Overview:
This incredible rocking teenage combo hits Europe, and while there’s slightly less wild hilarity compared to the previous tour, the amazing music has only gotten better. Many of the same fantastic tunes from the previous tours continue to dazzle me (Inca Roads, Penguin In Bondage-T’Mershi Duween-Dog/Meat, Dupree’s Paradise, etc), but new regulars like the reworked Stink-Foot, Florentine Pogen, Pygmy Twylyte (and Room Service), the slow RDNZL and the insane Approximate event make this tour standout in a very positive way. In Europe the band has more musical conceptual continuity than lyrical, with repeated quotes from Hearts And Flowers, the theme from Dragnet, the One Shot Deal riff and of course Louie Louie. There’s still plenty of arfs, oinks, get downs, bouillabaisse, Booger Bears (or their German equivalent “Snootah(?) Bears”), and references to Marty Perellis, Dick Barber and, of course, Ruth (Krokus) Underwood, but I think Frank probably decided to tone down on the lyrical humor slightly while in non-English speaking locales. The humor comes through in George’s improvisations, Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing, Tush Tush Tush and Room Service. But even if they’re not talking about how much fun they’re having, it still is widely evident in the music. The improvisations this band could make are just astonishing, and the solos in Inca Roads, RDNZL, Dupree’s Paradise, and Pygmy Twylyte are always jaw-dropping. I mean nearly every show starts with Stink-Foot and Inca Roads, how can it get better than that? The second half of 1974 is easily one of the creative high points in Frank’s career, in terms of his compositions, his guitar playing and the musicians he was working with. If you’re a fan of Frank Zappa, you should hear some shows from this tour.
The Band:
Frank Zappa – Guitar, Vocals, Arfs
Napoleon Murphy Brock – Tenor Sax, Flute, Lead Vocals, Room Service
Tom Fowler – Bass, Vibramycin
George Duke – Keyboards, Vocals, Tush
Ruth Underwood – Percussion, Gaffer’s Tape
Chester Thompson – Drums, Supplying Vibramycin
Recordings Available:
1974 09 07 – Palasport, Udine, Italy (Audience B/B-)
Frank takes his rocking teenage combo to Italy for the first leg of their European tour. The audience recording sounds a little boomy and distorted, but it’s not too bad overall. FZ isn’t very talkative tonight, and starts the show off with a great Stink-Foot (“right over by the barracks”). This transitions into another great Inca Roads where Frank yells “Great Googly Moogly” during the Approximate section. Next up is a somewhat mutated Cosmik Debris (“Don’t you waste your time on Ralph” and eventually “You could make more money as a busboy, so don’t you waste your waste on waste”.) Florentine Pogen (still known as Chester’s Gorilla) follows, fun as always, and it moves into another Montana (Frank starts it with “I might be moving to Milonia soon” but that doesn’t go anywhere). FZ sings “Ralph, Ralph” over The Hook and we begin George’s improvisations. It’s a pretty regular, fiery Dupree’s, but one unique moment comes when George says he’s been dreaming of Ruth during his intro. This eventually segues into a great slowed-down Pygmy Twylyte with an Italian themed Room Service. That ends the main set and the gang return for a nice encore Camarillo Brillo. Far from the most exciting show of the tour, but still very enjoyable.
1974 09 08 – Stadio Comunale, Bologna, Italy (Audience B+)
The next date in Europe brings us another fine Italian concert. Nice recording quality too. Nappy starts Tush Tush Tush immediately talking about crepe paper in the bathroom, what would become a pseudo-secret word for the night. Stink-Foot and Inca Roads start us off very nicely and Approximate and the Penguin medley keep me interested (also fun: George throws in a bit of Holiday in Berlin at the end of Uncle Meat). Cosmik Debris is standard (except for “you could make more money as an electrician”) and Florentine Pogen is always welcome. Montana comes next and we get a fun “movin’ to Bologna soon”, with a fun bit of Funiculì Funiculà at the start of Frank’s hot solo (also “ride… like a goombah!” which made me chuckle). A joyous Duke improv section comes next with lots of tush talk, and a quick Louie Louie quote; Frank then attempts to call Venus and welcomes us to “the David Bowie soundcheck!” The music gets spacy, then it gets romantic before making a quick transition into Pygmy Twylyte. Said tune is excellent as always, and so if the following Crepe Paper-filled Room Service. This ends the main set, and for an encore we get Camarillo Brillo and the Oh No/Orange County/More Trouble medley. The whole finale is wonderful, the lyrics to Orange County mutate to “I just can’t just believe that’s really your tush” and Frank ends his solo with a really cool quote from Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance, but on Quaaludes. FZ’s solo sadly cuts in the final tune, bringing the tape to a close. This is a really nice show and one of the best from the first half of the tour.
1974 09 09 – Velodromo Vigorelli, Milan, Italy (Audience A-)
This is a fantastic show captured in great audio quality. There’s very little banter/messing around, but the music played on this night is so incredible the classic 1974 humor isn’t missed. Frank introduces Tom on Vibramycin (a drug for gonorrhea and chlamydia), and Chester on supplying Vibramycin, then starts a fantastic set of music. Stink-Foot, Inca Roads, Florentine Pogen, Approximate, Cosmik Debris, RDNZL, the Village medley and the Pygmy medley make up the perfectly played/sung/danced main set. Frank intros Inca Roads with “I certainly hope Ruth plays the front part of this right”, he speaks some Italian in Approximate, Ruth has been “worrying about the part where she blows the duck call” in Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing and George plays/sings a bit of Holiday in Berlin in the same tune. Room service ends the main set with Nappy and Frank chanting “Help me Jesus!” and another fun Camarillo Brillo brings the night to a close. A short review because the music speaks for itself. Check this one out.
