The Vault


Here are a couple of lists belonging to myself and Stan Ivester. Thanks to John (jonno@altavista.net) for compiling the list from the short lived Vault Ideas thread that popped up after the fictitious but constructive fake post by a regular affzer posing as Gail Zappa and fooling many of us completely.



The list gathered by John from alt.fan.frank-zappa:

To rearrange the list of all suggestions that were made in the
short lived Vault Ideas Thread:

THE TOURS
-  the Grand and Petit Wazoo bands
-  '72 material
-  the '73-'74 period.  (more of the ’74 band, though we have YCDTOSA 2)-
  anything from the Hot Rats lineup from February, March 1970 (2/70 San
   Diego, 3/70 L.A + ??).
-  more 88 stuff

THEMES
-  a series of live concerts, each one of a full concert from each main
   era/lineup. This series could cover every lineup, thus satsifying
   everyone's   desires.
-  The Halloween concerts could be released as another separate series.
   (Either 1977, 1978 or 1981 would be my 3 favorite years to start with.)
-  Lost Episodes type stuff (the Lost Episodes vol. 2)
-  "Best FZ You Never Heard In Your Life" - Whole album with songs never been
   heard either in studio or live. Similiar to some of never heard before
    songs found the YCDTOSA series.)
-  a CD consisting of nothing more than alternative/previously
   unreleased versions of "Sharleena" and "The Torture Never Stops"
   (thank you Paul)
-  a CD of FZ covering other people's tunes
-  ANYTHING orchestral or "tape collage/manipulated"

THE VIDEOS
-  rerelease the videos that have been released
-  the Roxy and Madrid 88' concerts on video or DVD.
-  6/11/80 Paris video
-  the video of the 1993 Varese sessions
-  also, I hear there is much more that didn't make it to the film Henning
   Lohner put together called PeeFeeYatKo.
-  anything and everything - starting with the Roxy footage, followed by
   any  performance & studio footage previously unreleased, add a generous
   helping of interviews, home movies, whatever, until it's all out there.

THE CONCERTS
-  early mothers (perhaps a show from the Fillmore West 1966.)
-  halloween shows from the 70's.
-  a 20th anniversary box set of all the complete shows from Halloween
   week  `78
-  the Appleton, WI concert
-  the Mothers Day show from 1973
-  a '74 reunion tour show (the Freak Out funk medley must be released!)
-  the Mothers Day 1974 10th Anniversary show from Notre Dame.
-  a complete Bongo Fury show, perhaps Phoenix from May 1975 that
   purports to have the first Black Napkins on it according to Frank.
-  a concert with Bianca Odin (1976) (the October Boston run is great.)
-  Box set of Christmas week `76 NYC
-  the 1981 Ritz show (talk Al Dimeloa into it)
-  the Orlando FL '84 show
-  a complete 1988 show.  (3/25/88 Long Island or 5/9/88 Munich or 5/25/88
     Mannheim.)

THE REST
-  The Rage and the Fury (the Varese album produced by FZ)
-  Trance-Fusion (the third album of guitar solos)
-  Early  Zoots (Ned The Mumbler, ect...)
-  the 1988 Deluxe Version of "Peaches En Regalia" (TRFZB p. 168).
-  the Soiree jam audio/video with the Chieftains, FZ, Terry Bozzio, etc.
-  the remaining Yellow Shark recordings
-  the rest of the soundtrack that didn't make it to CD from Baby Snakes.
-  that thing he recorded with The Chieftains, the Tuvan  throat
   singers  and Johnny "Guitar" Watson
-  the stuff that none of us know about



 
My Original Post to affz re:Vault Suggestions (and pretty much the letter I wrote to Gail a few years ago when she was looking for ideas)
 
Something/Anything from the earliest days of the Mothers, perhaps a show from the Fillmore West 1966.

Anything from the Hot Rats lineup from February, March 1970 (2/70 San Diego, 3/70 L.A + ??).

A complete Grand or Petite Wazoo show from 1972, perhaps 9/10/72 Hollywood Bowl or 9/23/72 New York.

The Roxy December 1973 Film.

The Mothers Day 1974 10th Anniversary show from Notre Dame.

A complete Bongo Fury show, perhaps Phoenix from May 1975 that purports to have the first Black Napkins on it
according to Frank.

A complete show from the 1976 band featuring Bianca Odin. The October Boston run is great.

The rest of the soundtrack that didn't make it to CD from Baby Snakes.  Halloween 1977.<

A collection of material from the Halloween 1978 shows.

A complete 1988 show.  Maybe 3/25/88 Long Island or 5/9/88 Munich or 5/25/88 Mannheim.

The Soiree jam audio/video with the Chieftains, FZ, Terry Bozzio, Johnny Guitar Watson, The Tuvans, etc.

The video of the 1993 Varese sessions - also, I hear there is much more that didn't make it to the film Henning
Lohner put together called PeeFeeYatKo.

The Lost Episodes volume 2.

The rest of "what's in the can". 



