Zappa/Erie is a live album by Frank Zappa, released posthumously on June 17, 2022. The album is a six CD boxset consisting of several shows performed in the Erie, Pennsylvania area in 1974 and 1976. All the material is previously unreleased, except for roughly ten minutes of audio that appeared on Roxy & Elsewhere (1974) in an edited form.[1][2]

Zappa/Erie
Box set by
ReleasedJune 17, 2022
RecordedMay 8, 1974 – November 13, 1976
Genre
Length417:49
LabelZappa Records
Producer
Frank Zappa chronology
The Mothers 1971
(2022)
Zappa/Erie
(2022)
Zappa '75: Zagreb/Ljubljana
(2022)

Background

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The first two discs contain a full show from the "10 Years of Mothers" tour from the spring of 1974.[3] The touring band had much of the same lineup as The Roxy performances of 1973, with members Walt Fowler, Don Preston, and Jeff Simmons, and without percussionist Ruth Underwood, who was busy elsewhere at the time. Recorded at Edinboro State College, Pennsylvania, the setlist contains many reworked versions of tracks from 1960s era Mothers of Invention, from albums Freak Out!, We're Only in It for the Money, and Weasels Ripped My Flesh, as well as songs that were performed throughout 1973 and 1974.

The third disc contains two tracks recorded four days later in South Bend, Indiana. The rest of the third disc and all of the fourth contain a full show performed at the Gannon Auditorium in Erie, on November 12, 1974. The six piece band toured throughout the summer and fall, and appear on other recordings from that era including the Helsinki Concert on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (1988), and A Token of His Extreme (2013).

The fifth and sixth discs mostly contain an Erie show recorded two years later, on November 12, 1976 at the Erie County Fieldhouse, with select tracks from the surrounding dates in Toledo, Ohio, and Montreal, Quebec. This band toured throughout the fall of 1976, and was the first tour to feature Patrick O'Hearn on bass and Ray White on vocals and guitar. The band also featured "Lady" Bianca Oden during her brief stint on vocals and keyboards before she had to leave the group, and appears on the Vaulternative Records release Philly '76 (2009).

Track listing

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CD 1: Live from Edinboro, PA - May 8th, 1974
No.TitleLength
1."Someone Has Just Asked Me..."5:38
2."Cosmik Debris"12:49
3."Pygmy Twylyte"7:03
4."The Idiot Bastard Son"2:16
5."Cheepnis"5:14
6."Inca Roads"14:34
7."Montana"7:51
8."Dupree's Paradise (Intro)"14:05
Total length:69:35
CD 2: Live From Edinboro, PA - 05-8-1974 (cont'd)
No.TitleLength
1."Dupree's Paradise"22:25
2."It Can't Happen Here"1:52
3."Hungry Freaks, Daddy"2:40
4."You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here"2:37
5."How Could I Be Such A Fool?"3:34
6."I Ain't Got No Heart"2:29
7."I'm Not Satisfied"2:16
8."Wowie Zowie"2:53
9."Let's Make The Water Turn Black"2:01
10."Harry, You're A Beast"1:03
11."The Orange County Lumber Truck"0:58
12."Oh No"1:22
13."Son Of Orange County"11:05
14."More Trouble Every Day"9:16
15."Camarillo Brillo"5:22
Total length:72:01
CD 3: Live From Erie, PA - November 12, 1974 (tracks 1-2 recorded South Bend, IN - May 12, 1974)
No.TitleLength
1."Montana (Bonus Track)"6:11
2."Get Down (Bonus Track)"6:40
3."Tush Tush Tush (A Token Of My Extreme)"4:50
4."Stink-Foot"7:38
5."RDNZL"10:03
6."Village Of The Sun"4:39
7."Echidna's Arf (Of You)"3:21
8."Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?"6:37
9."Penguin in Bondage"7:56
10."T'Mershi Duween"3:19
11."The Dog Breath Variations"1:37
12."Uncle Meat"2:20
13."Building A Girl"2:49
14."Dinah-Moe Humm"7:37
Total length:75:44
CD 4: Live From Erie, PA - 11-12-1974 (cont'd)
No.TitleLength
1."I'm Not Satisfied"3:41
2."Montana"10:14
3."Dupree's Paradise (Intro)"7:54
4."Dupree's Paradise"17:46
5."Don't Eat the Yellow Snow"13:25
6."Tush Tush Tush (End Vamp)"2:04
7."Oh No"1:28
8."Son of Orange County"4:42
9."More Trouble Every Day"6:37
Total length:67:24
CD 5: Live From Erie, PA - 11-12-1976 (track 8 recorded Toledo, OH - November 13, 1976)
No.TitleLength
1."The Purple Lagoon"3:52
2."Stink-Foot"6:12
3."The Poodle Lecture"3:25
4."Dirty Love"3:25
5."Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station"2:37
6."Tryin' To Grow A Chin"3:56
7."The Torture Never Stops"12:44
8."City Of Tiny Lites"7:54
9."Pound For A Brown"6:18
10."You Didn't Try To Call Me"6:20
11."Rudy Wants To Buy Yez A Drink"2:13
12."Would You Go All The Way?"2:05
Total length:61:07
CD 6: Live From Erie, PA - 11-12-1976 (cont'd) [track 12 recorded Montreal, QC, Canada - November 10, 1976, tracks 13-14 recorded Toledo, OH - November 13, 1976]
No.TitleLength
1."Black Napkins"18:55
2."Terry's Erie '76 Solo"2:56
3."Patrick's Erie '76 Solo"2:43
4."Wonderful Wino"4:52
5."The Purple Lagoon (Outro)"0:58
6."Stranded In The Jungle"3:49
7."Dinah-Moe Humm"6:29
8."The Purple Lagoon (Outro)"0:53
9."Camarillo Brillo"3:42
10."Muffin Man"4:17
11."The Purple Lagoon (Outro)"0:47
12."You Didn't Try To Call Me (Bonus Track)"6:04
13."Black Napkins (Bonus Track)"13:43
14."The Purple Lagoon (Outro) [Bonus Track]"0:42
Total length:70:58

Personnel

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Spring 1974 band

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Fall 1974 band

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  • Frank Zappa - guitar, vocals, percussion
  • Ruth Underwood - percussion
  • Napoleon Murphy Brock - tenor sax, lead vocals
  • Chester Thompson - drums
  • Tom Fowler - bass
  • George Duke - keyboards

Fall 1976 band

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References

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  1. ^ "New Frank Zappa Boxed Set, "Zappa/Erie," Collects Together An Exciting Trio Of Shows From Erie, PA And Surrounding Area Between 1974-76; Contains More Than 7 Hours Of Unreleased Live Performances". Frank Zappa. 2022-04-08. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  2. ^ "Listening Report: Zappa/Erie Live Boxed Set From Pennsylvania". Audiophile Review. 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  3. ^ "Frank Zappa: Zappa/Erie". Spectrum Culture. 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2023-08-09.