• Voto:
Un bellissimo doppio disco dal vivo di Frank Zappa con i nuovi "Mothers of Invention"; un disco a metà tra improvvisazione, cantato e parlato. Tratto per lo più dai concerti tenutisi al Roxy di Los Angeles nel dicembre '73, contiene anche brani presi da diversi altri concerti dello stesso periodo. La band che qui ritroviamo è forse la più amata dal grande pubblico e comprende, tra gli altri, i fratelli Fowler a trombone e tromba, Ruth Underwood alle percussioni più un favoloso Chester Thompson alla batteria (lo stesso di Genesis, Weather Report. . . ). Il solito stile unico, creativo e originale del vecchio Frank fa da filo conduttore a questo ricchissimo disco-concerto, che presenta oltre a numerosi pezzi inediti, anche lunghe improvvisazioni strumentali, assolo ed esilaranti scenette parlate come "Dummy up", nella quale Napoleon e Simmons inscenano un dialogo surreale difficilmente riassumibile.
Il Jazz si riaffaccia nelle composizioni zappiane dopo i dischi "Hot rats", "Waka\Jawaka" e "The Grand Wazoo", con un massiccio impiego dei fiati e lunghi brani strumentali, a volte improvvisati sul palco dai vari componenti della band. Zappa lascia molto spazio ai singoli musicisti e si esibisce più raramente che in altre occasioni in assoli di chitarra elettrica (che sono ovviamente tutti di altissima qualità) dirigendo come sempre in maniera magistrale ed efficace il suo vasto gruppo. I singoli membri della band approfittano invece proprio dell'occasione offerta dagli assoli per mettersi in luce in performance di altissima qualità tecnica ed è da ricordare che sono tutti artisti di grande abilità tecnica ed inventiva eslosiva. George Duke alle tastiere ci sorprende, tirando fuori una versione be bop del tema di un Tango, durante la quale anche alcune persone del pubblico sono chiamate a salire sul palco per partecipare direttamente al concerto. Alla voce troviamo invece Napoleon Murphy Brock, il portentoso sassofonista scovato da Zappa in un bar delle Hawaii, fantastico intrattenitore e abilissimo cantante. Zappa invece, che come tutti sappiamo bene non amava troppo cantare ma preferiva quando qualcuno lo faceva al suo posto, si limita a parlare (facendo anche domande al pubblico, che gli risponde), cantando veramente solo nei brani "Penguin in Bondage" e "More Trouble Everyday". Commenta ed introduce inoltre gran parte dei pezzi che il gruppo sta per eseguire, nel suo tipico stile ironico e tagliente; indimenticabile l'introduzione al pezzo "Cheepnis", nella quale sbeffeggia i film di mostri.
Un disco bellissimo e completo che ritengo sia adatto anche a chi si avvicina al mondo folle e bizzarro di Zappa per la prima volta; senza dubbio imperdibile per gli appassionati. Di questo concerto venne girato anche un video che purtroppo rimane tuttora inedito; più volte la famiglia Zappa ne ha annunciata la prossima uscita, ma ancora non si vede niente. .
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Penguin in Bondage (06:47)
Frank Zappa (lead guitar, vocals)
George Duke (keyboards, synthesizer, vocals)
Tom Fowler (bass)
Ruth Underwood (percussion)
Jeff Simmons (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Don Preston (synthesizer)
Bruce Fowler (trombone)
Walt Fowler (trumpet)
Napoleon Murphy Brock (tenor saxophone, flute, lead vocals)
Ralph Humphrey (drums)
Chester Thompson (drums)
Debbie (background vocals)
Lynn (background vocals)
Robert Camarena (background vocals)
Thank you.
Brian, I could use a little bit more monitor.
Hello hello, can't you turn up any more than that?
Hello hello, hey!
Alright!
Pardon me folks.
The name of this song is Penguin in Bondage,
An' it's a song that ah, deals with the possible variations on
a basic theme which is...well,
You understand what a basic theme is.
