Frank Zappa’s Complete The Roxy Performances Now Available

Attention Frank Zappa fans: the complete Roxy performances are now available in a seven-CD box set. Recorded in December 1973, Zappa’s concerts at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood are considered a high-water mark of his career with his band The Mothers in top shape.

The lineup for The Mothers at the time included keyboardist George Duke, bassist Tom Fowler, trombonist Bruce Fowler, tenor saxophonist and vocalist Napoleon Murphy Brock, percussionist Ruth Underwood, and drummers Ralph Humphrey and Chester Thompson. “This is one of my favorite FZ line-ups ever. This box contains some of the best nights of music Los Angeles has ever seen with their ears at an historic venue,” says Ahmet Zappa. “Hold on to your hotdogs people. This box is the be-all-end-all. This is it. This is all of it. It’s time to get your rocks off for the Roxy.”

The nearly eight hours of music includes all four public concerts from the three-day run as well as an invite-only soundcheck, rehearsal and Bolic Studios session. The box set also includes a 48-page booklet with photos from the performances, liner notes by Joe Travers, and essays from Zappa family friends Jen Jewel Brown and Dave Alvin.

The Roxy Performances is available now now in a box set or in digital formats (iTunes and Amazon MP3).

The Roxy Performances Track List:

Disc 1 – 12-9-73 Show 1:

1. Sunday Show 1 Start
2. Cosmik Debris
3. “We’re Makin’ A Movie”
4. Pygmy Twylyte
5. The Idiot Bastard Son
6. Cheepnis
7. Hollywood Perverts
8. Penguin In Bondage
9. T’Mershi Duween
10. The Dog Breath Variations
11. Uncle Meat
12. RDNZL
13. Montana
14. Dupree’s Paradise

Disc 2:

1. Dickie’s Such An Asshole

12-9-73 Show 2:

2. Sunday Show 2 Start
3. Inca Roads
4. Village Of The Sun
5. Echidna’s Arf (Of You)
6. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?
7. Slime Intro
8. I’m The Slime
9. Big Swifty

Disc 3:

1. Tango #1 Intro
2. Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen’s Church)
3. Medley: King Kong / Chunga’s Revenge / Son Of Mr. Green Genes

12-10-73 Show 1:

4. Monday Show 1 Start
5. Montana
6. Dupree’s Paradise
7. Cosmik Intro
8. Cosmik Debris

Disc 4:

1. Bondage Intro
2. Penguin In Bondage
3. T’Mershi Duween
4. The Dog Breath Variations
5. Uncle Meat
6. RDNZL
7. Audience Participation – RDNZL
8. Pygmy Twylyte
9. The Idiot Bastard Son
10. Cheepnis
11. Dickie’s Such An Asshole
12. 10-73 Show 2
13. Monday Show 2 Start
14. Penguin In Bondage
15. T’Mershi Duween
16. The Dog Breath Variations
17. Uncle Meat
18. RDNZL

Disc 5:

1. Village Of The Sun
2. Echidna’s Arf (Of You)
3. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?
4. Cheepnis – Percussion
5. “I Love Monster Movies”
6. Cheepnis
7. “Turn The Light Off”/Pamela’s Intro
8. Pygmy Twylyte
9. The Idiot Bastard Son
10. Tango #2 Intro
11. Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen’s Church)

Disc 6:

1. Dickie’s Such An Asshole

Bonus Section: 12-10-73 Roxy Rehearsal:

2. Big Swifty – In Rehearsal
3. Village Of The Sun
4. Farther O’Blivion – In Rehearsal
5. Pygmy Twylyte
6. That Arrogant Dick Nixon

12-12-73 Bolic Studios Recording Session:

7. Kung Fu – In Session
8. Kung Fu – with guitar overdub
9. Tuning and Studio Chatter
10. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) – In Session
11. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow – In Session
12. Nanook Rubs It – In Session
13. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast – In Session
14. Father O’Blivion – In Session
15. Rollo (Be-Bop Version)

Disc 7 – 12-8-73 Sound Check/Film Shoot:

1. Saturday Show Start
2. Pygmy Twylyte/Dummy Up*
3. Pygmy Twylyte – Part II
4. Echidna’s Arf (Of You)
5. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?
6. Orgy, Orgy
7. Penguin In Bondage
8. T’Mershi Duween
9. The Dog Breath Variations
10. Uncle Meat/Show End