Search - Frank Zappa :: Fillmore East - June 1971

Zappa and The Turtles!

Mark B. | Pittsburgh, PA | 12/01/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Using the name of the band "The Mothers" is a misnomer here. This disc is a live set with The Turtles. And while it may not be the best live recording or best CD in Zappa's discography ("Willie The Pimp" got shortened and only part one is presented here) but it does have that certain charm.



Tracks 1 through 8 are essentially one very long version of "The Groupie Routine". It's quite raunchy and deliciously fun! "The Mud Shark" is a very catchy track and you may find yourself just humming it to yourself for no real reason. Track 8 is a fun punchline to the tracks that came before it. The rest is primo Zappa with some amazing solos. Afterwards, Track 11 is a great salute to bebop. It's a fantastic closer to a very good album.

"

Excellent

Bill Your 'Free Form FM Handi Cyber | Mahwah, NJ USA | 12/06/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ben Watson wrote in Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play that people contrasted this verison of the Mothers with the previous, saying "Whereas the original Mothers were presented as some kind of alternative,......Flo and Eddie were presented as sweaty, h-o-rny pop stars whose main interest was getting l-ai-d."



Well, as with Zappa most of the time, the points were missed: the 1970-71 incarnation of the Mothers was a stage show. Tommy, Hair, Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar were all high concept rock operas or rock musicals. So is Live at Filmore.



What Zappa did here was to put together a non-linar rock opera about what it was like to be a rock band on the road in the very early 70s. This was when hard drugs, big money, jet planes, and, most imporatant here, random sex became part of the rock and roll circus. We can't change the world, Nixon is king, let's make bread and score.



Flo and Eddie had the best harmonies in rock, and Zappa used this to create his rock operettas. If you listen, this music is tightly arranged and highly disciplined--every cue is mapped out as it would be in a Broadway musical.



Where most rock stars of the time indulged, Zappa flipped the looking glass and as usual, made the flip into art."