FZ album(s) in which song has appeared

• Road Tapes, Venue #2 (2013), as Penguin In Bondage, performed in Helsinki, Finland, August 24, 1973
• Road Tapes, Venue #2 (2013), quoted in Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?, performed in Helsinki, Finland, August 24, 1973
• Halloween 73 (2019), as Penguin In Bondage, recorded in Los Angeles, CA, October 20, 1973
• Halloween 73 (2019), quoted in Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?, performed in Chicago, IL, October 31, 1973, early show
• Halloween 73 (2019), as Penguin In Bondage, performed in Chicago, IL, October 31, 1973, early show
  • same version on Halloween 73 Highlights (2019)
• Halloween 73 (2019), as Penguin In Bondage, performed in Chicago, IL, October 31, 1973, late show
• The Roxy Performances (2018), quoted in Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?, performed in Los Angeles, CA, December 8, 1973
• The Roxy Performances (2018), as Penguin In Bondage, performed in Los Angeles, CA, December 8, 1973
  • parts of the same performance on Roxy & Elsewhere (1974) as part of Penguin In Bondage
• The Roxy Performances (2018), as Penguin In Bondage, performed in Los Angeles, CA, December 9, 1973, early show
  • same performance on Roxy By Proxy (2014) as Penguin In Bondage
• The Roxy Performances (2018), quoted in Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?, performed in Los Angeles, CA, December 9, 1973, late show
  • same performance on Roxy By Proxy (2014) as Don't You Ever Wash That Thing
  • same performance on Roxy—The Movie (2015) as Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
    • same version on Roxy—The Soundtrack (2015) as Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
• The Roxy Performances (2018), as Bondage Intro and Penguin In Bondage, performed in Los Angeles, CA, December 10, 1973, early show
  • spoken intro of the same performance on Roxy & Elsewhere (1974) as part of Penguin In Bondage
  • parts of the same performance on Roxy—The Movie (2015) as part of Penguin In Bondage
    • same version on Roxy—The Soundtrack (2015) as Penguin In Bondage
• The Roxy Performances (2018), as Penguin In Bondage, performed in Los Angeles, CA, December 10, 1973, late show
  • parts of the same performance on Roxy & Elsewhere (1974) as part of Penguin In Bondage
  • parts of the same performance on Roxy—The Movie (2015) as part of Penguin In Bondage
    • same version on Roxy—The Soundtrack (2015) as Penguin In Bondage
  • same performance on Beat The Boots III: Disc Five (2009) as Penguin In Bondage
• The Roxy Performances (2018), quoted in Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?, performed in Los Angeles, CA, December 10, 1973, late show
  • same performance on Roxy & Elsewhere (1974) as Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
• Roxy & Elsewhere (1974), as part of Penguin In Bondage, performed in Chicago, IL, May 11, 1974 (early show?)
• Penguin In Bondage/The Little Known History Of The Mothers Of Invention (2011) as Penguin In Bondage/The Little Known History Of The Mothers Of Invention, performed in Chicago, IL, May 11, 1974 (late show?)
  • parts of the same performance on Roxy & Elsewhere (1974), as part of Penguin In Bondage
• You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 2 (1988), quoted in Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?, performed in Helsinki, Finland, September 22-23, 1974
• Zappa/Erie (2022), quoted in Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?, performed in Erie, PA, November 12, 1974
• Zappa/Erie (2022), as Penguin In Bondage, performed in Erie, PA, November 12, 1974
• BTB II: At The Circus (1992), quoted in Seal Call Fusion Music, performed in Munich, Germany, c. August-September 1978
• Does Humor Belong In Music? (1986) as Penguin In Bondage, performed in St. Petersburg, FL, and Vancouver, Canada, December 1 and 18, 1984
• The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life (1991) as Penguin In Bondage (Swaggart Version), performed in Poughkeepsie, NY, February 23, 1988

 

Tour(s) on which song is known to have been performed (main source: FZShows, v. 7.1)

• August-September 1973 (MOI European Tour)—known performances: 12
• October-December 1973 (MOI)—known performances: 11
• February-March 1974 (MOI)—known performances: 8
• April-May 1974 (MOI 10th Anniversary Tour)—known performances: 6
• June-August 1974 (MOI)—known performances: 8
• September-October 1974 (MOI European Tour)—known performances: 11
• October-December 1974 (MOI)—known performances: 12
• April-May 1975 (MOI with Captain Beefheart)—known performances: 2
• August-October 1978 (Europe & North America)—known quotations: 1
• July-September 1984 (North America)—known performances: 31; known quotations: 1
• September-October 1984 (Europe)—known performances: 27; known quotations: 1
• October-December 1984 (North America)—known performances: 31
• February-March 1988 (North America)—known performances: 11; known quotations: 1
• April-June 1988 (Europe)—known performances: 12

 

Comments

Foggy G, "The Songs That Were Played," We're Only In It For The Touring

1973: This song premieres on this tour, magically appearing both fully clothed and completely prepared from the start. Pretty amazing- I mean, how many times has Frank succeeded in debuting a song and leaving it be for the rest of his career? The only difference is that in the early performances, there is no solo, just an immediate segue from the pre-solo verse to the post-solo verse. Apart from that, what we get here is what is essentially performed as on TBBYNHIYL (the "Roxy and Elsewhere" version is edited), allowing for obvious differences in instrumentation, and with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo.

