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Here it is! Flotation Device's 2022 Mother’s Day extravaganza, featuring Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. Whether or not you're ordinarily a big Zappa fan, we think you’ll like what we've cooked up for this special podcast: a combination of classic studio albums, live dates, rehearsal tapes, oddities and rarities, plus a number of archival items newly released by the Zappa estate over the past year. We emphasize the experimental, non-commercial side of the Mothers, with guitar solos, post-Varèse composed modernism, and group improvisations punctuated by spoken-word inserts creating a characteristic Zappa-esque montage. Don Preston, George Duke, Jimmy Carl Black, and Ruth and Ian Underwood are among the legacy Mothers you'll hear in recordings made between 1964 and 1976, along with cameos by Captain Beefheart, Jean-Luc Ponty, Lady Bianca and many others. Join us for one of our funnest shows of the year!
Annotated playlist and photo credits with Comments.
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Flotation Device 2022-05-08: annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Uncle Meat [0:00]
1. [1:26] Uncle Meat: Main Title Theme. From Uncle Meat (Bizarre/Reprise, 1969) with the Mothers of Invention: Frank Zappa (guitar, vocals, percussion), Ray Collins (vocals), Ian Underwood (organ, piano, harpsichord, celesta, flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone), Bunk Gardner (piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bassoon), Motorhead Sherwood (tenor saxophone, tambourine), Don Preston (electric piano), Roy Estrada (electric bass), Jimmy Carl Black, Billy Mundi (drums), Artie Tripp (drums, timpani, vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, wood block, bells, chimes). Also: Ruth Komanoff [Underwood] (marimba, vibraphone), Dick Kunc, Jerry Hansen (recording engineers). NOTE: Studio recordings made 1967–68 at Apostolic Studios, New York
2. [3:22] Tango. From Meat Light: The Uncle Meat Project/Object (Zappa, 2016). Personnel same as Uncle Meat
3. [3:46] Dog Breath, In The Year Of The Plague (original sequence). From Meat Light: The Uncle Meat Project/Object. Personnel as above, with Nelcy Walker (soprano)
4. [6:41] The Legend of the Golden Arches (original sequence). From Meat Light: The Uncle Meat Project/Object (as above)
5. [9:58] Louie Louie (Live at Royal Hall, London 1969). From Uncle Meat (as above). NOTE: Composed by Richard Berry
6. [12:17] Green Genes Snoop. From Meat Light: The Uncle Meat Project/Object (as above)
7. [13:23] The Dog Breath Variations (mix outtake). From Meat Light: The Uncle Meat Project/Object (as above)
8. [15:10] Nine Types Of Industrial Pollution. From Uncle Meat (as above)
9. [21:13] Blood Unit. From Meat Light: The Uncle Meat Project/Object (as above)
10. [22:35] Sakuji's March. From Meat Light: The Uncle Meat Project/Object (as above)
11. [23:11] Ian Underwood Whips It Out (Live in Copenhagen 1969). From Uncle Meat (as above)⠀
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SET 2: A kinder, gentler… [28:20]
1. [31:34] The Girl's Dream. From 200 Motels 50th Anniversary Edition (Zappa, 2021) with the Mothers of Invention: Frank Zappa (bass guitar, guitar, drums), George Duke (trombone, keyboards), Ian Underwood (keyboards, woodwinds), Big Jim Sullivan (guitar), Martin Lickert (bass guitar), Aynsley Dunbar (drums), Ruth Underwood (percussion), Jimmy Carl Black, Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman (vocals), The Top Score Singers, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Elgar Howarth (conductor). NOTE: Recorded 1971
2. [32:29] Little Green Scratchy Sweaters & Courduroy Ponce. From 200 Motels 50th Anniversary Edition (as above)
3. [33:30] Frog Song (excerpt). From Joe's Domage (Vaulternative, 2004) with Frank Zappa, Tony Duran (guitars), Tony Ortega (baritone saxophone), Sal Marquez, Malcolm McNab (trumpet), Ken Shroyer (trombone), Ian Underwood (organ), Alex Dmochowski AKA Erroneous (bass guitar), Aynsley Dunbar (drums). NOTE: 1972 rehearsal for Waka/Jawaka
4. [34:03] It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal. From Waka/Jawaka (Bizarre/Reprise, 1972) with Frank Zappa (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric bed springs, vocals), Sal Marquez (trumpets, vocals), Alex Dmochowski AKA Erroneous (electric bass, vocals), Aynsley Dunbar (drums, washboard, tambourine), Tony Duran (slide guitar, vocals), Jeff Simmons (Hawaiian guitar, vocals), Sneaky Pete Kleinow (pedal steel guitar solo), Janet Ferguson (vocals), Marshall Brevitz, Kerry McNabb (recording engineers)
