Overview:
This is an interesting, often excellent and often disappointing tour. Frank assembled a new eight piece band in the summer of 1975, but for one reason or another Denny Walley, Robert “Frog” Camarena (both vocals/guitar) and Novi Novog (viola/keyboards/vocals) all quit the group before the beginning of the tour in late September (rehearsal tapes of this band before Andre Lewis’ arrival can be heard on Joe’s Camouflage). They were still rehearsing (and Andre wasn’t in the band yet) in the first week of September, just a few days before the Royce Hall shows, so this band must have fallen apart just a few weeks/days before the first show. What remains is a five piece ensemble consisting of drums, bass, keyboards, tenor sax and guitar, with everyone singing occasional lead (except Terry, for now…). This is the smallest band Frank toured with since 1966, and the result clearly affects the music. Some songs work very well with the striped-back, sleazy vibe of this group, but some songs leave me wishing for the lush sound of the 1973-74 bands. One of Frank’s goals with this iteration of the Mothers was to play his guitar more, and that’s also evident in the music. Gone (for the most part) are the complex instrumentals from the Roxy era, instead we’re treated to a litany of shorter vocal songs (both with solo sections and without) and the cool, guitar- based instrumentals later heard on Zoot Allures (mainly the title track and Black Napkins, two of FZ’s “signature guitar tunes”). Frank plays a crazy amount of guitar on this tour, maybe more than any other, and it’s pretty much always fantastic. Easily the most notable aspect of the tour, and while FZ’s bandmates are good, Nappy, Andre and Roy really don’t hold a candle to Frank. Roy almost never solos (the less I think about him the better), and Nappy and Andre’s are typically very similar from night to night. On Halloween Frank has Norma Bell basically audition for the band on stage, she succeeds with flying colors, and joins the band for the rest of the tour (though she unfortunately stopped showing up for rehearsals after the tour in mid-December, and FZ was forced to make her choose an “aisle or window?”). Norma was a wonderful addition to the group, improving the compositions and the improvisations with her presence, and it’s really a bummer she didn’t prioritize working with Frank. Since she joined the group mid tour, her contributions increase as time goes on (If in the song section I don’t mention any differences when Norma is in the band, assume she either doesn’t play or just doubles Nappy’s horn parts). There are a lot of unreleased arrangements and at least one composition (Swallow My Pride) from the early leg of the tour, that were almost all very interesting, exciting tunes, but basically all of them were dropped by October. Frank had been easing into a setlist throughout the month, but finalizes it once Norma officially joins I’m November. The average setlist from this tour from that point on is as follows:
Naval Aviation In Art (Over PA)
Opening Blues/Band Intros
Stink Foot (including the Poodle Lecture from mid-November on)
Dirty Love
How Could I Be Such A Fool?
I Ain’t Got No Heart
I’m Not Satisfied (these three songs make up the “Freak Out Medley”)
Black Napkins
Advance Romance
Honey Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?
The Illinois Enema Bandit
Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy (these three are the “Honey medley”)
Lonely Little Girl
Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body (these three I call the “Money medley”).
Chunga’s Revenge
Zoot Allures
Camarillo Brillo
Muffin Man
I’m The Slime
San Ber’dino
Frank would occasionally mix up the end of the show, cutting tunes for time, experimenting with a proto-Filthy Habits, or switching up the Brillo/Muffin and Slime Ber’dino medleys. That was really the extent of the variation though. This didn’t matter if you were seeing the shows in person, but is a bummer for fans and tape collectors, and the band clearly has less fun playing sets this constructed (especially by the end of the tour). The setlist is very vocal heavy (notably the first two-thirds), and doesn’t have the spontaneity or sense of contrast the Zappa shows are typically known for. For example the Honey medley has fun songs, but they’d be easier to appreciate if they were spaced out in the show. That medley is also a good example of the development of Frank’s writing in the 70s from the purely nonsensical and goofy lyrics of the Roxy-Era to more cynical and sexual tunes of the late 70s and 80s. This isn’t in any way a bad tour; there are many amazing moments from these shows and Zappa would produce many fantastic bands after this era, but for me this group exemplifies many of the problems with a lot of Zappa’s late 70s live shows (the lack of instrumental tunes, the rise of more dumb, though-still-fun, sex songs, and more than anything else the emergence of the same setlist every night trend, which Frank would continue to do until 1980), and in my opinion all these problems originated in the Fall of 1975.
The Band:
Frank Zappa – Lead Guitar, Vocals, More Guitar
Napoleon Murphy Brock – Lead Vocals, Tenor Sax, Roxy Relic
Roy “Guacamole Moleman Managua” Estrada – Bass, “Vocals”
Andre Lewis – Keyboards, Vocals, Little Thing That He Blows In The Middle Of The Show
Little Terry “Ted” “Bowtie” Bozzio – Drums
Norma Bell – Alto Sax, Vocals, (Unfortunately only from Nov. 1 to Dec. 9)
Recordings Available:
1975 09 27 – Robertson Gymnasium, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA (Audience B+/B)
The 1975 fall tour starts off on a high note with this lovely southern Californian night. Fun renditions of many tunes, with nice, though short, bursts of guitar from Frank. Solid sound too, nothing fantastic but nothing to complain about either. As we’ll come to learn from this band, we’re here for Frank and his long, stringed instrument, and not a whole lot else. The best part of this show though is the handful of tunes that get played early in the tour, but get dropped before November. The night opens with the first opening blues jam followed by a sick Apostrophe. After this Frank gives a long introduction to the band and the first handful of tunes (“a combination of very old and very new songs”), all over a barebones Duke Of Prunes vamp. Nappy sings a line or two of the Duke of Prunes, the Honey-Enema-Carolina medley starts the show (Roy chumps the “bitch and a cunt” line), and the songs are followed by the always wonderful We’re Only In It For The Money medley (consisting of Lonely Little Girl, Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance and What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?). The unreleased Swallow My Pride comes next and we get a slow but standard take of this dumb little number. Next up is Any Downers, and between the dumb little dope fiend skits we get some fantastic, heavy, guitar jamming. A standard, but hot, Chunga’s Revenge follows this up. They finish the instrumental event, and we get another little blues while Frank tunes up his guitar. Next is the unexpected return of a Zappa-Jeff Simmons collaboration, Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up! It’s a wonderful little vocal tune, surprisingly well fit for this weirdo bar band. After this is yet another odd number, this time it’s the radically rearranged, klezmer sounding T’Mershi Duween. Somehow, this moves right into a very early Zoot Allures. Not the beast it would soon become, but still beautiful nonetheless and following this Frank moves us into a delightfully rare Sleep Dirt, with amusing solos from Nappy and Andre (unfortunately Frank either didn’t solo or his jam is completely cut). The tune is mildly rearranged with what sound like parts of Black Napkins, and transitions directly into said tune. Frank delivers a passionate solo, and brings the main set to a close. Frank seems to consider stopping here, but they play what’s probably the final ever performance of Anyway The Wind Blows instead. It’s a fun little number (they should’ve kept this one around longer too) and Frank tries to end the show afterwards, but is seemingly lured back on by the band and the crowd. Suddenly, he rips into Willie The Pimp and we’re treated to a condensed take of the Hot Rats classic. This morphs into Advance Romance, which momentarily ends the show once again. They return a final time for the first, fun encore combo of I’m The Slime and San Ber’dino. This is a fun show, and well worth checking out for the rare tunes and listenable sound.
1975 10 01 – War Memorial Gymnasium, Vancouver, Canada (Soundboard A and Audience A-/B+)
Here we are with one of the best shows of the tour, coming unfortunately early into the excursion. The large majority of this show is captured on an excellent soundboard/radio broadcast (it cuts during Zoot Allures), and the remainder is covered by a very nice audience recording. The show starts with another fantastically rocking Opening Blues-Apostrophe combo (this is easily one of Frank’s best show openers), before gliding into the introductory Duke of Prunes. Frank has some really amusing things to say about all the tunes in the “first lump” of the program, and we begin with another standard Honey medley and another delightful Money medley. This is followed by a raucous Chunga’s Revenge (one of the best of the tour), which leads into another dumb-but-fun Swallow My Pride. Then they go into a truly unhinged 12+ minute Any Downers?, with some of the most fiery and impassioned guitar playing from Frank in his whole career. After this they finish out the tune with some awful moaning, followed by a transition to some weirdo dragnet-style improv about Canadian Customs (“welcome to our county… you don’t mind taking all your clothes off and bending over?”). The “hemorrhoid check” finishes off after a long while, and they move into another fun, reworked T’Mershi Duween and early Zoot Allures. The magnificent Sleep Dirt comes next. It’s even better than the last night (Frank solos!), and segues into another jaw-dropping Black Napkins. This ends the main set, and the recording cuts off and returns part way through the encore, missing the first part of Advance Romance and a large chunk of Frank’s solo. FZ then makes a quick transition to I’m The Slime, and brings the Canadian night to a close with the Overnite Sensation tune. This is a lovely show, with a large number of highlights and a low number of dull moments. Check this one out now!
1975 10 03 – Paramount Northwest Theatre, Portland, OR (Audience B+)
Another early fall show, another lovely blues and another delectable Apostrophe (God I wish this tune stuck around longer). The sound quality on this recording is really nice too. Frank introduces the band and lets us know “we have some new songs for you dealing with an assortment of subjects which may or may not be near and dear to your heart depending on how perverse you are by nature.” We get three more well performed takes of Honey, Enema and Carolina followed by three more fun tunes: Lonely Little Girl, Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance, What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?. They move into Chunga’s Revenge (like clockwork) and we get a nice take of the tune, until the tape cuts 3 minutes into Frank’s solo and the recording comes to an end. This is a nice recording, and a fine document of the early stage of this band, but it’s not a tape I’d recommend to an average fan. Check it out if you want more Apostrophes, but that’s about all here.
1975 10 04 – Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA (Two Shows – Audience B+/B)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
Another fun set of shows from this energetic little combo. The sound quality for both shows is less than ideal, but always listenable. The early gig starts off with (what I assume is) this band’s premier performance of Stink-Foot, and they start the show off with a slightly different Opening Blues to match that. Frank cues about two minutes of chaos before he starts playing his guitar in said foot tune, and then announces the new songs for the night. The regular Honey-Enema-Carolina medley comes next followed by the also-regular Money medley. Chunga’s Revenge comes next with another soaring solo from Frank. This concludes and he finally decides to quell the audience’s desires for the Mudshark and tells the dumb little Flo and Eddie era tune/story, with a short side note on “English groups” (“without dozens of succulent ladies with a taste for the bizarre, what would rock n roll be? Just another job like working in a gas station, y’know?“). The wonderful little vocal number, Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up follows this, and another excellent, 15+ minute Sleep Dirt/Black Napkins event melts my brain shortly after. The main set ends with the wildest Swallow My Pride ever performed. The tune goes off the rails and we end up with a fantastic Terry/Frank Ship Ahoy style jam. Just crazy! Frank returns, shouts out Bongo Fury, and delivers a fun encore Advance Romance that brings the early show to a close. The second show offers more of what we tend to expect from this band, but despite this it’s still a very interesting evening. Another great Opening Blues and sick Apostrophe start the show, and Frank once again introduces the band over the Duke Of Prunes vamp. FZ starts our program off “with some old songs”, and we get the first known take of this band’s medley of Freak Out tunes (consisting of How Could I Be Such A Fool?, I Ain’t Got No Heart, and I’m Not Satisfied). After this is another slew of familiar tunes, with a long introduction to the tunes (Frank even forgets where Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy goes in the medley); the ”Honey Shut The Fuck Up Don’t You Want A Man Like Me” medley (with an exceptionally great Carolina) leads into the Money medley, which in turn ends up in another rocking Chunga’s Revenge. Frank is fantastic in said tune (as always), he quotes a bit of Spoonful (Originally released by Howlin’ Wolf in 1960) and plays Mr.Green Genes over the closing crash. They go right into their final performance of T’Mershi Duween and follow it with another passionate Zoot Allures (with a brief bit of Funiculì Funiculà). This goes into what I believe may be the all time top Any Downers? ever played. Frank just jams and jams like his life depends on it. He played around with the medley to Tom Jones’ She’s A Lady, perfectly incorporating the goofy tune into this dark, drug-filled environment. Eventually, after ten-plus minutes of ear boggling playing (including a cool Latin infused-beat), Frank returns to the Tom Jones tune and Nappy begins to sing “She’s A Booger” over the riff. He improvises a few amusing stanzas, Frank calls the band back to the closing theme and then rips into I’m The Slime. This brings the set to a close, but they return for a spontaneous, fan-requested, a cappella version of Ravel’s Bolero, and a regular, fun and rocking take of San Ber’dino. These are two fantastic shows, and are well worth checking out by even the most skeptical Fall ‘75 listeners.
