FRANK ZAPPA

As the album cover shows, this is performed live on TV in LA on August 27, 1974. Yes the Roxy period. A six piece here and they are at the top of their game. Zappa, Duke, Thompson, Fowler, Brock and Underwood. 73 plus minutes and eleven tracks including so many classics that I've heard countless times. The sound quality is awesome and they are having so much fun here.

A lot of silliness especially on a track like "Stink-Foot" or "Room Service" and there is a lot of talking and fooling around in general. A Frank Zappa production. The one song that was a disappointment is "Inca Roads", my least favourite version that I've heard. The rest is all top notch and I'm not surprised to see a slew of 5 star reviews across the board for this one. I think it's an excellent addition to your Zappa collection myself. But it's also unique given this was performed on TV. An archival release that didn't appear until 2013.

On May 26, 1967, Verve Records releases Frank Zappa's THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION Absolutely Free. Much like their Freak Out! debut from the year before, Absolutely Free is a display of complex music fully supporting Frank's political and social satire.

- Absolutely Free (19:34) a seven-part ode to prunes:

1. "Plastic People" (3:40) a great start that let's you know straight off what the band's intentions are: Humorous satire! (8.75/10)

2. "The Duke Of Prunes" (2:12) so this is where The Soft Machine extracted the "Moon in June" phrase! And mock- opera/show tune fare. Todd Rundgren got the idea for his tongue-in-cheek operatic vocals on his early albums and "Freak Parade." An excellent song. (5/5)

3. "Amnesia Vivace" (1:01) quite possibly where Todd Rundgren got the idea for his tongue-in-cheek operatic vocals on his early albums and "Freak Parade." (4.5/5)

4. "The Duke Regains His Chops" (1:45) I love the pseudo-Broadway finish. (4.375/5)

5. "Call Any Vegetable" (2:19) some great performances despite the heavy satire. (4.375/5)

6. "Invocation & Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin" (6:57) a mostly instrumental slash of Dick Dale/Surfer music and Roger McGuinn's famous 12-string guitar slash-fest in The Byrds' "Eight Miles High." The tight rhythm section keeps it together as guitarists Frank Zappa and Jim Felder and soprano saxophonist Bunk Gardner slash away on their respective instruments (Gardner's a tongue-in-cheek parody of John Coltrane??). Don Preston's keys are somewhere down in the mix--probably hidden beneath Ray Collins' tambourine. Nice jam. (13/15)

7. "Soft-Sell Conclusion & Ending Of Side #1 (1:40) the multi-style conclusion to the Vegetable Medley. (4.3333/5)

- The M.O.I. American Pageant (18:35) more parodies on American social and political events and themes:

8. "America Drinks" (1:52) (4.25/5)

9. "Status Back Baby" (2:52) impressive guitar solo in the second minute--and a great finish--to an otherwise quoditian song. (8.66667/10)

10. "Uncle Bernie's Farm" (2:09) funny vocal and lyric with masterfully-performed music to match. Great choral "bar room" vocals. (4.5/5)

11. "Son Of Suzy Creamcheese" (1:33) the encore return of Suzy Creamcheeze! Great construct--demanding very tight performances from all--now usurping the "Louie, Louie" melody. (4.5/5)

12. "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" (7:26) more theatric cabaret for satiric social commentary. A veritable multi-part suite in and of itself. So many themes, so many motifs, so many quips. (13.25/15)

13. "America Drinks & Goes Home" (2:43) Frank's satirical "tribute" on the intoxicating and intoxicated world of the lounge scene. Amazing. Not the most progressive musically but an excellent indictment of a world that deserves the same criticism to this day. (9.25/10)

Total time 38:09

Though progressive rock music in general does not conform to the trail of socio-political satire as blazed by Frank's Mothers, the complex theatric entanglement of multiple themes within the framework of single songs and suites will become quite de rigueur.

B+/4.5 stars; an excellent album in the same satirical vein as Freak Out!--fodder for the formation and development of early progressive rock. Not sure I'm ready to welcome this album as something deserving of a true "progressive rock" label, but be assured: the seeds have been sown.

Review #136!

A masterpiece. This is one of the albums that make it in my top ten of all time. Every song is equally amazing, unique, crazy, and fun. This, to me, is the peak of anything Frank Zappa ever worked on. It couldn't get much better than this with avant-garde tracks like "Dwarf Nebula", "Prelude", and the title track. The shorter and more accessible tracks are amazing too: "Directly", 'Oh No', and "My Guitar" are all amazing little ditties in Frank Zappa's discography. Chilled, laid back, and relaxed. Amazing. A masterful amalgamation of various genres that everyone can find something in if they try hard enough. Prog on.

