(Zappa/Mothers, Zappa Records ZR 20017, March 13, 2014)
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 8-10, 1973
Produced by FZ
Remote facility: Wally Heider
Recording engineer: Kerry McNabb
CD & compilation produced by GZ & Joe Travers
Digital re-mix by Bob Stone, March-April 1987
Vaultmeisterment by Joe Travers
Mastered by John Polito, January 2011
Liner notes by Ruth Underwood
Concept & text by GZ
Cover: Sherwin Tilton
Archive photos by Emerson-Loew
Layout & design by Michael Mesker
Production management by Melanie Starks
The Mothers Of Invention:
FZ—guitar, vocals
Napoleon Murphy Brock—tenor sax, flute, vocals
George Duke—keyboards, vocals
Bruce Fowler—trombone
Ruth Underwood—percussion
Tom Fowler—bass
Ralph Humphrey—drums
Chester Thompson—drums
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, late show
FZ: Hello, folks! This thing wiggles too much. Hey, that's more like it. Hm-hm-hm, yes, okay? Bruce Fowler on trombone . . . Napoleon Murphy Brock on tenor sax . . . And vocals . . . Ruth Underwood on percussion . . .
(All right!)
Okay. The gong always gets 'em. Ralph Humphrey on drums . . . Chester Thompson on drums . . . Tom Fowler on bass . . . George Duke on keyboards. All right. Now, let me get myself tuned up and then we'll do a suave program for you.
?: Owen, a shade more sax in the monitor. Just turn it up, a little bit.
Girl From The Audience: All right, Frank!
FZ: All right.
Audience Member: Where's Ian Underwood?
FZ: All right. Well, Ian's busy. He's uh, he's with his parents in uhm, uh . . .
Audience Member: Yugoslavia.
FZ: . . . Florida. But he'll be back in town soon, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah.
Now, we're gonna open up with some— Hey! Brian Krokus, ladies and gentlemen, right back there! He is our mixer, and of course there's another mixer out in the truck and you can't see him but he's awfully cute, his name is Kerry McNabb and he can hear us talking about him, but . . . well, you're missing the best part of what's going out— on out in the truck.
We're gonna open our program with a song that deals with the subject of the possibility of, uh, extra-terrestrial beings visiting this planet a long time ago.
Now, some of you might have read a book called Chariots Of The Gods, by Erich Von Däniken, and there's a little thing in there, it's a picture of this area in the Andes called the plains of Nazca, ladies and gentlemen. And, uh, there's these carvings on the top of the rock that you don't know what they're supposed to be for. It doesn't look like it would have been a road, because it doesn't go anywhere, and there's a bunch of 'em, and some people think, well maybe it was a landing field. But the carvings are very, very old and they're very, very big, you know, indicating that the people who made them were highly, uh, well, they were, heh heh . . . They really had their ____ together for the things that carved in the rock. And it's possible that if they were landing fields, that the things that landed on them were NOT OF THIS EARTH.
And so we have a song, which features the lovely voice of Mr. George Duke, and the name of this song is "Inca Roads." Take it away, George . . .
includes a quotation from Dupree's Paradise
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, early & late shows
George: That's right, honey.
FZ: Simply atmospheric introduction.
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Just to land in the Andes?
Was it round
And did it have a motor
Or was it something different
Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Fly along the mountains
And find a place to park itself
Or did someone build a place
To leave a space
For such a thing
To land
(Thank you, honey.)
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Did a vehicle
(FZ: Her nipples are standing up now.)
Come from somewhere out there
Did the Indians, first on the bill
Carve up the hill
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Just to land in the Andes?
Was it round
And did it have a motor
Or was it something different
Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Fly along the mountains
And find a place to park itself
Or did someone build a place
Or leave a space for such a thing to land
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Did the Indians, first on the bill
Carve up the hill
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Just to land in the Andes?
Was it round
And did it have a motor
Or was it something different
Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Fly along the mountains
And find a place to park itself
Or did someone build a place
Or leave a space for such a thing to land
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Did the Indians, first on the bill
Carve up the hill
Thank you . . . thank you very much . . .
