Notes & Comments - Just Another Band From L.A.
March 1972, 45:21 min
Live at Pauley Pavillion, UCLA, Los Angeles (August 7, 1971)
Discography
| Notes & Comments
JUST ANOTHER BAND FROM L.A.
Notes and Comments
ver.05-April-96
put together by
Vladimir Sovetov
Words are just another
International Copyright Violation Effort
of
Vladimir Sovetov
and
Dave Winsor
Special thanks to
sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
chris@transdata.co.nz (Chris Grace)
Charles Ulrich
and
"Gregory J. Sandell"
Tony Sandell .
# From the album front cover
# "Any visual similarity between the cover of this album and the "Uncle Meat"
# illustrated booklet ( not to mention RUBEN & THE JETS ) is thoroughly
# intentional and contains 4 secret clues."
#
# From: mico@cico.com (Michael Heth)
# It worked !, in this case, anyway.
# First, the word LAS meant "the" in Spanish in the same way that Los Lobos
# means "The Wolves". So it was "The Mothers".
# RIFA was some sort of "exclamation" used by the "Pachucos" (probably while
# "cruising").
# The five handed star was a "Snat" sound balloon to show that the "Snat" had
# a finger snapping sound.
# And finally the part that worked so beautifully, was the 4 secret clues in
# tiny print to make you wonder. It's a childish type of joke along the lines
# of "made you look, made you look!!" and it's just the type of stuff that
# made Franks so much fun to listen to and "participate" with.
# I've got 14 secrets clues so far, how about you? (Remember, it's all one
# big note).
#
# From: alonwa@lune.math.tau.ac.il (Alon Wasserman)
# The cover of R&TJ is similar in style to the JABFLA cover. In addition,
# both have a 5-handed star with the letters SNAT.
Billy the Mountain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Billy the Mountain
Billy the Mountain
A regular picturesque
Postcardy mountain
Residing between lovely
Rosamond and Gorman
^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
# From: Tony Sandell .
# Don't know about Rosamond, but Gorman is at the top of "The Grapevine;"
# that real big, steep mountain north of L.A. on the route 5 freeway.
# Below is a first draft for a map of Montainin's journey.
#
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Hey! ... Here is my interpretation, (not drawn to scale):
#
#
# o
# Palmdale
# ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ......;;;;|||||
# = - = - ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |||||||||||||||
# - San Fernando \ |||| Mojave |||
# = Valley - = Mountainins |||| desert |||
# - = - = - = - |||||||||||||||
# = - = - = - = |||||;;;;;;
# -- o
# \ o Glendale
# \ Topanga o
# \ _ Irwindale
# \ o
# | Downtown L.A.
# \
# Pacific | o
# Ocean \ Lawndale
# ---\
# -----\
# \
# \-
# \
#
#
# For a real, modern, accurate representation of the landmarks
# in this song we should get copyright permissions from the Thomas Bros.
# map people, scan the appropriate sections, and highlight the points of
# interest. Now who's the attorney in this group?
#
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# Hey, Rob, I don't know, but look, what a beautiful map I found
# between pp.29-31 of David Walley's book _No Commercial Potential_
#
# Antelope Valley
# ^^ ===============
# ^^ ^^ ^ ^^
# ^^ ^^ ^ ^^
# ^^ ^^ ^ ^^
# ^^ ^^ ^ ^^ o Mojave
# ^^ ^^ ^ ^^
# ^^ ^^ ^ ^^ +----------------+
# ^^ ^^ ^ ^^ | Edwards Air |
# ^^ ^^ ^ | Force Base |
# ^^ ^^ ^ | |
# ^^ ^^o^ ^^ o +----------------+
#^^ ^^ Gorman ^^ Rosamond
# ^^ ^^ ^ ^^
# ^ ^^ ^ ^^ o Lancaster
# ^^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^^
# ^^ ^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^^
# ^^ ^^ ^ ^^ o Palmdale o Sun Village
# ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^
# ^^ ^^ ^
# ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^
# So all it was just a few miles away from little Frankie hometown. Woow.
Now, one day, and I believe it was on Tuesday,
a man in checkered double-knit suit
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# The attire of choice for young upwardly mobile types and lounge lizards.