1975 10 12 – Convention Center, Dallas, TX (Audience B-/C+)
Another fairly standard October 75 show, except this time it’s got cruddy audio quality. It’s almost okay, but there’s hints of nasty distortion throughout the recording. A nice blues begins the program, followed by what’s unfortunately the final opening Apostrophe (at least until 1984, but at what cost?). Frank introduces himself as Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria, and after this riotous affair, FZ announces the world live premier of Dirty Love over the Duke Of Prunes vamp (“if it chumps in the first part of the show at least we’ll get it over with and if it doesn’t then you’ll have a cheap little get off from it”). It’s a fun tune, they perform it well, and they move into “a sequel to the Frenchie song”: Stink-Foot (“I’m very fond of inserting poodles into various things…just the way some of your moms might be interested in doing”). Frank cranks out a nice solo, tunes up (quickly quotes Louie Louie) and then moves us into the regular scheduled programming consisting of: the Freak Out medley, the Honey-Illinois-Carolina medley and the always fun Money medley. There’s a cut that takes out the beginning written part of the Enema Bandit, and both it and Carolina deliver some excellent solos. After this slew of tunes, we get another rambunctious Chunga’s Revenge. Frank whips out a fabulous guitar solo and ends the tune jam with some great Ship Ahoy-esque playing. Terry gets a short drum solo, which leads into another lovely Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up (Frank monotonically says “she doesn’t love me anymore”, which amuses me) and this in turn leads to an awesome, fiery Advance Romance. FZ shouts “look what she did to Frankie”, and the recording cuts off soon after the hot guitar jam. This is a solid show, but because of the poor audio quality and the lack of standout moments, this is gonna be a hard one to recommend for non-harcore fans.
1975 10 14 – Soldiers And Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS (Audience A-)
This is a very odd tape, for some reason the recording includes the opening walk over Naval Aviation, but cuts after less than a minute directly to the end of Frank’s solo in Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy, skipping what was probably the first 45 minutes of the show. Not the worst problem to have though, I’d much rather miss the Honey medley than Chunga’s or Zoot Allures (though I do have a soft spot for Carolina). The Money medley is super poppy and fun, Chunga’s rocks like always does, and surprisingly goes right into Advance Romance (it takes a while for this tune to find its regular spot). Now it’s time for the delayed Zoot Allures, and we get another beautiful, though not yet fully realized take. It leads into an amusing Swallow My Pride, followed by another crazed Any Downers. Frank slips into metal heaven for a little while, before getting pulled back to earth to do a dumb little Joe Cocker routine for a minute. He talks nonsense and slurs his speech before falling over into Camarillo Brillo (“for my next number man…”). Frank groans for the first minute of the tune, skipping all the lyrics, and leading this reviewer to laugh out loud. Eventually the tune finishes, and we get a fun Muffin Man to end the main set (“a tragic case”). FZ outros himself as “David Cassidy on guitar”, then returns for another fun encore combo of “I’m The Sleaze” (with a weird echo over the lyrics) and San Ber’dino. A fun tape, worth getting if you’re trying to fill out your Fall ‘75 collection, but not the first one I’d choose. Also, it’s a bummer but you can’t hear anyone yelling for “The Heats Out Every Night” at this Kansas show (the end of an era).
1975 10 15 – Barnhill Fieldhouse, Fayetteville, AR (Audience B-/C+)
Another solid show from early in the tour hampered by very meh sound. FZ sounds pretty pumped after a short opening blues, as he announces the “premier concert in Fayetteville Arkansas!” (Can anyone make out who Frank says is “on guitar”?). Someone passes him something, he makes a vibrator joke about it, and starts the show off with the first of many Stink-Foot/Dirty Love combos (“Don’t take this song seriously”). It’s a fun pairing, and we’ve thankfully got a while before the poodle lectures begin. There’s been a lot of monitor adjustments and checks up to now , probably because they’re playing in a fieldhouse in Fayetteville Arkansas. Next up is another standard Freak Out medley, followed by a short but sweet Black Napkins and fun Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up. After that are two more fun but average performances of the Honey and Money medleys (with a small cut in the second half of the Illinois Enema Bandit). Chunga’s from this era are always hot (this show is no exception, lots of Ship Ahoy-type stuff) and we get one of the first long and experimental Zoot Allures. Easily one of the best from the first month of the tour. A fun but dumb Swallow My Pride comes after this (with another small cut), followed by a sick Any Downers. Frank exclaims “Really cool and far out at the same time” and begins to solo until someone throws something on stage. He then says ‘that person has gotten my guitar dirty” and ultimately “whoever threw that go fuck yourself” before finally ripping into a delicious guitar jam. Terry goes at it for a bit after this while Frank chants “I can’t see” a la Nanook Rubs It. He moans some more, asks “where am I, where are we, and why are we here?” and brings us into Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man. This ends the main set, and they return for a great encore of I’m The Slime (a standout rendition) and San Ber’dino. This is a solid show, and I’m not gonna tell you not to listen to it, but I’m just gonna say there are a lot more pleasant listening experiences out there.
1975 10 23 – Music Hall, Boston, MA (Audience A)
We skip about a week of dates to find a band falling into a groove (for better or for worse), and it’s captured on this absolutely perfect audience recording in Boston. They play Pedro’s Dowry over the PA while people come in, Marty Perellis comes on stage to give some hall announcements (He can be heard at the beginning of a number of shows from ‘74 and ‘75 announcing “taping or filming of tonight’s show is not permitted”), and the hall plays Naval Aviation In Art while the Mothers walk on (a regular feature of shows from this point on). Terry counts in the opening blues and the night begins. FZ rips out an insanely hot solo-ette at the end, introduces the band and kicks us into Stink-Foot. It’s fiery as always, and when Frank has to stop to tune he talks about the “Berklee graduates” and “be-bop scholars” who come to the Boston shows. The foot song leads in Dirty Love, with a wonderfully funky little solo from Andre while Frank tunes his guitar (some more). They then play the now obligatory Freak Out medley, and follow it with a soulful, but short, Black Napkins. Next we get a slightly modulated medley consisting of Honey>Illinois>Advance>Carolina. Nappy plays around with the “you might be the devil” line in Advance Romance, and Frank follows this chunk up with the Money medley. It’s lovely as always, and slightly notable because FZ gets distracted by crowd violence at the end of What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body. We get a slightly slower, more reflexive, but still excellent Chunga’s Revenge, followed by an average (for October) Zoot Allures. Also, Frank drops a very brief quote from Sy Borg in his Chunga’s solo for the first time (the “give me dichromium” line, about 12 minutes in) and shouts out “Terry Ted Bozzio ladies and gentlemen!” after his crazed drum solo. The crowd freaks for something unseen in the middle of Zoot Allures, and there’s a fun little samba bit near the end of the same tune. After this they go into another vile but enjoyable enough Swallow My Pride, followed by a special Any Downers. Frank unfortunately barely jams, but he does speak to the audience a bit, and then sings/recites an early set of lyrics to Packard Goose! This is the first known appearance of any aspect of this song. After some more heavy guitar and “right on”s we get a pretty standard end to the show, with Camarillo Brillo and Muffin Man closing the main set, and I’m The Slime and San Ber’dino finishing the night. This is an awesome concert, and the fantastic sound quality makes it one worth listening to.
1975 10 24 – Palace Theater, Providence, RI (Audience A/A-)
We’re still in New England and we get another basically perfect sounding show, but this one’s even more fun musically. The band walks on to Naval Aviation In Art and then play the regular fun little blues until Frank comes on and gives an amusing set of intros including ” the dynamic and partially sequined Andre Lewis”, and little Terry ‘Ted’ Bozzio on “drums and abject moderation”. Frank adds “Managua” to Roy’s ever lengthening name (now “Roy Ralph Moleman Managua Estrada”), and it becomes a mild secret word for this show appearing in Dirty Love, the Money Medley and Any Downers, amongst others. FZ introduces himself as David Cassidy on guitar, and a wonderful Stink-Foot and Dirty Love start us off. The Freak Out medley is fun, but not as enjoyable as the following Black Napkins (which “doesn’t have a name” yet). Advance Romance comes next, and Andre gets his first solo in the tune (“look what she’s done to Andre, just look at his shirt and everything… poor sucka”). He keeps this solo spot, for the most part, for the rest of his time in the Mothers. It’s a funky little jam, and propels Frank to fantastic heights. They then move into a very fun take of the Honey-Enema-Carolina medley, one of the best around. The crowd goes insane after Honey leading FZ to claim “that’s the nicest reception this song has ever gotten, either that or you people need to exercise your mouths a lot” (it’s also the first time he actually says “head” at the end of the tune too). Andre gets a rare, fun and funky solo in the Illinois Enema Bandit, and Carolina is just fantastic, nearly eight minutes long and all wonderful. The Money oldies medley is always a gem, and the following Chunga’s is just as fun. Frank gives their keyboard player a shoutout saying “now just watch Andre very closely here… notice how deftly he plugs in this unnamed electronic instrument… notice how deftly that he puffs on the little plastic tube that comes out of the instrument as if it had some pseudoscientific meaning when the air went into the box, now just keep your eye on Andre”. He jams on his melodica, then Frank whips out another great rock jam, before eventually segueing into Wipe Out and Terry’s solo! After this, Frank comes back in to play some more moody guitar, and starts to quickly play the chords/general melody to Sy Borg! He jams some more, quotes Louie Louie at the very end while tuning, and moves into another mesmerizing Zoot Allures (with a small “Billy was a mountain” quote about 3:45 in). After this is a really fast Swallow My Pride, and FZ seems to end the show. They return but explain that their act used too much power and they had to break to let the generators cool down (this doesn’t stop a fan from yelling “just keep on jammin’ though!”). They follow this with another fun, but 90% skit Any Downers, that leads into Camarillo Brillo and Muffin Man to end the show (Someone yells “circular motion” during the end of Camarillo, referencing Nanook Rubs It). This ends the show again, Frank gives the crowd an encore ultimatum (“here’s the deal, we’ll play one more if you promise to leave the building in an orderly fashion… and if you don’t we won’t play any at all”“), they sorta settle down and we’re treated to a red hot I’m The Slime, followed by an equally fantastic, and now rare, Apostrophe. They move into the last Duke of Prunes vamp and FZ quickly ends the show by just saying “goodnight everybody”. This is a fantastic concert, with some wonderful, fun, and rare music. Check this one out for sure.
1975 10 25 – Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ (Audience A-)
This is a solid show (well representative of the month) from just outside New York captured on another high quality audience tape. It’s actually one of two shows from this date, but it’s difficult to tell if it’s the early or the late (If I had to take a complete guess, I’d say late due to the length of the show). They begin with another fun blues, Frank introduces the band, intros himself as David Bowie, says Captain Beefheart won’t be here (“maybe in the spring”) and plays another amusing Stink-Foot/Dirty Love. Frank stops to tune at the end of his first solo of the combo, then stops to fix some feedback “because the people in Passaic want the best… especially when you’re approaching the most sacred of holidays of the year… There’s something about Halloween in New Jersey that really means something.” After this they play the Freak Out medley for those who see them as a “human jukebox”, followed by a cool Black Napkins (still unnamed, but Frank introduces it as “for lovers only” for the first time). Advance Romance now has its regular Andre and Frank feature, and Frank prefaces Honey with “Now this song isn’t released yet. So don’t bootleg it!” After this someone asks about Ruth and Frank replies with “It’s hard to tell where Ruth is at because she’s trying to decide whether or not to strap on the guy who used to mix our sound or stay with Ian. Right now she’s trying to work it all out, get her heard together y’know what I mean. Ruth is in Limbo, but listen, now shut the fuck up and listen to this because Halloween is approaching. The name of the song is the Illinois Enema Bandit”. It’s a great take, with a long Big Swifty quote in Frank’s solo. Carolina is always enjoyable, as is the Money medley, and Chunga’s and Zoot get longer and more raucous with every show. In Swallow My Pride, Frank brings on Linda from the audience to “talk to you” and she rambles on (she’s clearly on something) about Frank and a dream she had earlier. After this the show ends with a disappointing Any Downers with basically no guitar, and a fine Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man. They return for an encore, FZ tells the mob, “now really, we do have a little time to kill, so just relax, y’know?” and namedrops the Fillmore East before ripping into an excellent, long, partially feedback heavy I’m The Slime. San Ber’dino then closes out the show. This is a solid show, probably the least interesting of the three excellent October east coast audience recordings (Boston-Providence-Passaic), but the highlights are definitely worth checking out.
