Well, I'm lost in a whirlpool
Yeah, baby, my head is goin' round
Well, ever since my baby flushed me
Oh, been goin' round, yeah round and around
Well, I'm lost in this whirlpool
I keep goin' down and down
There's a big brown fish
Lookin' at me
He ain't got no eyes
How could that motherfucker possibly see
Ooh, baby baby
I'm gonna be afraid it gonna touch me
Well I'm lost in this whirlpool
Oh, I can't even see
Baby, won't you come help me
Pour some Drano down,
And get the plunger right after me
I'll let you know a little secret, baby
I'm gettin' tired of all this pee
Don't go straying with Mother Goose
Ooh, my head's in a noose . . .
I definitely found this in the vault.
There's a lot of tape of that night, you know, with him sitting around the piano singing, jamming, having fun, being silly. The collage is Frank's edit of that, and so that's cool, but there's so many other outtakes from that.
There's a lot more of that. The whole party was recorded but, the thing of it is that—and I even talked to Robert Carl Cohen about this and he knew it—he's the one that gave Frank either the original or a copy, because that was recorded during the film making of Mondo Hollywood and Robert Carl Cohen was like, "Yeah, it just didn't turn out that well . . ." You know, the recording is basically an ambient recording and the audience is pretty much louder than the band. But, there is more to that. And when, you know, when I hear that stuff I think to myself, "There's just gotta be more outtakes film-wise."
"Then there are examples of what our rehearsals sound like—I've got a tape of the original Mothers from before we recorded Freak Out. That's us doing 'How Could I Be Such A Fool', on side two of the first album; and then it goes forward in time to '68 when we had a 10-piece band rehearsing a song called 'Boogie For Berkley', and the third one is the Mothers 1970 rehearsing 'Fluted Transoms'—the new organised Mothers rocking out on a sort of atonal jam."
"[...] and then it goes forward in time to '68 when we had a 10-piece band rehearsing a song called 'Boogie For Berkley' [...]."
This has been found along with the rest of the rehearsal. And this is with Lowell in the band. So you can hear Frank putting it together, rehearsing the "Boogie Fer Berkeley," and it's a really cool piece that really didn't get morphed into any other pieces of music at that time.
"[...] and the third one is the Mothers 1970 rehearsing 'Fluted Transoms'—the new organised Mothers rocking out on a sort of atonal jam."
Joe: Frank cut it up like crazy. He didn't save it. It's literally in pieces on reels. And not for me not to even be able to have enough to put it back together because there's just not enough there. So God knows what happened to the original tape but this excerpt is probably the same length of the tape that I did find in the vault.
Scott: Now, wasn't there a version of "I'm Not Satisfied" that was sort of kind of released on zappa.com, God, years ago?
Joe: Might be this! [...] I forgot about that on zappa.com, so yeah. [...] That's probably this.
The version of "I'm Not Satisfied (1965)" (2:03) available at zappa.com in May 2005, had at least two edits at 0:14 and 0:54. The verses edited out from the first one are the ones heard in the snippet from the David Walley interview.
I've found the tapes. But I've never transfered them.
This stuff that is listed on this side comes from and album that Frank put together with Dick Kunc—because it's DIck Kunc's writing on the side—and it's called Ever Shall It Be, which is the short version of the title—there is a longer version of it. And this is one of the sides that was created for that record. And that record was a multi-side record as well. [...] So what Frank is doing is basically taking one side from that project and incorporating it into this project. Everything that you see here is Fillmore East, sixty—
On the planned (but unreleased) 9-LP iteration of The History And Collected Improvisations Of The Mothers Of Invention was a track titled Shirley-Ann. This was recorded at one of the two shows the Mothers performed at the Fillmore East on 22 February 1969. It featured the then twenty year old Shirley Ann, who had recorded a number of records for Philips in Sweden.