1973-4: Essentially performed as on TBBYNHIYL (the "Roxy and Elsewhere" version is edited), allowing for obvious differences in instrumentation, and with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo.

1974 May: Essentially performed as on TBBYNHIYL (the Roxy version is edited), allowing for obvious differences in instrumentation, and with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo.

1974 Jul-Dec: Essentially played as on TBBYNHIYL (the "Roxy" version is edited). The solo section, however, was not limited to 16 bars as on the '84 and '88 tours, but was essentially limitless, though the rhythm section was fairly under control.

1975: Essentially performed as on TBBYNHIYL (the "Roxy" version is edited), allowing for obvious differences in instrumentation, and with the standard deviation coming in the solos. Denny goes first, followed by Brock, with Frank bringing matters to a close. As good as Denny's and Nappy's solos are, it is Frank's rhythm guitar throughout this middle section that really pushes the music to another level.

1984: Essentially played as on "Does Humor Belong in Music?", with standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. The standard "short" Zappa guitar solo for most of tour, though by the latter end of this outing he began to insert the "complete-stop-give-me-a-new-vamp" longer solo section, like the one on DHBIM.

1988: Essentially performed as on TBBYNHIYL, with the standard deviation coming in the solo, which is either taken by Frank, Mike, or Ike. For one performance in Italy, Frank inserts a loop vamp into the solo section, and solos over this vamp. Yes, it competely ruins the flow of the song, but it does inspire Frank to perform his first "Penguin" solo of the Europe leg.

Structure & Different Versions

Special thanks to Charles Ulrich.

	August 24, 1973—Road Tapes, Venue #2 (2013)	October 20, 1973 (rehearsal)—Halloween 73 (2019)	October 31, 1973 (early show)—Halloween 73 (2019)	December 10, 1973 (late show)—The Roxy Performances (2018)	Chicago, IL, May 11, 1974	December 1984—Does Humor Belong In Music? (1986)	February 23, 1988—The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life (1991)
verse intro					00:00-00:04
verse	0:00-0:43	0:00-0:42	0:00-0:43	0:00-0:45	00:04-00:50	0:00-0:39	0:00-0:39
link #1	0:43-0:49	0:42-0:48	0:43-0:49	0:45-0:52	00:50-00:56	0:39-0:45	0:39-0:45
verse (part 1)	0:49-0:55	0:48-0:53	0:49-0:55	0:52-0:57	00:56-01:02	0:45-0:57	0:45-0:52
link #2 ("Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?")	0:55-0:59	0:53-0:58	0:55-1:00	0:57-1:02	01:02-01:07	0:57-1:01	0:52-0:57
verse (part 2)	0:59-1:32	0:58-1:30	1:00-1:33	1:02-1:39	01:07-01:40	1:01-1:32	0:57-1:28
link #1	1:32-1:38	1:30-1:35	1:33-1:39	1:39-1:45	01:40-01:47	1:32-1:38	1:28-1:33
link #3	1:38-1:50	1:35-1:47	1:39-1:51	1:45-1:59	01:47-01:59	1:38-1:50	1:33-1:45
link #4 (solos)	1:50-2:09	1:47-2:04	1:51-2:09	1:59-2:19	01:59-02:18	1:50-2:02	1:45-2:03
link #3	2:09-2:15	2:04-2:11	2:09-2:15	2:19-2:26	02:18-02:24	2:02-2:08	2:03-2:09
link #5 ("Little penguin")	2:15-2:21	2:11-2:17	2:15-2:21	2:26-2:33	02:24-02:31	2:08-2:15	2:09-2:16
link #1	2:21-2:27	2:17-2:23	2:21-2:27	2:33-2:40	02:31-02:37	2:15-2:20	2:16-2:21
link #6 ("Think a while")		2:23-2:46	2:27-2:52
link #5 ("Little penguin")		2:46-2:52	2:52-2:52
link #1		2:52-2:58	2:57-3:04
guitar solo (verse)		2:58-4:06	3:04-5:26	2:40-4:43	02:37-05:58		2:21-3:28
guitar solo (1 chord)						2:20-5:13
link #6 ("Think a while")		4:06-4:30
link #5 ("Little penguin")		4:30-4:35
link #1		4:35-4:41	5:26-5:32			5:13-5:19	3:28-3:34
verse	2:27-3:11	4:41-5:24	5:32-6:16	4:43-5:32	05:58-06:44	5:19-5:59	3:34-4:14
link #1	3:11-3:17	5:24-5:29	6:16-6:23	5:32-5:39	06:44-06:51	5:59-6:05	4:14-4:20
verse (end)	3:17-4:06	5:29-6:16	6:23-7:11	5:39-6:33	06:51-07:42	6:05-6:49/0:00-0:05	4:20-5:05

 

Conceptual Continuity

One-Adam-Twelve:

• You Are What You Is (on Thing-Fish (1984)) ("One-Adam-Twelve . . . see de mammy")
• The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing (on Thing-Fish (1984)) ("One-Adam-Twelve . . . see de sucker")
• The Crab-Grass Baby ("One-Adam-Twelve . . . see the enormous white pompadour!")
• Drop Dead ("One-Adam-Twelve . . . see de MAMMY")
• Tinsel Town Rebellion (on Does Humor Belong In Music? (1986)) ("One-Adam-Twelve, see de pecker!")
• Penguin In Bondage (on Does Humor Belong In Music? (1986)) ("One-Adam-Twelve, see the hoop")