February 16th, 1974
This is the second show (and the first circulating on tape) from a
brief period that ranks near the top of the list of lost chapters in FZ's music.
Although the tapes from this short tour are repetitious, every serious fan should have at
least one, and this excellent recording ('74 FZ tapes offer perhaps the best argument for
the point that SBDs are not necessarily preferable to AUDs) is a good candidate.
The only personnel change since the last tour is the addition of Jeff Simmons on rhythm
guitar, but this band is a different beast from the fall 73 unit nonetheless. The
underrehearsed air is mostly gone (although technical problems remain a consistent feature
of the shows all year), and FZ's guitar sound has real bite.
Even more that usual, FZ's typical setlist for this tour spotlights new songs, most of
which are a few steps away from their definitive arrangements. This has its ups and
downs : the slower, funkier Andy (announced as Something/Anything) and doubtletime
Florentine Pogen (with a wicked segue into Kung Fu) are fun; conversely, the solo sections
in Approximate sound half-baked, and the busy full-band vamp behind FZ's Inca Roads solo
doesn't give the guitarist enough room to move. Of course, for the sort of listener
who would read this review, the shortcomings are as fun as the successes.
Tonight's Dupree's Paradise offers a lengthy FZ story about the club that inspired the
piece, detouring into an amusing bit about drugs just before the theme - otherwise, this
version offers some mellow fusion jamming including a short but cool Simmons solo, and
concluding with a fine FZ outing that, as usual for the more inspired versions from this
period, ventures away from the one-chord vamp into other key centers. No other
overwhelming solos, but FZ is on and in a good mood - recommended.
--PB
February 17th, 1974
I have a soft spot for this tour, and wish there were better sounding recordings of it.
This one is an average audience tape, with a few annoying cuts, but is still a satisfying
25 minutes.
We start off with the intro to Cheepnis, essentially still the same as the Roxy intro.
Then it's off to Pygmy Twylyte, with a healthy dose of Simmons guitar livening things up.
Napolean's voice, for once, doesn't annoy me, and the whole things sounds really funky.
Things really get good when Frank begins his solo, as for a minute or so Jeff starts
playing LOUD RHYTHM, almost drowning Frank out. Guitar duel, 20 paces!
Idiot Bastard Son sounds nice, though there are a few cuts (which, ironically, don't
cut anything, they're just silences inserted). Then we hear the beginning of Cheepnis, and
THEN there's a big cut, right to the theme of Dupree's Paradise. So no Duke, or long intro
about the Lounge. Oh, well.
The rest of the song is quite satisfying, with nice solos by Brock, Simmons, Bruce
Fowler, and Frank. I really think Simmons' influence on this Winter/Spring tour is
underestimated - his guitar is excellent, the only time we really see rhythm guitar with
Frank under it, rather than later tours' rhythm plays the melody, Frank only plays solos.
Nice tape, and at 25 minutes, can easily be gotten as a filler item.
--SG
February 24th, 1974
"Interesting rather than great", I wrote somewhere else to sum up this short
tour. Together with the short Apr/May tour it forms an intermediate between the great '73
tours and the ever-popular fall '74 tour, with a bunch of new songs that are getting
worked into the set.
A 73/74 Cosmik Debris is always a 73/74 Cosmik Debris, with pretty much the same old
solos as always from Brock and Duke, and a bluesy little solo from Zappa. Jeff blows his
harmonica for a couple of bars too. Andy is not Andy yet, but even though it's very
obvious that's it's a proto-version, I kinda dig it. The never-to-be-heard-again guitar
arpeggio is cool, and the double drummers are used to nice effect, like when the two
characteristic Andy rhythm patterns are played simultaneously before the solo. FZ actually
solos twice during the song, once where you expect it (really good solo!), and then at the
end where he "duels" with Nappy's wailings.
Florentine Pogen doesn't feel as much as a working version as Andy, but is almost even
more different from the versions we're used to. The double tempo gives it a whole
different feel, and I must admit I really like this too, though I'm glad FZ stuck with the
slower version. The solo section sounds like a fast Willie The Pimp, and surprisingly
features George on the synth. The abrupt segue into Kung Fu must qualify as one of FZ's
strangest ever.
Next, it's the T'Mershi/Dog Meat suite, leading us into the old fave RDNZL. Zappa's
solo is not complete on this tape, unfortunately. The rhythm section really rocks here,
and things get even hotter during Duke's solo. Village Of The Sun is played in a very
loose, groovy style. Odd solo section - rotating between Frank, Nappy and George, who
plays just 4 measures each. The classic combo Echidna's Arf/Don't You Ever Wash That
Thing? is always great, but as things are starting to get hot in Wash, Herb Cohen comes up
and tells the taper that "he's not supposed to be tapin' this thing here".
Nothing really excellent, but overall fun listening - well, that sort of sums up most
shows from this tour, in this reporter's opinion. I don't dig out these tapes too often,
but when I do, I always find myself enjoying the relaxed jams and the interesting working
versions.