Shirley Ann was born Ann-Marie Elisabeth Sanderwall on 19 March 1948 in Gothenburg. Her first big single was a cover of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" backed with her rendition of Phil Ochs' "There But For Fortune" (1965). Under the wing of writer/arranger Sandy Alexander, she went on to release "Om Och Men" (1966), "The Art Of Love" and "Yes! I've Got," which became Sweden's entry in the inaugural World Popular Song Festival—aka The Yamaha Music Festival—in 1970.
Listen, ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna perform a number. This number hasn't been performed since actually 1968. This piece is ten years old and we're gonna give it its 10th anniversary performance, right here at the Circus Krone. Now, the last time this piece was performed was at the Fillmore East, by the old Mothers Of Invention. Now, the name of this piece is "Dead Air."
On stage there is the "possibility that anything can happen." Dolls are mutilated. A gas mask is displayed. A bag of vegetables is unpacked and examined. There are spaced intervals of "honks" and suddenly The Mothers perform Dead Air. They stop, sit down and ignore the audience. Zappa might get a shoeshine from Motorhead, the percussionist. They keep this going for as long as it takes the audience to become unsettled, uncomfortable and angry. Then Zappa calmly approaches the mike and says, "It brings out the hostilities in you, doesn't it?"
I have found [it]. I believe that it is The Mothers sitting at like a diner having lunch and it's like Don Preston and Bunk Gardner and Roy Estrada—those are the three voices that I remember and they're just, you know, talking about what they're eating and all that stuff.
I found that. That's recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami.
This is another spoken word thing. And notice, by the way, that spoken things are underlined in this document. And then the things with quotations are music.
Improvisation at German/Austrian concert? Meaning "Night and Fog."
I have seen this on a tape box but I don't know if I've actually found the master that corresponds with it. But I definitely have seen it.
Is this a shorter edit of Holding the group back + Holiday in Berlin from AOTT?
That's a piece by Don Preston. I think he wrote that.
This is spoken word. And notice the track after it ["A typical Copenhagen dressing room, circa 1967"]. So, I have found that. I have found that. And if we remember, in Copenhagen that was when their gear did not show up and they had to play a concert on John Mayall Bluesbreakers gear. So, my opinion on "News of THE DISASTER" is—and I've heard this—is a tape where, you know, Herb Cohen is dealing with the fact that the gear is not coming for their show and they are trying to figure out what they're gonna do.
Well, it's the beginning of the concert, and Frank—there's a big gong, there's a gong that starts the show and then Frank comes out and talks to the audience and tells the audience about what they have planned, which is of course the theatrical presentation of the play and all that stuff. That's the explanation.
1. Toronto (Excerpt) 1 :48
lnterview recorded in Toronto, Ontario CA 1968
Original Recording Medium:1/4" 2-track analog tape
This has been found in multiple edits and was also used—intended to be used on the album No Commercial Potential.
That has been found.
shorter edit of EITHER the version on The official Mothers of Invention Bootleg album OR the version on Zappa Mothers 1970...but probably former
It's a Studio Z composition. Something that was recorded with a bunch of musicians in the studio. It's kind of like jazzy. [...] You know what, it might be possible that "Funk It" was recorded at—when it was Pal. So it could be a Paul Buff session, with it being a Zappa composition being recorded by Paul and Paul's musicians. It could be one of those things.
I found it. And it's part of the Uncle Meat sessions.
1. WON'T THAT HURT YOUR KIDNEYS? features Aynsley Dunbar & Phyllis Altenhaus in a section of dialogue from the film "UNCLE MEAT", which we are still trying to raise money to finish. At one time a very famous film company had guaranteed completion money. The first time they saw any of the material edited together, they went berserk & took the money back. As of this writing, the film is about 1/3 complete. This scene deals with Mr. Dunbar's fetish for being flogged as part of any erotic procedure.
Scott: Now we know this was going to also be on the original 2-LP version of Chunga's Revenge, right?
Joe: That's right. And it's been found. I found it.