1974 09 11 – Kurhalle, Vienna, Austria (Two Shows – Audience A-/B+)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
There were two shows on this Austrian evening, each captured on a very pleasant audience recording, it’s a little quiet but very clear and well balanced. Not much tomfoolery at the early show, just fantastic performances, starting with Stink-Foot and Inca Roads. Next we get three successful takes of Approximate, with a couple flute notes sneaking into the sung version and a kazoo solo in place of George’s keyboard event. “Cosmetic Debris” is next followed by another lovely European Florentine Pogen. Wish this tune stayed in set lists regularly after this tour. Another fun Penguin medley, with a quote from Apostrophe in Frank’s solo and a bit of RDNZL in the closing frenzy. Montana’s our encore and we get “movin’ to Vienna soon” with Frank trying out the german word for dental floss (“Zahnseide”) and dropping the funny chunk of conceptual continuity “every other wrangler would say why didn’t you sharpen it then?” The late show continues right where the early left off by starting with The Hook and George’s introduction to Dupree’s Paradise. George is excellent as always and Ruth plays Ach Du Lieber Augustin (to the delight of the Viennese crowd) and the tune slowly morphs into Louie Louie, and after more percussion, Dixie, and right back into Louie Louie. Dupree’s Paradise is lovely as always and features even more Louie Louie. After his solo, Frank cues the Hook and makes a violent transition into Stink-Foot and then Inca Roads, like the show is just starting. Two wonderful renditions followed by an equally awe-inspiring RDNZL. It’s always great when a show has both Inca Roads and RDNZL, this band’s two compositional behemoths. It goes into a very notable Village of the Sun where after the “thermal underwear”, they switch to a different strange riff, Frank says “we’re going to cover this” and Nappy sings “thoroughly with foil”, like in Billy the Mountain! Frank plays the One Shot Deal riff a bunch of times, Nappy sings the titular line on top of it and the tune ends like normal. An incredibly slow Echidna’s Arf is next, followed by a really fun Wash That Thing, where George sings a little of the Be-Bop Tango, Frank announces Ruth complaining about playing the tune (“why is he making me play this song?”) and Nappy and Frank sing Jungle Boogie over Chester’s solo. It morphs into a really shaky, obviously long-unrehearsed but still very fun I’m The Slime that brings the main set to a close. Pygmy Twylyte and Room Service always make a great encore and this is no exception. In the former tune Frank starts shouting some things at the end of his solo, including “great googly moogly” and at the very end Frank asks George to “put a little Mozart in it” for the first time, leading the the Mozart Piano Sonata becoming a regular part of the arrangement. The night ends with a slow Room Service (“yes let’s hear it for Richard Straus!”) and a regular Idiot Bastard Son tease. These are a really fun set of shows and an easy recommendation.
1974 09 12 – Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany (Two Shows and a Soundcheck – Audience B+)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
This evening starts with a long soundcheck with a lot of noodling and bits of Sleep Dirt (the obvious most interesting part), Cheepnis, Montana, and Holiday In Berlin. Frank explains before the drum check that their equipment truck came late and they have to do all this after the show was supposed to start. Mildly interesting in a fly-on-the-wall way, but for really hardcore fans only. The early show begins with a cool slow-build Tush Tush Tush as they painfully finish the soundcheck. Stink-Foot begins the program and FZ mentions that Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford both suffer from the affliction. Right in the middle of the head of the tune Frank exclaims “Good god one of my amplifiers just took a shit!”, but continues the song with no guitar for a bit. Another amazing European Inca Roads follows the foot song, and after that is a solid Cosmik Debris where Frank calls Nappy Ian Underwood during his sax solo for some reason. A crazy Montana comes next; it starts with “I might be stationed here in Frankfurt soon”, contains many other mutations and Frank even gives a weird little speech about what makes a man become a mental toss flycoon (“Take it away. Get down Frank”). We hear The Hook and know it’s time for George. He starts with the now regular finger cymbal routine, Frank conducts the band a bit, plays the One Shot riff and plays a deranged version of If You’re Happy And You Know It. FZ then says “now watch this” and a guest violin player appears! This musician isn’t announced, but I believe in all likelihood it’s Tom Fowler. Tom has said that he played violin a few times with Frank, and FZ would usually introduce guest artists, so I believe Tom is behind the mystery violin on this tape (and George is likely covering his bass parts on his synths). In any case, whoever’s playing is very good and they create a very unique jam. There’s some more tweaky improv and we’re in Dupree’s proper. Frank solos for a long, long time and is absolutely on fire throughout. This closes the main set, but Camarillo Brillo is a nice cherry on top. Show number two opens like any other one, until Frank decides to play Florentine Pogen after Tush Tush Tush, and takes it incredibly slowly. Approximate comes next, and when Frank tells the band to play it at “quaalude fuzz tone tempo”, you can see a theme forming. Frank sings Jungle Boogie while the rest sing Approximate. A random How Could I Be Such A Fool comes next, mainly because Frank thinks the crowd wants to hear something old and it seamlessly segues into the Penguin medley, with yet another One Shot riff in the first tune.”The first anniversary performance of T’Mershi Duween!” They play through the tune once and Frank says “Now ordinarily we’d go into another song from here but see this song was written in Frankfurt last year…so we are going to take this tune and dismember it brutally on stage right before your very eyes”. A very cool moment, and I can’t describe what happens here with a better word than “dismemberment”. A fan asks Frank to “smoke a bone” and Frank’s really tired of playing Montana, so possibly as a result he plays it incredibly slowly (and has the audience meditate before they play, “just like the big groups do”). Someone quotes a bit of When The Saints Go Marching In, and the tune has a weird, kinda meltdown ending, I think just cause they played it so slowly. It moves into a classic bit of improv from George. Funny, funky and tweaky, it’s everything you could want from a Duke booger jam, and after about 10 minutes Frank segues the band into the ending of Echidna’s Arf and then into another fantastic Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing. “Ruth has been thinking… why don’t they… leave me alone… they’re not going to leave her alone not for a minute!” George quotes Holiday In Berlin in his solo again, and during Chester’s ending extravaganza Nappy plays more of When The Saints Go Marching In, Ruth plays a bit of Hearts and Flowers, and Frank interjects with another hilarious Jungle Boogie quote (“Get down, get down…..”) Next we get another fun Pygmy Twylyte-Room Service combo, and Frank ends the show with a surprising take of The Idiot Bastard Son, the first performance since July. They return for an encore, and we get the only European take of Dinah-Moe Humm from ’74, with some audience participation and a brief bit Streets Of Cairo thrown in. Overall these are another really fun set of shows, and another easy recommendation.
