Frank Zappa

Pavillon de Paris, France

February 3rd 1977

Remastered (two-source) audience recording.

The second of a two night stint at the Pavillon.

Medium sound quality/brilliant gig.

Probably one for die-hard fans only.

The band includes Eddie Jobson on keyboards and violin*

Former member of "Poxy Music" according to Frank :)

regards

Titus

* check out Serviettes Noires

Disc 1

01 The Purple Lagoon

02 Peaches en Regalia

03 The Torture Never Stops

04 Big Leg Emma

05 City of Tiny Lights

06 A Pound for a Brown on the Bus

07 drum solo

08 Jones Crusher

09 Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?

10 The Illinois Enema Bandit

Disc 2

01 My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama

02 Tryin' to Grow a Chin

03 Broken Hearts are for Assholes

04 Dong Work for Yuda

05 Manx Needs Women

06 Titties 'n' Beer

07 Black Napkins

08 Willie the Pimp

09 Dinah-Moe Humm

10 Camarillo Brillo

11 Muffin Man

link

Isaac Willis (November 12th 1955 – May 16th 2026)

Was sad to hear the absolutely fabulous Ike Willis has died aged 70.

For any Zappa fan worth their salt the man was a legend.

Ike as the bizarre/slightly disturbing Thingfish:

"I got yo language hangin', boy"

regards

Titus

Frank Zappa

The Palladium

New York City

November 1st 1981

The third and final show from the Halloween 81 run at the Palladium.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 Zoot Allures

02 "The Last of Our Halloween Shows"

03 I'm the Slime

04 Pound for a Brown

05 Dave & Al

06 Cosmik Debris

07 Montana

08 Easy Meat

09 Dumb All Over

10 Heavenly Bank Account

11 Suicide Chump

12 Jumbo Go Away

13 Envelopes

14 Drowning Witch

Disc 2

01 What’s New in Baltimore?

02 Moggio

03 We’re Turning Again

04 Alien Orifice

05 Teen-age Prostitute

06 Sinister Footwear II

07 Stevie’s Spanking

08 Cocaine Decisions

09 Nig Biz

10 Goblin Girl

11 The Black Page #2

12 Whipping Post

13 Broken Hearts are for Assholes

14 The Torture Never Stops

link

Frank Zappa

A & E Biography

I found this in an old cardboard box.

It was a VCD and the screen ratio was wrong.

I have fixed it and converted it to DVD.

Filmed shortly before Frank's death

it has interviews with him, musicians he worked with

and Beefheart/Zappa superfan Matt Groening.

A pretty good overview of Zappa's extraordinary career.

regards

Titus

link

Frank Zappa

The Palladium

New York City

October 31st 1981 (early show)

The perfect companion to the previously posted late show.

There is an egg thrower in the crowd.

This was way back when Americans could afford to waste eggs.

Great version of 'Blue Light'. an old favourite of mine.

That song always seems relevant.

Tax the churches!

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 Chunga's Revenge

02 "The finest night of the year”

03 You Are What You Is - take 1

04 You Are What You Is - take 2

05 Mudd Club

06 The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing

07 Dumb All Over

08 Heavenly Bank Account

09 Suicide Chump

10 Jumbo Go Away

11 Envelopes

12 Drowning Witch

13 What’s New in Baltimore?

14 Moggio

15 We’re Turning Again

16 Alien Orifice

Disc 2

01 Teen-age Prostitute

02 Flakes

03 Broken Hearts are for Assholes

04 The Blue Light

05 Tinsel Town Rebellion

06 Yo Mama

07 Bobby Brown Goes Down

08 City of Tiny Lites

09 “We’re not gonna stand for it!”

10 Strictly Genteel

11 Dancin' Fool

12 Whipping Post

link

Warning: Parental Advisory (2002)

Reposted from October 2024

OK, it's a bit tacky but interesting in a way.

A made-for-TV dramatization of the efforts to clamp down on "porn rock".

Frank Zappa, Dee Snider and John Denver testified at the congressional hearings.

Worth a watch.

Sorry I couldn't find good quality English subtitles for this one.

Translating back from other languages amplifies the "Chinese whispers" effect.

e.g. When Dee sings "We're not gonna take it"

you end up with something like "This is intolerable" which is, erm, intolerable.

regards

Titus

link

Frank Zappa

The Palladium

New York City

October 31st 1981 (late show)

Borrowed from the, rather expensive, box-set.

