About These Disks

Way Back, a long time ago, at the start of the 1990's, a couple of well known artists released a few recordings from small, obscure performances and made a big fuss about how they were beating the bootleggers by releasing authorized versions of the performances before the scumbags could release stolen versions.

In 1991, Frank gave a new twist to the whole affair when he decided to team up with Rhino Records (themselves often accused by artists of being nothing more than a bunch of bootleggers) to slightly enhance, press and release several of the bootleg recordings that he had collected over the years, - in essence, bootlegging the bootleggers.

Thus, the now legendary two-box set of uncharacteristicly low-fi Zappa recordings, Beat The Boots, was born.

For the true audiophile, these disks probably rank as the worst sounding recordings that you could ever inflict upon your CD player, but to the true Zappaphile, This set of CD's is a priceless collection of all too rare glimpses into un-edited, raw performances by various Zappa incarnations.

Dig in and enjoy!

 
Stinkfoot
Dirty Love
Wind Up workin' In A Gas station
The Torture Never stops
City Of tiny Lights
Conceptual Continuity is important for being the only "legitimately" released recording to feature the '76 band without the addition of a horn section and copious orverdubage ala Zappa In New York.

The sound quality of this disk is very good and the musical selection is fine as well.

While Stink Foot and Dirty Love are not entirely different from other versions found within the Zappa Catalog, the remaining tunes are must-have renditions.

Get this disk!

 

 
A pound For A Brown (On The Bus)
Baby snakes
Dancin' Fool
Easy Meat
Honey don't You Want A Man Like Me
Mother People
Wonderful Wino
Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?
Seal Call Fusion Music
Bobby Brown
On duty
Conehead
This is a pretty rough recording, but aside from that, At The Circus has a few good moments from the '78 incarnation.

Check out the soul-inspired early version of Why Does It Hurt when I Pee?, which also contains some fine Zappa soloing. This is one of those rare instances when you will get to hear Frank negotiating chord changes rather than a steady vamp.

The Colaiuta / Mars duet in Seal Call Fusion Music and Frank's solo on Coneheads are also worth noting.

Mother People and Wonderful Wino are performed by the Flo and Eddie band and thrown into this collection for no apparent reason, although the former contains some interesting variations.

 

 
Dancin' Fool
Easy Meat
Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me?
Keep It Greasy
Village Of The Sun
The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
City Of Tiny Lights
Pound For A Brown
Bobby Brown
Conehead
Flakes
Magic Finger
Don't Eat The Yellow Snow
Nanook Rubs It
Saint Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast
Rollo
Bamboozled By Love
It's Amazing what two months on the road will do for a band. Saarbrucken 1978 Finds the band really hitting their stride. In spite of a distorted sound, this disk rocks .

After four superbly performed pieces, Ike delivers Village Of The Sun as though it were written especially for him, and Frank takes the tune out with some soul-blues guitar strangling.

Next up are the Denny Wally slide/vocal workout tunes, The Meek Shall Inherit nothing and City Of Tiny Lights. I'm not sure who delivers the second solo in the latter piece. It may be Willis.

The remainder of this show carries on in similar fashion, finally coming to a close with the pure blues of Bamboozled By Love.

You need this disk in your collection.

 

 
Disc 1

Watermelon In Easter Hay
Dead Girls Of London
I Ain't Got No Heart
Brown Shoes Don't Make It
Cosmic Debris
Trying To Grow A Chin
City Of Tiny Lights
Dancin' fool		 Disc 2

Jumbo go Away
Andy
Inca Roads
Florentine Pogen
Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me?
Keep It Greasy
The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
Another Cheap Aroma
Wet T-Shirt Night
Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?
Peaches En Regalia
Any Way the Wind Blows opens with Watermelon In Easter Hay already in progress, which is a shame. It would have been nice to hear the full tune. Aside from that disappointment, this two-disk set is another excellent offering with very acceptable sound quality.

The addition of Warren Cucurullo to the band is marked by the inclusion of several "older Zappas" into the set list, and every song is a top-notch delivery.

You can't go wrong with this one.

 

 
That Makes Me Mad
Young & Monde
Sharleena
Black Napkins
Black Page
The Torture Never Stops
One of the most interesting things about As An Am is That Makes Me Mad, where we get to hear Frank explain to a journalist the extent to which he suffered at the hands of bootleggers.

After that comes Young & Monde (Let's Move To Cleveland) in which Frank delivers the first of several extended Floyd Rose, delay loop and feedback inspired guitar extrapolations found on this disk.

Sharleena is plagued with atrocious sound quality, but hearing the vocal stylings of Ray White and Bobby Martin on this tune is worth the horrible recording.

The ramaining three cuts were stolen from the 10-31-81 Palladium show which was simulcast on MTV, held for ransom by union and corporate stupidity, and ultimately bootlegged. (Check out Franks comments on this situation in The Real Frank Zappa Book)

Another very good disc.