Thank you, and thank you. Okay.
Now as some of you may know Hollywood is the best of all possible worlds. I mean, this is where it's all happening, you understand? See, it's really great here and it's a— it's so wonderful to be in Hollywood, to live here and to be a part of this community and everything, because there's so many perverts in it, you know? And perverts, perverts help to make normal people look good, and so . . . Just remember that, whenever you see somebody who is perverted. But for our friends in the pervert world we have this song which is called "Penguin In Bondage." And you know what I mean, don't you?
This is really a funky one, you know what I mean.
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, early show
She's just like a Penguin in Bondage, boy
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh . . .
Way over on the wet side
Of the bed
Just like the mighty Penguin
Flappin' her eight ounce wings
(Bring the band on down behind me, boys!)
Lord, you know it's all over
If she come atcha on the strut and wrap 'em all around yer head
Flappin' her eight ounce wings, flappinumm
She's just like a Penguin in Bondage, boy
Shake up the pale-dry
Ginger ale
Tremblin' like a Penguin
When the battery fail
(You know, when the battery goes out in the vibrator and everything?)
Lord, you must be havin' her jumpin' through a hoopa real fire
With some Kleenex wrapped around a coat-hang wire
She's just like a Penguin in Bondage, boy
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh . . .
Howlin' over to some
Antarcticulated moon
In the frostbite nite
With her flaps gone white
Shriekin' as she spot the hoop across the room
(Good God, she spot the hoop again)
You know it must be a Penguin bound down
If you hear that terrible screamin'
And there ain't no other birds around
She's just like a Penguin in Bondage, boy
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh . . .
She's just like a Penguin in Bondage, boy
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh . . .
Aw, you must be careful
Not to leave her straps
Too loose
'Cause she just might box yer dog
'Cause she just might box yer dog
An' leave you a dried-up dog biscuit . . .
The name of this song is "T'Mershi Duween," a bongo number . . .
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, early show
Hey!
includes Uncle Meat
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, early show
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, early & late shows
Thank you.
Brian, can you turn the horns up some more in this, this, uh, monitor box down here? . . . What? It's not in that one up there. It was? All right, turn a little bit up in the upper horns too. Bruce is having trouble hearing himself.
I'd like to dedicate this next song to uh, John and Nellie Wilson, because they probably know what this song is about, better than anybody else in this room. The name of this song is "The Village Of The Sun."
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, late show
Goin' back home
To the Village of the Sun
Out in back of Palmdale
Where the turkey farmers run, I done
Made up my mind
And I know I'm gonna go to Sun
Village, good God I hope the
Wind don't blow
It take the paint off your car
And wreck your windshield too
I don't know how the people stand it
But I guess they do
'Cause they're all still there
Even Johnny Franklin too
In the Village of the Sun, well
Village of the Sun, oh, the
Village of the Sun, son
Sun Village to you
Oh, Little Mary, and Teddy, and Thelma too, now
Where Palmdale Boulevard
Cuts on through
Past the Village Inn, baby, & Barbecue now, yeah
I heard it ain't there
Well I hope it ain't true
Where the stumblers gonna go
To watch the lights turn blue?
Where the stumblers gonna go
To watch the lights turn blue?
Goin' back home
To the Village of the Sun
Out in back of Palmdale
Where the turkey farmers run, I just
Made up my mind
And I know I'm gonna go to Sun
Village, good God I hope the
Wind don't blow
It take the paint off your car
And wreck your windshield too
I don't know how the people stand it
But I guess they do
'Cause they're all still there
Even Johnny Franklin too
In the Village of the Sun, oh
The Village of the Sun
The Village of the Sun, son
Sun Village to you
You, oh, yeah, yeah!
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, late show
Ooh, well . . . oh . . .
includes quotations from Be-Bop Tango and Penguin In Bondage
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, late show, & December 10, 1973, late show
Ladies and gentlemen,
Watch Ruth!
All during our program
Ruth has been thinking,
"What can I do
That'll be fantastic?"
Something nice for the camera, I hope
Ruth, show 'em a little something
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 10, 1973, late show
Ruth Underwood, Ralph Humphrey, Chester Thompson. Thank you.
