite of tunes, but more often than not the recording doesn’t capture the full performance or the Mother’s run out of time for the night. This leads into the biggest shortcomings of this tour. This medley takes up alot of time on stage, so there’s less flexibility in setlists. Additionally, tunes that flourished on the last tour like The Be-Bop Tango, I’m The Slime, Big Swifty and Dickies Such an Asshole were all sadly dropped from rotation. And to top it all off, this band is really poorly represented by audience tapes. Only five of the available nine recordings are complete, they’re all audience recordings and they’re not in the best quality. I really like the Oklahoma City, Vancouver and Seattle Shows and every tape has its moments, but the rest are either incomplete or a fairly average show for early 1974. There were at least three shows performed after the final recording we have and I think if they’re in the vault somewhere they would make a fantastic official release.
The Band:
Frank Zappa – Guitar, Vocals, Lectures
Napoleon Murphy Brock – Tenor Sax, Flute, Lead Vocals, Dancing
Jeff Simmons – Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals, Awrights
Tom Fowler – Bass, Rhythms
George Duke – Multiple Keyboards, Vocals, Soul
Ruth Underwood – Inhuman Percussion
Bruce Fowler – Trombone, Very Occasional Vocals
Ralph Humphrey – Drum Set, Cowbells, Gongs
Chester Thompson – Drum Set, Cowbells, Funk
Recordings Available:
1974 02 16 – Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA (Audience A-/B+)
This is the second show of the new year and it’s captured on a really pleasant audience tape. Frank’s in a good mood tonight and gives an in depth intro featuring every single percussion instrument. The show opens with the earliest known versions of Andy and Florentine Pogen. Both song’s arrangements are really strange compared to what’s heard on One Size Fits All, but they still jam once you get over the initial shock. Unfortunately Frank isn’t at all confident with his solos in either tune yet, they’re just still too new. He plays a solo in Florentine at this show, but George takes the spot for the rest of the tour. Penguin’s around the corner though and Frank is on fire there. He forgot to name T’Mershi in the opening and quickly mentions it at the end of Penguin. The big medley ends early with Uncle Meat and is followed by a really fun Montana/Dupree’s. The intro of Dupree’s features a very long, very funny story from Frank about the titular bar and they’re infamous jam sessions and ends in another drug lecture, where Frank tells the audience to be more creative with their intoxicants (“Shoot Clorox in your eye”). The rest of the tune is very nice too, with great solos from the regular participants. Jeff, George and Nappy have a short little vocal jam (“Wellllll”) in Cosmik Debris, and then we get a fun Pygmy medley with a nice solo from Frank and a very special Idiot Bastard Son. This show’s take is a rewritten version titled, That Arrogant Dick Nixon. It’s a really amusing reworking, followed by a fun, now complete Cheepnis and then the show proper ends with the re-premier of Approximate. Another great tune, and we get the debut of the reworked, nearly complete Inca Roads for an encore. Once again, Frank doesn’t feel totally comfortable with this vamp yet, but we still get a nice, reserved solo. Overall this is a really entertaining show, even if Frank’s playing doesn’t reach it’s usual heights.
1974 02 17 – Robertson Gymnasium, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA (Audience B-)
This is a 20-ish minute fragmented recording but it’s saved from being completely forgettable by a couple nice moments. The tape opens with Frank telling the same monster movie story as at the Roxy, and even mentioning that fact. This leads into an incredible Pygmy Twylyte; Frank quotes the vamp from the end of Andy in his solo and gives Simmons space to jam afterwards. It’s followed by a distorted and fractured Idiot Bastard Sun and Cheepnis cuts off after 18 seconds. The taper captured the Cheepnis intro but not the song itself. It cuts immediately to the theme of Dupree’s Paradise, and we get a nice, but standard, take of the rest of the tune. Frank announces the end of the show, and that’s the whole tape. There’s a very nice Pygmy Twylyte here, the best of the tour, but otherwise this is lame tape. Completionists only.