And then the variations include ah, manoeuvres that might be
executed with the aid of ah, extra-terrestrial gratification
and devices which might or might not be supplied in a local
department store or perhaps a drugstore but at very least in
one of those fancy new shops that they advertise in the
back-pages of the free press.
This song suggests to the suggestible listener that the
ordinary procedure ah,
That I am circumlocuting at this present time in order to get
this text on television,
Is that ah, if you wanna do something other than what you
thought you were gonna do when you first took your clothes off
and you just happened to have some DEVICES around...
Then it's, it's not only okay to get into the
PARAPHERNALIA of it all but...Hey!
What did he say? Ready?
She's just like a penguin in Bondage, boy
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, Oh...
Rennenhenninnahenninnenninahennn
Way over on the wet side
Of the bed (Knirps for moisture)
Just like the mighty Penguin
Flappin' her eight ounce wings
Lord, you know it's all over
If she comes atcha on the strut & 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
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...
Rennenhenninnahenninneninahenn
Howlin' over to some
Antarcticulated moon
In the frostbite nite
With her flaps gone white
Shriekin' as she spot the hoop across the room
Lord, you know it must be a Penguin bound down
When 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...
Rennenhenninnahenninneninahennn
Aw, you must be careful
Not to leave her straps
TOO LOOSE
`Cause she just might box yer dog
She just might box yer doggie
An' leave you a dried-up dog biscuit...
02 Pygmy Twylyte (02:13)
Frank Zappa (lead guitar, vocals)
Napoleon Murphy Brock (saxophone, vocals)
George Duke (keyboards, vocals)
Ruth Underwood (percussion)
Tom Fowler (bass)
Chester Thompson (drums)
Green hocker croakin'
In the Pygmy Twylyte
Crankin' an' a-coke'n
In the Winchell's do-nut Midnite
Out of his deep on a 'fore day run
Hurtin' for sleep in the Quaalude Moonlight
Green hocker in a Greyhound locker
Smokin' in the Pygmy Twylyte
Joined the bus
33rd seat
Doo-doo room
Reek replete
Crystal eye, crystal eye
Got a crystal kidney & he's fraid to die
In the Pygmy Twylyte
Downer midnite
Pygmy Twylyte
Downer midnite
Pygmy Twylyte
Downer midnite
Pygmy Twylyte
Downer midnite
Waahhh! Wait a minute
Don't spray that stuff in my eyes
All we're tryin' to do is to have a little party
Somebody tell me if the bluesy ... was your little party
Make me wanna jump up and down
I said aaahhh!
Honey, honey
Honey, honey
TUSH TUSH
Honey, honey
Too young!
Honey, honey
Wait a minute!
Honey, honey
Honey, honey
Honey, honey
Honey, honey
Get him down
Get him down
Get him down
What you're gonna do
When your time is up?
What you're gonna do
When your time is up?
Are you gonna take me?
What are you gonna be?
I might just tell you please
What are you gonna say?
One thing
I wanna know
One thing, baby
I wanna know
I wanna know
I wanna know...
Right over there, there's a
Doo-doo room
Right upstairs there's a
Doo-doo room
Right out back here there's a
Doo-doo room
In Perellis' pocket there's a
Doo-doo room
05 Echidna's Arf (Of You) (03:53)
Frank Zappa (lead guitar, vocals)
George Duke (keyboards, synthesizer, vocals)
Tom Fowler (bass)
Ruth Underwood (percussion)
Jeff Simmons (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Don Preston (synthesizer)
Bruce Fowler (trombone)
Walt Fowler (trumpet)
Napoleon Murphy Brock (tenor saxophone, flute, lead vocals)
Ralph Humphrey (drums)
Chester Thompson (drums)
Debbie (background vocals)
Lynn (background vocals)
Robert Camarena (background vocals)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Village...
07 Cheepnis (06:33)
Frank Zappa (lead guitar, vocals)
George Duke (keyboards, synthesizer, vocals)
Tom Fowler (bass)
Ruth Underwood (percussion)
Jeff Simmons (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Don Preston (synthesizer)
Bruce Fowler (trombone)
Walt Fowler (trumpet)
Napoleon Murphy Brock (tenor saxophone, flute, lead vocals)
Ralph Humphrey (drums)
Chester Thompson (drums)
Debbie (background vocals)
Lynn (background vocals)
Robert Camarena (background vocals)
Cheepnis.