--JN
March 5th, 1974
This is one of the handful of nice AUD recordings we're fortunate to have from this
tour, with the only flaws being a few cuts and unstable moments. After a band
intro/soundcheck, it starts with the combo of Montana (good FZ solo, a bit short) and
Dupree's, with a short Duke funk/fusion jam at the start, the usual jazzy string of solos
after the head, and an FZ solo that develops into some sharp blues wailing over a stomping
rhythm section but ends abruptly. A good version, but not exceptional by the standards of
73/74.
Pgymy/Idiot/Cheepnis is next, with Pygmy about halfway through its evolution from the
Roxy arrangement to the Helsinki version. Then FZ intros an hour-long medley of mostly
then-unfamiliar material, with Andy announced as Is There Anything Good Inside Of You and
Echidna's Arf as Excentrifugal Forz. Since most of the notable alternate arrangements here
have already been discussed, what's worth mentioning is Village Of The Sun, another
proto-Helsinki version with Duke and FZ trading licks in the middle.
In Don't You Ever Wash, FZ describes Ruth thinking "'Bri-poo! Bri-poo!' Come back
to her, Bri-Poo," presumably referring to engineer Brian Krokus. Was Ian already
history by then, or was FZ pointing out some extramarital activities from the stage?
Chester and Ralph offer a drum duet (in place of the Roxy duel) that sounds pre-planned,
not too unlike Chester's jams with Phil Collins in the future, over which FZ announces
Inca Roads, the final number on the tape.
Not essential, but worthwhile, and a low-gen version has gotten wide circulation.
--PB
March 8th, 1974
Frank's Winter '74 jaunt is an interesting affair. While it lacks any truly
magical musical moments, this tour does contains a number of really interesting
arrangements. Frank debuts a couple songs during this short tour, treats us to a
short teaser of another, and dazzles us with one of the most unusual suite of segued songs
he would ever concoct. Unfortunately, apart from the novelty of most of these items, this
tour lacks any real fire, and apart from an occasional solo or two, the shows performed
this time out are not all that special.
Representing one of the better sounding performances we have from this run, the 3/8
show is, musically speaking, representative of what we have available from this
tour. "Cosmik Debris" and "Montana" start things off, showing
off a band that sounds like it is simply going through the motions. Oddly enough, these
lackluster performances lead directly to the highlight of the night, "Dupree's
Paradise". As is typical for '73 and '74, this Monster song starts off with
several minutes of Duke led funk, both on electric piano and synthesizer. Frank
eventually steps in and joins the jam, conducting the band through several weird changes,
and sending Ruth off on some short but wicked solos. Excellent sound here, as Ruth
has never sounded clearer or more prominent. After a healthy dose of audience
participation, we head into "Dupree's Paradise" proper, with the standard parade
of solos lined up and ready to go. We get Nappy on flute (and noises), T. Fowler on
bass dueling it out with Simmons, B. Fowler on trombone, and Frank on guitar. The
solos are all typically good (nothing truly great), with Frank's standing out as it is
over the opening bassline of "Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy" (a song that would not
see the light of day for another year). While this vamp dominates the proceedings
and limits the degrees to which Frank can venture, the relative novelty of this vamp (in
hindsight, of course) makes this the most enjoyable effort of the lot.
The "this would be better on other tours" "Pygmy Bastard Cheepnis"
follows, with "Pygmy" being the only standout here as it sounds GREAT with the
trombone and the guitars and the prominently mixed percussion. Unfortunately, a lifeless
"Dummy Up" jam slows the momentum down, and essentially kills the remainder of
this mini-suite.
At this point, we enter the novelty portion of the show. First up is an early
reading of "Andy" (not yet called so), which consists of the same parts in the
same order, but with a different instrumental arrangement and some unusual tempo
changes. This is obviously not as good as the final product, but it is definitely
worth hearing. I am not sure I can say the same for "Florentine Pogen",
which is simply the same song performed twice as fast. It is worth hearing though
simply for the bizarre segue into "Kung Fu".
From here on out we are in territory familiar to all, with your standard "Penguin
T'Mershi Dog Meat RDNZL etc etc" suite. "Penguin" is nothing special,
"T'Mershi Dog Meat" sounds as great as always, and "RDNZL" is still
its inconsequential self. (It is not until the Summer/Fall '74 tour that this song
would become a serious heavyweight contender, no?). The set closing "Echidna's
Arf-> Don't You Ever?" is another pair of tunes which benefit greatly from the
percussion heavy mix, and despite standard solos by Bruce and George, these tracks close
the show in strong fashion. Finally, the "King Kong-> Chunga's" encore
also sounds nice thanks to the mix, but the paltry solos all around make this a
disappointment more than anything else.
While I will not say that this is a great show, I did enjoy listening to it.
Ruth, more than anything, sounds Great!!, and getting to hear her so prominently featured
in the mix is probably the high point of this tape. Apart from that, it is more
interesting for the several novelty items than for any real musical excellence.
Worth owning, but not essential.
--JG