1974 02 23 – Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA (Audience B+)
This is a really nice, no frills show from early in the tour. Frank opens the set with Cosmik Debris and follows it up with the first known full performance of this tour’s giant 10-song medley (Once again that’s Andy>Florentine Pogen>Kung Fu>Penguin in Bondage>T’Mershi Duween>Dog/Meat>RDNZL>Village of the Sun>Echidna’s Arf>Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?). This is a great take, helped by the nice sounding recording. Right after Frank talks to Ruth in Wash That, Herb Cohen approaches the taper and says “You’re not supposed to be taping this thing here”, and that is the end of the show for us. Unfortunately, Ruben Guevara, Robert “Frog” Camarena and Johnny Martinez from the real Ruben and The Jets likely made guest appearances in the second half of the night. I’d prefer to hear the rest of the show, but the ending is so funny it almost makes up for it. Anyway, this is a pretty fun show, Frank’s still not super comfortable in the new songs, but he’s definitely getting there. Give this one a listen.
1974 03 01 – Fabulous Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA (Audience C+)
This is another dumb tape where the taper records the intro and then like a 20 minute chunk from later in the show. I think in this case the taper made a mistake with the on/off switch or something, which is fair, cause you don’t want to get caught when recording a show. The intro seems amusing, and has a funky drum beat, but you can just barely make out Frank. Then we cut to song three of the big medley: Kung Fu. The rest of the medley follows as usual and the tape cuts during the start of Frank’s solo in Village. There’s very little improv on this tape, and it’s the worst recording of the tour. Hardcore completionists only.
1974 03 05 – Convention Center, Dallas, TX (Audience B+)
“We’re gonna open up with a song by some twist of fate has ended up on the radio” Montana starts the show, followed by a hot Dupree’s Paradise. This is followed by the Pygmy medley, sadly lacking a solo, though Nappy sings “the poodle bites” during Cheepnis which is fun. Frank declares that “the hits keep comin at ya”, which means that the 10-song medley is coming up next. The new songs get stronger at every show and the old tunes continue to amaze, and this night is no different. Frank plays the Needles and Pins/Hey Joe/Hippie Riff in Village of the Sun, in Wash That Thing Frank tells us “Ruth has been saying Brian-poo” and in the same tune George quotes Dog Breath very briefly at the start of his solo. Frank then introduces Inca Roads over the closing drum solo and we get a very nice performance of said tune. Overall a really solid show in nice quality. A good representation of what this band could offer.
1974 03 08 – Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS (Audience A-)
We arrive in Kansas and get the nicest recording of the tour. Frank disappointing a crazed audience member and lets us know there will be no streaking on stage, and this becomes a mini-secret word during the band intros. Cosmik Debris opens the show and Montana comes next though with a sadly short solo. This is of course followed by Dupree’s Paradise, with tonight’s intro featuring a little bit of sing-along audience participation. Surprisingly, where Frank’s solo usually starts we hear the Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy riff! Frank takes a hot solo over the new vamp and the tune comes to a close. A nice Pygmy melody is next, and Frank announces the massive 10-song medley. Andy-Florentine-Kung Fu really rocks now and are just fantastic to hear. Penguin through RDNZL is fun as always Village comes next, with an unfortunate cut taking out most of the middle of the tune. Nappy references Unity the soundman at the end of Village instead of the usual “Brian-poo” and there’s a fun little marimba jam at end of Wash That Thing. Frank closes the show over this jam, and the fans heard on Midwest shows over the past two years return to ask for The Heats Out Every Night once again. They return for a surprise performance of King Kong/Chunga’s Revenge and the ending of Mr. Green Genes. It’s been a while since they’ve played it so it’s pretty shaky, and the solos are pretty short so it’s far from the best version. Despite the lackluster encore, this is still a nice show that should be checked out for the excellent sound quality if nothing else.