The so called sequel of Hot Rats.

The violin solos alone throughout the album by massively underrated virtuoso Sugarcane Harris, who is on-par, if not above of Jean-Luc Ponty, cover the price of admission.

Not to mention the drum-and-guitar duet jams by Ansley Dunbar (one of best drummers of all-time) and El Maestro, and the supplied groovy organ flavors by virtuoso Ian Underwood.

Add to the equation that unreleased track, I'm Rolling Stone, is not only the root source of the iconic last track of the 10-charting, gold-selling 1975 Apostrophe(') LP, but the template of Chunga's Revenge's bluesy Road Ladies.

BUT if all the later were a little thing, the tracks that stand out are Sharleena, which for the first time you will have the opportunity to listen an unedited version from the master tracks, and unreleased Twinkle Tits, which took nine takes to get it done, and Frank didn't have the time to release it, and is finally available here to enjoy it.

Regarding the sound quality, it is top notch, but don't believe me, check out the reviews at Analogplanet and Audiophile.

Do I need to say more? A masterpiece and another home run by Vaulmeister Joe Travers and the boys.

Drum roll please, Maestro... For my money, this - and nothing else - is the Holy Grail of 1970s progressive rock. I'll gladly admit I've cherished YESSONGS, GENESIS LIVE, BURSTING OUT, King Crimson's USA and even WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS TO THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS for many and many a year, but this glorious set tops them all. After all those decades I still don't understand why proggers tend to call HOT RATS their favourite Zappa album when the band you'll hear on THE ROXY PERFORMANCES (featuring George Duke, Bruce Fowler, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Tom Fowler, Ruth Underwood, Chester Thompson, Ralph Humphrey and FZ) easily accomplish far greater miracles. For what have we got? Classic Zappa tunes such as 'Penguin in Bondage', 'Cheepnis', 'Inca Roads', Village of the Sun' and 'Montana' receive pristine performances here. The players' enthusiasm is palpable and their virtuosity is second to none, especially on breath-taking instrumentals like 'Echidna's Arf', 'RDNZL' and 'Big Swifty'. Should you worry about duplication? Well, if you're NOT a massive Zappa fan, you can do without this box set; you'll probably be very happy with the one-disc ROXY BY PROXY, which features some of the best bits from these gigs, as well as superb (highly detailed and illuminating) liner notes by percussionist Ruth Underwood. But if you've got some money to spare, or you can take the time to listen to all this music on streaming platforms, just don't hesitate - give the music a go and ENJOY!!! Why, the 21 minute performance of 'Dupree's Paradise' from December 10th's first show ALONE is worth your money and/or attention! That particular performance (not included in ROXY BY PROXY, by the way) showcases George Duke as one of prog's keyboard supremos. I simply don't understand why he's not more appreciated, since he's obviously in the same league as Patrick Moraz or Tony Banks... Just one caveat, perhaps: I could do without THREE separate performances of the annoying 'Dickie's Such an Asshole' and I'm sure many Zappa fans will agree. But let's not stare ourselves blind on a minor defect; let's just be grateful for all the riches.

I only discovered this amazing album upon embarking upon my recent historical research into the advent of the "prog epic" (long-playing multi-part songs or "suite" as well as extended jams and side-long songs). I absolutely love the music here: so much fusion and experimentation within so many musical genres, including jazz, big band jazz, cinematic scoring, classical, Latin, avant-garde, and, of course, rock and pop. As everyone knows, the music is presented within the flow of a kind of burlesque of the mundane life of the Everyman. At first I thought that the album-long radioplay was intended to serve as the interludes for the music, but now I'm almost convinced that the music serves more as the cinematic interludes within the burlesque. My reason for this conversion is due to the extraordinary amount of editing and overdubbing and sound effects applied to the spoken word passages. I mean, yes, the music is intricate and complex--and often stunningly beautiful--but the radioplay is even more so. Plus, the amount of time dedicated to the wacky dialogue scenes (or skits--which HAD to have inspired/motivated future comic legends, Cheech and Chong) eventually exceeds that given to the music! Because of my reverence for all things Cheech and Chong, the excellent (and highly inventive) engineering and production here, as well as for the often-jaw- dropping, envelope-pushing music, I am fully persuaded to give this album full marks. People! This was early 1967 (though the record company delayed the official release date to May of 1968)! The progressive progression to the phenomenon we like to call progressive rock music doesn't get more progressive than this!

