The Mothers • Fillmore East – June 1971

★★★★

✰✰✰✰✰

   Exploring the development of Frank Zappa’s creative activities, we need to consider its social factor. He was always emphasized how much he likes “audience participation”, and it was audible since first concerts and improvised happenings through his famous testimony on rock lyrics moral content before the committee of US Congress in September 1985 and later political statements, to his last and unfortunately unfinished 1988 tour and to his late interviews. Crucial moment is to understand the role concerts were playing as element of social experience. The source of his power as composer, text author, guitarist and personality was his understanding of cultural and social mechanisms and sincere way he was communicating common sense point of view. It is fascinating to observe how his eccentricity was becoming more and more understandable and his views were shared by an increasing part of the audience.
   In seventies, as almost always before, concerts were still the primary way musicians earn for living. The same was with The Mothers of Invention. After dense sequence of concerts in last decade of May when Zappa's band was playing in Chicago IL (21st), Delaware OH (22nd), Columbus OH (23rd), Detroit MI (25th), Madison WI (27th), Rochester MI (29th) and Cleveland OH (30th), June was more loose. Two concerts in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh June 2nd and Harrisburg 3rd) and four concerts in two days in New York were the end of sequence started in May. In first decade of July Zappa with his band were touring in Canada giving again 7 gigs in 9 days. The two day of Fillmore East concerts in June 5th and 6th, with two gigs every day, became heyday of summer 1971 in Frank Zappa and Mothers of Invention career. Songs and concert dialogs recorded these days in Fillmore East became twelfth album in Frank Zappa discography and his first live album, setting new direction in publishing live recordings. 

The Mothers – Fillmore East – June 1971 (1971)

   This is not just live recording album. Edited out of four gigs Zappa and Mothers of Invention played in New York Fillmore East during two days, this set of songs follow show’s main theme, which was explicit relation of legendary excesses with the participation of musicians from Vanilla Fudge and Led Zeppelin. Strange sexual behavior of rock musicians was the part of rock culture mythology and the element of many urban legends. The alleged story took place in Edgewater Inn in Seattle, where guests were fishing directly from apartments’ windows. The relation focused on story of a groupie and her experience with the fish was shown in The Mud Shark which is a narrative episode connected to live interaction with the audience. This was the second presentation of live performance by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan who were already singing in Chunga’s Revenge. Other songs are full of situation and vocabulary references and this improvised entertaining jokes give the album cohesion as a continuation of Zappa’s conception-albums with clear narrative aspect and some random reactions.
   Although this is live album, its musical quality is far ahead of its time. Zappa’s compositions are perfectly set and beautiful instrumental Peaches En Regalia became his trademark. This album is signed by The Mothers and Zappa alone is visible on credits as musician, composer, leader of the band and producer of the record. But nobody had any doubts, this was next album in his discography. New lineup of The Mothers consists of vocal duo Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan from The Turtles, playing wind instruments and keyboards Ian Underwood, Bob Harris as a second keyboard player, drummer Aynsley Dunbar and bassist Jim Pons, former member of The Turtles who just started his cooperation with The Mothers. The guest performer was Don Preston playing minimoog, a veteran of first Mothers of Invention and one of most interesting musicians playing with Zappa. This was rather small companion for Zappa’s symphonic ideas of this period. The same minimalistic attitude can be seen of the cover designed by Cal Schenkel. But the economic lineup shows its power when listening to these fragments of live music. Especially vocals and dialogue fragments show new face of the band. This was already in use while recording 200 Motels in January 1971, but this album was released in October 4th, 1971, two months after Fillmore East – June 1971. Four stars looks quite fair, but we can be sure for Zappa fans this one, as well as almost every other Zappa’s record is always worth five.

Frank Zappa • Uncle Meat

★★★★★

   After the students' revolt in late 60’s, many hidden issues in politics, education, economics and social life came to light. The necessity of rebuilding some elements of culture became apparent. Some processes of fighting against injustice, segregation or unequal rights were taking place for decades; in sixties moving towards civil rights and social liberation were already quite well underway. With great expectations for the future, artists were trying to free social memory of cold war propaganda and imperial ideology. This was the perfect time to show the world the mirror and even most advanced artistic experiments were absorbed by more and more open society. But even then many noble idealists were unreasonably hopeful, escaping into naïve expectations, and the tragic existence on the edge was a final argument protecting them against absurdity.
   Frank Zappa was clearheaded rationalist from his very beginnings. He started with dual musical creation, from one side there was fusion music with some concepts of avant-garde compositions, elements of jazz, and from the other side with songs about popular culture being more sardonic than satirical or critical. Sometimes he was more composer, sometimes more lyricist and songwriter, sometimes just performer. His shows with Mothers of Invention became famous. One of most complex work were his musical movie projects giving him grounds for joining different musical elements and traditions. It is best feature of early Zappa’s works he was enough complex to be inspiring from every point of view. He was acting as a romantic composer using folk tunes and motifs to build advanced constructions, so he was using popular music and many other genres and artifacts to create his own, original, yet somehow decadent vision.