1974 03 09 – Travel & Transport Building, State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, OK (Audience B/B-)
Frank quickly intros the band and opens this show with a Montana about “Okie-floss”, before moving into an excellent Dupree’s Paradise. Sound quality isn’t great but it isn’t terrible either. George quotes Holiday in Berlin at the beginning of his Dupree’s intro and Frank pretty quickly begins lecturing about short people. It’s really funny, and FZ eventually asks the short people in the audience to stand up and declare “I’m short and I’m proud!” Frank sporadically makes references to the vertically challenged throughout the rest of the show. We get another hot guitar solo over the Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy vamp in Dupree’s, and Frank lets us know “You could make more money as a politician” in the ensuing Cosmik Debris. We get a fun Pygmy medley, with some nice interplay between Frank and Nappy in the first tune. Frank calls the poodle in Cheepnis “Frenchie” and lets us know the “district attorney can’t stop it”. Inca Roads comes next, with Frank and George really getting down. Frank ends his solo by quoting the main theme of the piece, and afterwards announces the “10-piece-medley”. Andy and the fast Florentine are just so much fun, as is the transition into Kung Fu. Frank throws in a quick Sweet Leilani quote in Penguin and shouts “the poodle bites, the poodle chews it” as they transition into T’Mershi Duween. Though Frank announced the Village suite, presumably due to time constraints they only make it through RDNZL. They must have been strapped for time because Frank decides to give a quick no-encore-break-encore and continue into Village of the Sun and the night ends with more references to “Unity-poo”. All in all this is a very fun show, one of the best available, even with the lack of Echidna’s and Wash That Thing.
1974 03 14 – Agrodome, Vancouver, Canada (Audience B+/B)
This is a solid recording of a very nice show. The taper unfortunately didn’t record all the inter-song banter, so the show opens with (I assume) Inca Roads. This is followed by an excellent Montana/Duprees with a really amusing story about “Musician’s Heaven” during George’s intro to the tune. It’s basically the same as the Dupree’s bar stories he’s told a couple times in the past, except “they’re all dead”. Things change up a bit in the main section of Dupree’s. There’s a new vamp over the first solos (one that will be used for all future performances), it’s a little more upbeat than the previous one, and Ruth accompanies the bass for a little over Napoleon’s solo. Frank wraps up the tune with another awesome solo over the Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy riff. The Pygmy medley is fun as always, and after this is of course the massive medley that defines this weird tour. Andy is just such a great tune and it’s a bummer it was barely played after this tour. This version is maybe the best of the tour, and it’s followed by a less majestic but still fun Florentine Pogen and the always insane Kung Fu. Penguin in Bondage provides another highlight of the show, with a tasty solo from George before Frank! If you ask me this would have been a better solo-fest song than Cosmik Debris, but at least we get this one hot performance. T’Mershi Duween is next and the tape sadly cuts near the end of Uncle Meat. It would have been nice to hear the final thirty or so minutes of this show, but even missing them this is easily one of the best shows of the tour. The band is really gelling and it shows in song’s like Inca, Dupree’s, Andy and Penguin.
1974 03 15 – Paramount Theater, Seattle, WA (Audience B+/B)
The final known show of the tour (Though there were at least three shows after this with no known recordings), it’s wonderful and it’s captured on a very listenable recording. An excellent-as-always Pygmy medley starts the show and Cosmik Debris follows. Frank really tries to get Ruth to solo in said song (“12 little bars Ruth!”), but when she won’t he asks George to play an “imitation marimba solo on the synthesizer” while Ruth “lip syncs” what he plays (George of course plays the Be-Bop Tango, Ruth’s “usual” solo). This is the first show where Jeff sings the ending “price of meat” section in Cosmik, and Frank makes fun of his use of the word “Alright!”. Next up, “A surprise to each and everyone of you on the band stand we will now play the immortal Babbette”. It’s a long version of the tune, with spoken sections, jamming and Chester (I think) even sings some improvised soul/gospel vocals! After this we get the always delicious weirdo blues walkdown transition into Approximate! A great performance as always, followed by a long, excellent Montana/Dupree’s. Frank solo in said tune is back to the normal vamp, and the tape sadly cuts off before he’s finished. Frank announces the long medley, and we get wonderful performances like we’ve grown to expect. Andy-Florentine-Kung Fu is just so fantastic, it’s a shame all these songs get dropped from normal rotation. Frank says “just like a neon kangaroo” in Penguin (whatever that means), and the show comes to a close after Dog/Meat. They return for an excellent encore of RDNZL, Village of the Sun and Camarillo Brillo. A really great show, check this one out.