T.R. was the first Zappa album I ever bought. Same year as release on vinyl double-Lp. It was issued during the early stages of what should be defined as phase two of Zappas career (which started shortly before with the equally excellent Sheik Yerbouti). As with quite a few other acts that appeared in the second half/late sixties this was an era that was dispised by the purists (late seventies/early eigthies). I don't know how many hesitant, so-so or even direct negative reviews I've encountered about this exquisite recording. Let's have a look at some of them; first book I read about Zappa didn't utter one negative word about his music until, you guessed it, T.R. Complaining about 'reshodded' material and content. Of the album's 16 titles only five of them are taken from previous releases. Most or almost all live albums are completly made up of old material. Here you find 2/3 of premiere recordings. Next one British music paper; similary dreadful. Mutual from people I've met and talked to; medium disc, belly splash, non-essential...I spoke to a record store owner and huge Zappa fan; up to -77, became the answer. No further! I was on the verge to implicate that Zappa had done an insurmountable amount of top music after that, but I kept quiet. This is far from unique for Mr. Zappa. Several other albums belonging to pure elite class like Genesis 'A.T.T.W.T.', Uriah Heep 'Fallen Angel', Allman Brothers 'Reach For the Sky', Caravan 'Back to Front'; were planed off in the same manner. Had Zappa's and the other mentioned here been released in -71 instead they had all in one way or another been much more admired by the pundits. It seems that if you're a fan of T.R. then you're lost in an arid desert, with water hole as mirage. Aside from one single studio track, T.R. is regarded as a live album and technically there's nothing to argue about that. It's even admitted in the album texts. Personally though, I don't consider it as such. The endless flow of new material from the composer means that you encounter it for the first time. There are no other versions to compare with. Add to this the ability from Zappa to transform it into, when wanted to, a musical piece free from either definition. It's simply a new Frank Zappa album. The studiotrack 'Fine Girl' opens the record; It's nothing but magic! It proves that the conjurer is the true master of simplicity. This wisdom appears when you imbibe 'Drowning Witch' and 'Big Swifty' at the other end of the spectrum. The midsection break is repeated eight times. There's never a dull nanosecond. The lyrical content won't nominate it's originator for a grammy nomination from The Coalition of Labor Union Women. Reggae tinged as you may detect, and if so the finest offering you've ever encountered in this genre. It's Zappa's rendition of 'No woman, No cry' in a more stylish manner. A wall of vocal parts flows over you from Zappa himself and his incredible co-operators.

If 'Fine Girl' theorizes with the taste buds of the family tyrant you are, then 'Panty Rap' goes into full action. All female private parts out in the fresh air. Even for a music professor, this is not a bad thing. If you want to go into privacy, then you'll come to the conclusion that Zappa must have had a well tought out escape route in front of his own wife Gail Zappa. As I reckon, they lived happily together through prolonged decades. An ignorant women's libber had unavoidably been chasing Frank up and down the stairs; with rolling pin in one hand, and signed divorce form in the other...Gail Zappa was at the same bright level as her spouse and grasped the dividing line between fiction and what we call reality. As it happens, you won't find a more daring collection of this magnitude from an equally established artist. At the same time, all done with tongue in cheek. The collected lyrical content on T.R. easily outgoes 150 normal main stream albums at your local record store. It only adds to the confusion why it's held so low by observers. The upcoming 'Easy Meat' becomes, in the context, as innocent as a white lamb. It says it all. Strategically put as second track it is definately a highlight on the record. Maybe the highlight. You've never heard a more meaningful and purposive guitar burst from F. Zappa. Not to mention the massive keyboard cascades delivered by a highly inspired Tommy Mars. A decade old composition with parts recorded in the mid seventies. A few lucky buggers have already encounterd it along the way, but for most folks it's a brand new experience. There are three major sections in the song, somehow very independent both in time/space but all melt together as one trophy. The longest track of the album. 'For the Young Sophisticate' offers an uninhibited bare layed xylophone. We're solely talking music terms. When all is said and done, this is what's it's all about. A relaxed and pleasant mid-tempo rocker. Even if not the most challenging cut on the record, it's not without merits. If you find the cover of Patti Smith album Easter repulsive then you'll find support from the young sophisticator. An overgrown armpit is just gradations below other unmentionable body parts.

