Zappa sells out!
By Chris Charlesworth
NEW YORK: Unpredictable as always, Frank Zappa nevertheless brought a little cheer to rock fans during a curiously barren holiday period here in New York. Zappa’s shows at the Palladium were the only concerts in the city, and although three were advertised, a fourth was eventually added to cater for demand.
Advance publicity had indicated that these concerts would offer a retrospective of Zappa’s music over the years, a sort of musical scrapbook to cater not only to his new fans (who probably discovered Zappa through “Apostrophe”) but also to the original Mothers Of Invention fans who first heard him at the Fillmore East in 1967.
As it turned out, this wasn’t really the case. Although the concert began nostalgically enough with “Peaches En Regalia” from his “Hot Rats” album, Zappa introduced a whole load of brand new, unrecorded material which, although clever, was uncomfortably alien to a large proportion of the audience.
New pieces, all complex and jazzy, included a lengthy tune called “Punky’s Whips,” a bizarre devil-orientated question/response song called “Titties And Beer,” and a romantic ballad (?) called “I Promise Not To Come In Your Mouth.” These titles, I should add, are as Zappa stated from the stage, and their carnal content was reflected in the lyrics. Elsewhere, the material was taken from his last two records, with the occasional nod to the distant past in “Sulphide Number 2” [The Black Page #2] and “Blue Lagoon,” two songs in which Zappa’s leaning towards modern, relatively freeform jazz were fully evident. With a horn section that included both Brecker Brothers and David Sanborn, the freeblowing often took on spectacular proportions.
For much of the show Zappa conducted his new band with a baton, though whether they needed his guidance is a moot point. Yet again, Zappa has surrounded himself with some extraordinarily good young musicians, with vocalist/drummer Terry Bozzio keeping a cool head through some tricky tempo changes. Bozzio is a true find, who will doubtless go on to lead his own band within a couple of years.
Eddie Jobson, too, stood out, although it was his violin work that impressed more than his largely unheard keyboard playing. Ruth Underwood, temporarily joining the band for these shows, overshadowed Jobson with her vibes, and it wasn’t until the ex-Roxy Music man came forward with a spectacular violin solo during “Black Napkins” that his true worth showed.
Zappa himself played some improvised guitar when the mood took him, usually eschewing melody for speed and often hitting some spectacular runs that descended into the lower register where a variety of handily placed electronic gadgets enabled him to experiment with tonal and harmonic variations.
Not only did he conduct the band, but he seemed to control the vast light-show that was beamed onto an elevated screen, a throwback to his earlier days with its wavy liquid patterns and artsy slides.
The show closed with Zappa attempting to be “commercial ” – his own words – and playing “Find Her Finer” (a single!) and the aforementioned “Black Napkins.” Three encores led up to the screening of a slide that read “Warner Brothers Record Company Sucks” which, coupled with a short speech from Zappa, would seem to indicate that he isn’t wholly satisfied with his current record deal. Come on Clive – there’re still a few empty cabins on the good ship Arista.
Note. Zappa's four concerts at the Palladium in New York took place on December 26/29, 1976. The band was FZ, Ray White, Patrick O'Hearn, Terry Bozzio, Eddie Jobson, Ruth Underwood, Dave Samuels, Mike Brecker, Randy Brecker, Lou Marini, Ron Cuber, Tom Malone. With Don Pardo as announcer, narrator, dancer. (FZSows)