                                       Stan Ivester's List (the Mother of all request lists)

AUDIO

CONCERT SERIES

One possibility would be a series of more-or-less uncut concerts
representing the range of Frank's touring bands. Some deviation from the
format might condense a multiple-night run at a particular venue, as was
done with Zappa in New York and the Helsinki volume of YCDTOSA. A possible
title for the series, which Frank almost used for an unreleased project (and
nearly used for the Lost Episodes): Warts 'n' All. I'm not including
anything by the "original" Mothers, mostly because I now think they're
pretty well represented on disc, espcially after the release of Ahead of
Their Time. Of course, other fans may have suggestions in this area.

Here are a few possibilities:

One complete Hot Rats show from '69/70
This was the shortest-lived of any of Frank's touring combos; they played
only a few gigs around California, but they were an exciting group. Nothing
on YCDTOSA. A very poor audience tape of the Olympic, L.A., show has been
bootlegged.

One complete Grand Wazoo show from '72
The second-shortest-lived of any touring combo. I know Frank was not happy
with the sound quality of the recordings of this band, but maybe something
can be done with Sonic Solutions. Nothing on YCDTOSA.

One complete Petite Wazoo show from '72
The third-shortest-lived of any touring combo, I think. The important
transition between the Grand Wazoo and the great Fowlers/Ponty/Duke band.

3/7/73-Veterans Hall, Columbus, Ohio
The early '73 band is represented on the YCDTOSA series by only one song on
volume 1. This Columbus show is one of the best I've heard, but there may be
other equally nice ones from the same period.
Highlights: "Dupree's Paradise" is really beautiful and quite different from
the '74 version on YCDTOSA 2. Also, the instrumental "50-50" and the encore
of "Son of Mister Green Genes"/"Uncle Meat"/"Chunga's Revenge" really cook.

One complete show from early '75 with Captain Beefheart
Except for the Bongo Fury album and one track on YCDTOSA 4, this band
remains underrepresented on disk.
Highlights: George Duke on keyboards, Beefheart (especially on harmonica),
Napoleon Murphy Brock on sax, Frank's solos.

One of the following: 2/3/76-Osaka, Japan; 2/4/76-Kyoto University, Japan; or
3/4/76-Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany
All three of these shows are spirited workouts by this stripped-down
blues-oriented combo represented on disk only by "Black Napkins" on Zoot
Allures and "Ship Ahoy" on Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar (both from Osaka). My
own preference would be the Berlin show, but there may be even better stuff
from this period.
Highlights: Andre Lewis, the R'n'B legend recruited by Frank to replace
George Duke, plays some fine solos. And Frank presents the ultimate
statement on the wah-wah pedal (or some effect that sounds like it).

2/15/78-Berlin, Germany
An especially muscular performance by the Sheik Yerbouti band.
Highlights: Frank's dense and angular solos, a couple of which were edited
to become "Rat Tomago" and "The Sheik Yerbouti Tango."

10/13/78 #2-Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey
This one kept the audience on its feet. If the Halloween '78 shows were to
be edited together with anything else, this would be a good choice since Ike
Willis was absent from the Palladium shows.
Highlights: Frank's thick, exploratory opening solo, Ike's vocal on "Cy
Borg," Denny Walley's vocal and slide solo (and Frank's slashing guitar
solo) on "Suicide Chump."

10/31/78-The Palladium, New York (possibly including selections from the entire
Halloween '78 series at the Palladium)
This is one of the most dazzling performances of Frank's career, with an
incredible variety of material: hard rock, blues, and Frank's amazing
improvisational duets with L. Shankar. Originally part of the unreleased
Warts 'n' All 3-LP set, it remains largely unreleased. (A few segments came
out on a couple of YCDTOSAs, and the opening guitar solo was the B-side to
the "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" single.)
Highlights: duets with Shankar on "Packard Goose" and "Black Napkins."

11/17/81-The Ritz, New York
Acclaimed by Guitar World magazine as the best concert ever by anybody. Not
an understatement.
Highlights: Medley of "Drowning Witch" / "What's New in Baltimore"; "Clowns
on Velvet," with Al Di Miola; final encore: "This Is My Story" / reggae
"Whippin' Post" / "Watermelon in Easter Hay."

12/11/81 #1 & 2-Santa Monica, California
Highlights: guest appearances by Lisa Popeil and Nicholas Slonimsky; some of
Frank's best solos from the '81 tour, one of which opens the Guitar CD set.

7/84 Hollywood Palace Shows (compilation?)
Highlights: Napoleon Murphy Brock added some extra texture to the band
(before he got sent home); he sings the updated version of "Oh No," which is
so appropriate once again, given the latest antics of The Gloved One.
 

OTHER UNRELEASED LIVE MATERIAL

The complete "Sofa" extravaganza from 1971. Isn't there a complete
performance of this somewhere, or couldn't one be edited together out of
pieces of existing tape? Bits and pieces have cropped up in many places, but
it appears in its entirety only on the Swiss Cheese/Fire bootleg (in Beat
the Boots 2). I think it's one of the most interesting pieces Frank ever did.