1974 03 18 – Terrace Ballroom, Salt Lake City, UT (Partial Official Release)
[Review coming at some point!]
1974 03 21 – City Auditorium, Colorado Springs, CO (Official Release)
[Review coming at some point!]
The Songs Played:
Andy – This fantastic One Size Fits All tune debuts on this tour as song #1 of the ten piece medley. The main bulk of the tune is there, but it’s Frank so of course there are a few differences. Napoleon sings the first verse in a weird, very staccato way, before eventually transitioning to the more familiar style. Jeff plays a very cool, majestic guitar riff over the first chunk of the tune and most notably, there’s no mention of the titular Andy Devine. At this point in time the tune was introduced as “Something Anything” or “Is There Anything Good Inside Of You”. Basically any mention of Andy is replaced with other lyrics from the tune. Frank plays a hot solo in the middle of the regular place, and the end of the tune features a scat/guitar battle between Nappy and Frank. These are really cool performances, and I love that there are performances of this tune live from the 74 band, but really every other version of this song (except maybe the 79 takes) are more musically enjoyable than these ones. This tune always featured a neat, unique, guitar segue into Florentine Pogen.
Approximate – This weirdo number re-debuts on this tour, played significantly faster than during the Grand Wazoo era. It was played at least twice, in Berkley and Seattle. Frank lets us know “the rhythm of what they play is indicated but the pitches are their own choice” which of course leads to some enjoyable madness. In Berkley, Jeff (on guitar) takes the first solo and provides some really tasty playing and Frank follows it up with some equally fun jamming. In Seattle George and Jeff (on guitar and harmonica) kinda trade off with each other during the whole affair. All these solos are occasionally interrupted with small “composed” sections of the tune. The fifth and final written chunk of the tune, heard in the 1972 takes, was dropped from this version. The Seattle take features an insane segue out of Babette, a rare treat. This is one of Frank’s most experimental and “out-there” tunes, and I’m really glad he decided to bring it back for this band.
Babbette – This simple, FZ-penned, doo-wop tune appears once this tour in Seattle, as a surprise to the entire band. It sounds pretty much as it does on the You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore series, and is still about man-dog love. This take is especially long and features some improvised soul vocals from Nappy, George, Frank and even Chester! It’s a really fun performance, maybe the best available and it features an absolutely whacked blues walkdown transition into Approximate. Another reason to check out the Seattle show.
Camarillo Brillo – This Over-Nite Sensation classic appears once on this tour, as the final encore in Seattle. It’s a nice, funky version of the tune and features some wonderful jamming from George and Frank over the closing chords. A very nice take of one of FZ’s most pleasant tunes.
Cheepnis – This Roxy classic reappears on this tour, finally (mostly) complete. They still skip the “Here comes that poodle dog!” and “Here Fido…” sections, but the “great big hairy thing” section has been added to the tune. Nappy improvises some monster movie/poodle lyrics over this section (He even drops a “the poodle bites” a few times), and it’s just always so much fun. This song was originally written as part of the musical Hunchentoot in 1972 while Frank was recovering from his attack at the Rainbow Theater. This tune was always played as the final song in a medley with Pygmy Twylyte and The Idiot Bastard Son. These are always really energetic performances and Nappy does a fantastic job with the vocals, another highlight of his time with the Mothers.