1974 09 14 – Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany (Audience B+)
Another night in Germany and we get another great Stink-Foot and Inca Roads followed by another fun Cosmik (with a shout-out to the GIs in the audience from Frank). Frank plays the One-Shot Riff in his solo and apparently someone plays an arrangement of The Song Of Hiawatha. Approximate starts and Frank lets us know “in keeping with the policy of the times, even if they play it wrong they will all be pardoned at the end of the show” (Ford pardoned Nixon about a week earlier). Nappy accidentally plays the flute when he should be using his feet and blames it on tush, and George scats a bit in the full blown performance. After this Frank talks to the crowd for a little, leading to the great line “Fuck the army but our album is available”. Someone asks him if he believed Nixon and Frank replies “Do I believe Nixon? I believe that he is a piece of shit, and I believe his substitute is just as bad”. This gives Frank the idea to resurrect Dickies Such An Asshole for a one time performance in Berlin. It’s surprisingly put together considering they haven’t played it in nine months, the whole beginning of the tune is there, and George takes the solo spot. Frank interrupts Nappy’s spoken improv to say “Ladies and gentleman a report on the president’s mental health” followed by a bunch of moans and puke sounds. He then mentions the former president has been “depressed” and Ruth plays Hearts and Flowers. They finish the tune (we even get the regular audience participation) and continue into “a song from our new album”: Penguin in Bondage. It’s a fun take ( Frank starts saying “Get back get back good god ain’t it funky now” at a certain point) and it leads into the rest of the perverted medley. After this, for some reason, Frank decides to play It Can’t Happen Here. It sounds pretty much as it did on the “ten years” tour, but a little slower, and it goes right into Montana. During his solo, Frank stops completely, says “Get down Frank” and returns with a very Louie Louie-ish lick. Frank ends his solo on a Dragnet quote, the proceeds to totally mutate the ending verses with lines like “But by myself I wouldn’t have no boss because by that time Gerald Ford will have pardoned everyone in the universe!” and, of course, “just me and the pygmy hooker”. George plays his finger cymbal, then starts to talk about caves, Ruth and even Ian (playing the bass clarinet of course). George gets funky for a while and goes into a slow Dupree’s theme. It’s another great performance all around. Frank opens his solo with variations on Hearts and Flowers with only Chester accompanying and eventually solos acapella for a while. It ramps up and we get more fantastic jamming until it eventually slows to a stop and Frank ends the show (with no Dupree’s ending). They return for a nice encore Oh No/Orange County and Trouble Everyday. At this particular show they sing “I just can’t believe you have such a tush”, which is one of my favorite of the tush variations. It’s a solid recording and a really fun concert, with rare tunes and timeless classics. Check this one out.
1974 09 16 – Congress Centrum, Hamburg, Germany (Audience B+/B)
Here’s an average show, but this being the 1974 European tour makes that a very good thing. This is overall a pretty nice recording, but Frank and the band are having monitor problems for basically the whole show (“Good God! the sound sure is horrible in this hall tonight!”). Very solid performances of Stink-Foot, Inca Roads and the Penguin medley start the night off and Cosmik Debris comes next. Frank can’t remember what album he released the tune on, includes a brief quote of the melodramatic standard Hearts and Flowers as a kind of intro to the song and ends it with “Don’t you waste your time on the monitor system”. Nice takes of Florentine Pogen and Montana follow, and George plays a classic, spacy, tweaky Dupree’s into, with a deranged take of Beethoven’s 9th and the One-Shot Deal riff. Dupree’s Paradise proper goes nice and long, with some fun Louie Louie quotes thrown in there too. The three versions of Approximate close the show and the band return for a fun Pygmy Twylyte and a really short Room Service. Nothing at all wrong with this show, but not the first one I’d choose.
1974 09 20 – KB Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark (Audience B- with partial Soundboard A-)
This mediocre audience recording starts midway through Nappy’s solo in Cosmik Debris, probably missing the first two or three tunes. The sound is still listenable, but there’s a lot of background noise. Approximate comes next, and the crowd gets so into it that Frank has the audience dance the song after the band does. Montana surprises us with a solo from George! It’s nice and funky, a real treat, and Frank wraps up the tune with a classic Montana solo. Frank sings “George Duke” over the Hook and this leads into some amusing Duke improvisations. It includes a bit of the Can’t Afford No Shoes riff, after George’s talks about Boogie-ing and ends with Nappy wrapping Ruth down with gaffer’s tape (“Ruth is so tense, the only way you can keep her down once you get her down is to tape her down… we hope this will keep her under control for the rest of the program”). Frank then cues the Penguin medley, possibly because Ruth was too tied up to play the Dupree’s lick, and once they hit the solo section, Frank starts pretending to hypnotize Ruth to levitate, and then to play a Blues in D minor on the marimba. Ruth plays a little bit, but we pretty quickly get a hot solo from Frank followed by the rest of the Penguin medley. After Uncle Meat, the band goes into about a minute of weirdo, meltdown improvisation, the first known performance of Building a Girl! (see song entry for more info). The band tunes up and Frank surprisingly cues Dupree’s Paradise afterwards! Kind of encapsulating the whole Penguin medley in the Dupree’s event. It’s a solid performance like always, and Frank plays a very laid back, long solo to end the tune. Pygmy Twylyte is always delectable, and tonight’s Room Service is especially amusing with Frank ordering bondage equipment from Napoleon (“I want to have a torso manikin covered with a black rubber bathing suit, with holes cut out of the tits, zippers buckles and chains on it.”). About halfway through Room Service the recording switches to a much, much better sounding soundboard tape for the remainder of the show. The main set ends with a fun Camarillo Brillo,with lots of small lyrical mutations where George forgets one of his cues, Frank imitates it (“Sha na na na”) and they both jam. For an encore we get yet another fantastic Oh No/Orange County/Trouble Everyday combo with the great mutation “I just can’t believe that there’s so much tush”. Another great show hampered by lame sound quality. I’m still gonna recommend it because the show itself is really fun, but listen to other shows first.
1974 09 22/23 – Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki, Finland (Official Release)
There were two shows on the 22nd and, due to popular demand, a third show the next day on the 23rd. FZ edited these performances down to two discs for his 1988 release: You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Volume Two. These are some of the greatest performances Frank and his Mothers ever put on, hell these are the shows where the Inca Roads solo on One Size Fits All originated, and we get to hear the full solo on this set! We get fantastic, possibly definitive takes of a number of this band’s regular tunes (Stink-Foot, Inca Roads, RDNZL, The Village medley, the Pygmy medley, Approximate, etc). Suzy Quatro was playing in Helsinki around the same time so she became a pseudo secret word for these shows (along with “stealing towels” thanks to the actions of Dee Cohen, and Bouillabaisse). Frank decided to have his musicians sightread Satumaa, also known as the national Finnish Tango, for a special surprise for the Finnish audience. Also at these shows, right before Montana, a fan requests Whipping Post by the Allman Brothers, which leads to a totally mutated version entitled “Whipping Floss”. Really amusing and a great piece of conceptual continuity (this is the reason Frank decides to play this tune in the 80s). Other rare tunes include The Idiot Bastard Son, and the only known takes of Cheepnis and Big Swifty from this tour. Additionally, Frank included the first half of Florentine Pogen from these shows on YCDTOSA#4, with the second half coming from a 1979 performance. The recordings are mildly hampered by late-80s mixing and mastering and some unfortunate edits by FZ, for example FZ didn’t include Penguin in Bondage at the beginning of the T’Mershi Duween, he edited out his own solo from Dupree’s Paradise (making this version the least interesting of the tour) and removed all the improv from Big Swifty, reducing it to a show closing vamp, among other impossible to notice edits. Despite that, these are still an amazing set of performances and they get an easy recommendation. I’d love to see an official release of this whole set of concerts, with a new remix of course.
