Fillmore East, June 1971
After disbanding the original Mothers of Invention following a short tour of Canada during the summer of 1969, Zappa hired musicians for his studio work before forming a new Mothers in August 1970. The new band was augmented by bassist Jim Pons and vocalists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, all of whom Zappa recruited from theTurtles, that hit-making teen-sensation unit that had reached the top of the pop charts with such hits as "Happy Together" and "Elenore." Legend has it that Zappa had tried to enlist former Monkee Micky Dolenz on drums at the same time, but Dolenz declined the offer. The new lineup made several albums with Zappa, beginning withChunga's Revenge(owing to legal problems, Volman and Kaylan were originally billed as "Phlorescent Leech and Eddie," which led to the duo's being called Flo & Eddie henceforth), but theFillmore Eastrecording remains its vanguard. Zappa was still obsessed with the ridiculous phenomenon of pop stars, and now he had two genuine articles in his band. Thus, in between live renditions of some of his soon-to-be instrumental classics, Zappa, Volman, and Kaylan delighted the Manhattan audience with rude and crude skits about pop stars and groupies. The whole shebang is then climaxed with Flo & Eddie doing a letter-perfect rendition of the Turtles' "Happy Together" before ironically concluding with Zappa's own "Tears Begin to Fall," the kind of pop ditty Zappa was poking fun at throughout this performance. Although it now all sounds rather tame in the era of rap and porn rock, it was attacked as crass at the time of its release. Nevertheless, this doesn't stop it from being frequently hilarious. Following the performance, the Mothers were joined onstage by John Lennon and Yoko Ono for a set that's captured on the live disc that eventually accompanied Lennon'sSome Time in New York City. What a night!--Bill Holdship