Cosmik Debris – This tune appears pretty much as it does on Apostrophe, but with more solos. The typical performance features solos from George, Nappy (on sax), Jeff (on harmonica) (in any order) and finally Frank. The Berkeley show features some soulful shouts from George and Nappy and FZ takes a nice long solo in Oklahoma. Seattle has an especially weird take, Frank tries to get Ruth to solo, but instead has George pretend to solo as her and have Ruth mime him. Totally odd, but fun to hear. I personally prefer when Frank gets the only solo spot in this tune, but these are still some nice, funky, bluesy takes.
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 always comes out fantastic. 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. Always played as tune #6 in this tour’s ten-piece medley (Though I believe Frank considered these songs 6 and 7 of the medley, and thought of Echidna’s Arf and Wash That Thing as one final song).
Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? – This Roxy classic sounds great on this tour, but unfortunately because of its placement as the final song in the ten-piece medley, it often ends up left out of shows, or missing from audience recordings. A regular version features a wonderful 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 that may drift into more improv. The guitar solo on Roxy and Elsewhere was, unfortunately, a one-time only performance. 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. The composed outro is seemingly dropped on this tour, as both complete versions end with Frank announcing something over the closing improv. The performances of this tune from this tour are great, but sadly few and far between.
Dupree’s Paradise – Another classic of the 1973 and 1974 bands. This tune would become a true monster improv song by the end of this 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, Jeff (on guitar), Bruce and finally Frank over a spacey, jazzy vamp. Occasionally George would take another solo after Jeff. Jeff’s solos always stand out as a highlight for me, his be-bop guitar tone is really cool and unique in FZ’s output. In Kansas, Oklahoma and Vancouver Frank plays his solo over the future Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy vamp (all excellent takes). Starting in Vancouver, Frank introduces a new, more upbeat vamp for the solo section in this tune, and that would continue to be used for the rest of the year. The intros to this tune typically go really far-out on this tour, with Dupree’s bar jam session stories, stories about musician’s heaven, lectures on short people and even a little audience participation. Frank, like in most songs on this tour, would cue many hand signals in this tune, always leading to a good time. 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 as time goes on.
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 such. It has a cold start with the opening guitar riff, unlike the Roxy take. This was played as tune #9 as part of this tour’s ten-piece medley, and was always preceded by Village of the Sun and followed by Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing, but Frank never introduced the latter song, so it’s possible he considered the two pieces one at this point in time. 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.
Florentine Pogen – This One Size Fits all classic premiers in February, but in a totally different state. The lyrics haven’t yet mutated (on this tour the porter might court her, not Perellis) and there’s a fun solo with a unique boogie vamp in the middle of the tune. George would typically play a funky little solo, but Frank plays a more reserved solo in Berkley. Most importantly though, the song is like three times faster! It obviously gives the piece a totally different vibe, and I could see a lot of people enjoying this take better. This is song #2 in the ten-piece medley, it’s preceded by Andy and it always ends on the “color-note organ” line, which tunes into various band members reciting colors, The band says “put ‘em all together and they spell organ”, before making a disturbed transition into Kung Fu.
The Hook – This is a very short section of music culled from the Be-Bop Tango (just 12 notes) and frequently cued by Frank. It’s a regular part of the transition between Montana and Dupree’s Paradise, and a clear favorite of FZ’s. It’s such a dumb, ugly melody and I absolutely love it.
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. 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? At the Berkeley show, Nappy sings a rewritten version of the tune titled That Arrogant Dick Nixon. This is a total riot, my favorite line having to be “Try and imagine his office recording machine”.
Inca Roads – It’s a new year and Inca Roads is very nearly complete. It’s a little slower than on One Size Fits All, but the piece finally has its iconic opening. There’s a few more differences though, there’s a cowbell riff that goes along with the intro riff and continues through Frank’s solo, George take’s a little more liberty with the rhythm of the vocals, Bruce and George both share the second solo section, none of the lyrics have mutated yet (ex. No Guacamole Queen) and the ending sting doesn’t have the “On Ruth!” vocals yet. Frank’s playing isn’t as confident as it would get later in the year, and the dense cowbell riff doesn’t help that, but these are still really fun performances of one of Frank’s most enduring tunes.