1975 10 26 – Hofstra University Playhouse, Hempstead, NY (Audience B/B-)
Another pre-Halloween show, but this one has unfortunately lame sound. It starts with Pedro’s Dowry over the PA (no Naval Aviation!), followed by Nappy and Roy moaning into the mic for a good minute (which the crowd clearly loved, you can hear a guy yell “Somebody beat him!”). From here on we get a very normal Fall ‘75 show, pre-Norma Bell. The setlist is pretty much set in stone by this point, and this is a fine example of a show from this tour. There’s the fun blues intro, Frank mentions this is the early show for this night, and introduces himself as David Bowie once again (or should I say… Frankie Stardust). We get another fun Stink-Foot/Dirty Love (“over by Max’s Kansas City”), followed by another fine Freak Out Medley (“drift back into a time to approximately 1967… to apostolic studios where we were working on an album called Ruben In The Jets”) . Black Napkins (still nameless) is nice as always, and Advance Romance delivers a nice pair of solos today. The recording unfortunately cuts during Frank’s jam, and resumes at the beginning of The Honey Don’t You Wanna medley. The songs brings exactly what you’d expect (aka two solid solos), as does the delightfully poppy Money medley, and this deposits us into Chunga’s Revenge. Nice solos, but all a little short, probably due to the impending late show. They transition into a very nice, long, emotional Zoot Allures, but unfortunately the recording cuts out before the band finishes, missing the last portion of the concert. This is a fine show, but due to the missing portions, the lack of standout moments and the poor sound, I’m finding it hard to recommend this tape to anyone. Joe Travers has said on a Zappacast that this is one of the best sounding “road tape” documents of this tour, so it’s possible it may wind up on a future release.
1975 10 29 – Palace Theatre, Waterbury, CT (Two Shows – Audience A-/B+ & Audience B+/B)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
It’s almost Halloween and Frank decides to really whip it all out and give us two of the best shows of the year. The early show sounds pretty excellent but isn’t the most exciting concert, and the late show sounds a little worse but is full of fun and rare moments. Nappy moans after Naval Aviation, there’s the regular fun blues jam, then Frank comes in to introduce the band and names himself as South African character actor Cecil Kellaway. This moves into a somewhat standard, but lively set. Stinkfoot/Dirty Love are a rockin combo (Frank makes a reference to the religious Connecticut theme park Holy Land USA) and they follow it up with the Freak Out Medley. Black Napkins arises out of this, but surprisingly FZ sings the beginning of Tryin’ To Grow A Chin over the vamp! It’s a regular, passionate performance after that though, and the same can be said about the following Advance Romance and Honey Don’t You Wanna. The Illinois Enema Bandit comes next and we get an unexpected audience event. Instead of the normal guitar jam, Frank decides to create a “tone poem” and invites “the lovely Kelly” on stage to act out a mock recreation of Michael Kenyon’s crimes. Frank slowly quotes Hall Of The Mountain King, lets the poor girl ramble for a bit (Kelly’s kinda shy but she’s a good sport) and then eventually finishes the tune. Mildly amusing, but not as interesting as a hot solo. Carolina and the Money medley follow this like usual, and we’re deposited into Chunga’s Revenge. Unfortunately it’s a shortened take, Frank doesn’t get to solo, and because they’ve got a second show in a few minutes, FZ decides to end the concert here. Sad but true. Show number two begins much the same way, a fun blues, a long goofy intro from Frank (featuring 1940 Republican nominee for President “Wendell Willkie on guitar”) and a hot Stink-Foot (with the hula lick right at the end). Dirty Love is fun as always, but has a nasty cut in the middle, and goes into the first rare treat of the night: Sleep Dirt! It’s probably the best take of the tour, and even features a slow Mr Green Genes quote from Frank. The regularly scheduled Freak Out medley carries on, but after How Could I Be Such A Fool?, there’s a bit of a stumble, Frank says “no no I was gonna give you a surprise” and rips into Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up. A lovely take, this bands final performance, and it leads into the rest of the oldies medley. Black Napkins is cool, Honey has a bad cut, and Illinois has a nice solo (Frank also makes fun of Nappy at the end for saying “Tushy Tushy”; “are you Jewish?… you hung around with Beefheart too long”). Carolina is fun as always (but with a couple short cuts) and so is the following Money medley (“who are all these schmucks, that she keeps around’). This leads into an insane, jaw-dropping Chunga’s Revenge. Frank mangles his guitar for over 10 minutes, drops some quotes from Sy Borg and even plays the Tryin’ To Grow A Chin chords! Eventually he segues into Wipe Out once again, which of course leads to a solo from Terry. After this monstrous event we cool down a little with a beautiful Zoot Allures and the penultimate Swallow My Pride. This brings the main set to an end, but the Mothers return to play another silly Any Downers. After the head though, Frank announces that he’s got a song to sing, and starts to recite a very early version of Packard Goose! It’s the most bare bones performance possible, but it’s still wildly cool to hear. They transition out of that into a rocking I’m The Slime (with awesome quotes from Little Coquette and Willie The Pimp, and also the line “and eat the cucumbers we feed you”) and bring the night to a close with a classic Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man (the ending of the tape gets a little distorted). After some phenomenal heavy jamming, Frank announces that “tonight is Sydney’s birthday. Sydney is the man that has driven us up here from New York.. and I’d appreciate it if y’all gave a round of applause for Sydney. ” and wraps up the concert. This is a really fantastic set of shows. There are some slower moments, and the sound can be subpar, but this is easily one of the best nights of the tour.
1975 10 31 – Halloween – Felt Forum, New York, NY (Two Shows – Audience A-/B+)
click here to listen to the early show
click here to listen to the late show
“Welcome to the Mothers Of Invention program for the Felt Forum 1975 Halloween Spectacular!” Here we are on another Halloween night with Frank and his gang, and although Frank was not allowed to record these two shows, they’re luckily captured on two very solid audience tapes. The early show starts with a lot of pre-concert recordings (Pedro’s Dowry, The Martian Hop by the Ran Dells, and Naval Aviation all over the PA), before the band triumphantly comes in with the opening blues. FZ gives his usual amusing introductions (“Cher Allman on guitar”) and launches into a great Stink-Foot. He takes a bit of time to talk about Terry’s Mother-In-Law (who happens to be in the audience), before cleanly segueing into Dirty Love. The Freak Out medley takes its normal place, followed by a “song that you get your hair out of your face for”, Black Napkins. Frank decides to recite the lyrics he has written of “Packard Goose” over the pre-melody section, whips out a great solo and brings us, by surprise, directly into Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy and the Money medley (God those three tunes are so much fun). Chunga’s Revenge comes next with a litany of solos, but most interestingly one from Norma Jean Bell! Zappa gives her a guest spot here (she plays a fun alto sax solo and sings/scats a bit), and brings her back later on in the night (more on that soon). The tune wraps up with more hot solos, and then transitions into a fantastic Zoot Allures, featuring a wonderful solo from Frank and a surprising, soulful solo from Norma! A seriously lovely take. Frank quotes parts of Sy Borg in both of the last two tunes, and follows this up with Honey Don’t You Wanna. Up next is of course the legendary Illinois Enema Bandit, with a long, special Halloween intro featuring audience participation. Frank talks about “art rock”, and then invites “Fran” on stage to demonstrate the Bandit’s crimes. FZ talks to her for a little, eventually finding out she’s a radiologist and gives Barium enemas for X-Rays on a regular basis (God damn what a pick; out of everyone in the crowd). They finish the, uh, demonstration and then they finally play the tune. FZ stops to talk during his solo (“Now what is it about America…?”), changes the end lyrics a little (“He pumped up Frannie, in the third degree”) and afterwards moves into a show ending Advance Romance. San Ber’dino closes out the early set and the Mothers get ready for show number two. We receive another regular October ’75 opener, consisting of the intro blues and the two poodle songs. FZ names the Mothers and explains that there was “a little ballet with the mop and the bucket” performed by the road crew over Pedro’s Dowry before the show began. He also mentions that Terry turned down “a lifetime contract with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in order to come on stage and play rock and roll with us” (I love Mahavishnu but I’m glad Frank got to keep Terry). FZ rips out a sick jam in Stink-Foot, talks some more to Fran (still right in the front row) and comments on “Frannie and Frenchie”. Dirty Love is fun as always, but they have to clear “the dog wee-wee” on the stage and Frank brings Norma back on stage to play a sick little sax solo while the do that (he tells us she’s “imported direct from Detroit, formerly with the Mahavishnu Orchestra itself, before that it was Stevie Wonder, and she’s come here just for Halloween purposes to see what would happen if she played the alto saxophone while we cleaned up”). The Freak Out medley of course comes next (Frank names the first song “How Could I Be Such A Radiologist?”) and it gets followed by another excellent Black Napkins. Frank once again recites Packard Goose (with a few more lyrics compared to the early show!), complains about writers more and makes yet another reference to our local radiologist. He rips out another beautiful guitar creation, then starts to sing Nanook Rubs It! He sings “Well right about that time people, A fur trapper who was strictly from commercial had the unmitigated audacity to come to this concert tonight on Halloween” and then talks a little more about the fur trapper and then humanity in general. After this event, he introduces “Honey Don’t You Want To Disregard A Man Like Me” and the rest of the medley follows suit. “Well here we go again ladies and gentlemen”, another 10+ minute enema intro. Frank tells the vile story, of course brings Frannie back on stage, and does some more demonstrations of the “bandit’s technique”. Eventually some dude screams that he wants to drink what’s in the mock enema, which livens up the event a little and eventually leads to “the Illinois Enema Bandit’s first male victim”. After a small eternity, they pay a nice version of the actual tune followed by an equally fun Carolina. The Money medley is always welcome in my book, and is followed by a sick Chunga’s Revenge. The regular players get a chance to stretch out, and Norma takes another hot solo. Frank’s jam is fantastic of course; he quotes a very early version of the Five-Five-Five riff and Roy plays a bit of Louie Louie under his solo. It leads into another great Zoot Allures (probably the best so far, and Frank even plays the Dust My Broom intro), followed by the final ever Swallow My Pride. Any Downers comes next, and in addition to the usual skit, Frank recites the lyrics he has written for Tryin’ To Grow A Chin! FZ eventually decides they’re done with the vamp and rips into an extra special Halloween event: an early, instrumental take of Wind Up Workin’ In A Gas Station! There’s not a whole lot to it, but it’s very fun to hear nonetheless. It goes right into a classic Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man, which brings the second set to an end. They return for another sick take of I’m The Slime and San Ber’dino (with the wild mutation “and eat the creamed corn that I feed you”). Frank ends the night by adding to the closing words of San Ber’dino: “I know it’s tough having a head like a potato… Don’t you worry if your head is like a potato, just go home and enjoy yourself, as a potato!” These are a really fun set of shows, not the absolute best concerts from this era, and not the best Halloween shows Frank put on, but still well worth a listen (but maybe not multiple).
