THE ROXY PERFORMANCES

For fans of the near-inimitable Frank Vincent ZAPPA, truly but of course naturally speaking as a fan, an excellent addition to any Prog collection. This has always, and therefore immediately had, struck me as the ultimate (traditional) lineup of not only The MOTHERS OF INVENTION, but of any band headed by FZ throughout: the nearest contender is the '88 Band, but that should be disqualified for being purposefully capable of handling literally any and all of his material (it's cheating! haha). The (properly, not officially speaking) third and final Mothers lineup consists of the following performers: Napoleon MURPHY BROCK (sax, flute, lead/backing vox), George DUKE (keyboards/synths, lead/backing vox), Bruce FOWLER (trombone), Tom FOWLER (bass), Ruth UNDERWOOD (percussion), Ralph HUMPHREY (drums, aux. percussion) and Chester THOMPSON (drums). It can not be beat in my opinion, and especially Napoleon sticks out to me as the latest addition and as a co-frontman. He effectively filled the shoes, in part, of not only Sal MARQUEZ of the Wazoo era, but also the incredible and intrinsic Ian UNDERWOOD! Also joining the band along with Brock was Chester as the second (though technically now primary) drummer beside Ralph. Really telling about specifically their contributions and abilities as musicians--can you imagine performing this level of music with just ~3 months of preparation under your belt?

Material on this massive 7-disc boxset covers--and I think I must be missing something here--three nights in a row (Dec. 8-10, 1973), live at LA's Roxy Theatre, as well as recording sessions two days following that third performance at Bolic Sound (Dec. 12). The former live performances, of course, appeared partially and most notably on the excellent Roxy & Elsewhere a year later (in 1974) as well as Roxy By Proxy (2014). These latter studio recordings would contribute in part to Apostrophe (') (1974) and eventually compilation albums The Lost Episodes (1996) and The Crux of the Biscuit (2016).

Aside from the entertaining and enlightening "Show Start[s]" and song intros, personal standout tracks, previously and substantially not available elsewhere before, are as follows: "Inca Roads (12-9-73)", the before spliced-out guitar solo and half of the ending on "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? (12-9-73)", "Montana (12-10-73)" [The version on YCDTOSA4 is a combination of the performances from nights 2 and 3], the very funky and experimental "Dupree's Paradise (12-10-73)" [and when the theme comes in, I'm not sure I've heard it sound still so fresh], in a relative surprise "Cosmik Debris (12-10-73)" [great sax solo followed by a keys solo], "Uncle Meat" [there's something in the way Ruth plays the marimba on Show 2 that's so crisp], "RDNZL (12-10-73 / Show 1)" [a surprising new favorite version?], and the rehearsal for "Big Swifty".

A real treat, for sure, especially for fans, but of course very very dense. Plenty of repeats, to be expected, so it became difficult to remember and then differentiate between different nights.