Frank Zappa & Mothers of Invention – Uncle Meat (1969)

   The sixth Frank Zappa album Uncle Meat was copyrighted in 1968 and released in March 1969. Surprisingly this album was selling much better than many other records with big “commercial potential” and Uncle Meat in short time reached the peak on 43rd position of US album chart. This was probably due to good reception of previous albums but in fact this double LP issue was perfectly produced and seemingly more indiscrete while heterogenic and complex. Under the title Uncle Meat printed with Old English typeface there was a subtitle stated: Most of the music from The Mother’s movie of the same name which we haven’t got enough money to finish yet. The material made for the movie Uncle Meat was reedited as a documentary in kind “making of” and published on videocassette in 1987. Also a CD edition was augmented with more than forty minutes of soundtrack excerpts (predominantly dialogues) and song Tengo Na Minchia Tanta recorded in 1982 with singer Massimo Bassoli.

   The original idea of Uncle Meat album looks as the perfect bunch of various ambitions. Sometime surrealistic lyrics were more readable in era of psychedelic rock but all spoken fragments were clearly taken from movie soundtrack. Experiments with tape, percussion and noise, modal scales and complex rhythms, multitrack recording, these entire elements make some fragments of this album can be quite a challenge for listeners with prejudices. What was avant-garde in sixties, today sounds as classical, well balanced concert music. Original and creative combination of traditional instruments and electronics, complex structures developed from simple melodic motifs, resignation of diatonic function in harmonics and the use of techniques of serialism, all this make the music of the Uncle Meat album one of most interesting documents of its time. Without fail it should be regarded as a serious composition. This is why the original album deserves five out of five stars.

Frank Zappa • MOTHERS • Just Another Band from L. A.

★★★★★

   After few good years of playing and recording with Mothers of Invention, came weariness and disappointment. In December 1971 took place two accidents that changed life of Frank Zappa and career of the group. First took place in Casino de Montreux, where during the concert one member of the public shot the flare causing the fire and burning the building „to the ground” with all they had on the stage. One week later, using rented equipment Mothers were playing in London Rainbow Theatre. A guy from the audience pushed Zappa from the scene to the orchestra pit. The rest of the group were convinced Zappa had been killed. Falling to concrete floor Zappa broke his leg, and had many serious injuries. For months he was confined on the wheelchair what makes impossible cruising or playing live gigs. Due to crushed larynx his voice pitch dropped down a third. 

   What looks like the bad luck, gave musicians a chance to summarize their achievements and regroup to deal with some new plans. First album produced in period of Zappa’s restricted activity was live recording from concert on August 7, 1971 in Pauley Pavilion, widely known sport arena of UCLA in Los Angeles. Frank Zappa and Mothers incorporating three members of The Turtles were playing 7 persons show – Frank Zappa played guitar and sung, Mark Volman and Howard Keylan were singing leading parts, Ian Underwood was playing woodwinds, Aynsley Dunbar – drums, Don Preston – keyboards and Jim Pons on bass guitar who was also singing. 

   New album came March 26, 1972 with Cal Schenkel’s cover including some „intentionally” graphic references to the Uncle Meat and Ruben and the Jets covers. The full title of this work spells: „Was MOTHERS Just Another Band from L. A. – RIFA”. But it’s hard to decide the first words are  „Las Mothers” or „Was Mothers”. There are many different explanations of „RIFA” comment or sign under the title and no one is convincing. Graphic clues are more legible. The group in the car is easy to recognize, and the leader is laying on the rear seats with his head and plastered leg outside side windows of the car. His guitar is erected pushing out through the car’s roof.  

Just Another Band From L. A.

   The most significant part of this album fulfilling the whole A side was 24-minute composition Billy the Mountain. It was shortened version of wider concert event which was parody of rock operas. Growing popularity of projects like Tommy by The Who was the sign of this time but sometimes they gave nothing more than bunch of simple songs illustrating the main and in most cases trite story. Based on expanded song structure, where some episodes added between iterate parts. It’s construction has characteristic features of ritornello form. Billy the Mountain is also continuation of Zappa’s idea of conceptual album he developed in the mid-sixties. Composition is a masterpiece of satirical rock narrative form. In original concert version Billy the Mountain was more than half hour gig, but for LP edition Zappa cut it to fit in one LP side. In abbreviate form composition is 24:42 (in remastered CD reissue 24:46). In 1991 double CD album New York Fillmore East performance of Billy the Mountain recorded June 5-6, 1971 is 30:26 long. 