#
#CC
# See and listen also, Eddie Are You Kidding? song and song's comments below
drove up in large El Dorado Cadillac leased from Bob Spreene
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: rickhall@aol.com (Rick Hall)
# The showiest Caddy. Spreene must be a big-time car dealer.
( "Where the freeways meet in Downey!" )
^^^^^^
# From: matt@lainet.com (Matt Bloomfield)
# "Where the Freeways Meet in Downey" Bob Spreen Cadillac dealership
# commercials were on constantly in 60's on local TV stations
and he laid a huge bulging envelope right at the corner of BILLY
THE MOUNTAIN, that was right where his foot was supposed to be.
Now BILLY THE MOUNTAIN, he couldn't believe it:
All those postcards he'd posed for, for all of those years,
and finally, now at last, his royalties!
"Royalties, royalties, royalties! The royalty check is in, honey!"
... Yes, BILLY THE MOUNTAIN was rich! Yes, and his eyeball caves,
they widened in amazement... and his jaw, which was a cliff, well
it ... it dropped thirty feet! A bunch of dust puffed out ...
rocks and boulders hacked up, hack! hack! ... crushing the Lincoln ...
^^^^^^^
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# It seems to be Caddie a few seconds before. So the question arises how
# much of the song's lyrics was written by Frank and how much just
# improvised on the stage by Flo'n'Eddie?
"It's off to Las Vegas to check out the lounges,
^^^^^^^^
# From: rickhall@aol.com (Rick Hall)
# It's a nightclub
Pull a few handles and drink a few beers, oh Ethel,
^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Slot-machines, one-arm bandits.
their voices echoing thru the canyons of your minds...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: Robert Lumley-Sapanski