All right, now, have a surprise for you. You've all been fooled. Now, that little thing there is nothing more and nothing less than the rhythm track of the next song that we're gonna play, which is a song about monster movies and it's called "A Little More Cheepnis Please." Here's what it sounds like with everything else stuck to it—you already heard the drum part.
Quick, mop 'em off.
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 10, 1973, early show
I ate a hot dog
It tasted real good
Then I watched a movie
From Hollywood
I ate a hot dog
It tasted real good
Then I watched a movie
From Hollywood
Little Miss Muffet on a squat by me, yeah
I took a turn around, I said, Can y'all see now?
The little strings from the Giant Spider?
The Zipper From The Black Lagoon?
The vents by the tanks where the bubbles go up?
And the flaps on the side of the moon
The jelly and paint on the 40 watt bulb
They use when the slime droozle off
The rumples and the wrinkles in the cardboard rock, yeah
And the canvas of the cave is too soft
The suits and the hats and the tie's too wide
And too short for the scientist man
The chemistry lady with the roll-away mind, yeah
While the monster just ate Japan
Ladies and gentlemen
The monster
Which the peasants in this area call Frunobulax
Has just been seen approaching The Power Plant
Bullets can't stop it
Rockets can't stop it
We may have to use nuclear force!
Everyone is advised
To go to the shelter at once!
Wah! Run for your lives! It may be your last chance. Get up! Quick, come on!
Run to the shelter! Come on, everybody! Get up! Go as fast as you can! Run!
Go to da shelter
My baby, my baby
Go to da shelter
Go to da shelter
Go to da shelter
My baby, my baby
Go to da shelter
Go to da shelter
Little Miss Muffet on a squat by me
Can ya see the little strings danglin' down?
Makes the legs go wobble an' the mouth flop shut
An' the horrible eye
An' the horrible eye
An' the horrible eye
Go rollin' around
Can y'see it at all
Can y'see it from here
Can y'laugh till yer weak on yer knees
If you can't, I'm sorry 'cause that's all I wanna know
I need a little more cheepnis please
Baby, I'm sorry 'cause it's all I wanna know
I need a little more cheepnis please
Baby, I'm sorry 'cause it's all I wanna know
I need a little more cheepnis please
Baby, I'm sorry 'cause it's all I wanna know
I need a little more cheepnis
(Cheaper the better)
Baby, I'm sorry 'cause it's all I wanna know
I need a little more cheepnis
(Cheaper the better)
Baby, I'm sorry 'cause it's all I wanna know
I need a little more cheepnis
(Cheaper the better)
Baby, I'm sorry 'cause it's all I wanna know
I need a little more cheepnis
(Cheaper the better)
(Cheaper the better)
(Cheaper the better)
(Cheaper the better)
Baby, I'm sorry 'cause it's all I wanna know
I need a little more cheepnis . . .
includes The Hook and quotations from Montana and T'Mershi Duween
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, early show
I'd like to thank you very much for coming to the concert tonight. Bruce Fowler on trombone, Napoleon Murphy Brock on tenor sax and lead vocals, Ruth Underwood on percussion, Ralph Humphrey on drums, Chester Thompson on drums, Tom Fowler on bass, George Duke on keyboards. Thank you very much. Good night.
includes King Kong, Chunga's Revenge, Mr. Green Genes, The Hook, and quotations from Dupree's Paradise, Also sprach Zarathustra (Strauss) and Midnight Sun (Hampton/Burke/Mercer)
Roxy, Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1973, late show
FZ: All right, we're gonna play "King Kong" for you. It's also hooked up to "Chunga's Revenge" and the ending of "Mr. Green Genes," so, a little cheapo medley. Okay? Are you ready, Ruth? Hurry up, Ruth! Hurry up, Ruth!
Ruth: No!
FZ: Come on, Ruth! . . . Slow down, Ruth. She's ready.
Guy From The Audience: Freak out!
FZ: One, one, one, one . . .
FZ: Thank you very much. And good night.
All compositions by Frank Zappa except as noted