‘The Mothers 1971’: The Frank Zappa Fillmore East Gig With John Lennon
by Best Classic Bands Staff
An eight-disc collection, The Mothers 1971, released on March 18, 2022, via Zappa Records/UMe, showcases a series of historic gigs of that year by Frank Zappa and the Mothers, including shows at New York City’s Fillmore East and London’s Rainbow Theatre. Overseen by the Zappa Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Zappa vaultmeister Joe Travers, the 100-track, nearly 10-hour set brings together every note of the four shows performed at the Fillmore on June 5-6, 1971, including the entire John Lennon and Yoko Ono encore, along with the full Rainbow Theatre performance in London, England, on December 10, 1971, an event that nearly ended both the career and life of Zappa.
Also included is an unreleased hybrid concert culled from June 1 and June 3, 1971, performances in Scranton and Harrisburg, Penn., which denote the first time Mothers shows were recorded on Zappa’s preferred, then-newly purchased half-inch 4-track tape machine (throughout the ’70s, this was the main tape recorder used to document shows if the budget allowed). The extensive collection is rounded out with the original rare single for “Tears Began To Fall” and its non-album-track B-side “Junier Mintz Boogie,” signifying the single’s first re-release in 50 years and digital debut, as well as a homemade radio spot and its related outtakes. This release, according to an announcement from the label, “is significant for marking the first time the complete back-to-back double-header Fillmore East concerts have been released in their entirety, allowing fans to hear the full performances that Zappa edited the Fillmore East—June 1971 album from, and for the very first time anywhere, contains the official audio of the Rainbow Theatre show’s truly shocking ending which was thought to have not been recorded until recently discovered while putting this project together.
Listen to “Little House I Used to Live In” from the original Fillmore East—June 1971
Says the press release: “Released in August 1971 just two months after it was recorded, Fillmore East—June 1971 was Frank Zappa and the Mothers’ masterstroke conceptual live album, a well-oiled and well-edited aural treatise chronicling the prurient feast and famine of a certain band’s somewhat salacious life on (and off) the road. In effect, it was the seemly predecessor to October 1971’s expansive, groundbreaking magnum opus, 200 Motels, the surrealistic documentary and soundtrack which ultimately took on a life of its own. Even so, Fillmore East—June 1971, the landmark live recording with the scrawled ‘penzil’ cover art made to resemble a bootleg of the day, managed to capture its own level of then-modern zeitgeist in patented Zappa-reconstructed form.”
Related: Our review of the expanded 200 Motels release
Continues the announcement: “The ever-touring Mothers closed out 1971 with a European jaunt that saw them hitting Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria before rolling into Switzerland for a December 4, 1971 show at the Montreux Casino that will forever live in infamy in both song and legend. This was due to an errant fan setting off a flare gun and burning the place to the ground – along with destroying all The Mothers’ gear and equipment, sans one solitary cowbell.
“Thankfully, the band and audience were relatively unhurt, but subsequent shows in France and Belgium were cancelled and the Mothers had to resort to wrestling with rented equipment for a planned pair of shows slated for December 10-11, 1971, at the Rainbow Theatre in London, England. Only the December 10th show came to pass, however, due to an event that changed the course of Zappa’s life forever. After the band played a cover of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ a crazed fan attacked him by violently shoving him off the stage into the orchestra pit 12 feet below. For some time, nobody knew whether Zappa was alive and there was complete confusion inside and outside the theater.”
It’s these intriguing, intertwining roads that are explored, examined, and celebrated like never before with the monumental and definitive 8-disc Super Deluxe set, The Mothers 1971.
The boxed set comes in a CD-size slimcase with all eight discs residing in their own respective mini-jackets, which are collectively housed within an inner slipcase, along with a comprehensive 68-page booklet showcasing a quite revealing, in-depth interview with key Mothers 1971 bandmember Ian Underwood as conducted by Ahmet Zappa, in addition to separate recollections and learned musings from Eddie Kramer and then-bassist Jim Pons alongside detailed, tape-by-tape liner notes from Joe Travers, and historical photos from famed photographer Henry Diltz.