With a to say the least comprehensive catalogue under his belt it is tempting to sort up and find some breathing space. 1979 had been a phenomenally high productive year with multiple releases. For the adventitious visitor at the record shop there was one new Zappa long play out at every occasion. Almost everything at highest standard to boot. How many artists reach this incredible level? -80 empty due to contractual reasons then it kicks off again with a vengeance 1981. T.R. was released simultanously with the voluminous 'Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar' (albeit through different channels. The latter via mailorder). Only four footling months later massive double-Lp 'You Are What You Is'. A burning conglomeration 79-81, for the normal artist enough to fill out an entire career. 'Sheik Yerbouti' was the start for something new and fresh; sound, production, package, attitude, whatever...Tinseltown Rebellion follows in the same direction. 'Roxy & Elsewhere' didn't bother with any radio friendly opening cuts. For my money at least, this is a milestone in music history in itself. Even though it's a limted slice in Zappa's career it's so full of musical enrichment. It becomes clear that you can't engulf in one bite but slice it up. Zappa's production can be difficult to overview even for the initiated, then imagine the ignorant. One true story; a Swedish acquaintence of mine lived with his host family in Florida for whom he intruduced the music world of Zappa. That is his lighter, approachable side. Encouraged by this, the family went out and bought album at random. It became 'F.Z. in N.Y'. They were, to put it mildly, perplexed.

Side A of the record has already swung you in opposite directions. If you thought that Side B differed then you were wrong. A cluster of 50ies rendered tracks, all filtered through the writers cunning sense of humour. Already mentioned 'Panty Rap' plus a guitar instrumental. Three previously released songs all around two unbelievably short minutes. For the Zappa rescued they serve as satirical elements just joking around with its contemporaries, for the less knowledgable they're just as great as anything in its style. It takes an outsider, other than the average Zappa fan at least, to fully comprehend his genious here. No single individual has the ability to overview Zappa's enormous production from all angels. We're all amateurs. The inevitable question looms large; why are these three tracks included at all? All the way back to already existing debut album. Just to fill out empty spaces? To make it a more desirable sales item? The emphasis ends up on the latter alternative. Recent albums gave Zappa a flirt with a wider audience. Suddenly all your high school mates were in possesion of at least one or two Zappa albums. 'Now you see it, now you don't' (can you figure out the title's hidden implication...?) may be written off as a mere guitar improvisation for a cynic. I've never seen it that way. It's simply too interesting. Obviously, a part of something much bigger, namely 'King Kong'.

Not only does the title track belong to side C of the double vinyl, it also possesses a rare trait. There's nothing like the formula that floods all over the album. That is the ever present female/male disputes. Since we left the unicellular pond this has been the main drama here on mother earth. T.R. is no exception as we already have dealt with. Instead we find a fully believable and realistic story about what could be practically any band (with the exception of Zappa's own). Why is F.Z. satirical or parodic as always pointed out? Is it so? It could perfectly well be the contrary. It's him telling the plain unbeautifying truth where others beat about the bush. He doesn't mince words for sure but why should it be that way? The laugh is just nothing than an ad-on. 'The Blue Light' is an ineluctable piece that just flows all over you. An Ocean of syllables in talk song manner. Cinematic in its delivery it takes an audience above average pop level to give it full justice. 'Pick Me, I'm Clean' is another stunning masterpiece like 'Easy Meat' and one of the pillars of T.R. Very well structured I will say in a manner that reminds you of progressive bands in the more melodic vein. Echolyn/Yes come up as healthy frames of referenece. Somewhat vague in meaning before you'll figure out its content. A groupie in the audience came up with the titlewords; yelled them out. Zappa lend her a helping hand, used his quill to fill up the remainder of it. Enter Ike Willis. Which album can be inferior with a singer of his capacity? Paired with one of the other vocalists here they form an unbeatable singing team. He's not unknown the other; it is Frank himself. It's worth pointing out alas. When you have so many irons in the fire as Zappa people tend to ignore or forget about his supreme world class vocal capacity. Not to mention palpable orginality. In how many reviews have you encountered the subject? He is Frank Sinatra, Ivan Rebroff and Chuck Berry in one. Zappa/Willis in tandem, they met for the first time 1977 in St. Louis, the hometown of the latter. For understandable reasons, Willis was double-quick in the the backing group. All the way up to the very end. The moment you note the voice of Willis, you already know you're in Zappa land. Second to none in import. Just like his fellow Zappa, he seems to have the built-in ability to do a volte-face from the weighty to the light-hearted(and back) in no time. No wonder that Willis had a major position in the ensemble. Plus the fact that seven other fully capable vocalists are present in various formations like back-up, co-lead or harmonies.