Scott: And, and you did release some of that tape, right?, on the 200 Motels Box, is that the same thing?
Joe: Yeah, well, that's, that's a little bit of it, yeah, that's—Frank set it. This is more of that.
Scott: Okay. Some of that dialog it's in the Uncle Meat movie, I think, but I'm not sure that it's the same thing at all.
Joe: Right. Yeah, I know, but I believe this is exclusive material from the Aynsley & Phyllis at the Record Plant session.
Scott: Oh, that's at Record Plant!
Joe: I think so.
Scott: It's not the same time. This is a 2:33 version that was going to be released in '72 and the one on Mothers 1970 is 3:29.
Joe: That's because the arrangement that they did in the studio is instrumental first and the vocals come in, and this 2:33 version starts right at the top from when the vocals come in.
That's Dick Kunc. Richard A. Kunc. And it's preceeding "Dick Kunc's story."
8. Randomonium 1:28
Recorded at Apostolic Studios, NYC 1968
Engineers: FZ, Dick Kunc
Source: 1/4" 2-track analogtape
Mr. Schonfeld adopted the word "randomonium," first used by the rocker Frank Zappa in 1980, to describe CNN's fluid mix of content.
Scott: We've got "Della's Whipping Music," which is speculated to be from the Whisky as maybe part of the song "The Whip."
Joe: That's correct. From Meat Light. It's the 11-minute version of "Della's Whipping Music." It was recorded live at the Whisky. Della also let Frank whip her at the Shrine Auditorium. It happened on two different occasions. There are pictures of the Shrine incident and there is film of the Whisky incident. And I have found this 11:07 edit, I'm pretty sure. I remember.
Found it. It's spoken word—see the underline, it is spoken word, and it is Bunk—Bunk and Jimmy Carl Black—it's taken from No Commercial Potential and, yeah, it's Bunk talking about the viscosity.
Another awe-inspiring jam is "Tommy/Vincent Duo II," showcasing the magic between Zappa and Dunbar in their earliest days together. An unedited version, which stretches to nearly 22 minutes long, appears on Disc 3.
The first time I heard Tommy/Vincent Duo II, I recognized a repeated phrase that FZ played in the 69/02/08 Miami Beach show, which he said was a Gregorian chant.
Found it. Yes, this is a piece that was—to my knowledge was recorded at Apostolic—it's soprano saxophone and piano, so that means it would be Bunk and either Don or Bunk and Ian. And, you know the part on "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" that goes, "Do it again and do it some more . . .," okay, it's that section played by a soprano and a piano. That's what it is. And it goes on for a long time. So that's that melody and then it's solos, then they solo over it, and there's a slate by Dick Kunc and it goes, "Hotel Dixie, take 1," and then it cuts to the harpsichord and the piano.
It's Lumpy Gravy dialog. 23 seconds of Lumpy Gravy dialog.
Scott: Would "Soothing Membranes" be the piece that was released on Meat Light as "JCB Spits It"?
Joe: Yes. Coffee spit. Yes, and that is part of No Commercial Potential yet again.
Joe: Found it. It's a percussion piece improvised by Art and, it's only 1:07 but there's actually a way longer version of it that I've found. Multiples. Uhm, isn't something like this on Finer Moments?
Scott: Yeah, there's a lengthy percussion piece—
Joe: I believe it's that. It's a part of that.
Scott: Reall? Okay. Yeah, because that's also on Evening With Wild Man Fischer, some of that type of stuff.
That is 49 seconds and it goes, "Teet-tee-dee-tee-dee-tee-dee-tee-dee ta-dah!, Teet-tee-dee-tee-dee-tee-dee-tee-dee ta-dah!, Teet-tee-dee-tee-dee-tee-dee-tee-dee ta-dah!" It's really funny.
Informants: Ben Jenkins, Charles Ulrich, Tan Mitsugu.
Research, compilation and maintenance by Román García Albertos