The Mothers lineup that ruled the Fillmore East roost in New York City for four extraordinary sets across two back-to-back nights on June 5-6, 1971, consisted of Ian Underwood (winds/keyboards), Aynsley Dunbar (drums), Jim Pons (bass/vocals/dialog), Bob Harris (keyboards/vocals) and was rounded out by Howard Kaylan (lead vocals/dialog) and Mark Volman (lead vocals/dialog), aka Flo & Eddie of the Turtles, with special guest Don Preston. They performed such iconic tracks as “The Mud Shark,” “Bwana Dik” and the groupie routine labeled as “Do You Like My New Car?” (For his part, Don Preston provided Mini-Moog at Fillmore East, then rejoined The Mothers fulltime to take over for Bob Harris on keyboards and vocals for the band’s ensuing summertime dates and onward, through that December.)
Zappa, born December 21, 1940, was just 30 years-old at these concerts.
The June 1971 Fillmore East finale was made even more special thanks to John Lennon and Yoko Ono appearing alongside Zappa and the Mothers to perform a final encore for the unsuspecting crowd, including a red hot version of Walter Ward’s “Well” led by John on vocals (an old Beatles live favorite from the Cavern Club in Liverpool) with two solos by Zappa, a seminal reading of “King Kong” that soon enough metamorphosized into an extended jam ultimately called “Scumbag” as well as further improvisational vocal ululations from Yoko with guitar feedback by John and backing from The Mothers.
Zappa had plans to release this historical encore in its entirety after mixing it in 1971, but shelved it after John and Yoko released their own encore mixes on side four of June 1972’s Sometime in New York City. Zappa eventually released his version of the encore as part of October 1992’s Compact Disc, Playground Psychotics.
After being awarded the rights to his back catalogue in the early 1980s, Zappa mulled other plans for releasing the encore, but upon inspection of the returned Fillmore East masters, it was discovered the Lennon encore tape was missing from its master tape box. In 2021 following a request via Universal, the Lennon Estate provided the Zappa Trust and UMe with a high-resolution transfer of the multi-track safety reel (which FZ had made for them in 1971), thus ensuring that, for the first time in 50 years, the full encore performance could be heard, remixed, in its entirety.
Vinyl lovers are also able to get their fill via a pair of concurrently released individual 3-LP configurations. First, the expanded 50th anniversary 3-LP vinyl edition of Fillmore East—June 1971 has a remaster of the original 1971 live album on LP 1, along with two LPs of bonus tracks, including the John Lennon and Yoko Ono encore and the complete “Billy The Mountain,” plus liner notes by Joe Travers. Significantly, the vinyl version of Fillmore East has been expanded to include vintage, period-perfect Zappa mixes, some of which are not included in the CD box set and can’t be found anywhere else. The original album appears on sides one and two, while Sides three to six contain the original “Billy The Mountain” as well as Zappa’s original version of the John and Yoko encore along with other material from the original mix sessions of the Fillmore East album. The Fillmore East 50th Anniversary Edition 3-LP set was cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering.
Second, Rainbow Theatre is the 3-LP vinyl equivalent to the CD box’s contents, featuring a brand new 2021 mix and liner notes by Eddie Kramer. The Rainbow Theatre 3-LP set was cut by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Both vinyl sets were pressed on 180-gram high-grade vinyl by Optimal: Media in Germany.
The track listing and several audio clips are below the Amazon links.
CD Track List
CD 1: FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK CITY, NY, JUNE 5, 1971 – SHOW 1
1. Peaches En Regalia
2. Tears Began To Fall
3. Shove It Right In
4. Status Back Baby
5. Concentration Moon – Part 1
6. The Sanzini Brothers (Sodomy Trick)
7. Concentration Moon – Part II
8. Mom & Dad
9. Intro To Music For Low Budget Orchestra
10. Billy The Mountain
11. King Kong
TOTAL TIME: 79:00
CD 2: FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK CITY, NY, JUNE 5, 1971 – SHOW 2
1. Peaches En Regalia
2. Tears Began To Fall
3. Shove It Right In
4. Intro To Music For Low Budget Orchestra
5. Billy The Mountain
6. Little House I Used To Live In
7. The Mud Shark
8. What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are?
9. Bwana Dik
10. Latex Solar Beef
11. Willie The Pimp
TOTAL TIME: 74:13
CD 3: FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK CITY, NY, JUNE 5, 1971 – SHOW 2 (CTD; TRACKS 1-6)