# I always believed the line from Billy the Mountain came from that
# incredibly syrupy song, The Bright Elusive Butterfly of Love, which was
# done by someone like Bobby Goldsboro, which was true California early
# 70's song writting. Just the kind of song that would make Frank parody
# America's Pop music. "Don't be concened it will not harm you, its only
# me persuing something I'm not sure of, I chase the bright elusive
# butterly of love" great googily moogily. Anyway that's my opinion and I
# usually think I'm right and I hear it echoing through the canyons of my
# mind. Anyone else remember this song?
#
# From: blakeney@iglou.iglou.com (Greg Blakeney)
# Gentle on my Mind was written by John Hartford, not by Cambell. John
# Hartford is one the cool guys. Glenn Campbell, although not a songwriter of
# any aclaim, is a pretty good guitarist. Kinda like a Jerry Reed Jr.
# I can't believe this songwriter/performer hasn't been named yet, it's
# been on the tip of my tongue since the beginning of this thread. In this
# newsgroup you HAVE to enjoy a multitude of styles. Come on, "the bright
# elusive butterfly of love" can't be that hard! It's right up there with
# some of those Scott McKensie tunes. Unfortunatly, I seem to think the
# Canyons of your mind line is from something other than "butterfly".
#
# From: nudeadguy@aol.com (NudeAdGuy)
# "Elusive Butterfly" was the only hit (#5 on the charts) for Bob Lind.
# (Incidentally, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band also recorded a song called
# "Canyons of Your Mind," which had lyrics I think Frank would have loved:
# (Parentheses indicate background singers)
# SPOKEN INTRO:
# This is the B side of our platter, sports fans...
# And I'm singing just for you--covered in sequins!
#
# (SUNG)
# In the Canyons of your mind
# I will wander through your brain
# To the ventricles of your heart, my dear,
# I'm in love with you again.
#
# 'Cross the mountains of your chest,
# I will sticker you in jest
# To the forest of your cheek,
# Through the holes in your string vest
#
# (Intentionally awful guitar solo)
#
# From: ivester@utkvx.utk.edu (Stan Ivester)
# I've been a big Bonzo fan ever since those failed-social-programs-packed
# sixties. I still play _Tadpoles_ pretty often--especially "Windmills of Your
# Mind," arguably the very best/worst rock song ever recorded.
# As far as I know, they developed in England independently of the Mothers,
# coming from trad-jazz and English music-hall traditions. I've never heard
# any band members' comments on FZ, or vice-versa. But I have to say I always
# thought "Legs" Larry Smith, the drummer of the group, bore a striking
# resemblance to Jimmy Carl Black.
"Ethel, wanna get a cuppa cawfee? Howard Johnson's, ahhh
there's a Howard Johnson's! ... Wanna eat some clams? ...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: rickhall@aol.com (Rick Hall)
# Howard Johnson's WAS a famous chain of restourants, ubiquitous, with
# orange roofs, where Plastic People eat.
#
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Famous hotel and restaurant chain. See also Kurt Vonnegut's "Welcome to
# the Monkey House"
#
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# Correct, but does anybody know why eating *clams* at Howard Johnson's is
# funny? I can only guess that there may have been a band joke about an
# occasion when they had clams at Howard Johnson's.
#
# From: Tony Sandell .
# I believe the Breaded Fried Clams were a staple on their menu. There used
# to be one on Indian Hill blvd. just north of the 10 freeway.
The first noteworhty piece of real estate they destroyed was
Edwards Air Force Base.
And to this very day, wing-nuts and data reduction clerks
^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Wing-nuts - aircraft mechanics. My guess would be that data reduction
# clerks are responsible for destroying (shredding) classified data.
"Word just in to the KTTV news service undeniably links this mountain and
^^^^^
# From: matt@lainet.com (Matt Bloomfield)
# It's amazing for anyone who didn't grow up in Southern California in the
# 60's and 70's how many "in" jokes and references are totally missed!
# The references to "KTTV" and "this reporter's opinion" about communist
# witch-hunts and such refer to GEORGE PUTNAM, the Rush Limbaugh of the '60s,
# who was lead anchor on the KTTV news and who was always going on in dramatic
# tones about communists and hippies ad infinitum.
#
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# Something that would really make it clear to people what George Putnam
# was like is the following story: the character of Ted Baxter from the
# US comedy TV show "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (ran through the 70's) was
# modeled directly after George Putnam, according to the actor who played him
# (can't remember his name, and I haven't any idea of any source that quotes
# him to this effect). The vain, pretentious, and insincere Ted Baxter is
# a pretty good imitation of George Putnam.
# George Putnam was fond of digging up obscure sources and conspiracies that
# were totally unlikely...for instance, the "informed Orange County
# minister", witchcraft, and averting the "crippling strike of bartenders and
# vetrinarians".
#
# From: Tony Sandell .
# George [Putnam] still has a daily mid-day radio brodcast on 870 AM station
# KIEV out of Glendale. His theme song is "Everybody's Talkin'" by Harry
# Nillsson. He's always making in-jokes about going out with the guest after
# the show to have a "Buttermilk" (his code word for booze). When someone
# tells him something even mildly surprising or unexpected, he bellows in his
# most stentorian tone, "THINK of it!!!" George lives on a ranch in Chino
# and raises horses.
his wife to drug abuse and payoffs as part of San Joaquin Valley smut ring.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
However, we can assure parents in the Southern California area that a
recent narcotic crackdown in Torrence ... Hawthorne ... Lomita ...
^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^
Westchester ... Playa del Rey ... Santa Monica ... Tujunga ... Sunland
^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^
... San Fernando ... Pacoima ... Sylmar ... Newhall ... Canoga Park ..