1975 11 01 – College Of William And Mary, Williamsburg, VA (Official Release)
This fragment of a performance officially released on Joe’s Menage in 2008, coming from the collection of FZ acquaintance and fanatic Ole Lysgaard. Frank gave him the tape after a show in September 1978 (in Malmo Sweden), and Ole eventually returned it to the Zappa Family Trust in the early 2000s. The ZFT decided to release the contents of the tape, but sourced the music from Frank’s original masters, not the cassette copy. This date is also notable because it’s the first show to feature Norma Bell as a regular member of the Mothers, so her parts in the band are still being figured out. The recording starts with Honey Don’t You Wanna, then Frank follows it up with an Illinois Enema Bandit featuring a long, mildly amusing intro (“They always told me that Virginia was for lovers, but now I know that it is possible that in the future Virginia may be for perverts”). They then move into a solid Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy, with a quote from the Light Cavalry Overture, followed by another lovely We’re Only In It For The Money medley. FZ gets distracted near the end of the final tune, misses part of the lyrics and finishes the song by saying “What was that? What happened? Where am I? In Kansas? It can’t happen heeeere . . .” This leads into a very fun, but short, Chunga’s Revenge. New Mother Norma Bell has a funky vocal/sax solo, Andre plays a nice solo on “a device that’s called a melodica. I think there’s only about a dozen of these in existence. It’s a thing that you blow, but it’s like a baby synthesizer”. FZ then plays what he dubs “a rhythm guitar solo” and “Terry ‘Bow Tie’ Bozzio” finishes the affair with a crazed drum solo. This leads to another nice and mellow early Zoot Allures, with an unfortunate cut about three minutes in. The recording returns, Frank outros the band, announces himself as “Tyrone Power on guitar”, and brings the main set (and the cassette) to an end. This is a nice little chunk of music, nothing mind-blowing, but an interesting slice of Zappadom at a weird time in the history of The Mothers. I’d say check this one out cause it’s in pretty nice quality, and you can stream it anywhere.
1975 11 02 – Cole Fieldhouse, University Of Maryland, College Park, MD (Audience B-/C+)
The “Mothers Of Invention Baltimore-Washington DC joint venture” is captured on a very lame tape; it’s really boomy and just kinda unpleasant. Frank gives Roy one of his longest names ever (“Roy Ralph Molemnan Guacamole Mechanical Hair, (Something in Spanish?) Tico Tico Tico Tico Chile Cologne Quetzalcoatl Estrada on Bass) and dubs himself, “John Smothers on guitar” (AKA Frank’s bodyguard, Baltimore native, and inspiration for Dong Work For Yuda). This is the first Stink-Foot where Frank talks to Fido in the middle of tune. He talks to the dog and the dog talks back to FZ for a little bit before he solos. I’m also pretty sure they have a stuffed poodle on stage that Frank talks to. I don’t mind this section, it can be amusing on occasion (I like FZ’s Poodle voice) and I vastly prefer it to the rapidly approaching Poodle Lecture. Frank tunes his guitar, mentions Managua, then starts a very normal show. Parts are mildly interesting because you can hear Norma’s earliest additions, but they’re very similar to the next night in Philly (which is an actually listenable recording). Following this is our regularly scheduled programing: Dirty Love, the Freak Out medley, Black Napkins (with Norma), and Advance Romance (with a now regular Andre solo). Around Black Napkins the sound improves considerably, but still isn’t great. The Honey medley is most notable because Frank totally fucks up the Enema Bandit ending, which is pretty funny. There’s an unfortunate cut in Carolina missing a good chunk of the beginning of the tune and the Money medley is nice but sounds terrible. Chunga’s Revenge is the reason to check out this show; Norma’s really a great addition to the band in terms of improvising, and her solo here is a great example. Roy has a bass solo in this, which almost never happens, and Frank has a really great solo with bits of the Sy Borg chords, Five-Five-Five riff, and the Hula Lick that he’d occasionally use throughout his career. After Chunga’s is a very nice Zoot Allures with a quote from the Rite Of Spring, and ending with a hilarious, quick blues walkdown. Frank ends the show, but miraculously they return for a encore Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man/San Ber’dino. A solid November show, but because of the lame sound, the only parts I’d recommend anyone listen to are Chunga’s and Zoot Allures, and maybe Black Napkins too.
1975 11 03 – Spectrum Theater, Philadelphia, PA (Audience A-)
This show sounds great, but it’s unfortunately a very standard night, and ultimately not very exciting. Frank introduces himself as Todd Rudgren and Stink-Foot, unfortunately includes the first Poodle lecture. It’s a proto-version, not as fully scripted as Frank would later get it, but it’s largely there (it’s more of a direct lead into Dirty Love than future lectures). Frank also mentions Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo for the first time, which would become a very minor secret word later on. Dirty Love and the Freak Out medley are regular takes. Any Black Napkins with Norma is worth hearing and Advance Romance is solid but not amazing (“Now just look what she’s done to Andre back at the chicken shack”). “Honey Don’t You Want A Man Like either of these two gentlemen right here” follows, and there’s a cut afterwards missing part of Frank telling the audience to sit down. The Illinois Enema Bandit (with a couple more Rizzo refs), Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy, and the Money medley close out the big vocal middle section of the show and Chunga’s revenge is fun as always, but not the best of the tour. Frank plays around with the Five-Five-Five riff, and later on in a great Zoot Allures, he quotes Sy Borg and ends the event with the Tryin’ To Grow A Chin chords! Camarillo Brillo and Muffin Man close the set, Frank gives a little preamble about playing news songs for an encore, then plays the final full Any Downers. FZ talks about how they got their picture in Time and Newsweek, and that they’ll be as big as Bruce Springstein soon. He then goes on about how they stole songs from other groups and that they’re gonna play one of the “easiest, dumbest” ones: San Ber’dino. Don’t get tempted by the excellent sound and great Zoot Allures, there are much better shows out there from this tour (but unfortunately not a whole lot).
1975 11 08 – Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN (Audience C+/C)
Awful, Awful, Awful sound, sub-standard setlist (Frank leaves out Zoot Allures). There’s a very short opening blues, Stink-Foot thankfully lacks a Poodle Lecture, and the show continues like normal. Black Napkins is nice (“hit it Norma”); Advance Romance and the Honey medley are good but far from the best (They’re the first takes with Norma as Betty), and the Money medley can do no wrong. Chunga’s revenge contains one of the biggest disappointments in tape history, literally the entire solo section is missing, the tape just fades to the ending theme and Frank’s closing outros. Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man/I’m The Slime/San Ber’dino make up the classic fall ‘75 encore, and that brings this night to a close. This recording is truly terrible, there’s nothing very special about it, and no one should listen to it. I shouldn’t have listened to it.
1975 11 15 – Fieldhouse, Grand Valley State Colleges, Allendale, MI (Audience B/B-)
There’s only a 40 minute fragment of this show available, and it’s probably not the best chunk of the show. The recording begins with the last 30 seconds of I’m Not Satisfied, followed by an excellent, beautiful Black Napkins. This is of course followed by the regularly scheduled, Advance Romance (“Look what she did to Andre, really hurt him in his heart and everything”) with a couple more wonderful solos, but the tape unfortunately cuts before Frank can finish. Honey Don’t You Wanna is completely missing, and we resume at the start of The Illinois Enema Bandit, with Norma singing parts for the first recorded time and another fiery jam from FZ. Carolina and the Money medley are lovely as always, and we swiftly head into Chunga’s Revenge, but after three minutes the tape runs out. Basically this show has great solos, average sound, and a bunch of weird cuts. No idea how only these portions got recorded. This was probably a really nice show (it’s the last before they fly to Yugoslavia), but it’s not the most coherent listening experience. I’d say check out Black Napkins, but the rest can be found elsewhere.
1975 11 21/22 – Sportska Dvorana, Zagreb, Yugoslavia & Hala Tivoli, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia (Official Release)
This hybrid concert of two seemingly random Yugoslavian dates is one of the best shows of the tour (if you can call it that). The Yugoslavian government apparently requested and paid for the whole event, so the Mothers made time between dates in Michigan and Wisconsin to take a trek across the Iron Curtain and play in modern day Croatia and Slovenia, respectively. The release is presented in the order the shows were performed (since they basically had a setlist for each show), and Vaultmeister Joe Travers selected the best cuts from the two concerts (There’s also a radio broadcast of the second show, but I’ll talk about that separately). The beginning Blues/Stink-Foot/Dirty Love are from Zagreb and very fun; Frank says that “Fido has just brought me the finest slippers that Germany has to offer”, explains they don’t have most of their equipment, and tries to do the lecture with a roll of Toilet Paper instead of the stuffed dog, which qualifies this as an A+ Poodle lecture in my book. The Ljubljanan Freak Out medley is a great example of the nostalgic section of the program and Zagreb’s Black Napkins is delightful (the Ljubljana take was released without Norma’s solo and the ending theme on FZ Plays The Music Of FZ. The full version can be heard on the unofficial radio broadcast and is actually my favorite of the three performances/edits). Advance Romance comes from the second show, and features a rare and fantastic solo from Norma and an equally hot one from Frank. The Honey and Money medleys are both above average, energetic takes and come from a mix of the two nights. FZ only knows the German word for enema: Klistierspritze, and later on in his intro, after a firecracker goes off he yells “Let’s have no more of that. It’s dangerous!” Chunga’s comes from Zagreb, as does the rest of the main set, and it’s a seriously hot number. Frank once again plays Five-Five-Five and the Hula Lick in his concluding jam, Terry gets a long solo like usual, we get a great Zoot Allures and then the first known performance of Filthy Habits! It’s in its early stages, and is played way faster, but still very cool to hear. It segues into Camarillo Brillo and Muffin Man, and I’m The Slime/San Bernardino brings the show to a close. Both definitive takes, as are pretty much all the performances from this show, but the music isn’t over yet. Joe decided to fill out the set with some bonus tracks from the second show, including a sick instrumental jamming version of Wind Up Working In A Gas Station (it must have ended that night’s Chunga’s Revenge), Terry’s Ljubljana drum solo, and that night’s Zoot Allures. It’s a seriously fantastic set, wonderfully restored from the mediocre original recordings, and it showcases the Norma Bell era Mothers at the peak of their (short-lived) game. If you’re gonna listen to one show from this tour, pick these two.
1975 11 22 – Hala Tivoli, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia (FM B)
There also exists a mediocre radio broadcast of part of Ljubljana show circulating amongst tape traders. It features a few additional tracks that aren’t on the official release(s), and a couple that are. The recording begins with the tail end of the opening blues, Frank introduces himself as Todd Rundgren again, and we get a very nice Stink-Foot (with a standard, quick, early Poodle Lecture, because FZ once again asks if they have poodles here and this time gets a very clear yes). Dirty Love is fun and funky, Frank talks about monitors and scolds the audience about throwing fireworks (“it’s bad for your health”) and there’s a shoddy cut to Black Napkins. It’s the same take as on Frank Zappa Plays the Music Of Frank Zappa, but with Norma’s fantastic sax solo (and the ending theme) intact. It’s also the first time Frank introduces the tune as a “tender, slow-moving ballad sort of a song, that carries with it the implied message that the complete woman must also have an asshole”. Advance Romance and Honey Don’t You Wanna are the same takes as on Zappa ‘75 but in worse quality, so you can skip those, and The Illinois Enema Bandit and Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy conclude the medley nicely. There’s about a minute of Lonely Little Girl, and it fades into Terry’s drum solo, also on Zappa ’75. This is a fun little program, not essential, but a nice compliment to the official release.
1975 11 25 – Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI (Audience B+/B)
Back in the US, we get a nice but short show that ends up pretty average. Frank and the gang are playing well, they always do in Wisconsin, and this tapes alright, the vocals are echoey but the rest sounds fine. We get a surprisingly long, kinda cool Naval Aviation improv, Stink-Foot’s always fun and the Poodle Lecture mentions “our road manager”. Someone yells “hey I know that one” when they start Dirty Love, and that goes into the oldies medley beginning with “How Could Each And Everyone Of Us Be Such A Fool?” Black Napkins is sick, but then we go into the long middle section of the show, with average takes of Advance Romance, the Honey medley and the Money tunes. The Enema Bandit intro is mildly amusing, Frank is trying to get the crowd to calm down, and drops a “Woodstock nation” like it’s 1971 again. Chunga’s Revenge, like usual, is where things get interesting, with fun, funky solos from all the lead instruments, and a long tasty solo from Frank. He starts with the Five-Five-Five riff, but stops part way through to say “Boy it’s sensitive ain’t it… shut the fuck up… just pretend I’m John McLaughlin”. He plays some of John’s song Follow Your Heart, then says “Now I’m Frank again” and continues playing the proto-Sy Borg. The tune ends with a really fun boogie-esque jam, and then Frank announces a solo from “the Alphonse Mouzon of the future!” and we get a monster solo from Terry. Unfortunately, the end of his solo and Zoot Allures (if it was even played) are missing from the tape, which is a major bummer. The recording returns amidst the encore break (which makes me think they probably just didn’t play Zoot Allures) and they play the Slime/Ber’dino medley. Something really cracks Frank up in I’m The Slime and it’s basically an instrumental take until “that’s right folks don’t touch his pants” and San Ber’dino cuts off during Andre’s ending. Not a bad show, solid representations of a November night, but far from the most interesting of the tour.
