Live Fillmore East
This contains what is arguably the single most jaw-dropping, blistering guitar solo I've ever heard in my life. Without getting into more than a little posturing about what guitar I've heard, I've seen Zappa and Thackery and Buchanan and Santana and McLaughlin and many others live and trust me, if you haven't heard Zappa's version of Willie the Pimp on this disc, you are in for a treat and let's leave it at that. Anyone says "Zappa? His guitar was good, but he was no [blank]," you play him this solo and that will shut him up toot sweet, I guarantee you. (Please come back and let me know whether you agree!)
Unfortunately, most of the rest of the album is somewhat dated funny-Zappa material, with Flo and Eddie hi-jinks, punctuated with flashes of music. So, if you love Zappa's guitar and want to hear one of his moments of sheer brilliant virtuosity, by all means pick this up; then go get Shut Up and Play Your Guitar. If you're new to Zappa, or interested only in his best albums, there are many better options.
After disbanding the original Mothers of Invention following a short tour of Canada during the summer of 1969, Zappa hired musicians for his studio work before forming a new Mothers in August 1970. The new band was augmented by bassist Jim Pons and vocalists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, all of whom Zappa recruited from the Turtles, that hit-making teen-sensation unit that had reached the top of the pop charts with such hits as "Happy Together" and "Elenore." Legend has it that Zappa had tried to enlist former Monkee Micky Dolenz on drums at the same time, but Dolenz declined the offer. The new lineup made several albums with Zappa, beginning with Chunga's Revenge (owing to legal problems, Volman and Kaylan were originally billed as "Phlorescent Leech and Eddie," which led to the duo's being called Flo & Eddie henceforth), but the Fillmore East recording remains its vanguard. Zappa was still obsessed with the ridiculous phenomenon of pop stars, and now he had two genuine articles in his band. Thus, in between live renditions of some of his soon-to-be instrumental classics, Zappa, Volman, and Kaylan delighted the Manhattan audience with rude and crude skits about pop stars and groupies. The whole shebang is then climaxed with Flo & Eddie doing a letter-perfect rendition of the Turtles' "Happy Together" before ironically concluding with Zappa's own "Tears Begin to Fall," the kind of pop ditty Zappa was poking fun at throughout this performance. Although it now all sounds rather tame in the era of rap and porn rock, it was attacked as crass at the time of its release. Nevertheless, this doesn't stop it from being frequently hilarious. Following the performance, the Mothers were joined onstage by John Lennon and Yoko Ono for a set that's captured on the live disc that eventually accompanied Lennon's Some Time in New York City.
Unfortunately, most of the rest of the album is somewhat dated funny-Zappa material, with Flo and Eddie hi-jinks, punctuated with flashes of music. So, if you love Zappa's guitar and want to hear one of his moments of sheer brilliant virtuosity, by all means pick this up; then go get Shut Up and Play Your Guitar. If you're new to Zappa, or interested only in his best albums, there are many better options.
After disbanding the original Mothers of Invention following a short tour of Canada during the summer of 1969, Zappa hired musicians for his studio work before forming a new Mothers in August 1970. The new band was augmented by bassist Jim Pons and vocalists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, all of whom Zappa recruited from the Turtles, that hit-making teen-sensation unit that had reached the top of the pop charts with such hits as "Happy Together" and "Elenore." Legend has it that Zappa had tried to enlist former Monkee Micky Dolenz on drums at the same time, but Dolenz declined the offer. The new lineup made several albums with Zappa, beginning with Chunga's Revenge (owing to legal problems, Volman and Kaylan were originally billed as "Phlorescent Leech and Eddie," which led to the duo's being called Flo & Eddie henceforth), but the Fillmore East recording remains its vanguard. Zappa was still obsessed with the ridiculous phenomenon of pop stars, and now he had two genuine articles in his band. Thus, in between live renditions of some of his soon-to-be instrumental classics, Zappa, Volman, and Kaylan delighted the Manhattan audience with rude and crude skits about pop stars and groupies. The whole shebang is then climaxed with Flo & Eddie doing a letter-perfect rendition of the Turtles' "Happy Together" before ironically concluding with Zappa's own "Tears Begin to Fall," the kind of pop ditty Zappa was poking fun at throughout this performance. Although it now all sounds rather tame in the era of rap and porn rock, it was attacked as crass at the time of its release. Nevertheless, this doesn't stop it from being frequently hilarious. Following the performance, the Mothers were joined onstage by John Lennon and Yoko Ono for a set that's captured on the live disc that eventually accompanied Lennon's Some Time in New York City.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.