25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Possibly the best Zappa / Mothers album. Buy It!, July 31, 2005
This review is from: Fillmore East (Audio CD)
`The Mothers Fillmore East - June 1971' starring Frank Zappa, selected `Mothers', Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman of `The Turtles', and blues drummer extraordinare, Ansley Dunbar is certainly one of Zappa / The Mothers of Invention's best albums, especially when you look at the glut of re-released and re-re-released material from Zappa. It may even rank (pun intended) as one of the best live rock performances on CD. I was lucky enough to see Zappa and the Mothers Live in 1969 and this recorded performance is much, much better.
Zappa's live performance is less about music than it is about crude, satiric storytelling, enhanced with music. Even better, the storytelling has a great sense of truth about it. It is totally believable that, some time before this album was made, Mother Don Preston runs into the touring group Vanilla Fudge who tells him the story of `The Mud Shark'.
Among the many things accomplished by this album was the resurrection of the careers of Turtles Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan. This and other appearances with Zappa (I believe they are in `Uncle Meat') made enough of an impression that I saw them touring with as a Turtles nostalgia act in the mid-1980s.
Not only do our two lads do vocals, they are also principle characters in some of the autobiographical songs such as `What Kind of Girl do you Think We Are?' The highlight of their performance comes when they do the Turtles best known hit, `Happy Together'.
One thing which makes this a great live album is the fact that all the tracks effortlessly flow from one to the next with practically no interruption. You practically have to look at the track counter to see that you have gone from `Bwana DIK' (sic) to `Latex Solar Beef', which, by the way, has almost all the chops of a better Pete Townsend minidrama. I can almost imagine the spin put onto this album by the `Rolling Stone' and `Crawdaddy' of 1971, claiming as much coup for Zappa on this work as has been heaped on Townsend for `Tommy'. Well, maybe that's taking it just a bit too far, as `Tommy' is an epic story of mystical loss and recovery while `The Mud Shark' is simply a collection of songs and stories about unbridled rock star libido.
In comparison to some of Zappa's more distinctly instrumental albums such as `Hot Rats' or the very late `The Yellow Shark', it may be easy to minimize the value of the instrumental performances on this album. While they mostly create bridges between the storytelling, they are not to be dismissed. `Willie The Pimp Part One' nicely elides between `Latex Solar Beef' and `Do You Like My New Car'. With all the vocals and storytelling, Zappa doesn't have much room for some of his more arcane musical inventions. This is, after all, Fillmore East, although he does squeeze one in with `Lonesome Electric Turkey' just before his classic `Peaches En Regalia'.
While this album may not be quite as transcendent as `The Who Live at Leeds', it is richly textured with just about every flavor of bizarre performance popularized by Zappa and the Mothers up to that point. The final selling point is that I wish I had seen this performance rather than the rote exercize I saw in Baltimore.
Very Highly Recommended!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sublime Guitar Solo, April 6, 2005
This review is from: Fillmore East (Audio CD)
This contains what is arguably the single most jaw-dropping, blistering guitar solo I've ever heard in my life. Without getting into more than a little posturing about what guitar I've heard, I've seen Zappa and Thackery and Buchanan and Santana and McLaughlin and many others live and trust me, if you haven't heard Zappa's version of Willie the Pimp on this disc, you are in for a treat and let's leave it at that. Anyone says "Zappa? His guitar was good, but he was no [blank]," you play him this solo and that will shut him up toot sweet, I guarantee you. (Please come back and let me know whether you agree!)
Unfortunately, most of the rest of the album is somewhat dated funny-Zappa material, with Flo and Eddie hi-jinks, punctuated with flashes of music. So, if you love Zappa's guitar and want to hear one of his moments of sheer brilliant virtuosity, by all means pick this up; then go get Shut Up and Play Your Guitar. If you're new to Zappa, or interested only in his best albums, there are many better options.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
STILL A FAVORITE, April 16, 2007
This review is from: Fillmore East (Audio CD)
I recently bought this record for the second time. First of all though, I bought the japonese re-issue. These come in a exact replica of the original album art all the way down to the record jacket. The japonese version sounds ten million times clearer than my american re-master. This was the first Zappa Record I bought, and it is still my favorite just for the jam into Willie the Pimp after Solar Beef. If your looking for a good starter record for Frank Zappa I recomend this one because it has everything his sense of humor, his unique arrangements, and his killer guitar style.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