1974 09 25 – Konserthuset, Gothenborg, Sweden (Soundboard A-/B+)
This is a really fun show. It’s easily the most experimental date of the tour, and it’s captured on a pretty solid soundboard. The bass gets a little distorted when the music gets too loud, but it’s only annoying on occasion. There were two shows on this date, and we can tell this is the late show from a couple of Frank’s comments during the concert. The show cuts in on the tail end of a hot Stink-Foot solo and we’re quickly deposited on a truly jaw dropping Inca Roads, easily one of the best of the tour (George even gives a little solo after Frank!). It’s followed by the always delightful Penguin in Bondage medley, which is then followed by a surprising but very pleasant mid-set Camarillo Brillo. This goes into another mesmerizing RDNZL followed by a truly insane Village medley. It starts off fairly normal, Frank says Ruth’s been thinking “Jesus….what’s going on here…the first show I missed that lick and I just don’t know…”, George quotes Holiday in Berlin in his solo spot again and the tune ends with a long drum solo that gets tweakier as time goes on and as more Mothers join back in. Eventually Nappy says Bouillabaisse some more and Frank starts to play the chords from Zoot Allures, clearly still in its infancy. After a few moments the feel shifts and Napoleon starts to sing Flambe off of Sleep Dirt! A really fun take of this rare tune (The only time it was ever known to be played live!). After the song comes to a close, Frank begins playing bits and pieces of the ending to Echidna’s Arf before eventually the whole band comes in again, bringing the event to an exciting finish with a dismembered repeat of the first few notes of Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing. After this we get two more riotous new tunes to round out the main set: Can’t Afford No Shoes (then known as Ralph Stuffs His Shoes) and Po-Jama People. Both tunes are in weird proto-versions, and really a lot of fun. FZ springs the night to a close with some truly funny outros (“Chester Thompson smiled three times and played a drum solo”), and then brings the band back for a very fine encore Oh No/Orange County/Trouble Everyday, with the lyrics changing to “I just can’t believe that I see/smell/felt that Tush…”. Another fun fact: FZ played around with the recording of his solo in Inca Roads, at some point having Patrick O’Hearn overdub a new bass track. This new track was eventually extracted from the original performance and wound up as Rubber Shirt on Sheik Yerbouti. Overall, an excellent, excellent show full of surprises. Another strong recommendation.
1974 09 27 – Palais des Sports, Paris, France (FM Broadcast B)
This is a short, okay sounding, old radio broadcast of a couple clips from this show. We get most of Stink-Foot with a nice long solo, the first two minutes of Inca Roads, and Cosmik Debris up through Nappy’s solo (with lyrics mutated to “you might not believe this Coy [a member of the road crew], but it’ll cure your hangover too”). A pleasant 10 minutes, but disappointing overall. Completionists only. Also: the Mother’s played two shows in Paris, on the 26th and the 27th. These recordings are the source of “Bathtub Man” (George and Frank’s solos from Cosmik Debris) off of One Shot Deal and “Merely A Blues In A” from FZ Plays The Music of FZ, the encore of the second show.
1974 09 29 – Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium (Audience B-/B+)
Another solid show from the tail end of the European tour. There are two recordings of this show and the better sounding one covers about half the show (Stink-Foot to Cosmik Debris, Montana with Duke improvisations and Pygmy Twylyte), the rest is covered by a hissy but not unlistenable tape. Stink-Foot and Inca Roads continue to be one of Frank’s best show starters ever, and tonight it’s followed by an amusing Cosmik Debris (“look here Chester…”). A fun Approximate extravaganza is next, but before then, someone shouts “Show us your tits!” and Frank promises us Ruth will do so after the next tune. After they dance the song Frank says that it “reminds Ruth of the Garrick Theater a lot. She keeps expecting Billy Mundi to vomit blood on the back of the stage.” and we get a very fun take of the full tune. It moves directly into a hot Penguin medley, followed by a heavily mutated Montana. FZ instructs the band to “forget about 4/4 for a while, just forget 4/4 ever existed as a concept” near the beginning of his solo and the whole second half of the tune changes into “Booger floss”, ending with “Into the dawn to Boise, Idaho!”. Frank sings something about boogers over The Hook and George provides a very weird, funny and funky set of improvisations, mentioning Marty, Ruth and even Aynsley Dunbar. No Dupree’s Paradise tonight, instead we go right into a rocking Florentine Pogen, and the main set ends with the classic Oh No-Orange County-More Trouble combo. Frank starts to announce the end of the show right after he finishes singing More Trouble Every Day, and we get a shorter than usual solo after. The band returns for a fun Pygmy Twylyte-Room Service event, with Nappy serving a customer from Texas. Overall a very fine show, but I wouldn’t really recommend it due to the lack of clear highlights and poor sound.