A treat for those eking out an existence on a modest pension.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 Black Napkins

02 "A Historical Event"

03 Montana

04 Easy Meat

05 Society Pages

06 I'm A Beautiful Guy

07 Beauty Knows No Pain

08 Charlie's Enormous Mouth

09 Fine Girl

10 Teen-age Wind

11 Harder Than Your Husband

12 Bamboozled By Love

13 Sinister Footwear II

14 Stevie's Spanking

15 Commercial Break

Disc 2

01 Cocaine Decisions

02 Nig Biz

03 Doreen

04 Goblin Girl

05 The Black Page #2

06 Tryin' To Grow A Chin

07 Strictly Genteel

08 The Torture Never Stops

09 "The Real Show Keeps Going"

10 Joe's Garage

11 Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?

12 The Illinois Enema Bandit

13 "The Halloween Tradition"

14 King Kong

15 Auld Lang Syne

link

Dweezil Zappa

Hot Rats Live! Plus Other Hot Stuff!

Konserthuset

Gothenburg, Sweden

November 24th 2019

Remastered audience recording.

Sound quality is not great and they overdo the percussion at times.

I'll be blunt...Dweezil ain't no Frank,

but it's an enjoyable romp through an interesting set if you crank it up a bit.

Twinkle Tits is the stand-out tune being, probably, the most ambitious piece.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

set 1

01 intro/Don´t Eat the Yellow Snow

02 Peaches en Regalia

03 Willie the Pimp

04 Son of Mr. Green Genes

05 Little Umbrellas

06 The Gumbo Variations

07 It Must Be a Camel

set 2

08 intro/Montana

09 Teenage Wind

10 I´m Not Satisfied

11 Penis Dimension

12 My Sharona

Disc 2

01 Who Needs the Peace Corps?

02 Bamboozled by Love

03 Brown Moses

04 Heavenly Bank Account

05 I´m a Beautiful Guy

06 Beaty Knows No Pain

07 Charlie´s Enormous Mouth/Any Downers?

08 Pick Me, I´m Clean

09 Here Lies Love

10 Twinkle Tits

11 Carolina Hard-core Ecstasy

12 I´m the Slime

13 Tears Began to Fall

link

Various Artists

Mother People:

Zappa Musicians Play Zappa Music For Zappa Fans

Thanks to BFK for sharing this compilation.

It is in mp3 (320 kbps)

All the tracks feature ex-Zappa musicians.

The version of Chunga's Revenge with Arthur Barrow on bass is my pick.

regards

Titus

01. Banned From Utopia - Dupree's Paradise

02. Felippo Bellavia & The B Street Band - Bamboozled By Love

03. Jean-Luc Ponty - King Kong

04. Dweezil Zappa - My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama

05. Jeff Simmons - Wonderful Wino

06. George Duke - Uncle Remus

07. Ike Willis & The Muffin Men - Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?

08. Warren Cuccurullo - Transylvania Boogie

09. Mandré - Dirty Love

10. Jimmy Carl Black - Road Ladies

11. Robby Krieger - Chunga's Revenge

12. The Ed Palermo Big Band - Inca Roads

13. The Zappa Band - Zomby Woof

14. Steve Vai - Sofa

link

Freak Out! The Frank Zappa Story

A Radio 4 broadcast I thought might be of interest to some of you.

Germaine Greer presents a profile of Frank Zappa,

the 1970s icon of eccentric rock

whose range of work included serious orchestral composition, film-making

and social activism, particularly in the field of anti-censorship.

Contributors include Gail Zappa, son Dweezil, guitarist Steve Vai,

family friend and author Peter Occhiogrosso

and David Butcher, chief executive of the Britten Sinfonia.

To my US readers:

There was a time I hoped Frank would become your president

or at least a prominent politician.

It didn't seem implausible following his role in the PMRC hearings.

Alas...t'was not to be.

regards

Titus

link

Frank Zappa/Mothers

University of Waterloo

Ontario, Canada

November 18th 1973

Humongously remastered soundboard.

There is a cut in 'Idiot Bastard Son' which I tried to disguise

and 'Dupree's Paradise' comes to an abrupt end (after 26 minutes)

Best copy on the net or your money back.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 preamble

02 Be-Bop Tango

03 T'Mershi Duween

04 I'm the Slime

05 Big Swifty

06 Pygmy Twylyte

07 The Idiot Bastard Son

08 Cheepnis

Disc 2

01 Montana

02 Dupree's Paradise

link

Frank Zappa

Johanneshov Isstadion

Stockholm, Sweden 

September 14th 1984

Remastered audience recording.

This was a favourite old vinyl bootleg which went by the unusual title:

Fits Your 34B, No Matter Which 43B You Are.

I used to run it through a multi-band graphic EQ.

A sound I have attempted to reimagine here.

I'm particularly partial to this version of 'Kreegah Bondola'.