5. [38:19] Black Napkins. From Philly '76 (Vaulternative, 2009) with Frank Zappa (guitar, vocals), "Lady" Bianca Odin (vocals, keyboards), Ray White (vocals, rhythm guitar, cowbell), Eddie Jobson (violin, keyboards), Patrick O'Hearn (bass, vocals), Terry Bozzio (drums, vocals)
6. [56:33] Outro with Weasels Ripped My Flesh
7. [59:04] 200 Motels Album Ad #2. From 200 Motels 50th Anniversary Edition (as above)
8. [59:36] Introduction and Cucamonga. From An Evening With Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart (Head, 1998). NOTE: 1975 radio broadcast by Frank Zappa and Don Van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart. The song Cucamonga originates on the album Bongo Fury (DiscReet, 1975) with Frank Zappa (lead vocals, guitar), Captain Beefheart (harmonica, backing vocals), Napoleon Murphy Brock (sax, backing vocals), Denny Walley (slide guitar, backing vocals), George Duke (keyboards, backing vocals), Tom Fowler (bass), Terry Bozzio, Chester Thompson (drums)
9. [1:02:10] Frank Zappa, Jean-Luc Ponty: Canard du Jour. From Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (Barking Pumpkin, 1981) with Frank Zappa (bouzouki), Jean-Luc Ponty (baritone violin), Kerry McNabb (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded July 1972 at Paramount Recording Studios⠀
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SET 3: '71 and '72 [1:12:07]
1. [1:14:26] Zanti Serenade (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, December 10, 1971) excerpt. From The Mothers 1971 (Zappa, 2022) with Frank Zappa (guitar, vocals), Ian Underwood (winds, keyboards), Aynsley Dunbar (drums), Jim Pons (bass, vocals, dialog), Don Preston (keyboards, vocals), Howard Kaylan (lead vocals), Mark Volman (lead vocals). NOTE: A two-minute excerpt from this track was released on Playground Psychotics (Barking Pumpkin, 1992)
2. [1:21:52] The Smegmates: Will You Drink My Water? From An Evening With Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart (as above)
3. [1:22:58] Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus. From The Grand Wazoo (Bizarre/Reprise, 1972) with Frank Zappa (guitar, vocals), Mike Altschul (woodwind), Ernie Watts (C melody saxophone), Sal Marquez (brass), Ken Shroyer (trombones), George Duke (keyboards, vocals), Alex Dmochowski (bass), Aynsley Dunbar (drums), Lauren Wood (vocals)
4. [1:25:55] Eat that Question. From The Grand Wazoo (Bizarre/Reprise, 1972) with Frank Zappa (guitar, percussion), Mike Altschul, Joel Peskin (woodwind), Sal Marquez (brass), George Duke (keyboards), Alex Dmochowski (bass), Aynsley Dunbar (drums), Lee Clement (gong)⠀
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SET 4: 200 Hot Rats [1:32:09]
1. [1:35:25] What’s The Name Of Your Group? From 200 Motels 50th Anniversary Edition (as above)
2. [1:38:25] Whiskey Gone Behind the Sun and Party Scene from "Mondo Hollywood". From An Evening With Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart (as above), also found on Apocrypha: Thirty Years of Frank Zappa (Great Dane, 1994). Mothers of Invention performances (without narration) were published on Mystery Disc (Rykodisc, 1998). Music played includes Muddy Waters: Louisiana Blues
3. [1:40:54] The Origin of Hot Rats. From The Hot Rats Sessions (Zappa, 2019) with Frank Zappa (speaker)
4. [1:41:28] Willie the Pimp - combination of final mix from Hot Rats (Bizarre/Reprise, 1969) and unedited master take from The Hot Rats Sessions (Zappa, 2019) with Captain Beefheart (vocals), Frank Zappa (electric guitar), Don "Sugarcane" Harris (violin), Ian Underwood (reeds, keyboards), Lowell George (rhythm guitar), John Guerin (drums). NOTE: Recorded 1969
5. [1:55:33] Outro with Strictly Genteel
Photo credits: Frank-Zappa-Straße Berlin via Wikimedia Commons, Mothers of Invention (Bunk Gardner, Don Preston, FZ, Roy Estrada, Jimmy Carl Black, Art Tripp, Billy Mundi) via Zappa Family Trust, FZ via Antelope Valley High School, FZ and Captain Beefheart by John Williams, FZ and George Duke via Pinterest, FZ and Lady Bianca Odin by Alan Smithee/John Ridiak, the Mothers in 1971 (Mark “Flo” Volman, FZ, Jim Pons, Aynsley Dunbar, Howard “Eddie” Kaylan, Bob Harris, Ian Underwood) via Zappa Family Trust, FZ by Helge Øverås, Jean-Luc Ponty and FZ via World Pacific Jazz.