^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^
Palmdale ... Glendale ... Irwindale ... Rolling Hills ... Granada Hills
^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
... Shadow Hills ... Cheviot Hills ... will provide the secret evidence
^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# There's not enough room on the ASCII map to put all these in. Please refer
# to Thomas guide pages 23,24,25,15,16,17 etc.
Within the week, Jerry Lewis had hosted
^^^^^^^^^^^
a telethon ( La La La nice lady )
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: matt@lainet.com (Matt Bloomfield)
# Jerry Lee Lewis and telethons? C'mon! It's, of course, Jerry Lewis
# the comedian, famous for Muscular Dystrophy telethons the world over!
# "La La La Nice Lady" is a parody of his voice!
to raise funds for the injured, "injured", and homeless, "homeless"
in Glendale, as Billy had just levelled it.
And a few miles right outside of town Billy caused a
'Oh mein papa' in the earth's crust, right over the secret underground
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: Charles Ulrich
# Oh Mein Papa: A million-selling #1 record by Eddie Fisher in 1953.
# A pun on "fissure".
#
# From: Tony Sandell .
# The KEY word has been left out here! "Billy caused a *fissure* in the
# earth's crust..."
# "Oh My Papa" was a sentimentally smarmy little waltz (from the '50s I
# believe) sung by Eddie FISHER. Get it, honey?
dumps, right near the Jack In The Box on Glenoaks where they keep the pools
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Glenoaks - boulevard of Burbank and Glendale.
# Jack-in-the-Box - fast-food restaurant, sort of like a cross between a
# McDonald's and Taco Bell.
Now, unless I misunderstood, it was right outside of Columbus, Ohio
when Billy received his notice to report for his induction physical. Now
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# Should I assume that people know that this refers to the physical exam one
# takes before joining or being drafted into the army?
lemme tell ya, Ethel said, now Ethel, Ethel said she wasn't gonna let him
go ... "I'm not gonna let you go, Billy" ... that's right, we now have
confirmed reports from an informed Orange County minister that Ethel is
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Probably a reference to Robert Schuller, who built the "Crystal Cathedral",
# a large, expensive house of worship.
still an active communist and it is this reporter's opinion that she also
practices covent WITCH-CRAFT ...
It was about this time that the telephone rang inside of the secret
briefcase belonging to one mortal man who might be able to stop all of
this senseless destruction and save America herself. And I'm sorry to
disappoint some of you, it was not Chief Redden. This one man was
^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Former Police Chief of Los Angeles. Made Darryl Gates look like a liberal
# from what I hear.
Studebacher Hoch, fantastic new super hero of the current economic slump.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# It's a pun on car's trade name.
#
# From: jdshaffe@ucs.indiana.edu (Morpheus)
# ...there's a car named Studebaker Hawk.. it has fins on the back.. and was
# (and still is) a nice car! There's also a Studebaker Lark...
# (They named their cars after birds).
#
# From: Robert Lumley-Sapanski
# The name came from a classic gawdy car with really neat fins and chrome
# made by Studebaker and called the Hawk. It was studebaker's response to
# cars like the Bel-Air, the El Dorado, the Galaxy 500. And they're all
# made out of Plastic, when they melt they start to stink!
#
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# It might be interesting to point out that, even in 1971 (soooo long
# ago!) the Studebaker Hawk had already been an obscure auto of the past.
# When I heard BTM in 1971, this joke had to be explained to me.
#
#CC
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# Chronologicaly on the vinyl Hoch first time appeared on _200 Motels_ 2LP's