(a.k.a. 'Let's Move to Cleveland')

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 intro/Heavy Duty Judy 

02 band intros/City of Tiny Lites

03 You Are What You Is

04 Mudd Club

05 The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing

06 Ride My Face to Chicago

07 Sharleena

08 Joe's Garage

09 Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?

10 Tinsel-Town Rebellion

11 Cocaine Decisions

12 Nig Biz

Disc 2

01 He's so Gay

02 Bobby Brown

03 Kreegah Bondola

04 Dinah-Moe Humm

05 Cosmik Debris

06 Penguin in Bondage

07 Hot Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel

08 Whippin' Post

link

Frank Zappa

Palais de la Beaujoire

Nantes, France

June 14th 1980

Remastered mono soundboard.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 Chunga's Revenge

02 Keep it Greasey

03 Outside Now

04 City of Tiny Lights

05 Pound for a Brown

06 Cosmik Debris

07 You Didn't Try to Call Me

08 I Ain't Got No Heart

09 Love of My Life

10 You Are What You Is

Disc 2

01 Easy Meat

02 Mudd Club

03 The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing

04 Joe's Garage

05 Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?

06 Dancing Fool

07 Bobby Brown

08 Ms. Pinky

09 Stick it Out

10 A Little Green Rosetta

link

Frank Zappa

The Palladium

New York City

Halloween 1977

A remastered radio broadcast.

regards

Titus

01 intro (Flakes)/San Ber'dino

02 Tryin' to Grow a Chin

03 City of Tiny Lights/The Squirm

04 Big Leg Emma/audience participation/The Black Page

05 Jones Crusher

06 Camarillo Brillo/Black Napkins

link

Frank Zappa 

Chalk Pie

This was a proposed but unreleased album.

Recorded live at various venues in 1980/81.

A few studio overdubs were added at UMRK Central.

Side 1 of the original vinyl double abum was released

in a different mix on 'Ship Arriving too Late to Save a Drowning Witch'.

Several other tracks appeared on later albums with extensive overdubs.

All I did was make the CD covers.

regards

Titus

01 Drowning Witch 

02 Envelopes 

03 Teenage Prostitute

04 The Dangerous Kitchen

05 Chalk Pie

06 We're Turning Again

07 Alien Orifice

08 The Jazz Discharge Party Hats

09 Toronto

10 What's New In Baltimore?

11 Moggio

12 Takes 1 To Know 1

13 Clownz On Velvet

14 Frogs With Dirty Little Lips

link

Zappa/Beefheart/Mothers

County Coliseum

El Paso, TX

May 23rd 1975

My remaster of this somewhat odd bootleg.

By odd, I am refering to the wealth of bonus material.

We get the bulk of the El Paso show

(itself, I suspect, compiled from different sources)

plus various other tracks...so sound quality varies throughout.

The 73 recording is, arguably, the weakest

although it is notable for Irma Coffee's contribution.

I hope my reworking is a modest upgrade.

Overall I'd give it a solid medium plus.

Music/performance, however, is excellent

and exactly what you would want/expect from mid 70s FZ.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 intro/Bongo Fury Initial

02 Apostrophe/band intros

03 Stink-Foot

04 I'm Not Satisfied

05 Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy

06 Velvet Sunrise

07 A Pound for a Brown on the Bus

08 Jimmy Carl Black intro/You're So Fine

09 Lonely, Lonely Nights

10 Debra Kadabra

11 Montana

12 Strange Things

Disc 2

01 Advance Romance

02 Florentine Pogen

03 200 Years Old (Outtake) (extended version)

04 Orange Claw Hammer (Outtake)

05 ReDuNZL (Outtake)

06 Camarillo Brillo

07 Muffin Man

08 Let's Make the Water Turn Black

09 Willie the Pimp

10 Pygmy Twylyte/Dummy Up

11 The Singing Lesson

12 Dupree's Paradise

101 - 202 County Coliseum, El Paso, May 23rd 1975 

203 unedited version of the track from Bongo Fury

204 live in the studio 1975 (Zappa/Beefheart)

205 longer edit of the Lost Episodes version

206 - 209 Music Hall, Boston, April 27th 1975

210 - 212 William Patterson College, Wayne, NJ

November 11th 1973 (with Irma Coffee on vocals)

link

Bozzio-O'Hearn-Cuccurullo

Zappanale #29

Galopprennbahn, Bad Doberan

Germany

July 21st 2018

Here's a remastered webcast from the fabulous Zappanale festival.

It's over three hours long so quite a big file (sorry)

A real treat for Zappa fans with multiple references

to other Zappa tunes, and more, within the listed titles.