Medley: King Kong/Chunga’s Revenge/Mr. Green Genes – This fantastic medley, that was a classic of the last few tours, reappears one time as an encore in Kansas City. It usually started with Son of Mr. Green Genes, but Frank dropped it on this occasion. King Kong (the first and third themes) starts this event and George plays a hot (but short solo). This morphs into Chunga’s Revenge, with a very nice solo from Frank before we conclude with the end of Mr. Green Genes. On the previous tour, the reprise of Mr Green Genes was riddled with Frank’s favorite cues from the year, the Dupree’s Lick and of course the Hook, and on this performance it’s clear they don’t know if they should do it straight or not. 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 assume, the one recording cuts after the Zarathustra quote). It’s nice to hear these tunes again, but it’s clear they haven’t played it in a while and were rushed for time in Kansas City, so this is far from the best version.
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. Here it appears as song number #3 in the ten piece medley, preceded by Florentine Pogen and followed by Penguin in Bondage. It actually has lyrics on this tour, just the singers reciting ”to you” and “yes I really do” over the beginning as continuation of the end of Florentine Pogen. A very weird, rarely played tune, but a treat to hear when it pops up.
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 typically hot and delectable, but this tour’s solos tend to be somewhat short. Jeff provides excellent rhythm guitar during the written parts. Always followed by The Hook and Dupree’s Paradise.
Penguin In Bondage – This classic Roxy tune has finally reached a state of completion at the end of the last tour, and we get what appears on the album, but with a small exception. The Roxy and Elsewhere version 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. This tune always features a hot and tasty solo, and it is song #4 in the ten-piece medley, preceded by Kung Fu and followed by T’Mershi Duween.
Pygmy Twylyte (incl. Dummy Up) – This wonderful little Roxy and Elsewhere tune is always excellent and this tour is no exception. In every performance Nappy would sing some improvised anti-drug lyrics between the written verses in a segment known as Dummy Up. Frank would play a tasty little solo after Napoleon’s improv, but this sadly gets dropped by March. The Santa Barbara take might be the best of the tour, featuring guitar solos from Frank and Jeff! Pygmy Twylyte (with Dummy Up) was always played as the start of a medley featuring The Idiot Bastard Son and Cheepnis. Starting in March, the Dummy Up section always features music later used as part of the intro to the song/skit Room Service. 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. This tour introduces the little doo-wop section to the piece, coming right before George’s solo and in live performance it’s got lyrics! Nappy and George both sing “We can share a love” a few times over that swinging bridge. These are also the first performances to feature the Dupree’s Paradise lick ending, as heard on Studio Tan. RDNZL was always played as song #7 of the ten-piece medley, preceded by Dog/Meat, and at the end of each performance Frank would conduct a bit of babbling from Napoleon before a very neat transition into Village of The Sun. Though I prefer the finished RDNZL, I have a soft spot for the early versions. 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. The Mothers execute the tune perfectly and the amount of percussion is absolutely mesmerizing. It’s just a short little weirdo medley, but it’s one of my favorite pieces from this period in Frank’s career. On this tour it was always played as song #5 in the big medley, between Penguin in Bondage and Dog/Meat
Village Of The Sun – This is a very interesting tour for this tune. It’s easy to tell it’s midway between the Roxy version and The You Can’t Do That on Stage Any More Vol #2 take. Here the song is a little faster and features a unique, fun, bouncy intro, that’s nothing more than a really slow take of the latter 74 performances (like what’s heard on YCDTOSA Vol 2, including Approximate quotes). After the line about the stumbler, there’s a really fun little back and forth solo jam featuring Frank and George, before a return to the intro theme. Nappy sings the rest of the tune and he asks “Brian-poo” (Or Unity-poo, or Ruthy-poo) what he’s gonna do before a fun transition into Echidna’s Arf. The earliest known take ends with an Approximate quote, but every following performance ends with a mini-meltdown kind of noise. Song #8 of the ten-piece medley, preceded by RDNZL and followed by Echidna’s Arf.
Solo Table:
Life On The Road 