# track _Dental Hygeine Dilemma_. Billy the Mountain was also mentioned
# there. So check appropriate ( I mean 200 Motels :-) N&C.
Now, some folks say he looked like Zubin Mehta (Zubin Mehta);
^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# Famous, world-wide known orchestral conductor. His orchestra and Mothers
# once upon a time performed 200 Motels together. Fuckin' union didn't
# allow Frank to record this show, but at the same time didn't mind that
# someone in the audience brought mic and tape recorder along with him. So
# look for a bootleg named
# 200 Motels - May 15, 70 at UCLA CA with Mothers, Zubin Mehta and
# LA Philaharmonic
still others say "Bullshit, honey, it was just another greasy guy
who happened to be born next to the frozen beef pies at Boney's Market...";
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: calclass@wavenet.com (Nigey Lennon)
# Boni's Market was in the San Fernando Valley, in Studio City. There were
# a lot of references to markets in "Billy the Mountain" -- at the Pauley
# Pavilion concert there was also a mention of the Ralphs supermarket on
# Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City ("where no prices are lower prices
# than Ralphs"). When "Billy the Mountain" was performed in New York, the
# L.A. references were changed to New York references -- i.e., Gristede's
# instead of Ralphs, etc. Typically, on the '71 tour, all local references in
# "Billy the Mountain" were altered to fit wherever the performance happened
# to be -- such as "for untimely dispersion over vast stretches of -- ",
# etc.
#
# From: David G. Walley
# ... literally, the kid was dropped in the supermarket in the frozen foods
# department.
still others say "Pshaw, and piss on you, Jack,
he's just a crazy Italian who drove a red car ..."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# Who could be he? Any idea?
#
# From: David G. Walley
# Nope, but it really doesn't matter, sometimes theey're just lines
You can never really tell about a guy like that
Whether he's really a nice person
Or if he just smiles a lot
Or if he has a son named Pinocchio or what.
^^^^^^^^^
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# I suspect that the father of Carlo Collodi's character haven't a red car :-))
#
# From: rickhall@aol.com (Rick Hall)
#:-))
# Gepetto
And all the girls in Flushing would be amazed of him
^^^^^^^^
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# Seems to be cheesy wet t-shirt contests place.
#
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# I never noticed the word "Flushing" in the lyrics, but I'll believe you.
# Flushing is an actual place in New York state, in or near Brooklyn, I
# believe. I don't know if it is an incorporated city, or just a
# neighbohood. I think it's proper name might actually be "Flushing
# Meadows." Why girls in Flushing would be "amazed of" Studebaker Hawk I'm
# not quite sure, except that Flushing may be some insular middle-class
# town with naive girls who would be amazed of anything.
Time passed. January, February, March, July, Wednesdey, August, Irwindale,
two-thirty in the afternoon, Sunday, Monday, Funny Cars, Walnuts, City of
Industry, Big John Masamanian ...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# Oh, man, a *lot* of references are being missed here! Irwindale (only