1974 10 01 – Festhalle Mustermesse, Basel, Switzerland (Two Shows – Soundboard A-/B+) or (Early Show – Audience B+)
click here to listen to the early show (Soundboard)
click here to listen to the early show (Audience)
click here to listen to the late show
There were two shows on this fine Swiss evening, unfortunately the recordings are kind of a mixed bag. We get very nice sound from all fronts with the major exception of Frank, who sounds like he’s playing guitar from another venue. The early show suffers from this problem much more, so while your first instinct may be to listen to the soundboard recording, the audience recording for the early show is a very solid alternative and a nice way to actually easily hear Frank’s solos on this occasion. We open the show with fun takes of Stink-Foot and Inca Roads, and Frank follows it up with Cosmik Debris, with some nice scatting from George. Approximate comes next, in all three forms. During the sung section, Frank says “Yes, sing Ruth, sing your little heart out” and later asks ”Where’s Ralph? The guy in Brussels said… Ralph had a more richer texture..” both of which made this reviewer chuckle. Florentine Pogen is next and it’s a really great version, until the second half of the tune when it becomes clear that Frank’s guitar is actually getting quieter as the show goes on (but you can hear it clear as day on the audience recording). We get a fun and funky Penguin medley, and Frank brings the main set to a close on a Camarillo Brillo, with cool breaks between the ending phrases. They return for a nice encore of Oh No/Orange County and more Trouble Every Day. Really fun takes, with the lyrical mutation “I just can’t believe…. You are such a crook” and once again, Frank’s solos are really only listenable on the audience tape. It’s time for the second show and thank god, we have a significantly better mix. Frank’s guitar is still to quiet, but at least you can hear it. It opens with another hot Stinking Foot (Frank yells arf a few times then eventually says “prelude to the afternoon of an ARFFFFF”), and FZ follows it up with an excellent RDNZL and Village medley. In Wash That Thing, Frank tells us “All through my solo, Ruth has been thinking, Jesus, can he keep a beat? But later on Chester will help her.” Frank points at Ruth to solo and she plays some strange percussion instrument (email me if you know what it is) so he calls her a “Jive sucker” and tells her “don’t play me no marching band shit”. George plays Hearts and Flowers over the end of “Ruth’s solo”, Frank chats/taunts her some more and Chester ends the tune (FZ says “Get her while she’s hot folks! January 1st, no more!” referring to Ruth’s future departure). It goes into a hot Montana, which goes into a strange George Duke intro, with aliens, “the three blind mice” and “Ruth, the cosmic duck”. The intro cuts out, we cut back in on the theme of Dupree’s and get nearly half an hour of fantastic improvisation. There’s lots of laughing during Chester’s solo and Frank says “Who are these people and why have they come to Switzerland” and then proceeds to whip out a mind-boggling 15+ minutes solo (Apparently quoting a 70s So-Cal Chevrolet jingle and the John McLaughlin tune Follow Your Heart). There’s no final Duprees theme, Frank just brings the event to an end, says “ladies and gentlemen thank you for coming to our concert” and George starts Tush Tush Tush. The encore Pygmy Twylyte-Room Services are always fantastic, and tonight’s is no different. Napoleon tries to make a reference to a swiss Zappa fan named Urban, but calls him Irving about 10 times and audibly gasps and gets laughed at when Frank thanks “Urban” at the end of the show. FZ growls “Let’s get the fuck outta hear” and the night comes to a close. Two really great shows, both get a strong recommendation from me, but I’m not really sure the best way to enjoy the early show. I think you just have to listen to both to determine what you prefer, or just listen to other tapes.
1974 10 03 – Salle Vallier, Marseille, France (Audience C+)
The final recording of the tour and easily the worst sound, maybe the worst sound of the year. All voices are totally unintelligible, and the music is muffled and boxy. That being said, there’s no distortion and Frank’s guitar is very clear, so it’s still sorta listenable I guess. The show starts with the usual Stink-Foot/Inca Roads opener, and it’s easy to tell Frank is on fire tonight. A nice Cosmik Debris is next, with a little improvised singing from George. RDNZL follows and is excellent as always (any show that has both it and Inca Roads in it is a blessing) but unfortunately cuts during George’s solo. The tape resumes a couple seconds into Echidna’s arf, likely missing Village Of The Sun entirely. I can’t make out what Frank says about Ruth in Wash That Thing, but the tune immediately moves into the Penguin medley. Building a Girl cuts after seven seconds, and Frank ends the main set with Camarillo Brillo. In the middle of the tune, Frank invites “Henri” onstage who “helped [them] do this tour” and says some other things I can’t make out. They return for a great Pygmy Twylyte (with a really quiet pre-Mozart riff and yet another Hearts and Flowers quote) and Room Service, the latter immediately fading out. This is a really good show, but I would not recommend listening to it.
The Songs Played:
Approximate – This weirdo number returns as a regular item on this tour. The 1974 versions of this tune were played significantly faster than the Grand Wazoo era takes and Frank lets us know on a previous tour that “the rhythm of what they play is indicated but the pitches are their own choice” which of course leads to some enjoyable madness. Frank tells us on this tour “We’ll be playing it for you in three exciting versions! Version number one with dots, version number two with mouth and version number three with the bottom part of the leg”. They play the theme of the piece, then they sing it and then Frank has them dance the tune. After this they play through the whole song, wonderful improv and all. George, Frank and Chester boogie for a while in the middle and are occasionally interrupted with additional small “composed” sections of the piece. The fifth and final written chunk of the tune, heard in the 1972 takes, was dropped from this version. Frank always ends every full-blown performance by playing the One Shot Deal riff over the closing madness. Every part of this event is ridiculously stupid but wildly entertaining. This is one of Frank’s most experimental and “out-there” tunes, and I’m really glad he decided to bring it back in 1974.
Big Swifty – The Waka/Jawak classic reappears a single time on this tour in Helsinki. Unfortunately, we only get the closing theme of the tune and FZ’s ending announcements. Frank released this take on YCDTOSA#2, which leads me to believe he edited down this performance. I think it’s likely they played the whole tune, with some excellent improv in the middle, but we can never know without the complete shows.
Building A Girl – This is a short, one to two minute chunk of weirdo improvisations played as a coda to Dog/Meat. Frank would draw the shape of a woman with his hands, and the band would compose music along to the shape. Frank slowly began adding a little improv to the end of Uncle Meat at the beginning of the tour, but a full blown Building a Girl event didn’t arise until Copenhagen. Honestly I often find these performances really boring, some of the lamest improv Frank ever put to tape, but they’re always just short enough to not bother me too much.
Can’t Afford No Shoes (Ralph Stuffs His Shoes) – Played one time in Gothenburg, This One Size Fits All tune is still in very early stages of development and was known as “Ralph Stuffs His Shoes”. The actual tune is pretty much all there, but it’s slower, less-put together and there’s an additional intro section where the singers are mimicking a jazz cymbal beat. The lyrics basically fluctuate between “Have you heard the news?/(Waah waah waah-waah)/Ralphie stuffs his shoes” and “They’re so teeny/They’re so tiny/They’re so meeny/They’re so miny moe”. Also, interestingly enough, they sing “RDNZL” twice instead of the normal “recession…depression”. Frank plays a nice jamming solo at the end, they sing the title a few more times, there’s a blues walkdown and the tune is over. A very fun song, and the only time Frank ever performed this tune live
Camarillo Brillo – This Over-Nite Sensation classic appears frequently on this tour, often as an encore. It’s a nice, funky version of the tune and features some wonderful jamming from George and, if we’re lucky, Frank over the closing chords. Frank slightly rearranged the tune in the middle of the year, adding more instrumental bits between verses, including a partial quote of the Dragnet theme after the first “like a shadow from the tomb” line and a partial quote from The Hook after “laid out naked by the door”. A very nice take of one of FZ’s most pleasant tunes.
