ELECTRIC AUNT JEMIMA

Culled from live performances from between May and September of 1968, this album is one of the more historically important of the Beat The Boots releases. I say it's historically important because it contains some odd medleys from the Mothers that you cannot find elsewhere, and also, it documents the Mothers playing jazz rock fusion a full two years before Miles Davis supposedly "invented" it.

The sound quality is fair, and varies a bit from the different concerts. At least in all of them you can distinguish what the musicians are playing, and there is very little crowd banter when the music is occurring.

The highlights are the medleys. The first begins with Little House I Used To Live In, makes it's way through Dog Breath Variations and a humorously played Blue Danube, and finishes on Hungry Freaks Daddy. The second is more bizarre. It begins with something called here English Tea-Dance Interludes, which morphs into Plastic People, played more like Louie Louie than usual. Over the Louie Louie rhythm section, the band plays King Kong and America Drinks before breaking into a standard version of Wipe Out. I can't recall hearing anything like it on any other FZ album.

3.5 stars, rounded up.