1975 11 28 – Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, WI (Audience B+)
Solid show with solid sound, and a very regular November setlist. Naval Aviation In Art (through PA), Opening Blues (where FZ introduces himself as “Eno”), Stink-Foot (with a finalizing Poodle lecture), Dirty Love, The Freak Out medley, Black Napkins (Frank announces the tune finally has a title, he came up with the name earlier at thanksgiving dinner), Advance Romance, and the Honey Don’t You Wanna and Money medleys bringing exactly what you expect (except Nappy changes “start” to “fart” in Lonely Little Girl, and Frank changes Annie to Tanya and Freaks to Geeks for some reason in What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?). Chunga’s Revenge is hot and includes a long FZ jam with the Five-Five-Five riff, and Zoot Allures is probably the high point of the show (clocking in at over 11 minutes!) Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man ends the main set and I’m The Slime/San Ber’dino is a timeless encore. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this show (in fact Wisconsin audiences tend to propel Frank into greatness), but there’s nothing wildly stand out either. If you like this band, you’ll like this show, but it’s not going to win anyone over.
1975 11 30 – Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (Audience B)
One of two shows on this date, Frank says it’s “show number two”, but it’s not clear if that’s counting the show on the 29th or not. The post Naval Aviation moaning grows longer and longer, Frank says something about Roy falling asleep, and compliments the theater’s ushers. Stink-Foot has got a long and vile Poodle Lecture, and the next hour or so is on exactly what you’d expect: Dirty Love, the Freak Out medley, the now named Black Napkins and Advance Romance make up a solid chunk of amusing music. The Honey medley’s competent, but basically all of the Enema Bandit is cut (except for the intro where Frank briefly mentions that the bandit’s trial is tomorrow in Chicago). The Money medley is always fun (Frank quotes a bit of Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein in Lonely Little Girl and changes Annie to Marty in the last tune) and so is Chunga’s Revenge, this time with another fantastic jam with the Five-Five-Five riff. Terry gets his solo, Zoot Allures is always beautiful, and it goes into a cool, still fast Filthy Habits! Norma plays a sick, tweaky solo first, FZ wraps it up with an evil jam (including a very quick Louie Louie) and then outros the show over the Any Downers vamp. This, like the last few shows, is a solid night but nothing essential. If you want more ’75 band this is a good place to turn, but there are better places to start. Fun, but don’t expect any surprises (except for the ending, easily the highlight of the show).
1975 12 05 – Arena, London, Ontario, Canada (Audience B+)
This is an especially notable show because Frank is basically auditioning Darryl Dybka on keyboards and Ralphe Armstrong on sitar live on stage before our very ears. We have a very nice sounding recording, Perellis announces “your eight closest relatives”, and Frank announces the two newcomers as part of the band like he would a normal show, but despite this they’re only audible playing on two parts of the tape. The concert begins with the usual material: Napoleon moans, there’s a fun blues jam, Frank announces “Eno on guitar” and plays a standard Stink-Foot/Poodle Lecture/Dirty Love. The Freak Out medley is nice (Norma’s parts are very clear here, and they really enhance the tune) and Black Napkins is the first place the Mothers try-outs get a shot. Darryl plays a cool, jazzy solo following Norma, and after this Frank starts to play, but decides to let Ralphe jam for about a minute before Frank’s takes his fiery closing solo (their styles are pretty similar, but Ralph’s tone is different and slightly lower in the mix). Someone is constantly shouting for a certain Overnite Sensation tune during Darryl’s solo and Frank responds “listen you little twit, we’re not gonna play Dynah-Moe Humm so shut the fuck up”. Another solid, but disappointingly normal Advance Romance follows this, and the impending Honey Don’t You Wanna cuts out a couple seconds in. The tape doesn’t resume until partway through Andre’s Chunga’s solo! (of all the shows to lose the middle chunk…). Unless this was a shortened show, we’re probably missing the rest of the Honey-Enema-Carolina medley, the entire Money medley and the first half of Chunga’s, which is a bummer because it’s pretty likely our two guests played somewhere in there. What’s left of Chunga’s is great though; we get the end of Andres funky solo, another cool jam from Darryl, and an incredible, heavy guitar event from Ralphe, in the place of Frank’s usual solo. Terry finally gets his solo, and after this is a fun, but regular ending chunk, with a beautiful Zoot Allures (containing a T’Mershi Duween quote), fun Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man and an encore I’m The Slime/San Ber’dino. The two guest musicians apparently showed up at a couple other December dates, but none of these are available to bootleggers. This isn’t the best show, but it’s got more going for it than the average Fall ’75 night and makes a nice companion to the Hamilton recording two days later.
1975 12 07 – Phys-Ed Complex, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada (Audience A-/B+)
An excellent tape, the sound is wonderful, but what really makes the show is the special guest, “direct from Roxy Music”, Eddie Jobson on violin. There’s a very short blues opening, Frank intros the band, names himself Eno once again, announces our guest for the night and they play an excellent Stink-Foot. Eddie quickly picks up the vamp on violin and plays along under Frank’s solos, before ripping out a fantastic jam himself. We get a routine, and thankfully quick, Poodle Lecture, a standard, funky Dirty Love (Frank kinda wings the stanzas “and furthermore…”) and the The Freak Out medley begins with “How Could I Be Such A Fool Fetishist At My Age?”. The show picks up again with another fantastic Black Napkins, this time featuring Eddie with a cool keyboard solo between Frank and Norma’s normal sick jams (FZ dedicates his part of the song “to all the jazz drummers in the world and their tasteful cymbal work”). Advance Romance (“now just look what she did to Andre tonight, it’s his birthday!”) and Honey Don’t You Wanna are above average takes; Frank references the Poodle Lecture and Michael Kenyon’s recent conviction for the first known time in the The Illinois Enema Bandit intro, and plays a bit of Big Swifty in his solo. Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy is even better, and has a bit of T’Mershi Duween. The money medley slaps like always, but this time Frank decides to just totally solo over the Lonely Little Girl ending, and it’s awesome. Then Chunga’s Revenge shows up, with the normal slew of fun solos, but before Frank’s usual spot, Eddie picks his violin back up for another fantastic musical moment. Someone yells “Eddie Jobson’s the best!”, he gets a long awesome solo, and then he and Frank duet for a bit before an awe-inspiring, partially acapella jam from FZ. Easily one of the best Chunga’s of the tour, and after this we get a classic, solid late 75 Zoot Allures, followed by an excellent, nearly-at-the-right-tempo, Filthy Habits. It’s still a little fast, but the tune is coming together very nicely. Norma plays a cool solo, then Eddie comes back out to amaze us a final time (on violin once again). Frank finishes off the tune, and leaves us with easily the best take of the song from the tour. He segues into Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man, and the night ends with the regular Slime/Ber’dino encore. This is a fantastic show, easily top five of the tour, and should be heard by those exploring Frank’s live work. [Also a thought, Zappa had guest violinists more than any other instrument, between Eddie (he guested the next night in Montreal too), Jean-Luc Ponty in Paris ’70, the unknown Frankfurt ’74 violinist (though this is probably Tom Fowler), and L. Shankar’s multiple appearances in ’78 and ’80].
1975 12 09 – Forum Concert Bowl, Quebec City, Canada (Audience B-/C+)
This fragment recording happens to be the last show of the regular tour and the last with Norma Bell. From what I know she fell in with a bad crowd and stopped showing up to rehearsals in December, so Frank had to let her go. Sad but true. The tape begins near the beginning of Black Napkins and we get another excellent take from Norma and Frank. Unfortunately the recording is pretty terrible, very hissy and distant. Not ear-shattering, but not enjoyable either. Advance Romance and the Honey medley are standard takes. The Money medley’s a delight, and Chunga’s is a nice take, but cuts off before Frank can really get going (he starts to jam but then decides to give Roy a solo, and the tape cuts about a minute into that). The recording resumes with something dubbed the “Quebec Mystery Riff”, but I think this is just a fragment of Frank’s ending Chunga’s jam (or it’s possibly the end of another instrumental Wind Up Workin’ In A Gas Station, since the “Mystery Riff” sounds very similar). It goes right into Filthy Habits, but the recording ends before any improv. This was probably a very nice show, but the terrible sound (not to mention the bad cuts) make this an unpleasant listen. It’s sad to see Norma go, I really wish she stayed longer and I think she could have really helped the Winter ’76 shows. But whatever the case, this is a terrible bootleg, for uber hardcore fans only.
1975 12 26 – Paramount Theatre, Oakland, CA (Audience B+)
This is a very nice show from the very end of the year. The tour ended a while ago, but Frank has decided to do a few extra shows in California, leading up to a New Year’s show near LA. Norma Bell has unfortunately left the group, but she wasn’t in the band long enough to really leave a lasting mark. All the tunes go back to their October arrangements (for most part), meaning things sound a little more bare bones and Roy once again sings the girl parts. Still, she’ll be missed, especially on the next tour. Anyway, we get a very nice show, with solid sound, an above average but not surprising first two-thirds, and an excellent ending with a suite of rare tunes. A regular, well performed Stink-Foot with a now regular Poodle Lecture, Dirty Love with a quick bit of Louie Louie to appease a rabid fan, and the Freak Out medley start the show. Black Napkins is next, with a rare, slick keyboard solo (“Andre doesn’t know it yet but he’s gonna play the first solo in this thing”) and we get standard high energy takes of Advance Romance, the Honey Medley (with a crazy fast Carolina) and the Money medley. All very nice, but there’s plenty of great takes of these songs; Here’s where the show gets truly interesting. Chunga’s Revenge features the regular amusing solos from Nappy and Andre, but Frank’s really shines with bits of Sy Borg and part of the Beauty Knows No Pain riff! (you can hear it between 11 and 12 minutes in). There’s unfortunately no Zoot Allures, but here’s where we hit the suite of rare tunes: Find Her Finer, Kaiser Rolls, Let’s Move To Cleveland (announced as Canard Du Jour) and Keep It Greasy (all world premieres too, and talked about more in the song section). Great takes of all the tunes, this is the only version of Kaiser Rolls from 1975, and I think it’s the best performance I’ve heard in general. The show concludes with the regular fun crowd pleaser ending of Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man and Slime/Ber’dino medley (“and now, direct from the olden days“). This is a great show, Frank’s on fire, and there’s some really cool variations to the normal setlist. Check this one out for sure.
1975 12 27 – Winterland, San Francisco, CA (Audience B/B-)
This is kind of like the opposite of the last show. The first part of the show is the regular late 75 setlist, but this just isn’t the best night out there (aka Frank’s plays better in other shows) and they don’t even play all the rare December tunes. Nothing bad, but there’s really not much to differentiate this from any other show. There’s some really fun opening blues, Frank announces it’s Terry’s birthday, says he’s Todd Rundgren, then leads us into a regular late ‘75 show including: Stink-Foot/The Poodle Lecture/Dirty Love (with an eternal monitor check), the Freak Out medley, Black Napkins (with another Andre solo), Advance Romance, the Honey medley (someone hands Frank a news article on the bandit to read) and the Money medley. Whatever sounds the best to you: that’s the highlight. The show picks up with Chunga’s Revenge, Frank plays another hot solo in this tune (with bits of Sy Borg, Louie Louie and other similar elements to his previous jams) and segues into another proto-Let’s Move To Cleveland. Terry has a drum solo after the amusing tune, and we’re treated to a fantastic, mind-boggling 12 minute Zoot Allures (including parts of the Five-five-five riff and even more Louie Louie!). Find Her Finer segues out of this and closes the main set, and while it’s far from one of FZ’s best tunes, I’m still glad to hear it when it pops up. We get two encores, but they’re the classic I’m The Slime/San Ber’dino and Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man events we’ve grown to expect. Frank ends the show by shouting “In conclusion, may I say this, fuck Rolling Stone magazine!” And brings the night to a close. Now a terrible show, but you’re not gonna see me recommending any part of it before Chunga’s Revenge. Maybe check out this shows Zoot Allures as a fill in for the 26th missing version, but other than that you can find better takes of all these songs elsewhere.