Let me tell you something, do you like monster movies?
Anybody?
(YEAH!)
I love monster movies, I simply adore monster movies, And the cheaper they are, the better they are. And cheepnis in the case of a monster movie has nothing to do with the budget of the film, although it helps. But true cheepnis is exemplified by visible nylon strings attached to the jaw of a giant spider. I'll tell you, a good one that I saw one time, I think the name of the film was "It conquered the world" (YEAH!) And the... Did you ever see that one? The monster looks sort of like an inverted ice-cream corn with teeth around the bottom. It looks like a, like a teepee or a sort of a rounded off pup-tent affair. And ah, it's got fangs on the base of it, I don't know why but it's a very threatening sight. And then he's got a frown and, you know, ugly mouth and everything, And there's this one scene where the ah monster is coming out of a cave. See? There's always a scene where they come out of a cave, at least once. And the rest of the cast...it musta been made around the 1950's. The lapels are about like th
at wide, The ties are about that wide and about this short, And they always have a little revolver that they're gonna shoot the monster with. And there is always a girl who falls down and twists her ankle. Hey hey! Of course there is! You know how they are, the weaker sex and everything, Twisting their ankle on behalf of a little ice-cream corn. Well in this particular scene, In this scene folks, they ah, they didn't wanna re-take it 'cause it musta been so good they wanted to keep it, but they... When the monster came out of the cave, just over on the left hand side of the screen you can see about this much two-by-four attached to the bottom of the Thing as the guy is pushing it out, And then obviously off-camera somebody's goin': "No! Get it back!" ...and they drag it back just a little bit as the guy is goin': "KCH! KCH!" Now that's cheepnis.
Right. And this is cheepnis here: One two three four...
I ate a hot dog
It tasted real good
Then I watched a movie
From Hollywood
(repeat)
Little Miss Muffett on a squat by me
Took a turn around, I said: Can y'all see?
The little strings on 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 & paint on the 40 watt bulb
They use when the slime droozle off
The rumples & the wrinkles in the cardboard rock
And the canvas of the cave is too soft
The suits & the hats & the tie's too wide
And too short for the scientist man
The chemistry lady with the roll-away mind
And the monster just ate Japan
Ladies and gentlemen,
The monster,
Which the peasants in this area call FRUNOBULAX
(Apparently a very large poodle dog)
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!
HERE COMES THAT POODLE DOG!
BIG AS A BLIMP WITH A RHINESTONE COLLAR
SNAPPIN' OFF THE TREES
LIKE THEY WAS BONSAI'D ORNAMENTS ON A
DRY-WOBBLE LANDSCAPE
KEEP IT AWAY! DON'T LET THE POODLE BITE ME!
WE CAN'T LET IT REPRODUCE! OH!
SOMEBODY GET OUT THE PANTS!
The National Guard has formed up at the base
of the mountain
And is attempting to lure the enormous poodle
towards the cave
Where they hope to destroy it with napalm
A thousand of the troopers are now lined up
and are calling to the monster...
Here Fido
Here Fido
Here Fido
GOT A GREAT BIG SLIMEY THING
GOT A GREAT BIG HEAVY THING
GOT A GREAT BIG POODLE THING
GOT A GREAT BIG HAIRY THING
(repeat)
C'mon! Everybody! Let's go!
Get the distilled water! Get the canned goods!
Get the toilet paper! You know we need it!
GO TO DA SHELTER
MY BABY, MY BABY,
GO TO DA SHELTER
GO TO DA SHELTER
(repeat)
Little Miss Muffett on a squat by me,
Can ya see the little string danglin' down
Makes the legs go wabble an' the mouth flop shut
An' the HORRIBLE EYE, HORRIBLE EYE, HORRIBLE EYE
Go rollin' around
Can y'see it 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
(etc. repeats)
Carico i commenti... con calma