Terry Bozzio - drums, percussion, vocals

Patrick O'Hearn - bass, vocals, electronics

Warren Cuccurullo - guitar, vocals, electronics

special guest: Denny Walley - guitar, vocals

I've been listening to Warren's 'Playing in Tongues' album recently.

Highly recommended!

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 preambles:

Wolfhard Kutz

Michael Käckenmeister

Jim Cohen

Warren Cuccurullo

02 intro

03 The Purple Lagoon

04 I'm So Cute

05 Transylvania Boogie

06 Man with the Canarsie Woman Head

07 Zoot Allures

08 Fixing Terry's broken base drum head

09 The Greek Costume Change Flashback

10 Terry's drum solo

11 Co-Training

Disc 2

01 In France

02 Tryin' to Grow a Chin

03 Pat's Changes

04 Pound for a Brown on the Bus

05 Black Napkins

06 The Black Page drum solo #1

07 Filthy Habits

08 We Like it Loose

09 Twenty-One

Disc 3

01 On Vacation

02 Treacherous Cretins

03 Back in 1981

04 George Bernard Shaw/Ordinary World

05 Jesus Save Our Souls

06 Sam with the Showing Scalp Flat Top

07 Crew Slut

08 Flower Punk

09 Baby Snakes

10 Willie the Pimp

11 Muffin Man

12 closing words: Jim Cohen

link

Frank Zappa/Lou Reed

Marc Riley's Musical Time Machine

BBC Radio 4

A series which drew on archive interviews.

This one features the famously feuding Frank & Lou.

Some of the Zappa stuff was used in the 'Great Lives' broadcast.

Marc Riley is a bit too cocky for my liking.

Worth a listen if you like Frank/Lou.

regards

Titus

link

Frank Zappa

Great Lives (BBC Radio 4)

First of all...apologies for the 'ding' at 2 mins 11 seconds

but rest assured, dear readers, that faux pas

is just an unfortunate mishap which will not spoil your listening experience.

(he forgot he was recording...Ed.)

I drive a lot. I don't like it.

My only respite is Radio 4.

I can't listen to music because I'd swerve off the road

if Steve Howe launched into his solo on 'Turn of the Century'

just as I'm crossing a bridge over (troubled) waters.

Roger Waters!

Anyhow, I caught the end of this edition of 'Great Lives'.

I don't/won't have a BBC account.

I'd rather be up to my neck in a swamp

with rats pecking at my eyeballs.

Hey, I pay my license fee, why do they want my email?

I hacked into the site.

You can't download so I 'taped' it.

Worth a listen if you like Zappa

and I thought it might be interesting for North American visitors

as it's a particularly 'British' take on Frank's legacy.

I'll resist the temptation to add my usual 'I still miss Frank Zappa' cartoon.

In December, it will be 30 years since Frank left us.

regards

Titus

link

Zappa/Mothers

Fillmore East

New York

November 14th 1970

A very good quality vintage SBD with Flo & Eddie on great form.

It sounds like an encore was played at the early show

but it was not on the tape.

The songs from 'We're Only in it for the Money' are right up my street.

That's one of my favourite Zappa/Mothers LPs.

Some very truncated versions of tunes that are normally longer.

"bend over and spread 'em" made me laugh out loud.

The 'Fillmore East' album was recorded at this venue about six months later.

regards

Titus

Disc 1 (early show)

01 Kip Cohen intro/Palladin and Hey Boy (theme song from Have Gun Will Travel)

02 Call Any Vegetable

03 Sanzini Brothers/Does this Kind of Life Look Interesting to You?

04 Pound for a Brown

05 Sleeping in a Jar (instrumental)

06 El Porko the Magnificent

07 Sharleena

08 tuning

09 The Air

10 Dog Breath

11 Mother People

12 You Didn't Try to Call Me

13 King Kong

Disc 2 (late show)

01 jam to get Grace Slick onstage

02 Sanzini Brothers

03 Little House I Used to Live In

04 Penis Dimension

05 Mudshark

06 Holiday in Berlin (including Inca Roads and Easy Meat themes)

07 Cruising for Burgers

08 Sanzini Brothers’ pyramid trick

09 What Will this Morning Bring Me this Evening?

10 What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are?

11 Bwana Dik

12 Latex Solar Beef

13 Daddy, Daddy, Daddy

14 Do You Like My New Car?

15 Happy Together

16 Wonderful Wino (Dr. John routine)

17 Concentration Moon Pt.1

18 Sanzini Brothers’ School of Broadcast

19 Jeff Simmons’ bass solo

20 Concentration Moon Pt.2

21 Mom & Dad

22 encore jam

link