Label: Reprise Records/Rykodisc
Release date: August 2, 1971
Producer: Frank Zappa
Album length: 44.17 min
Genre: RIO / Avant-Prog
Rating: 8.5/10
“Filmore East – June 1971” was the first (official) live album from the legendary musical experimenter and innovator Frank Zappa, and he put it out while still working with his original backing band, The Mothers of Invention (The Mothers for short). Zappa had already used some live recordings on “Uncle Meat” (1969), “Burnt Weeny Sandwich” and “Weasels Ripped My Flesh” (both released in 1970), but he mixed them in with studio tracks.
Besides the boss himself, the lineup of The Mothers at the time featured longtime woodwind player/keyboardist Ian Underwood, the highly regarded English drummer Aynsley Dunbar, a trio of former members of The Turtles (singer Mark Volman, singer Howard Kaylan and bassist Jim Pons), and keyboardist Bob Harris, who briefly filled in for the far more notorious George Duke. So far, Harris has turned up in Frank’s discography on just four live albums, all recorded in 1971. His quick exit wasn’t only down to Duke being the more talented keyboardist and Zappa welcoming him back with open arms. Harris also died of a drug overdose in 2001, and he’d evidently struggled with addiction for a long time. Zappa had zero mercy for anyone indulging in intoxicating substances, soft or hard, with the exception of cigarettes and moderate drinking. The special guest on mini Moog was original Mothers keyboardist Don Preston, who by then was no longer an official member of the band, but still pitched in for Frank here and there over the following years.
Even though it’s a live recording, “Filmore East” contains a (quasi) concept about the adventures and misadventures of a rock band on tour, which Zappa later built out on the album “200 Motels” (1971). The centerpiece, and the best-known track on the record, is undoubtedly “The Mud Shark”, one of the most infamous satirical creations of Frank’s career. Don Preston supposedly heard the story of a special hotel in the middle of Seattle, where wealthy guests could fish out of their rooms, from the members of Vanilla Fudge. One well-known rock musician reportedly caught a rare species of small, harmless shark. The whole thing was filmed, but the controversy came courtesy of a ‘groupie’ with deviant sexual tendencies, who didn’t use the little shark for lunch, but for something way filthier. Although the song’s narration doesn’t mention it, this bizarre ‘incident’ with the caught mud shark and the sexually derailed groupie really did happen in 1969. The people involved were the legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, who caught the fish, tour manager Mark Stein (Led Zeppelin), and Vanilla Fudge singer/keyboardist Mark Stein, who filmed the whole thing.
The opening live track, “Little House I Used to Live In”, is a heavily shortened version of an excellent instrumental that adventurously and successfully blends elements of hard rock, blues and jazz fusion. The original, nearly 19-minute version came out on “Burnt Weeny Sandwich”. The aforementioned “Mud Shark” is conceptually tied to the satirical burlesques “What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are” and “Bwana Dik”. During the latter, individual members of The Mothers turn into caricatures of rock stars and start pestering a groupie. She turns them down, since she only goes to bed with rich, famous and richly endowed rock stars. Among other things, the lyrics of the first of those two satires mention Alice Cooper, who will never forget his first meeting with Zappa, the producer of “Pretties For You”, Cooper’s band’s 1969 debut.
The track “Willie the Pimp” (parts one and two) is quite different here from its original, non-instrumental, more jazz-leaning version on “Hot Rats” (1969). Apparently Zappa couldn’t picture anyone but his friend Captain Beefheart singing it, and since Beefheart wasn’t ‘around’ at the time, he decided to rework it into a more hard-rock shape with a longer guitar jam. Thanks to its bluesy undertones, Jimi Hendrix would probably have approved of that jam too, though Zappa was already developing into a completely unique guitar master by then.
“Do You Like My New Car” is another narrative-driven installment in the satirical saga of the aforementioned materialistic groupie with high standards, who only cares about big rock stars with hits. Among the ‘trophies’ this snobbish groupie is after, we get Robert Plant (parodically and deliberately name-checked as Robert Planet), Elton John (his homosexuality wasn’t public knowledge yet) and Roger Daltrey. In response to her obsession with hits, the band suddenly launches into “Happy Together”, the most famous hit by The Turtles and also one of the extremely rare covers in Frank’s career. “Happy Together” was a rare exception for another reason too: three former ‘Turtles’ were in Frank’s band at the time. “Lonesome Electric Turkey” is a fun jazz rock fusion instrumental with a short but witty Preston solo on mini Moog. Today, at 91, Preston and Bunk Gardner are the oldest living (and musically active) members of the original Mothers of Invention.
The album closes with an encore of two fan favorites. The first is Frank’s most famous instrumental, “Peaches En Regalia”, which this time, with the help of the harmonies from the three former ‘Turtles’, comes alive in a more Californian, ‘surfer’ guise, as if The Beach Boys had had a hand in it. It’s definitely one of the most fun versions of this Zappa evergreen. “Tears Began to Fall” is a short but brilliant pop song that somehow remains overlooked in Frank’s body of work, even though it’s a potential hit single and one of the most radio-friendly pieces in his colorful career. The comic element comes mainly from Volman’s and Kaylan’s falsettos, which are deliberately over the top so they perfectly complement the intentionally pathetic, sappy love lyrics.
As a curiosity: the expanded, special edition of this live document included bonus tracks on one of its extra discs. Some of those live performances were recorded with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who were special guests at one of Frank & The Mothers’ two shows at Filmore East. A few recordings of Frank’s collaboration with John and Yoko also ended up on the bonus disc of Lennon’s album “Some Time in New York City” (1972) and on various Frank live compilations. Because of the traditionally dreadful singing of Lennon’s widow (the worst case being “A Small Eternity With Yoko Ono”, which is recommended for playback only to professional torturers), some of those live recordings are almost unlistenable, unless you want to use them to scare off burglars. Frank’s original material comes off far better, especially the various solos on the 18-minute version of the classic “King Kong” and the early, half-hour version of “Billy the Mountain”, which later got a sequel on the album “Studio Tan” (1978) in the stylistically and conceptually related composition “The Adventures of Greggery Peccary”.
Even though Frank released plenty of live albums over his magnificent career that are far better and more representative than “Filmore East”, this one will always hold a special place in his discography simply because it came first. Despite some shortcomings, mainly several tracks missing from the original version of the album that only became (officially) available as bonus tracks in 2022, it has some unforgettable moments: one of Frank’s best satires of the seedy side of rock stardom in “The Mud Shark”, a great cover of The Turtles’ hit “Happy Together”, a brilliant finish with the ‘reworked’ evergreen “Peaches En Regalia”, and the overlooked “Tears Began to Fall”.
Author: Peter “DR. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Little House I Used To live in (4:41)
2. The Mud Shark (5:22)
3. What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are (4:17)
4. Bwana Dik (2:21)
5. Latex Solar Beef (2:38)
6. Willie The Pimp, Part One (4:03)
7. Willie the Pimp, Part Two (1:54)
8. Do You Like My New Car? (7:08)
9. Happy Together (2:57)
10. Lonesome Electric Turkey (2:32)
11. Peaches En Regalia (3:22)
12. Tears Began To Fall (3:50)
Lineup:
Frank Zappa – guitar, dialogue
Mark Volman – lead vocals, dialogue
Howard Kaylan – lead vocals, dialogue
Ian Underwood – woodwinds, keyboards, backing vocals
Aynsley Dunbar – drums
Jim Pons – bass guitar, backing vocals, dialogue
Bob Harris – additional keyboards, backing vocals
Don Preston – mini-moog