Cheepnis – This Roxy classic reappears one final time on this tour, in Helsinki. It’s (mostly) complete. They still skip the “Here comes that poodle dog!” and “Here Fido…” sections, but the “great big hairy thing” section was added to the tune at the beginning of the year. Nappy improvises some monster movie lyrics over this part, and it’s just always so much fun. Boogers infected this tune at the end of the “10 years” tour, so now George says something about boogers after the first three “little more cheepnis please” lines instead of laughing. The final “Little Miss Muffet” verse (with the “horrible eye”), and the following crazy percussion riff are missing from the released Helsinki tapes, and I suspect Frank edited the section out for whatever reason (maybe they chumped it). 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, on the previous three tours, but Frank all but dropped it after rearranging Pygmy Twylyte in August. A great tune, I wish it got to stay around longer.
Cosmik Debris – This tune appears pretty much as it does on Apostrophe, but with more solos. The regular performance features solos from Nappy (on sax), George and Frank. I personally prefer when Frank gets the only solo spot in this tune, but these are still some nice, funky, bluesy takes. George would occasionally get moved to sing during his solo (usually just about boogers or other road happenings) and Frank would often play around with the lyrics, especially the closing profession (“you could make more money as an” electrician, busboy, hooker etc).
Dickie’s Such An Asshole – This tune reappears one time in Berlin, because someone in the audience brings up Tricky Dick. Despite not being played for nine months, the tune is surprisingly put together, with all the composed parts and Nappy’s improvised vocals showing up. George takes the only solo, and Frank gives a report on “the president’s mental health”. Overall a really fun time, the tune even ends with the usual audience participation sing-along.
Dinah-Moe Humm – The (in)famous Over-Nite Sensation tune returns one time on this tour, in Frankfurt. It’s looser and funkier live and Frank includes an audience participation section in the middle where the crowd is commanded to “cum” and all make sex noises. Nappy and/or George sing the Ike-ettes’ parts from the record, and the “I can’t get into it unless I get out of it” section is way, way slower, giving it a totally different vibe. In this specific event Frank brings some fans on the stage and has them “pretend like they’re fucking”. “Ich bin Orgasmus!!!”
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, that is until August when Frank has Nappy sing lyric-less vocals over part of Uncle Meat. Frank clearly loved these songs, bringing them back here and 19 years later for his final tour with the Yellow Shark. Always played as the final segment in the “Penguin medley” after Penguin in Bondage and T’Mershi Duween, until Copenhagen. Frank experimented with improvisations at the end of Uncle Meat for the whole tour, but starting in Copenhagen, FZ permanently adds an improv section titled Building a Girl as a coda to the event, so in every show after that point Dog/Meat is the penultimate number in the Penguin medley.
Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? – This Roxy classic sounds great on yet another tour. It’s played faster than on Roxy and Elsewhere, and Frank takes a hot little solo in Bruce’s spot. FZ then tells us what Ruth has been thinking in the middle of the tune (Ex. “why is he making me play this song?”), George plays a wonderful solo like always in the second improv spot (and occasionally scats or sneaks in another Zappa tune, like Oh No or Holiday In Berlin), and Chester plays a drum solo at the end. The ending guitar solo on Roxy and Elsewhere was, unfortunately, a one-time only performance. The composed outro was dropped a couple tours ago, and here the song segues into another tune after the drum solo. On the Fall ’73 tour, 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 and it’s possible he still had them do that here. Always played after Echidna’s Arf and usually at the end of the Village medley. The Gothenburg performance is particularly crazy, it includes the chords for Zoot Allures and a complete performance of Flambe! And to end the event we get a repeat performance of the end of Echidna’s Arf. I love this tune, and like a number of songs on this tour, is a favorite of mine in FZ’s catalog.
Dupree’s Paradise – Another classic of the 1973 and 1974 bands. This tune has become a true monster improv song with nearly every member of the band performing an excellent solo and pushing the tune to its limits. Every performance begins with Frank cueing The Hook, announcing George on the finger cymbal, and describing how he hits the cymbal and, starting in Copenhagen, hits his finger and hurts himself. George would usually tell a strange story about aliens, three blind mice, tush, boogers and/or, of course, Ruth. After this he’ll usually go into an awesome jamming, rocking, funky, jazzy and/or tweaky keyboard solo before gracefully sliding into the intro theme of Dupree’s Paradise. Following this we get inspired solos from Napoleon (on flute), Tom, George again, Chester and finally Frank over a spacey, jazzy vamp (A different one compared to the 1973 takes). They often divert from this vamp and go into some of the best free jams of Frank’s career. Everyone delivers a very nice solo, truly amazing stuff. Frank’s jams just continuously get longer as the tour goes on; His solo in Basel is 15 minutes long! The main body of the tune was usually reserved for instrumental jamming, true madness could happen in George’s intro with quotes from Ach Du Lieber Augustin, Dixie, Ricky Don’t Lose That Number, Beethoven’s 9th (Ode to Joy), Can’t Afford No Shoes, If You’re Happy And You Know It, and many quotes from Louie Louie and the One Shot Deal riff. In Frankfurt, someone (most likely Tom) plays a violin solo during George’s intro and in Copenhagen, Frank has Nappy wrap Ruth in Gaffer’s tape at the end of Duke’s jam. They would sometimes play George’s intro but not actually go into the main theme of Dupree’s Paradise and segue into another song. I’m counting these as a half performance of Dupree’s and not a solo George improv for simplicity’s sake. Frank would occasionally play around near the Zoot Allures chords, but he only truly landed on them in Gothenburg in a monster performance of Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing. Frank, like in most songs on this tour, would cue hand signals in this song, always leading to a good time. Often 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 times with hand signals. George’s intro, when especially booger-fueled, can sometimes be known as The Booger Man. Overall this is an excellent tour for monster songs in general, one of the best there is.
Echidna’s Arf – This song is always welcome to my ears. It’s typically faster than the Roxy take on this tour and it has a cold start with the opening guitar riff, unlike on the album. This tune never really changed much, but I believe it to be one of Frank’s most timeless and perfect compositions, so I don’t think it ever needed to. Always leads into Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing and almost always preceded by Village of the Sun, except in Frankfurt when the tune arises out of improv. In Gothenburg after the Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing-Flambe extravaganza we get a reprise of the ending of this tune.
