Frank Zappa: The Mothers 1971
By Jeff Tamarkin
On June 6, 1971, at the end of their fourth show that weekend at New York's Fillmore East, Frank Zappa and The Mothers (now sans "of Invention") walked onstage for their encore accompanied by a pair of guests, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It was a historic occasion for several reasons—none of former The Beatles were performing regularly yet – and their surprise appearance has tended to dominate discassions of The Mothers' Fillmore shows ever since. Music from their joint, impromptu collaboration turned up on the Lennons' Some Time in New York City and some later Zappa releases and it's here in its entirety, as part of this exhaustive eight-disc collection of the group's live work from that pivotal year (a companion piece to 2019's four-CD The Mothers 1970). The jam shouldnt overshadow the rest of the band's 71 output, however. This was nn exceptional lineup, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (fomerly of The Turtles) on vocals, as well as such excellent musicians as woodwinds/kevboards player Ian Underwood, bassist Jim Pons (also ex-Turtle), drummer Aynsley Dunbar and keyboardist Bob Harris, with early Mother Don Preston adding Moog synth. All of the complete Fillmore East shows from that spring run are here, occupying nearly six of the CDs, and the band is consistently in fine form, mixing up early material like "Call Any Vegetable" and "Concentration Moon" with more recent, more coplex excursions such as the lenghty "Billy the Mountain" and "King Kong".
Part of the seventh disc and all of the eighth disc are occupied by The Mothers' December 10, 1971, concert at Lonon's Rainbow Theatre. It, too, was historic – as the band launched into a cover of The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand," the jealous boyfriend of a Zappa fan attacked the bandleader, sending him flying off the stage. Zappa sustained serious physical damage that not only put him out of commission for some time but also gave him a reason to disband The Mothers. This set documents the end of a great band, going out on a creative high note.