1. Do You Like My New Car?
2. Happy Together
3. ”Any Chord Of Your Choice”
4. King Kong – Part I
5. Lonesome Electric Turkey
6. King Kong – Part II
FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK CITY, NY, JUNE 6, 1971 – SHOW 1 (TRACKS 7-15)
7. Fillmore Improvisation
8. Peaches En Regalia
9. Tears Began To Fall
10. Shove It Right In
11. Status Back Baby
12. Concentration Moon – Part I
13. The Sanzini Brothers (Sodomy Trick)
14. Concentration Moon – Part II
15. Mom & Dad
TOTAL TIME 70:44
CD 4: FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK CITY, NY, JUNE 6, 1971 – SHOW 1 (CTD; TRACKS 1-4)
1. The Story Of Billy The Mountain
2. Intro To Music For Low Budget Orchestra
3. Billy The Mountain
4. Chunga’s Revenge
FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK CITY, NY, JUNE 6, 1971 – SHOW 2 (TRACKS 5-8)
5. “Herd Of Cattle”
6. Peaches En Regalia
7. Tears Began To Fall
8. Shove It Right In
TOTAL TIME: 70:48
CD 5: FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK CITY, NY, JUNE 6, 1971 – SHOW 2 (CTD)
1. The Story Of Billy The Mountain
2. Intro To Music For Low Budget Orchestra
3. Billy The Mountain
4. “Conglomerate Assembly”
5. Little House I Used To Live In
6. The Mud Shark
7. What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are?
8. Bwana Dik
9. Latex Solar Beef
10. Willie The Pimp
11. Do You Like My New Car?
12. Happy Together
TOTAL TIME: 74:39
CD 6: FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK CITY, NY, JUNE 6, 1971 – SHOW 2 (CTD)
JOHN & YOKO ENCORE SET (TRACKS 1-6)
1. Well
2. Say Please
3. King Kong
4. Aaawk
5. Scumbag
6. A Small Eternity With Yoko Ono
RADIO SPOT, SINGLE VERSION, B-SIDE & OUTTAKES (TRACKS 7-10)
7. Homemade Radio Spot
8. Tears Began To Fall – Single Version
9. Junier Mintz Boogie – Single B-Side
10. Homemade Radio Spot Outtakes
BONUS HYBRID CONCERT: HARRISBURG/SCRANTON, PA 1971
STATE FARM SHOW ARENA, HARRISBURG, PA, JUNE 3, 1971 (TRACKS 11-20)
11. Peaches En Regalia
12. Tears Began To Fall
13. Shove It Right In
14. Status Back Baby
15. Concentration Moon – Part I
16. The Sanzini Brothers (Burning Hoop Trick)
17. Concentration Moon – Part II
18. Mom & Dad
19. My Boyfriend’s Back
20. Tiny Sick Tears
TOTAL TIME: 70:19
CD 7: BONUS HYBRID CONCERT: HARRISBURG/SCRANTON, PA 1971
STATE FARM SHOW ARENA, HARRISBURG, PA, JUNE 3, 1971 (CTD; TRACKS 1-3)
1. Call Any Vegetable
2. The Story Of Billy The Mountain
3. Intro To Music For Low Budget Orchestra
STATE FARM SHOW ARENA, HARRISBURG, PA, JUNE 3, 1971 & WATRES ARMORY, SCRANTON, PA, JUNE 1, 1971 (TRACK 4)
4. Billy The Mountain
WATRES ARMORY, SCRANTON, PA, JUNE 1, 1971 (TRACKS 5-6)
5. Willie The Pimp
6. King Kong (Outro)
RAINBOW THEATRE, LONDON, ENGLAND, DECEMBER 10, 1971 (TRACKS 7-9)
7. Zanti Serenade
8. Peaches En Regalia
9. Tears Began To Fall
TOTAL TIME: 77:25
CD 8: RAINBOW THEATRE, LONDON, ENGLAND, DECEMBER 10, 1971 (CTD)
1. Shove It Right In
2. “Pain In The Ass”
3. Divan: Once Upon A Time
4. Divan: Sofa #1
5. Pound For A Brown – Part I
6. Super Grease
7. Pound For A Brown – Part II
8. Sleeping In A Jar
9. Wonderful Wino
10. Sharleena
11. Cruising For Burgers
12. “That’s Your Tough Luck”
13. King Kong
14. I Want To Hold Your Hand
TOTAL TIME: 75:19
Listen to “Peaches en Regalia” from Fillmore East in 1971
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationThat’s a TON of Zappa, maybe too much but I had no idea Lennon was there, that’s cool.i saw Zappa at the palladium gigs in NYC in 77/78…but for me, Hot Rats is enough although this is interesting because I love music from the early 70’s