Frank Zappa’s 1973 Roxy Performances Captured on 7CD Box Set

In December 1973, Frank Zappa played a series of concerts at the famed Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. Considered a high-water mark of his career, the five shows – across three nights – included a private invite-only performance/soundcheck/film shoot followed by back-to-back doubleheaders. A few days later, continuing this prolific week, Zappa brought his band and camera crew to Ike Turner’s Bolic Sound in Inglewood for a filmed recording session. In typical Zappa fashion, he recorded it all.

This complete collection, totaling nearly eight hours, documents the Roxy shows as they happened and presents brand new mixes by Craig Parker Adams from new 96K 24 Bit transfers of the multi-track masters. The set is rounded out with a 48-page booklet that includes photos from the performances, extensive liner notes by Vaultmeister Joe Travers, essays from Zappa family friend, Australian writer Jen Jewel Brown, and American singer/songwriter Dave Alvin, who give their firsthand recollections about the shows, and a selection of archival press reviews.

“This is one of my favorite FZ line-ups ever. This box contains some of the best nights of music Los Angeles has ever seen with their ears at an historic venue,” says Ahmet Zappa, who co-produced the collection along with Travers, “Hold on to your hotdogs people. This box is the be-all-end-all. This is it. This is all of it. It’s time to get your rocks off for the Roxy.”

While portions of these concerts have been released in various formats over the years – first in 1974 on the album Roxy and Elsewhere, which mixed material from the shows with performances recorded in different locations months later, followed by 2014’s Roxy By Proxy, which featured Zappa’s 1987 digital mixes of tracks from various shows, and most recently the 2015 film Roxy The Movie and its accompanying soundtrack – the shows have never been released in their entirety until now.

The band was one of Zappa’s best with keyboardist George Duke, bassist Tom Fowler, trombonist Bruce Fowler, tenor saxophonist and vocalist Napoleon Murphy Brock, percussionist Ruth Underwood and drummers Ralph Humphrey and Chester Thompson all in lockstep as Zappa led them through his musically adventurous compositions filled with complicated time signatures and sudden tempo changes. As the Los Angeles Times remarked in their review, “The content of any show starring Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention is unpredictable. But the quality of the show is predictable. I have seen this satirical rock group many times and every show has been excellent. True to form, the group performed sensationally at the Roxy on Sunday night.” The (long-defunct) Los Angeles Herald-Examiner was equally impressed: “This time around Zappa, the counter-culture’s John Cage, has assembled a remarkable group of musicians. Tim Fowler on bass, his brother Bruce on trombone, Ralph Humphrey on drums, and George Duke, whose keyboard skills almost upstaged the leader himself. Percussionist Ruth Underwood kept up with the band’s frenetic pace without missing a single swat of the gong, and she was incredible.”

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Track listings:

DISC 1

12-9-73 Show 1

1. Sunday Show 1 Start 4:59

2. Cosmik Debris 11:33

3. “We’re Makin’ A Movie” 3:16

4. Pygmy Twylyte 9:08

5. The Idiot Bastard Son 2:19

6. Cheepnis 3:44

7. Hollywood Perverts 1:07

8. Penguin In Bondage 5:54

9. T’Mershi Duween 1:56

10. The Dog Breath Variations 1:44

11. Uncle Meat 2:29

12. RDNZL 5:14

13. Montana 7:49

14. Dupree’s Paradise 15:25

TT: 76:43

 

DISC 2

1. Dickie’s Such An Asshole 10:29

12-9-73 Show 2

2. Sunday Show 2 Start 4:08

3. Inca Roads 8:27

4. Village Of The Sun 4:19

5. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) 4:01

6. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? 13:22

7. Slime Intro :59

8. I’m The Slime 3:34

9. Big Swifty 9:01

TT: 58:25

 

DISC 3

1. Tango #1 Intro 3:50

2. Be-Bop Tango

(Of The Old Jazzmen’s Church) 18:12

3. Medley:

King Kong

Chunga’s Revenge

Son Of Mr. Green Genes 9:46

 

12-10-73 Show 1

4. Monday Show 1 Start 5:31

5. Montana 6:57

6. Dupree’s Paradise 21:26

7. Cosmik Intro 1:05

8. Cosmik Debris 8:05

TT: 74:57

 

DISC 4

1. Bondage Intro 1:52

2. Penguin In Bondage 6:54

3. T’Mershi Duween 1:52

4. The Dog Breath Variations 1:48

5. Uncle Meat 2:29

6. RDNZL 4:59

7. Audience Participation – RDNZL 3:08

8. Pygmy Twylyte 4:05

9. The Idiot Bastard Son 2:21

10. Cheepnis 4:49

11. Dickie’s Such An Asshole 10:21

 

12-10-73 Show 2

12. Monday Show 2 Start 5:13

13. Penguin In Bondage 6:33

14. T’Mershi Duween 1:52

15. The Dog Breath Variations 1:46

16. Uncle Meat 2:28

17. RDNZL 5:11

TT: 67:50

 

DISC 5

1. Village Of The Sun 4:05

2. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) 3:54

3. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? 6:56

4. Cheepnis – Percussion 4:08

5. “I Love Monster Movies” 2:10

6. Cheepnis 3:35

7. “Turn The Light Off”/Pamela’s Intro 3:59

8. Pygmy Twylyte 7:23

9. The Idiot Bastard Son 2:22

10. Tango #2 Intro 2:01

11. Be-Bop Tango

(Of The Old Jazzmen’s Church) 22:08

TT: 62:46

 

DISC 6

1. Dickie’s Such An Asshole 15:39

Bonus Section: 12-10-73 Roxy Rehearsal

2. Big Swifty – In Rehearsal 2:50

3. Village Of The Sun 3:13

4. Farther O’Blivion – In Rehearsal 5:34

5. Pygmy Twylyte 6:17

Unreleased Track

6. That Arrogant Dick Nixon 2:19

12-12-73 Bolic Studios Recording Session

7. Kung Fu – In Session 4:50

8. Kung Fu – with guitar overdub 1:17

9. Tuning and Studio Chatter 3:38

10. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) – In Session 1:22

11. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow – In Session 9:49

12. Nanook Rubs It – In Session 5:41

13. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast – In Session 2:46

14. Father O’Blivion – In Session 2:31

15. Rollo (Be-Bop Version) 2:36

TT: 70:31

 

DISC 7

12-8-73 Sound Check/Film Shoot

1. Saturday Show Start 2:20

2. Pygmy Twylyte/Dummy Up 20:25

3. Pygmy Twylyte – Part II 14:25

4. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) 3:42

5. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? 6:01

6. Orgy, Orgy 3:39

7. Penguin In Bondage 6:30

8. T’Mershi Duween 1:53

9. The Dog Breath Variations 1:45

10. Uncle Meat/Show End 4:01

TT: 64:46

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