1975 12 31 – New Year’s Eve – Forum, Inglewood, CA (Audience B+/B)
The second of Frank’s three New Year’s Eve shows is easily the least successful, but it still has its moments. Nappy moans after Naval Aviation In Art like usual, and following this we get the first introductory Inca Roads Theme (AKA The Incan Art Vamp), a staple of the following tour. The Mothers would play the guitar solo vamp of the tune while Frank walks on and plays the post-solo theme. Frank welcomes the audience to the New Years Mothers Of Invention Extravaganza, introduces the band, and hints at a special guest “later on, the dynamic LA Knockers Dance Troupe!” Stinkfoot/Dirty Love’s fun, the Poodle Lecture’s a little less overtly vile than usual and the Freak Out medley is what it is. Frank announces they’ll play Black Napkins until the clock strikes midnight, and 13 minutes later when it finally does, they burst into Auld Lang Syne. You can tell Frank’s totally out of things to play at the end of Black Napkins, but it’s kind of amusing knowing what’s going on onstage. It’s a few minutes from midnight and Dr. John and The LA Knockers appear, with the dance troupe carrying a giant baby and bottle to represent the new year. Nappy sings the traditional New Year’s tune, Frank gives a fine rhythm guitar solo, Terry drums for a bit, and they return to Auld Lang Syne. I haven’t seen this reported anywhere (I have seen Pat Buzby speculate it though), but it sounds like Captain Beefheart comes in near the end on soprano sax. It could be Nappy, but I’ve never heard him play like this, and the Captain opened for Frank so it’s very possible he came back on stage for a sec. Advance Romance emerges out of the chaos and the show continues like normal until Frank intros Find Her Finer after the Enema Bandit and says the LA Knockers will do something while they play. After this they finish the medley with Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy and FZ announces they have “another song with the Knockers”, but they must have a time crunch because they start Keep It Greasy before they can come back on. They close with two encores; Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man is the first and they return a final time for I’m The Slime (with a 20 second solo) and San Ber’dino. The Black Napkins-Auld Lang Syne event is fun, and so are the new/rare tunes, but the rest of this show is hampered by monitor problems and time shortages. This show also, for me, highlights a change in Nappy’s vocal style with Frank. His singing has become much more exaggerated and cartoonish, and he screams even more than he used to, quickly going from charming to annoying when you notice it where it shouldn’t be. It didn’t just occur, it’s been slowly developing over the tour, really worsening since Yugoslavia, but it only really hit me here that this isn’t the same singer from earlier in the year, hell even earlier in the tour. It’s not an insane difference, but it’s definitely less preferable to what Nappy was doing before and an unfortunate omen of things to come (honestly this whole show kinda is).
The Songs Played:
Advance Romance – This Bongo Fury tune makes its sophomore appearance on this tour. Frank plays a fiery solo and, starting in Providence, Andre plays a funky one before him. The exception being in Ljubljana, where Norma delivers a blazing hot sax jam before a classic FZ guitar solo (This is easily my favorite take of the tour). The line “they took George’s watch” permanently changes to “they took Andre’s watch” for this ensemble, and also, Frank yells something like “look what they did to Andre!” before the keyboard player’s solo. Additionally, Nappy typically improvs some dialog during the head (in the “talkin’ ‘bout the anchovies” section on Bongo Fury). In general it’s a solid version, not as good as the previous tour, but you can always count on something from Frank and his guitar. Almost always played after Black Napkins and before Honey Don’t You Want A Man Like Me.
Any Downers? – The riff for this You Are What You Is tune first appeared near the end of 1975, but this is the first tour where it is a whole complete song, albeit a very unique one. Each performance is a little different but the basic gist of the song features an improvised skit (usually Nappy moaning/mumbling while Roy angrily tries to get him to talk). They end it with Nappy asking Roy if he has any downers, stumblers, mumblers, etc. with the bassist replying each time with a high pitched “no!”, all over the heavy riff. This section is followed by the lyrics “No, I don’t have any more”, and a really dumb-but-fun vocal riff. After this Frank tears away at his guitar and plays some of his best solos of his career, but unfortunately, as the weeks progressed, Frank was shortening his solos, and by Boston it’s basically a long guitar break. For the first week or so he’d go into a repetition of the dumb vocal riff, though after Seattle the ending varied. The first performance basically repeats the entire head of the tune (with an additional improvised argument) before segueing into Chunga’s Revenge and the Vancouver show’s version leads into a weird Canadian Customs bit. The Seattle take starts with an improvised skit, and features a bunch of quotes from She’s a Lady, eventually leading Nappy to sing “She’s a Booger” (This is before the ending vocal riff though). In Kansas City it goes into a kind of Joe Cocker parody skit (and corrupts the following Camarillo Brillo). In Fayetteville, Frank starts to sing “I can’t see” like in Nanook Rubs It. In Boston and Waterbury Frank recites part of Packard Goose for the second half of the tune and on Halloween he says part of Tryin’ To Grow A Chin! The final time the song was fully played was in Philly, but Frank outroed the Chicago show over the vamp later in the tour. The other post-Seattle shows end with Frank pretending to get stoned and talking to the audience. I love the early guitar-heaven versions but once the tune became 95% skit I unfortunately didn’t mind seeing it get dropped from setlists.
Anyway The Wind Blows – This fun little Freak Out tune was played a single time at the very beginning of the tour in Santa Barbara. For the most part this take is kind of like a sped up version of the ‘71 arrangement. Nappy sings lead, Frank plays a short but pleasant solo in the middle of the tune, and it ends with Roy and Nappy singing “keep on blowin’”. This is a really fun version, and it’s a bummer it didn’t stick around longer.
Apostrophe – The titular tune from Frank’s iconic album shows up a handful of times at the beginning of the tour, and they’re all fantastic. This tune was originally the show opener, and even had its own unique opening blues (with a non-Stink-Foot riff), but was quickly replaced with the foot song. It was only played one time after the switch, as the final encore in Providence. Roy plays a Jack Bruce-esque bass solo at the beginning, and Frank follows it up with some amazing guitar work. Nappy doubles some of the more prominent guitar lines on the tune, and there’s a cool, new, fast, guitar/sax ending that really needs to be released. This tune would always segue into the Duke Of Prunes vamp and Frank would intro (or outro) the show. A great tune, way too infrequently played, both on this tour and in Frank’s career in general.
Auld Lang Syne – The Mothers play this traditional New Year’s tune as the clock strikes midnight on New Years Eve. Nappy sings the lyrics and Frank plays the melody, until the LA Knockers bring out a giant baby and bottle. While this happens, FZ cranks out a fun little boogie jam and Terry plays a short New Years drum solo. Eventually they do another slow repetition of the theme, and (to my ears), Captain Beefheart makes an appearance and honks his soprano sax! After a little while they resume the regularly scheduled program with Advance Romance. A fun performance, and what a way to enter 1976 (“with a wonderful hoopla”).
Black Napkins – This tune first appears for a rock band on this tour, and it’s already perfect. The beautiful theme works very well with this sparse arrangement, and Frank delivers a fantastic, emotional solo in every performance. The tune is unnamed for most of the tour, until the band’s Thanksgiving dinner before the Milwaukee show. In its earliest performances, this song was linked with Sleep Dirt. Black Napkins followed the other tune, and the melody to this version of Sleep Dirt seems to be a mix of the two songs. When Norma officially joins the band Frank gives her the first solo spot. This was a fantastic vehicle for her, always delivering something wonderful, and often pushing Frank to even greater heights. Starting in Knoxville she also sings along with the closing theme of the tune (while Frank plays the melody). Once she exits the band FZ gives Andre the opening solo spot for the brief December west coast stint. In London, ON, Mothers try-outs Darryl Dybka and Ralphe Armstrong each play a nice solo between the regular two. At the Hamilton show, Frank decides to let special guest Eddie Jobson take a slick keyboard solo between Norma’s and his own. In late October it seemed like Frank was mildly experimenting with adding lyrics to the beginning of this tune, first part of Tryin’ To Grow A Chin in Waterbury (early) and later Packard Goose at both New York shoes. This is a very good tour for this song, with every solo inspired and entertaining. An easy highlight of the band.
Bolero – At the late show in Seattle, after the first encore, the tape cuts out and resumes during a percussive beat, over which Frank sings the melody to Ravel’s Bolero. It lasts about 50 seconds, before they start San Ber’dino. Nothing crazy, but a fun addition to the awesome Seattle shows.
Camarillo Brillo – This Zappa classic gets the regular hard rock treatment from this band. Like on the last tour, they play through the tune once normally, then slow it down by a few factors once they hit the second “door-way” verse. After the slow bit, this tune would always make a perfect, iconic segue into Muffin Man. By this tour, the repetition of the line “She stripped away her rancid poncho” has permanently changed to “I chewed my way through her rancid panocha”. The Kansas City version is notable because it follows an Any Downers with a long Joe Cocker parody, but Frank decides to continue the bit and just moans over the first minute of this tune. Hard to listen to but really funny. My personal favorite versions of this song come from 1974, but these are solid versions too. The Camarillo Brillo/Muffin Man combo was almost exclusively played as a show closer, or as an encore, and would always end the night on a high note.
Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy – This Bongo Fury tune appears pretty much as it appears on the album, and this is unfortunately the only other tour where it regularly got played. Frank delivers a hot solo in the regular spot, and always manages to whip up something nice. Nappy would typically shout “she likes it that way” before Frank’s solo and, starting around Providence, the lyrics (usually) mutated from “Don’t you worry what it is” to “Don’t Managua what it is”. Almost always played at the very end of a medley with Honey Don’t You Want A Man Like Me and The Illinois Enema Bandit (I frequently refer to this as “the Honey medley”).
Chunga’s Revenge – This classic from near the beginning of Frank’s career is the big stretch-out-and-jam song for this tour, all over a cool vamp, unique to this North American tour. A regular performance consists of solos from Nappy, Norma (when present), Andre (on Melodica), a monster jam from Frank and a final drum solo from Terry. Originally Terry didn’t have the ending spot, but as the tour progressed, the finale went from a drum break to a full solo. They started off playing the ending theme to the tune, but Frank eventually dropped it to segue directly out of Terry’s jam into the next tune (usually Zoot Allures). Norma would scat and play sax in her earliest shows, but by mid November she’s just playing sax. Starting mid-November, FZ changed up the vamp for the solo section, giving Roy and Terry more freedom to improvise, providing a looser, more fun tune overall. On two occasions (in College Park and Quebec), Roy gets a rare bass solo. In London Ontario, Darryl Dybka plays a cool keyboard solo and Ralphe Armstrong plays a heavy guitar solo (taking Frank’s normal place). The Hamilton take is special too, as it features Eddie Jobson on extraordinary violin before some fantastic guitar. FZ’s solos would typically go all out, leading to many of the best jams of the tour. He’d frequently quote other in-progress Zappa tunes during his solos, most commonly Sy Borg and Five-Five-Five, but there’s also takes where he plays parts of Tryin’ To Grow A Chin or Beauty Knows No Pain. He plays Louie Louie in a couple performances, and on at least two occasions (in Providence and Waterbury), he ends his solo with an amusing version of Wipe Out, that gives Terry’s solo a surf rock flavor. The Quebec performance fades out early, and returns with something called dubbed “Quebec Mystery Riff“, but this is either the end of Frank’s Chunga’s solo, or possibly the end of an instrumental Wind Up Workin In A Gas Station (the mystery riff is very similar). These aren’t the best Chunga’s available, but they’re pretty much always a good time. Typically played near the end of the show, between What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body and Zoot Allures.