   The matter of this composition is the story of mountain Billy and his wife Ethell, who was a tree growing off of his shoulder. They were living in Los Angeles area until the day Billy received royalties for posing for the postcards. Billy decides to take a vacation and move with his wife to New York with first stop in Las Vegas. Demolishing everything on their route Billy and Ethell became the sensation in tabloids. After flattening of test stand and rocket sled in Edwards Air Force Base, Billy’s destructive power became attractive to military forces, so he received note he has been drafted. Ethell doesn’t agree, so she has been called a communist practicing witchcraft. To stop Billy comes new hero, man with secret briefcase Studebacher Hoch. Intensification of surrealistic connections to popular culture give this part character of satirical extravaganza leading to final where Studebacher Hoch staying on the Billy’s jaw is threatening Billy and Ethell. Billy laughs and Hoch falls what is leading to the moral: „mountain is something you don’t want to fuck with, don’t fuck around”.

   Some songs played August 7, 1971 in Pauley Pavilion were skipped, especially some known from previous 200 Motels album published in October 1971. Four songs from B side of Just Another Band from L. A. are just perfect life performances of Call Any Vegetable – extended version of song from 1967 Absolutely Free album with improvised scenic dialogues of Frank Zappa, Mark Volman and Howard Keylan, Eddie, Are You Kidding? – song referring to local commercial, Magdalena – bitter satire on Canadian maple syrup worker trying to incest his teenage daughter and Dog Breath known from 1969 Uncle Meat album but here in daring, internally diversified interpretation which is much more lyrical and expressive than before. Although during concert in Pauley Pavilion musicians played many more songs, the whole record should be listen as complete set and remains one of best Zappa’s recordings – no matter live or studio ones. 

Zappa / Beefheart / Mothers • Bongo Fury

★★★★★

   There are many good live recordings by Frank Zappa and his bands. Definitely it is hard to count every great gig played by successive groups in the span of more than quarter of the century. And it was always a question, which one is best to take first. Almost ultimate choice is Bongo Fury, recorded in Austin, Texas May 20 and 21, 1975 and released October 2, 1975. This is album, mainly covering recordings of two concerts, that can be seen as a turning point both in Frank Zappa’s and Captain Beefheart’s career. 

   The place of the concert was quite magic. Despite its ugliness and poor acoustics, its worth to notice, the adopted old military depot, named Armadillo World Headquarters, became main music and entertainment center in Austin during the seventies. In early years it became the center of hippie culture, because of inexpensive tickets, tolerating using of the marijuana and no police raids. These freedoms established an asylum for any kind of the audience, especially for the counterculture and progressive music, but in second half of decade jazz concerts and pop music events were also located here. Conforming didn’t save the Austin’s concert center. December 31, 1980 it has closed and torn down to make place for office building of One Texas Center. 

   Zappa was playing in Armadillo not for the first time, but in 1975 it happened to be the place for the breakthrough change in Zappa’s career. It was the last time Zappa played with Mothers in its early seventies line-up with Tom Fowler on bass and George Duke on keyboard instruments. Some of them he will play again after years – Bruce Fowler came back in Broadway the Hardway and Napoleon Murphy Brock in some albums in forthcoming years, including Thing Fish where he played the role of Evil Prince. In Austin concert and main part of Bongo Fury for the first time appeared as a member of Zappa's group Terry Bozzio – long time drummer and frontline personality on numerous Zappa’s records. In two studio songs on drums was still playing Chester Thompson – drummer of last Mothers line-up featured on Roxy and Elsewhere and One Size Fits All.

Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart - Bongo Fury (1975)

   Bongo Fury was also last time Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart appeared together. Two great artists, personalities and friends, made outstanding performance. For Don Van Vliet it looked like trying to comeback into the mainstream of progressive music. Which itself in 1975 was on its way to change. Two songs credited as his works are in fact melodic recitations of his poems - Sam With the Showing Scalp Flat Top (ended with refrain Bongo Fury) and Man With the Woman Head. Despite this Captain Beefheart sings with great blues feeling. He is also playing saxophone and harmonica like old delta blues recordings in Smithsonian archives. 

   Even if most of pieces was composed by Zappa, Beefheart’s contribution is huge. His vocals in Debra Kadabra, one couplet in Carolina Hard-Core Extasy, phenomenal narrative singing and harmonica solo in Poofter’s Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead, and so on in every consecutive piece of this album. And there is a quite vocal personnel – singers are Frank Zappa, George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Denny Walley. But hearing the voice of Captain Beefheart in first part of Advance Romance, there can be no doubts about who is leading this spectacle. Great stage personality and outstanding artist!

   Zappa is quite out of any trend he was before or after. His solo in Carolina Hard-Core Extasy gives foretaste of next ten years of jamming documented in numerous live recordings and two huge collections of guitar solos, beginning with Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar in 1981. The Bongo Fury album shows one more time Zappa as great leader who can stand down and give place for concurrent musicians. Two studio recordings and some overdubs were recorded one year before, January and February 1974 at The Record Plant in Los Angeles. No matter what part of his work you like best, rock, orchestral, social or political satire, comedy or electronic, Bongo Fury belongs to most important albums by Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and musicians of the Mothers group.