# 10 minutes from where I grew up, in Glendora!) was famous in L.A. (or,
# the San Gabriel Valley, at least, a portion of eastern L.A. county) for
# being the site of "drag races", i.e. races between souped-up cars with
# giant engines. A "Funny Car" was a particularly decorative instance of
# such a car...it had the body of a car from the 40's but a super
# turbocharged engine in the front (i.e. this incongruity is what made it
# "funny"...also it usually was painted very brightly and with lots of
# advertisements and word...also "funny"). I don't think it's "Walnuts",
# but rather "Walnut", the name of a city which I believe is near
# Irwindale. "City of Industry" is the *actual name* of a town that is
# also not far from Irwindale. Big John Masmanian (note the corrected
# spelling) was, I believe, a well-known personality among the drag race
# scene (which is why someone laughs hysterically at that point in the
# performance). I remember, back in the 60's, many posters nailed to
# telephone poles advertising the coming weekend's activities at the Drag
# Races, with large captial letters screaming his name. The posters were
# just like wrestling match posters, which gives you a clue of the kind of
# culture that Drag Races were.
# To share just one or two more reminisces: we had to beg our Dad to bring
# us to the Irwindale drag races, and we succeeded probably only once or
# twice, because the sort of people who frequented drag races were a "bad
# element"...greasers, hoods, misbehaved "Okie" types, families with 12-year
# old kids who smoked and drank, and so on. Another memory is laying in
# bed at night in Glendora...20-30 miles away...on a Sunday night and actually
# hearing the sound of those giant "drag racer" engines taking off.
# I don't quite know why Irwindale is being brought up at this point in
# the story...
#
# From: Tony Sandell .
# Hmm... I don't remember the posters but I remember the radio commercials
# screaming "Sunday! Sunday! Big John Masmainian! Don "The Snake" Prudhomme!
# Gas Ronda!" and the like.
# I think it's a stream-of-conciousness thing -- where they start reciting
# months and days: "Time passed. January, February, March, July, Wednesdey,
# August, Irwindale, two-thirty in the afternoon, Sunday," kind of naturally
# leads right into 'Sunday! Sunday! Big John Masmanian!' etc. etc.
#
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# In other words the Monday, Tuesday thing is just a setup for the Funny
# Car stuff, by spinning of from "Sunday" into the radio ad. Clever stuff.
#
# From: gdnewton@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu (gregory david newton)
# >Great FAQ, but have to disagree with the definition of "Funny Cars". I
# >think they're called that because they use nitrous oxide ("laughing
# >gas", therefore "funny"). In the process of combustion, the oxygen is
# >freed from the nitrogen giving an extra kick to the fuel. These things
# >are very dangerous and flames flying out their exhaust give them a
# >surreal effect.
#
# Not quite; Funny Cars (and Top Fuel dragsters) run on nitromethane. I
# have no idea if it's chemically related to Laughing Gas (undergrad
# chemistry was a *long* time ago) but it is indeed highly explosive
# stuff. It's a very expensive sport at that level, in no small part
# because the fuel is so hard on the engine that racers may have to go
# through major engine rebuilding (or complete replacement) between rounds.
# P.S. I have run into people who have added nitrous oxide injection kits
# to various *gasoline* powered motors. It does indeed seem to provide an
# extra power boost from the added oxygen, but only in very short bursts
# and at the expense of drastically reduced engine life (combustion gets
# way to hot, I guess).
#
# From: paulhinr@nando.net (Paul Hinrichs)
# Thanks for the correction. I should have checked with a co-worker, who
# used to "drive" the beasts, before I posted. He tells me (NOW he tells
# me ) that the funny cars got their name from their body, which is a
# single fiberglass piece (with mylar), their enormous "cheaters" (as
# Greg said), and mainly from the way the driver is "loaded" in. Since
# there are no doors, the chassis is hoisted above the chassis so the
# driver can get in. A little gas is squirted in to prime the ignition
# (nowadays, they use pure nitromethane - back in the early 70s, when he
# raced, they used a mixture), the body is lowered and set, and
# hopefully the race starts real soon.
# He also told me that the cars running nitrous oxide are very similar
# to the funny cars, so I don't feel so bad about the mistake. The big
# difference, from the outside anyway, is that they have doors. He said
# they mostly run the IHRA circuit (as opposed to NHRA) in a category
# called "Pro Mod" (forgive me, for the sake of transmitting the correct
# information this time I am probably overdoing it a bit...).
# IOW, "Funny Cars" means "no doors".
So when the phone ring in the secret briefcase, a
strong masculine hand with a Dudley Do-Right wristwatch and flexy braclet
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Dudley Do-Right - cartoon character; of the Royal Mounted Canadian Police;
# probably knew Magdalena
#
# From: Charles Ulrich
# Dudley Do-Right: inept, straight-laced constable in the Royal Canadian
# Mounted Police in a cartoon segment of The Bullwinkle Show, produced by
# Jay Ward, 1961-1964. There really were Dudley Do-Right wristwatches.
#
# From: johnscialli@delphi.com (John V. Scialli)
# Dudley is currently the spokestoonvoice for Ricoh copiers. Never expected
# him to sell out.
# More correctly for Infincom, the distributor of Ricoh.
untold destruction..( my baby, my baby )...wanted for draft evasion?...