Flambe – This Sleep Dirt tune appears out of nowhere at the Gothenburg show at the end of a crazy Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing drum jam. Ruth carries a lot of the melody and Napoleon wonderfully croons the extra-terrestrial lyrics, making me wonder if there are takes of this performing all the Hunchentoot tunes in the vault somewhere. Nappy finishes the tune and sings “oh Hunchentoot you brute, why do you deserve me now” a few more times before transitioning back to drum solo. A really nice performance, and another reason to check out the Gothenburg concert.
Florentine Pogen – “Now ladies and gentleman you won’t believe this, we have a love song for you.” This tune re-appears fully complete in late August, is a regular number on the European tour and is played like on One Size Fits All. The album version is shortened though; every live performance features a fantastic guitar jam right after the official release fades out. It ends with a cool unique riff, more jamming and finally Ruth blows the “Chester’s Gorilla” phrase on the kazoo (duck call?). FZ plays a regular ending lick on guitar on the previous and following tours (as heard on The Token Of My Extreme version), but for some reason doesn’t include this one lick in Europe. Frank would introduce the song as “Chester’s Gorilla” or “Florentine Pogen”, or occasionally with both titles. This is always a fun tune and the long tasty guitar solo really adds to the event.
How Could I Be Such A Fool? – A holdover from the last tour, played one time in Frankfurt “simply because it’s old, and sometimes people like old nostalgic material, and Napoleon sings the shit out of it. ” This performance is based on the Cruising With Ruben and the Jets version, with Nappy once again performing the vocal duties. I love the slow ramp up in energy throughout the tune, gets me every time.
The Hook – “something a little bit unusual…a very special tune, this is sort of an abstract modagogo non objective tune, the melody is played by the bass drum, just watch Ruth”. 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. It’s arguable that after a certain point Frank considered George’s improv as a part of The Hook and not an intro to Dupree’s, but I’m going to continue including it as such for simplicity’s sake.
The Idiot Bastard Son – This 60s tune was a staple of the last three tours, but only appears twice in Europe, in Frankfurt and Helsinki. It would normally come between Pygmy Twylyte and Cheepnis, but after the former tune was reworked and Room Service was introduced, this tune and Cheepnis were rarely played. Despite this, the ending of Room Service always features the tease of the Idiot Bastard Son heard as the ending of the previous version of Pygmy Twylyte. Anyway, Napoleon brings a great flair to the vocals and Ruth’s performance of the melody is always lovely. Fans always give a big cheer when this song comes up, which kinda surprises me. Who’d think this tune is a crowd pleaser?
Inca Roads – The tune that may be Frank’s rock magnum opus finally appears fully complete on this tour. Everything is there: George’s fantastic vocals, the iconic intro, the lyrical mutations, the beautifully spacey and free solo vamp and even the “On Ruth!” closing sting. This tune is played pretty much as on One Size Fits All and every performance is its own masterpiece. A highlight of this tour, this band and Frank’s work in general.
Improvisations/Jams/Blues – There isn’t much complete “make something up” free improv from this tour, but there’s a very nice blues guitar jam from the second Paris concert released on FZ Plays The Music Of FZ as “Merely A Blues In A”. Beyond total free improv, there are regular fantastic loose jams in Dupree’s Paradise, both the intro and the main tune, with the intro sometimes referred to as “Improvisations” “Duke Improvisations” or “The Booger Man” if there are enough booger references.
I’m The Slime – This song reappears a single time on this tour, at the late show in Vienna. Frank slowly plays the chords at the end of Chester’s solo in Wash That Thing, and it’s clear the band only sorta remembers the tune (“I have existed for years but very little has changed.. except for the arrangement of this song”). Frank sings the rest of the tune (and some of the instrumental bits!) while the band slowly remembers more parts. Frank unfortunately announces the end of the show and only jams for about 30 seconds before leaving the stage, so while this tune is fun to hear, it’s not a standout performance.
It Can’t Happen Here – “this is a song, sort of,…from our very first album” Played one time in Berlin, because Frank thinks the crowd will “probably enjoy it”. It’s the same arrangement as on the “ten years” tour, but a little slower. This atonal vocal simulated nightmare is arranged for the full band. Everyone sings, and there’s a musical sting and crash between the Minnesota and DC lines, simulating the album. They do the rest of the “tune” and then Frank simulates the beginning of Monster Magnet by asking Suzie Creamcheese (played by George) “What’s got into you?”. We then hear a synth siren and some screams a la Monster Magnet and they transition into Montana. One of the strangest tunes in Frank’s discography, so I’m always happy to hear it when it appears.
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. One time, in Copenhagen, Frank let’s George solo first in the tune, and we get a nice, rare and funky Duke jam in Montana. Always followed by The Hook and Dupree’s Paradise.
More Trouble Every Day – Played as on Roxy and Elsewhere, but with fewer horns and more percussion. Always played in a medley following Oh No/Son of Orange County, a holdover from the “ten-years” tour’s oldies medley. A deliciously funky reworking of the timeless Freak Out tune, one of Frank’s best. Each performance contains a wonderful long guitar jam from Frank. After the fade out heard on the album version, Frank would usually jam for a little more and then bring the show to a close.
Oh No – This Weasels classic re-appears as a holdover from the “ten-years” tour’s oldies medley, and is beautifully sung by Napoleon. They play the main body of the tune and then transition into Son of Orange County, a reworking of the “in your dreams” section and a little bit of The Orange County Lumber Truck. Always nice to hear.
Penguin In Bondage – This classic Roxy tune has finally reached a state of completion at the end of 1973, 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. Frank, for some reason, started having George say “Achoo!” repeatedly over the first post-”oh yeah oh yeah oh…” riff, and drops it down to a single sneeze before the lick starting in Vienna. This tune always features a hot and tasty solo from Frank, and is almost always played at the beginning of a medley with T’Mershi Duween and Dog/Meat.