"Black Napkins," unedited, from Halloween or Christmas '76 shows in New York
City or 2/3/77-Paris, France, including Eddie Jobson's moody violin solo.
(Frank's solo from this song from this period was "Pink Napkins" on Shut Up
'n' Play Yer Guitar, but I don't think anyone would mind hearing another
version of that as well.)

"Black Napkins" from 10/31/77 New York Palladium-as it sounded on the "King
Biscuit Flower Hour" radio show in 1978 (without the police-car toy vocal).

Medley of "Mo 'n' Herb's Vacation"/"Black Page No. 2" from
9/21/78-Poughkeepsie, New Jersey.

"Village of the Sun"-with calypso-style solo-from the same show as above.

Uncut "Drowning Witch"/"What's New in Baltimore"/"Moggio"-instrumental medley
played on the fall '81 tour.

The orchestral version of "Sinister Footwear"-performed by the Berkeley
Community Orchestra in June '85.

Non-reggae "Treacherous Cretins"-played in early '79 in Europe.

"None of the Above"-broadcast on 4/28/85, performed by the Kronos Quartet. I
know that Frank decided to withdraw one of the movements, but this is a
strong performance, and it's interesting to hear an example of Frank's
process of revision at work.

Frank's 1991 performance with the Prague rock band and the "gypsy" jazz band in
Budapest. These may not have been Frank's best performances, but his playing
is nuanced and quite sensitive to the other players. And of course these are
his last public performances on guitar.

STUDIO MATERIAL

Cruisin' with Ruben & the Jets remastered from the original 2-track mix-down
masters without the new bass and drum tracks.

SOME POSSIBILITIES FOR LOST EPISODES VOLUME 2
"Metal Man Has Won His Wings"--from the Old Masters mystery discs.

"Agency Man"--studio version from the Old Masters.

"Orange Claw Hammer," FZ/Beefheart version played live in a radio studio in
1975.

"200 Years Old"-1975, long studio version.

"Solitude." As far as I know, this is the only song title shared by both Duke
Ellington and Frank. Was it ever recorded?

Francesco-the radio play--5/20/84-KPFA-FM
Highlights: Frank's surreal view of himself and the role of composers
throughout history.
 

VIDEO

Early 1960s(?) Bicycle Concerto on the "Steve Allen Show." I've just seen
this for the first time, and it provides some important clues to the
conceptual continuity of Frank's work. As would often be the case, the
audience took the thing as a big put-on, but I think Frank was actually
quite serious in mounting this thing. Absurdity becomes an artistic element,
not an end in itself.

1967 (?), New York City-Mothers play two pieces in a TV studio (one a
lip-synched version of "Suzy Creamcheese").

8/21/73, Stockholm, Sweden-including encores, if available. (The audio portion
appeared in Beat the Boots box 2.)

1973, complete Roxy concerts. What a treat it would be if fans could experience
this whole thing in hi-fi stereo and video.

1974, complete KCET performance-with no clay animation.

1975 ('76?), Mike Douglass TV show-"Black Napkins" live with Mike Douglass
band.

10/31/77, concert footage not used in Baby Snakes.

10/31/81 #1 & 2, Palladium-uncut. (Edited versions appeared as The Torture
Never Stops, You Are What You Is, and parts of The Dub-Room Special.) I know
there's a chroma problem with the videotape, but these are still two great
shows, with some material still unreleased (mostly instrumental).

1981/82, video from this extensively recorded tour (even though mostly
single-camera VHS-quality), including the riot in Palermo.

9/19/85, C-SPAN-Frank's complete testimony at Senate hearing, plus the PMRC
slide show from the same event, which Frank refers to in his testimony.

1976 and '78, appearances on Saturday Night Live (since the show's producers
are not doing anything with these).

Spring 1980, performing at the Mudd Club (parts were shown on European New York
& Elsewhere TV special).

Spring 1980, Tower Theater, Philadelphia (parts also shown on New York &
Elsewhere TV special). I believe L. Shankar appeared at these shows as well.

1980, Paris concert (2-hour-plus show already being bootlegged-in miserable
quality).

1981, CNN Freeman Report-Frank said at one time that this was his best
interview. It's around 45 minutes, and Frank discusses a variety of topics
in a relaxed, thoughtful manner-including his personal views on religion.

6/16/85, San Francisco-A Zappa Affair ballet. Rumor has it that this show was
shot on video using a single-camera setup.

8/84, shows at The Pier, New York City-unedited, or just the parts not used in
Does Humor Belong in Music?

1988, Barcelona, Spain, complete concert shown on Spanish TV.

1991, Frank's performance with the Prague rock band and the "gypsy" jazz band
in Budapest. These may not have been Frank's very best performances, but his
playing is nuanced and quite sensitive to the other players. And of course
these are his last public performances on guitar.

1992, The Yellow Shark. The whole show, along with the European documentary
covering the rehearsals.

1992 (?), Frank's performance at UMRK with the Chieftains, L. Shankar, Johnny
"Guitar" Watson, and the Tuvan throat singers. Just a suggestion of what
other avenues Frank might have explored.  


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