an expense account? ... and per diem, too?..."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# "Expense account" is what a travelling businessman is given by his company
# to pay for his on-road expenses. A "per diem" is the amount that he may
# spend on a daily basis for food, and if he's really lucky, entertainment.
# I believe that the reason why Studebaker Hawk is exclaiming this is
# these well-cherished consultant's items are part of the job offer.
underneath Joni Mitchell's autographed picture,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From _Rock of Ages_ The Rolling Stones :-)))) History of R'n'R
# ... one of the most important of the first-wave singer-songwriters was
# Joni Mitchell, who wrote tough, unsparing first-person songs about herself
# ... and delivered them in a voice that sounded as though she'd swallowed
# a mouse.
#
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# Was?? She's still an active singer. Her album "Court and Spark" should
# be seriously considered to be one of the best albums in pop music
# history. The characterization you are quoting is being very sarcastic
# and cynical; she wrote great tunes and had top-notch backup musicians
# and collaborators.
#
# From: Charles Ulrich
# From Mother! The Frank Zappa Story by Michael Gray, p. 86:
#
# "...Motorhead had picked up this strange new girlfriend who hung around
# the house for a while.
# "Zappa recalled this relationship when he talked to me eight years
# later, in April 1975: 'Yeah he picked her up in New York some place and
# brought her to the house. And I remember her sitting in the corner,
# playing guitar, singing to herself; she had a beret on the first time I
# saw her and she was leaning over the guitar and she was drooling. That
# was before she had a record contract.' Her name was Joni Mitchell.
# "(I said I found it hard to imagine the 1967 Frank Zappa and Joni
# Mitchell being compatible kinds of people. Zappa said: 'No. That's not
# true. Actually I have a great respect for what she does. The thing I
# like is her melisma--I think that it's well executed and I think that
# it's interesting, from a musical standpoint. I'm not too enthralled
# by the lyrics, because I'm not into love songs.')"
#
# Also, according to Miles' Frank Zappa: A Visual Documentary, Joni
# Mitchell sat in with the Mothers at the Fillmore in 1970.
right beside Elliot Robert's big bank book,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: chris@transdata.co.nz (Chris Grace)
# The Manager of Crosby, Stills and Nash - I believe both the group and the
# individual members.
next to the boat where Crosby flushed away all
his stash and the cops got him in the boat and drove away,
# From: chris@transdata.co.nz (Chris Grace)
# David Crosby did go to jail on Drugs offences.
to the can where Neil Young slipped another disc ...
^^^^^^^^^^
#CC
# Obviously Frank liked to offend those guys
# _Fillmore East, June 1971_ Do You Like My New Car
#
# - Ooooh! Anything for you, my most seductive, seclusive... pop star of a
# man... picture this if you can: bead jobs! knotted nylons! bamboo canes!
# three unreleased recordings of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fighting in
# the dressing-room of the Fillmore East! Why, 'n enchilada wrapped with
# pickle sauce shook up and down in between a donkey's legs until
# he can't it stand anymore!
#
# From: chris@transdata.co.nz (Chris Grace)
# I believe that CSN&Y fought like hell over musical matters (but CSN did
# not). Remember that Neil Young left Buffalo Springfield over musical
# differences some time before the group split. On 'Four Way Street' Young
# makes reference to this when introducing Steven Stills: "We've had our ups
# and downs but we're still playing together". On the other hand I doubt if
# there was much fighting in FZ's bands at the time this album was made as I
# doubt whether there was any room for disagreement on musical matters,
# Frank knowing exactly what he wanted...
Boldly springing into action he phoned his wife who ran a modeling school,
whereupon he... yes, he ran around the back of the Broadway at Hollywood
Boulevard and Vine to see if he could find himself some big, large,
unused cardboard boxes ( no shit! )... after which he hit up the Ralph's
^^^^^^^
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# You should point out that there was a TV/radio commercial for Ralph's,
# heard about as often as the "Bob Spreene" commercial in those days, with
# the ditty "where no prices are lower prices than Ralph's" which goes exactly
# like the way Mark Volman sings it.
on Sunset for some Aunt Jemima syrup, some Kaiser boiler foil and pair
of blunt sissors, yeah! ... yes, and in the parking lot of Ralph's ...
where no prices are lower prices than Ralph's...