Dirty Love – This Overnite Sensation tune makes its live premier in Dallas, and after a couple days it finds its place immediately following the other dog song, Stink-Foot. It’s a fun little bar band style arrangement of the perverse song, and includes a nice Rock n Roll solo from Frank in the middle. Andre provides the ending “come on Frenchie!”s (and does a fantastic job). We get a special version on Halloween that features a hot sax solo from Norma while the road crew cleans up the stage. A very fun tune, not the best version around (my personal favorites come from Fall 76), but usually worth a listen. Like I said before, almost always preceded by Stink-Foot and followed by How Could I Be Such A Fool?
The Duke Of Prunes – The chords for this Absolutely Free tune were used as the opening vamp for Frank to introduce the band and the show in the early stages of the tour. In Santa Barbara, Seattle, and Providence, Frank plays the melody on guitar before talking, and in Santa Barbara and Vancouver, Nappy sings parts of the tune while something technical gets fixed. The song was always played following Apostrophe, and unfortunately gets dropped from regular rotation at the same time.
Filthy Habits – This Sleep Dirt/Lather tune first appears in Zagreb and pops up a couple times after that, before becoming a regular song on the following tour. It originally started off really fast, but the tune gradually slowed down with each performance. Frank gives a hot solo in each performance, Norma plays a sick solo before him in Chicago and in Hamilton the tune features an excellent jam with Norma, Frank and special guest Eddie Jobson on violin (the Quebec take unfortunately cuts off during the theme). This is an awesome song, too rarely played on the road, and even though these are weird prototype versions (the tune works so much better slowed down) they’re still great to have.
Find Her Finer – This amusing Zoot Allures tune (and single!) makes its debut during the short Californian tour at the end of the year. Frank would maybe-jokingly introduce the song as “Da Da Goo Goo”, in reference to the backing vocals. The tune is basically all there, but it’s pretty barebones and played faster than on the studio album, which makes it a little more fun. Not the best song, but enjoyable when it shows up (it also would’ve been a fun number on the following tour, but unfortunately gets quickly forgotten).
Five-Five-Five – This Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar tune first reared its heavy head on this tour. Not a full song yet, but Frank would frequently play a mellow version of this tune’s opening chords during his Chunga’s solos (and one time in Zoot Allures). It’s very cool to hear Frank play this riff, and his best solos from the tour often include it.
Honey Don’t You Want A Man Like Me? – “This is a song that deals with the delicate subject of the playboy generation and their whole ethos”. This Zappa in New York piece about the perils of dumb love premiers in this tour. Nappy, Frank, and Roy sing the majority of the tune and Roy typically plays the role of Betty, but Norma takes over the voice starting in Knoxville (and sings some other background vocals too). Most of the piece is there, including sound effects, but before Providence, Frank didn’t utter the final word preceding “and that’s the end of the story” (that word being “head”). Almost always preceded by Advance Romance and followed by The Illinois Enema Bandit and Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy (making up the Honey medley). Overall this is one of Frank’s more successful R-rated comedy songs, and these are some of the more spirited performances. Not an amazing song, but this is a good tour for it (it’s another one that just seems to fit this band’s vibe).
How Could I Be Such A Fool? – Frank once again decides to revive this Freak Out tune (actually they use the Ruben And The Jets arrangement). Nappy sings the vocals, and improvises some lyrics over the funky second half of the tune. When Norma is in the band she plays her sax over the “You spoiled our love” section and sings along with the outro backing vocals and the line “what really happened to the love that we share”, making these takes easily the best of the tour. Basically always played after Dirty Love and as the first song of “the Freak Out medley”, followed by I Ain’t Got No Heart and I’m Not Satisfied. A lot of people really hate this medley, and they’re not the best performance of these tunes, but they still can be a lot of fun (especially if you focus on Frank’s rhythm guitar!).
I Ain’t Got No Heart – This Freak Out classic reappears on this tour, once again sung by Napoleon. It’s a little faster than on the studio album, and obviously has a more striped-back sound. Once Norma enters the band she plays over the intro, and later plays along with the other composed riffs in the tune (more as time goes on). FZ plays a short (but ever-lengthening) solo at the very end of the tune. This song was basically always played as the second tune of “the Freak Out medley”, between How Could I Be Such A Fool? and I’m Not Satisfied. A lot of people really hate this medley, and they’re not the best performances of these tunes, but they still can be a lot of fun (especially if you focus on Frank’s rhythm guitar!).
The Illinois Enema Bandit – This Zappa In New York classic first appears on this tour, sung by Nappy. There’s an instrumental intro unique to this band’s arrangement, but other than that this song never seems to change much. Frank would frequently introduce the tune over the same blues vamp as the intro, giving a detailed description of the Bandit’s crimes (The Dragnet-style intro we’re familiar with doesn’t appear until the next tour). FZ’s intros would update slightly throughout the tour as he got more information about the criminal and as his trial progressed (he was sentenced between the Chicago and Hamilton dates, so Frank starts to mention his conviction after this point). Nappy would occasionally pronounce the “s” at the end of “Illinois” (a common mistake for non-residents). FZ plays a tasty blues solo in the middle of the tune, and Andre gets a rare first solo at the Providence show. Roy would mumble some lines as the Bandit before Frank’s solo and he would typically play the role of the shouting women at the end of the tune, but Norma takes this over starting in Allendale. Nappy sings “Why is everybody always pickin’ on me?” versus Ray’s “Why is everybody lookin’ at me?” (This band’s version of the line is a direct reference to the song Charlie Brown by the Coasters, originally released in 1959, while future performances are more of an allusion). The outro consists of the same “must be just what they all need” vocal riff, but usually a little faster, and without the overlapping vocal lines (“He just be pumpin’ every one of ’em…”) or the acapella coda (“ain’t talkin’ bout Fontana…”). These aren’t the best performances out there (Ray White really made this tune his own), but these takes are still very enjoyable. The song was almost always preceded by Honey Don’t You Wanna and followed by Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy (making up the Honey medley).
I’m Not Satisfied – Another classic Freak Out song makes a reappearance on this tour, once again sung by Napoleon. It’s a little quicker than on the studio album, and once Norma joins the band she plays the riff on sax. This tune was basically always played as the first song of “the Freak Out medley”, preceded by How Could I Be Such A Fool and I Ain’t Got No Heart (and usually followed by Black Napkins). Once again, a lot of people really hate this medley, and they’re not the best performance of these tunes, but they still can be a lot of fun (this one is my personal fave of the three, I think it’s just a timeless little rock tune, especially if you focus on Frank’s rhythm guitar!).
I’m The Slime – This Zappa classic is a regular encore number on this tour. Frank starts with an improvised burst of guitar (like on the album, the 75-76 live arrangement is the only one to do so), before the last Mothers perform a competent, sleazy sounding version of the tune. Frank typically plays an excellent guitar solo at the end, though they could often come out unfortunately short. This song was basically always preceded by San Ber’dino, in a kind of Roxy-era throwback medley.
Incan Art Intro – The New Year’s Eve show begins with the Mothers playing the guitar solo vamp to Inca Roads. Frank then walks on, plays the post-solo theme, then switches to the Stink-Foot vamp to introduce the band and talk to the audience. For the next tour Frank drops the opening blues and starts using this as a show opener. A fun little piece of music, but it baffles me that Frank doesn’t play any kind of improvised solo in this spot (he does a couple times on the following tour, but what a missed opportunity!)
Kaiser Rolls – This rare tune only appears once on this tour in Oakland, then two more times on the next tour before disappearing again. Before its premiere Frank says “this is actually an old song that I’ve tried to get together a number of times with a number of bands but it never really worked and it may not even work this time… it’s a delicate, tender, sensitive song about a man who encounters a shell shocked person in the park.” It’s a pretty mellow tune, with Nappy singing the lyrics at a casual pace. In terms of structure it’s a pretty standard rock song (for Frank at least) with mildly-nonsensical lyrics about a homeless dude. In the song he’s referred to as “the stumbler man”, the same character referenced in Village of The Sun (and in an unreleased verse from 200 Years Old). There’s a couple of pleasant instrumental interludes and the tune ends with an extended one that sounds kinda like a a chill, composed Ship Ahoy (with some written lines resembling the ending riff from live Florentine Pogens). This take is a little different from the future ‘76 performances. In this version they say “mother fuckin” instead of the “hratche-plche” noise heard in the later takes, Terry doesn’t sing at all, and the pseudo Ship Ahoy ending is dropped from the song too. This isn’t a mid blowing tune, but it’s very welcome when it pops up, both for its quality and rarity.
Keep It Greasy – This Joe’s Garage classic first appears during the short Californian-leg of the tour. It’s a really fun, slow, and funky arrangement of the soon iconic tune, without any of the quotes or stings from the studio version. It fits this band’s kinda sleazy bar band sound very well. Nappy sings the lyrics, and there’s an additional section in the middle of the tune where they all repeat “grease it down”. Nappy plays a short squeaky sax solo following the “screamin’ sound” line, there’s one more chorus, and then they end the tune by slowly repeating “I said I would drive you” a few times. A very fun early take of a classic FZ tune, too bad it doesn’t stick around for very long.
Let’s Move To Cleveland – This staple of Zappa’s 80s bands actually made its debut on the Californian end of this tour, though there’s a good chance it was written as early as the late 60s. At this point in time the tune was known as Canard Du Jour, though this is unrelated to the later Shut Up N Play Yer Guitar piece (which is why they renamed it Canard Toujour on FZ OZ). The song’s arranged wildly differently, with almost every composed line differing in rhythm and tempo from the finalized tune, but you can definitely still tell it’s Let’s Move To Cleveland. Frank plays a fun, angular, guitar solo, and they repeat the theme afterwards. A really cool tune, that unfortunately only lasts (in this form) for a few dates into the Pacific tour.
Lonely Little Girl – This “forgotten tune from the We’re Only In It For The Money album”. Is thankfully a regular number on this tour. Nappy wonderfully sings the fun little tune (without any of the musique concrete and Ugliest Part of Your Body chunk from the album). Frank includes the entire composition here, with an additional set of lyrics (This section of music dates back to the production of the original album and can be heard instrumentally on Lonely Little Girl (Original Composition / Take 24) off Lumpy/Money; Read a transcription of the lyrics here). After the new lyrics Frank plays the melody line on guitar, and produces a lovely end to the underrated tune (He usually solos around the melody, but in Hamilton he just jams over the entire vamp). Always played as song one of the We’re Only In It For The Money medley, followed by Take Your Close Off When You Dance and What’s The Ugliest Part of Your Body (and typically preceded by Carolina Hardcore Ecstacy). A really great tune and an easy highlight of the tour, along with the entire Money medley.
Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up – This Jeff Simmons/Frank Zappa collaboration makes its first full live appearance on this tour (Frank played with the riff a little in 1969). This song popped up a few times in October, but unfortunately did not become a tour regular. This arrangement is closer to the original Simmons version than to the later Joe’s Garage take, meaning it includes the original intro lick, and is a little poppier and faster than we’re used to. Nappy does a wonderful job with the majority of the lyrics, but Frank and Roy cover other parts (in their usual, purposely-dumb style of singing). The tune ends with a cool, emotional instrumental ending that is unique to this arrangement. A really fun tune, and another song that could have defined this band but was unfortunately forgotten.
The Mud Shark – This Live At The Fillmore East pseudo-tune makes one final appearance in, of course, Seattle. Nappy and Roy sing “Mud Sh-Sh-Shark” and Frank tells the classic Vanilla Fudge story. He goes on a little side note about English groups and hotel room destructions near the beginning, but mostly just tells the same story. When he’s done he asks if there’s anyone in the audience who’s willing to pretend to be abused by the fish. They end the tune with the fun “out, so far out, you do the Mud Shark baby” outro. He tries to get Seattle to sing along but they’re “chickenshit”. A fun moment but maybe Frank has a point when he says “y’know I never did understand every time we come to Seattle, people request this song, there’s nothing to it, it’s a bunch of guys going “Mud Sh-Sh-Shark and hear me talk about a hotel that’s right down the street and you could look at it everyday”.
Muffin Man – This Bongo Fury tune frequently appears throughout the tour as a closing number or an encore. Frank plays the vamp, brings the band down behind him and jams his heart out on guitar for a couple minutes. The tune is always played following Camarillo Brillo, emerging out of the slow second half of the song. These aren’t the best Muffin Man experiences out there (I think those come from 1977 for me, and I mean both bands too), but these ones are nothing to shake a stick at.