The distance to next pillar is proximate. The cryptic title comes, 'Bamboozled by Love'. A warning text is imminent if you want your timorous at a distance. Perhaps you're prepared for any daring subject, this is still an ultra tough playback. Even for the hardened Zappa follower. 'Money' from Dark Side of the Moon feels like a good choise if you're on the hunt for similarities. Not even Zappa lives on a desert island, he listens to other peoples stuff like all of us. It becomes dark side of the lawn in this case. In any case, it's another masterstroke. It opens side D and is the one and only unheard track here. Follows 'Brown Shoes Don't Make It' it doesn't require any introduction to a fan. As it is a double-Lp close to 70 minutes I suppose it's allowed to have at least one song under par. While it starts out great in standard Zappa manner I normally skip the second half. Actually it reminds me of another Z, namely Led Zeppelin and song 'The Ocean' from '73. In both cases fabulous start but end up in mere jam sessions. Final track on Tinseltown is not even heard for the second but third time. This is the best version, but at the same time I'm biased because it's the first I listened to.

Which is well known to the ardent Zappa fan, the idea of T.R. replaced the earlier intended 'Crush All Boxes'/'Warts And All' projects. Massive releases in tradition with earlier Läther. Just like Läther it was split up and spread out in fewer units. You may still wonder to this day why the cosmetic brand 'Warts And All' was never picked up by neither Abba nor Boyzone.

Zappa (and The Mothers; I can't give only Frank credit) always had a way of both ruining and improving songs with their use of time-signature shifts and sudden changes of beat. For that reason (among many others), I respect Zappa and his goofy crew greatly. They are and never will be afraid to utterly destroy typical music criteria by stepping outside the box (it's really more like running a mile away from it), and 'One Size Fits All' is the perfect representation of that. Badass, yet random solos ('Inca Roads'), goofy lyrics('Andy'), and breaking out in German for unknown reasons('Sofa No. 2'). Truly, a masterpiece, and it is but more proof of Zappa's whopping IQ, no matter how he shows it.

As much of a fan as I am of Mr. Zappa's music and would hate to think ill of the people entrusted to curate his oeuvre, I can't help but shake off the impression that those people sometimes abuse their position to rip off gullible fans, and this utterly pointless, worthless CD release, chronicling a rehearsal session from the early 70s featuring the same big band with which Zappa recorded the albums "Waka/Jawaka" and "The Grand Wazoo", is one of the most egregious examples of this. I might have been able to forgive how the music is regularly interrupted by barely audible spoken directions and random banter and I might have even been able to forgive the abysmal sound quality of the recording which constantly clips and cuts out, but I cannot forgive the fact that there aren't even any actual songs featured on this album: instead we get a mind-numbing collection of failed takes, musicians practicing short snippets of melodies without accompaniment and the band generally just messing around, randomly divided into multiple tracks and only occasionally interspersed with brief prototypes of songs that would eventually end up on the aforementioned studio albums. Maybe a few minutes of all of this stuff would have been cute to fill up an album featuring actual full takes of these songs; even releasing it in full for free on YouTube might have been interesting, but no one can convince me that the people who decided to release and sell CD copies of this recording could have honestly believed that anyone would willingly shell out 20 dollars and listen to 55 minutes of this crap if they weren't suckered into it. Do not buy this unless you're the most dogmatic of Zappa fans and need to hear absolutely everything that the man ever spat out onto tape.

Why on earth is THIS my first review? I bet it must be something deeply psychologically concerning with me.

Nonetheless:

This Record is a great example of what happens if you throw some of the most dry Zappa recordings in your trash without having enough precaution that this might end in your trash turning mad and getting the intention of becoming a very slow and very doom Frank Zappa cover band whilst on heavy drug influence. And if that weren´t enough choosing a stage show presentation form with absurd creatures and racism sprinkled all over it just for a little bit of ornamentation.

I still find it incredible how an album with so many straight time drum beats can sound so rhythmically jarred.

Although I think its one of the few things in my life I listened too once and don't ever want to again, just caused by the pure aural and mental displeasure it provokes, this is like the logical conclusion to all of Frank Zappas satirical career. Its like the next step in Joe´s Garages evolution. I believe Zappa must have planned this one all along since the release of its first tracks on earlier Zappa Albums. But its also obvious why the critics shredded even what few of what was intended to hold this thing together.

On the whole I have to admit I was never a fan of Zappas "funny" operatic, gospel, soul etc. vocals, so I get nearly nothing from that part of the album. And the textures overall are nothing to be proud of. You might be interested by their sometimes proto industrial vibes, but we had that on Zoot Allures before, which is somewhat a blueprint for this albums sound. (and features more than one song from it)

Actually, even if painful to listen to, as a stageshow, this might´ve been quite funny. Mainly because of its fine sense of provoking the audience and even a nice opportunity for involvement. (Thinking of the Bozzios sitting amidst the audience)

Personal Enjoyment: 3 - 4/15