Po-Jama People – Frank pulls this One Size Fits All song out of nowhere after playing two other rare/in-progress tunes in Gothenburg. The lyrical cohesion between singers is pretty shaky, but all the words are there. At this point in time the song is way, way slower that the completed version, which is definitely a detriment. Frank plays a solid solo in the middle of the tune, they finish the tune and Frank outros the concert. A nice performance, cool to hear because of its rarity, but nowhere near the beast it would become by the time it ends up on OSFA. One particularly fun moment comes when Nappy says “wanna play some chess”, because Frank was inspired to write this tune by the 1973 Ponty band’s habit of not partying on the road and playing said game instead
Pygmy Twylyte – This wonderful little Roxy and Elsewhere tune is always excellent and this tour is no exception. Frank totally rearranged the song in August, drastically slowing it down, adding new segments for Nappy to improv over, giving it a long, majestic guitar solo and a new ending. Frank’s guitar work on this version of the tune is really fantastic; we’re lucky it was a regular number because it’s an easy highlight of the tour. Starting in Vienna, FZ has George play Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C, K. 545 at the end of the tune, between the closing riffs. This version of Pygmy Twylyte is always followed by Room Service, a routine-type song with improvised dialog from Frank, like the successor to Dummy Up. There’s an argument to be made that Dummy Up is still included as a part of Pygmy Twylyte and/or Room Service. There are bits of music shared by both tunes, and Nappy improvs lyrics in both tunes, but he’ll talk about anything, not specifically drug culture, and because of this I think it’s easier to think of Room Service as a reworked version of the Dummy Up section of Pygmy Twylyte. Anyway, This is a really fun tune, no matter the version, and a highlight of Nappy’s tenure in the Mothers.
RDNZL – This wonderful Studio Tan tune is finally complete and performed like on said album (except without the keyboard breaks between the lines in the big marimba event). Ruth’s beautiful composed solo is at the right tempo and perfectly performed. Frank and George each play an amazing solo, like on the studio take, and the section before George’s has him and Nappy singing! They both sing “We can share a love” a few times over that doo-wop-ish bridge. The tune always ends with a musical quote from Dupree’s Paradise. I think this is one of Frank’s all time great compositions and another highlight of this band. Any concert with this song is likely to be a good time.
Room Service – This tune emerges in August and is kind of like the evolution of Dummy Up. It’s always preceded by the slowed-down, reworked Pygmy Twylyte and features a lot of the same musical cues as Dummy Up. Nappy improvises some lyrics based on Pygmy Twylyte, there’s some unique music and then Frank and him improvise a comedy skit about Room Service at a hotel. Frank plays himself (or a generic American tourist, possibly from Texas) and Nappy plays a chef sending orders to Frank. FZ gives an order (typically “a green hocker in a greyhound locker” but in Copenhagen it’s bondage equipment) and Nappy chants the name of the waiter who will send him his food. First order never gets there and Nappy chants another, better waiter’s name. The names of the waiters were frequently a band or crew member and changed from night to night. The tune ends after the second waiter chant with the Pygmy Twylyte-Idiot Bastard Son transitional ending from the last few tours, despite The Idiot Bastard Son rarely getting performed. Room Service was regularly played as the final tune of the show or as an encore, and is a comic highpoint of the tour.
Son of Orange County – This reworking of The Orange County Lumber Truck and the end of Oh No returns as a remnant of the “ten-years” tour’s oldies medley. It sounds just as it does on Roxy and Elsewhere except with fewer horns and more percussion. Each take contains a fantastic guitar solo, and often some Nixon or tush references. This is another one of Frank’s all time best rearrangements, wonderfully sung by George and Nappy. Always played after Oh No and before More Trouble Every Day. The line “I just can’t believe you are such a fool” frequently mutated to the show’s theme, some favorites being “I just can’t believe you have such a tush” and “I just can’t believe you are such a crook.”
Stink-Foot – Frank reworked this Apostrophe classic for the stage last August and used it as an opening song for the next two or so years. The live arrangement consists of the studio portion of the tune up to the guitar solo, over the new riff Frank thought up on the spot last July in San Carlos. Like I said, this arrangement is chiefly used as a show opener and Frank would introduce the band and/or the next song over the end of this tune, and leave out all the post-solo lyrics. Frank would really stretch out on his guitar in this song, providing some truly awesome solos. FZ would also often change the location following “right around the corner” from show to show. For example in most of the German shows Frank says “around the corner by Fritz’s Rau’s House/Apartment” (referencing the German concert promoter immortalized in Shall We Take Ourselves Seriously) and in one of the Basel show’s he says “right across the street by the train station”. The 1974 performances of this song are always fantastic and a highlight of the latter half of the year.
Satumaa (The Finnish Tango) – This tune appears one time, in Finland of course. The Mothers sight-read this national song, and the Finnish crowd just goes nuts. They play through the tune once instrumentally (and you honestly can’t tell they’ve never played it before), George jams for a bit, then Nappy comes in with the Finnish vocals and gives a hilariously terrible performance. A really fun time, and an amusing highlight from “The Helsinki Concert”.
T’Mershi Duween – This fantastic “bongo number” is in top form on this tour. The Mothers execute the tune perfectly and the percussion is absolutely mesmerizing. It’s just a short little weirdo melody, but it’s one of my favorite pieces from this period in Frank’s career. Frank began to experiment with lengthening the cowbell break at the beginning of the tune in late July, and he continues to do so throughout their European tour. That cowbell break just gets longer as time goes on and by the end of the tour Chester (possibly conducted by Frank) has a sort of a drum solo in that spot. In Frankfurt, FZ announces the “first anniversary performance” and after they play through the tune once, they “dismember it brutally”, and I honestly can’t describe it better than that. Always played between Penguin in Bondage and Dog/Meat.
Tush Tush Tush (A Token Of My Extreme) – This Joe’s Garage tune was originally performed pseudo-instrumentally and used as the opening and closing themes each night for this tour and for the rest of the year. During the opening performances, George and Nappy would talk to each other about recent events on the road (typically boogers, Marty and/or Ruth) and sing “tush tush tush” between the instrumental verses. The closing performances were typically shorter, featured less dialog and may include Frank ending the show or Nappy singing a popular tune (often Vaya Con Dios). A really catchy little song, a very fun start to these wonderfully joyous shows, and an overall underappreciated piece in Frank’s catalog.
Village Of The Sun – This tune is now nearly unrecognizable compared to the Roxy performance. It’s way way faster, has a unique chugging intro, a bunch of quotes from Approximate, lyrical mutations (the second “even Johnny Franklin too”’ becomes “In your thermal underwear”), Nappy gets a little sax solo in the middle of the song and there’s a different, hyper ending where they usually say “what’s you gonna do… Brian-poo”, a reference to soundman Brian Krokus. It’s a very different experience from the 1973 versions and portrays a totally different emotion. I probably wouldn’t say this is my favorite version of this tune, but it’s still highly enjoyable and fills a different niche. Always played following RDNZL and before Echidna’s Arf and Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?, though when I say the “Village suite”, I’m referring to Village of the Sun and the two songs that follow, like heard on Roxy And Elsewhere.
Dupree’s Paradise Solo Table:
Life On The Road 