Naval Aviation In Art – Starting in Kansas City, the Mothers walk on while this creepy Orchestral Favorites piece plays over the PA. Starting in Passaic, Nappy would moan after the tune, and sometimes even over the piece too. In New Jersey he moans for just a few seconds, but this section increases in length as the tour goes on. After they’re all on stage and Nappy has ceased, they would always go directly into the opening blues. Pedro’s Dowry was also sometimes played (over the PA) before this tune. It’s hard to tell how frequently this happened, because there’s only recordings from late October, but it’s likely it was played more often than we know. Frank mentioned on Halloween that their road crew performed a ballet to the piece, but there’s no recording of Pedro’s on this tour afterwards so it’s unknown if this was a one time only performance or not. The Hempstead show has only Pedro’s Dowry, with no Naval Aviation. The first Halloween show has The Martian Hop, by the Ran Dells played between the two Zappa compositions. It’s an interesting start to the show, to say the least.
Opening Blues – On this tour, every single show (Except Dallas and New Years) begins with a fun blues jam. The large majority of shows on this tour start with Stink-Foot, and when that’s the case the band would jam over the Stink-Foot vamp, typically with Andre and Nappy taking a solo, until Frank walks on stage, introduces the band, and begins the show. When Norma joins the band she takes Nappy’s place, and around the same time Nappy starts to sing a little bit at the beginning of the jam. Frank usually plays a little when he comes out too, but rarely does he fully let loose. The early shows that opened with Apostrophe also featured their own opening blues jam, but with a unique vamp. The only difference is Frank would usually introduce the band after Apostrophe over the Duke Of Prunes vamp. I really like how these jams set the laid back, sleazy mood for these shows and they always feature some great improvisations from the Mothers. Another highlight of the tour for me.
Packard Goose – “This song is dedicated to everyone in the world who writes for a rock and roll newspaper”. The lyrics to this Joe’s Garage tune pop up in various stages of completion a few times in October. It shows up twice at the end of Any Downers (in Boston and Waterbury) and before the theme in two Black Napkins (Both Halloween). Frank recited whatever he had written so far and/or whatever he remembered at the time, including some parts used in the final version and some not.The earliest known recitation in Boston contains just the first verse but it ends with: “Well fuck all you people there ain’t no use because love is where it’s at!” Then six days later in Waterbury, FZ decided to premier the entire tune over a very quiet, basic beat. The lyrics are as follows, with Frank’s comments:
“Maybe you thought I was the Packard Goose
Or the Ronald MacDonald of the nouveau-abstruse
Well fuck all them people, I don’t need no excuse
For being what I am
A little taste on the side from the promo man
If the sells a lot of records he will get a sedan
And the resinous lump from Afghanistan
‘Oh boy the people who write for those rock and roll magazines are so full of shit’
They go to the party just to chew on the cheese
They write like they’ve all had some english disease
They tell you rock and roll is dead aw spare me please
They’re full of shit as they can be
Keep them away from me
‘And then this middle part is sorta like the bridge. I wanna make it more like I’m going through changes like, y’know like Black Sabbath?’
They say there ain’t nothin happenin’
They’re like a turd on a cocktail nap-ka-nin
they’re full of doo doo yessire
Get those motherfuckers away from me!”
Frank then explains that he couldn’t figure out a good ending because the writers are “really that intelligent”. Then two days later on Halloween, Frank recites the song twice; in the early show he does the “goose” verse, then the “cheese” verse second, the “sedan” verse third and FZ ends it with “Oh boy they’re hurtin’ that’s for certain”. In the late show the verse order is “goose”, “cheese”, “turd”, followed by a new fifth verse that goes like this:
“Y’know those chumps, that write for Cream
Well they should go over and suck on Todd Rudgren’s laser beam
and the rest of that scum at Rolling stone
Here’s to them…. A bone”
FZ finishes by stating, “I know it’s tough, everybody’s gotta earn a living but some people oughta be licensed to operate a typewriter” and starting Black Napkins. This song is nowhere near the monster it would become by the end of the decade, but it’s very interesting to hear its origins.
San Ber’dino – This One Size Fits All tune is a frequent encore and one of this band’s most successful songs. The striped down sound of this group fits the tune very well. Frank plays a short but sweet solo near the end of the tune and Andre delivers the ending howls (I wish Frank had him sing more). This tune was almost always preceded by I’m The Slime in a fun Roxy-era throwback medley. A very fun arrangement and a highlight of the band.
Sleep Dirt – This late 70s title track makes a couple of appearances in October before returning to obscurity. Interestingly, the progression is the same but the medley to the tune is halfway between the studio take and Black Napkins! And it’s not a true or total combination because they play Black Napkins afterwards in each show; It’s some weird middle ground often referred to by fans as Sleep Napkins. Sleep Dirt is immediately followed by the other tune in the first three known performances, and it would start directly at the theme, with no bars of the vamp to start, making the two tunes feel even more connected. Nappy plays a great sax solo, Andre takes a tasteful keyboard solo and Frank delivers a beautiful closing jam (with the possible exception of Santa Barbara, because there’s a cut between Andre’s solo and the ending). Waterbury probably has the best version out there, but each performance is worth hearing. This is a really weird tune, and another one of those “why did they stop playing it!” tunes.
Stink-Foot (incl. The Poodle Lecture) – This Apostrophe classic reappears once again on this tour, largely the same as the last four tours, and still different from the album. Originally the opening song for this tour was Apostrophe, but once Stink-Foot first appeared in Seattle it quickly became the regular start to the show. Each performance would begin with a fun bit of blues improv (see Opening Blues for more info), before Frank introduces the band and kicks off the tune. Frank recites the lyrics to the song over the classic live vamp (similar but not identical to the studio version), and then plays a blistering hot solo. After this he’d transition to the next tune, which by mid October was always Dirty Love. There was usually some lyrical variation from night to night (“it’s right around the corner” often changed to a local reference, for example “right by the picket line outside” in Passaic or “over by Holy Land USA” in Waterbury). A fun, unique moments happens during the Hamilton performance, when Eddie Jobson makes a guest appearance and plays a fantastic violin solo after Frank’s in Stink-Foot. When Norma was in the band, she’d add a fun little horn lick after this line. Starting in November, Frank adds another segment to the tune. Before his solo he’d have a spontaneous dialog with Fido, where he would chide the dog for not bringing him his slippers. The dog would then respond “Oh Frank, I was so stoned”, and Frank has no choice but to punish him (“Sick!”). By the time the band gets to Yugoslavia FZ has added yet another segment to the tune, the infamous Poodle Lecture (The first known take actually comes from Philly, but it’s such an early version it’s hard to call it a true Poodle Lecture). After his solo, Frank would tell a long, nasty story about God’s creation of Man, Woo-Man and the Poodle. This story never changed much from show to show (in fact it only gets more drawn out as time goes on), and is one of the most vile moments from Frank’s live career. He’d use the story as a bridge between the two opening Poodle songs, Stink-Foot and Dirty Love, and would recite the story at every show in late 1975 and 1976. It doesn’t ruin the song, but I’d definitely prefer it if it wasn’t there. Despite the emerging Poodle Lecture, this is still a really fun tour for this tune, with the delicious opening blues and a tasty solo from Frank, making it a regular highlight from most shows.
Swallow My Pride – This unreleased song premiered in September and made its final appearance on Halloween. It’s one of the dumbest tunes Frank ever wrote, but it was supposed to be a parody of heavy metal music at the time. The main riff is very similar to Camarillo Brillo, and Nappy sings some vile, occasionally incomprehensible lyrics between repetitions of said riff (read them here). After this Frank plays a fun rock n roll solo, followed by a bass/guitar/sax trade-off jam and a short Bozzio drum solo. The song ends with a few more repetitions of the main riff. In Seattle we get a mini-monster take, with a long drum solo and a Ship Ahoy style jam. The Passaic version is special too because Frank brings up a lady from the audience, Linda, to ramble into the mic for a bit. Frank was mildly experimenting with this tune throughout the tour, mainly just wildly varying the speed from performance to performance. Dumb-but-fun is really the best way to describe this tune, not essential but enjoyable.
Sy Borg – Frank would often play the chords to what would become this Joe’s Garage tune in his fantastic jams in Chunga’s Revenge (and at least twice in Zoot Allures). He’d play a rough, instrumental version of the chorus, with the melody and tempo recognizable but not yet finalized. It’s not really a song yet, but it’s clear Frank was beginning to make it one around this time. Really cool to hear, and a highlight of many Chunga’s.
Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance – This We’re Only In It For The Money classic reappears with a fun little reggae-esque arrangement. Nappy sings the tune, and in the middle of the tune we get an instrumental take of the theme on the keyboards (Norma plays along November 8th–December 9th), and then Andre plays a delightful 30-seconds long synth solo. Always played as song two of the We’re Only In It For The Money medley, between Lonely Little Girl and What’s The Ugliest Part of Your Body. Another really great tune and an easy highlight of the tour, along with the entire Money medley.
T’Mershi Duween – This Roxy classic was played a few times in the first week of the tour, before getting permanently dropped from rotation (until 1988). This is a completely unique arrangement, very different from the ‘73 and ‘74 takes, and a lot of fun. The melody is mostly played by Frank and Nappy, and the tune now starts with a new intro (based on the main phrase), followed by a bunch of differently played repetitions of the classic T’Mershi Duween line, and the tune ends with a bunch of really quick repetitions. It’s hard to describe, but it’s an excellent rearrangement, and it’s an atrocity that it was dropped so soon. (This version was also slated to be played by Frank’s defunct mid-’75 touring band, and can be heard on Joe’s Camouflage).
Tryin’ To Grow A Chin – The components to this tune first appeared on this tour, but not all together. Frank plays the chords and basic structure to the song two times during longer jams in Waterbury’s second Chunga’s Revenge and Philly’s Zoot Allures, but he actually recites the first verse or so in Waterbury’s first Black Napkins and the Halloween performance of Any Downers. Obviously not a full song yet, but it’s really fun to hear the parts when they pop up.
What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? – This We’re Only In It For The Money makes a surprise appearance on this tour. It’s a reproduction of the first version, not the reprise. The doowop sections are sung by Frank, Nappy and Roy (and Norma, November 8th–December 9th), but Frank handles the excellent “all your children” section on his own. Always played as the final song in the We’re Only In It For The Money medley, following Lonely Little Girl and Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance (and usually preceding Chunga’s Revenge). Another really great tune and an easy highlight of the tour, along with the entire Money medley.
Willie The Pimp – This Hot Rats classic appears one time at the very start of the tour in Santa Barbara. Freak tears into the riff and jams away for a minute or two. Fun to hear pop up but nothing substantial. This is also probably the last time the Willie vamp is played straight, because when the tune reappears in Winter 1977, we get the rewritten pop arrangement heard on YCDTOSA#4.
Wind Up Workin’ In A Gas Station – This Zoot Allures opener was played on at least two occasions, on Halloween and in Ljubljana, as an instrumental! Frank plays the chords to the tune, and in Yugoslavia he also delivers a tasty, heavy, solo. Also, I theorize that the Quebec Mystery Riff is from the end of a performance of this tune, mainly because the two riffs are so similar. A really fun performance, and a very interesting variation on a classic FZ tune (and another reason the Yugoslavian shows are the best of the tour).
Zoot Allures – The title track from Frank’s 1976 album makes its debut on this tour. It sounds very similar to the studio take, with Frank performing the beautiful theme, and following it with a fantastic, emotional guitar solo. Norma plays her sax along with Frank at the first Halloween show, making a lovely unique Zoot experience. Frank would occasionally quote other tunes in his jams including Funiculì Funiculà and the Rite Of Spring, and compositions: Billy The Mountain, Sy Borg, T’Mershi Duween, Five-Five-Five and Tryin’ To Grow A Chin. Once the setlist solidifies, the tune was almost always preceded by Chunga’s Revenge, and typically ended the show (or moved into the show-closing tune(s)). These takes don’t typically reach the heights yet to be achieved on the next tour, but they’re still very fun and soulful, and an easy highlight of many shows.
Solo Table:
Life On The Road 