Frank Zappa - Live Providence College 1975

Frank Zappa & The Mothers 

with Captain Beefheart

Live Providence College

April 26, 1975

Providence, RI.

aka - The Muffin Man Goes To College

Very Good to excellent Audience Recording @320

OK folks, first and foremost the audio source for this double CD set is an audience recorded bootleg which I would generously rate as VG for bootleg quality. That would translate to 6 on a scale of 10. It has all the drawbacks of that medium-, not much sonic depth, negligible bass/bottom, lots of midrange and not much treble. Sounds like it was recorded directly in front of the PA speakers-it has that boxy quality. Also there is a definite splice around the 45 minute mark-occurs during a bass solo-which,I suppose,would make the original source some sort of cassette tho no hiss is apparent. Occasionally there's a bit of side conversation you pick up but it's not that intrusive. That's the downside. Here's the good stuff. It contains the full concert (@ 2hrs) on 2 CDs, the band is tight, the performances are excellent and Frank's guitar solos are stellar. The vocals are loud and clear and the instruments are defined quite well, from the trombone to the finger cymbals. There is an unreleased tune/skit called "Velvet Sunrise" and a very early version of "The Torture Never Stops"(done as a fast blues) which FZ introduces under it's original title, "Why doesn't somebody get him a Pepsi?"It is sung by Captain Beefheart. Speaking of the good Captain,he's a bit under represented during this show. He plays some atonal sax during the intro, some minor backing harmonica on two tracks, does great harp solos on "Penguin In Bondage" and "Advance Romance", recites his poem "Sam With The Showing Scalp Flat Top" and sings lead on the forementioned "Torture", "Poofter's Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead" and "Willie The Pimp".Frank introduces him "on sax and forgetfulness" and dubs him Captain Report Card for the evening.It was a college venue show.It's a great set with lots of spotlighting band members,giving them time to shine.Grab this while you can because it is a bootleg manufactured in Europe and probably ILLEGAL (due to copyright violations). I surmize this can only exist because the Zappa Family Trust hasn't gotten a "cease and desist" order against it yet.One can only hope that ZFT will issue an authorized version of a recording from this tour because there was so much more than was issued on the "Bongo Fury" LP. Sound quality = 6. Performance = 10.BTW if your amp has simulated "live" surround settings the audio on these CDs improves quite a bit. I use the "Club" setting and it really sounds much better.
~The Reverend

Set List:
1. Improvisations (Live) ( 5:46)
2. Camarillo Brillo (Live) ( 4:29)
3. Muffin Man (Live) ( 1:45)
4. Stink-Foot (Live) ( 4:52)
5. I’m Not Satisfied (Live) ( 2:06)
6. Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy (Live) (10:38)
7. The Velvet Sunrise (Live) ( 7:36)
8. Pound For A Brown (Live) ( 9:59)
9. The Torture Never Stops (Live) ( 8:10)
10. Montana (Live) (12:09)
11. Improvisations (Incl. Chariot, Moon Trek) [Live] ( 9:39)
12. Sam With The Showing Scalp Flat Top (Live) ( 2:35)
13. Penguin In Bondage (Live) (11:41)
14. Poofter’s Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead (Live) ( 3:19)
15. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) [Live] ( 0:37)
16. Drum Solo (Live) ( 3:06)
17. Advance Romance (Live) (15:16)
18. Encore Break (Live) ( 0:31)
19. Willie The Pimp (Live) ( 8:42)

Thanks to someone at http://www.israbox.info

Muffin '75