( help me! help me! help me! )
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Please refer to the ending of 50's horror film "The Fly".
( help me! help me! help me! ) ... He held open the legs of his boxer
shorts so they could all get in, and when each and every one of those
little cocksucking flies had gone into his pants and they were lapping up
all that maple syrup, he bent over and he put his head between his legs and
he said in a very clear, impressive, Ron-Hubbard-type voice: "New York"...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# L. Ron Hubbard - author of "Dianetics" and founder of The Church of
# Scientology.
#
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# :-) The mystery man came over
# An' he said "I'm outta site"
He could be a dog
Or a frog
Or a lesbian queen
(Fly to New York)
He could be a narc
Or a lady marine
#CC
# Look, how later almost the same collection of words was reorganized
# for a new purpose (') _Saint Alfonzo's..._
#
# I saw a handsome parish lady
# Make her entrance like a queen
# Why, she was totally chenille
# And her old man was Marine
#
Or he might play dirty
He's over thirty
Getting old ...
#CC
# It's funny to note that those words are almost verbatim
# Kaylan-Vollman-Lickert 200 Motels anti-Zappa conspirancy slogans
Ah, but Ethel just shook her twigs angrily. But Studebacher Hoch, calm,
cool, collected and unperturbed, continued:
"Ya, well listen ... listen you communist sonofabitch ... you better get
your ass down there for your fuckin' physical or I'll see to it that you
get used for fill dirt in some impending New Jersey marsh reclamation ...
^^^^^^^^^^
# Another CC token of the time
# _200 Motels_ Strictly Genteel (the finale)
#
# A disaster area the size of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
#
# Phillis in _Uncle Meat_ movie while talkin' about losing her NY accent
# says
# They think I'm from New Jersey
#
# From: "Gregory J. Sandell"
# These too are pointless connections. New Jersey is a state in the USA,
# often the butt of jokes when wants to refer to anything that is boring,
# middle class and mass-produced. FZ is using that symbol in the same way
# in each case, but there is no connection between those uses that has any
# "meaning". It's as though "Moscow" was used to represent beaureacracy.
Call Any Vegetable
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No one will know
If you don't want to let them know
No one will know
'less it's you that might tell them so
Call and they'll come to you
Smiling and covered with dew
Vegetable dream
Vegetable dream
Vegetable dream of responding to you
Standing there shiny and proud by your side
Holding your joint while the neighbors decide
^^^^^^
#:-) It was hand in Absolutely Free version
Shooo, Shooo, Shoo, Shoo ....
You know a lot of people don't bother about there friends in the vegetable
kingdom. They, they think: What can I say? Some times they think:
Where can I go?
Where can I go to get my poodle clipped in Burbank?
At Ralph's vegetarian poodle clippin', where you can come this...
# Was it the Ralph's mentioned in Billy The Mountain ?
Where can I go to get organic vaseline for my [intercourse?]
At Bob and Ray's swaheli restorant, where you can come this close.....
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Bob and Ray - early American radio comedy team.
Where can I go to get my exit lights?,
At Jack LaLane Hamburgers on 312 Woodier(?) Boulavard.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# At Jack LaLane Hamburgers on 312 Woodier(?) Boulavard.
# \
# probably "Whittier"
# Jack LaLane - father of the American fitness trend
#
Call it direct,
Call it collect,
But call it today.
Eddie Are You Kidding?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eddie, are you kidding?
I've seen you on my TV
Eddie, are you kidding?
^^^^^^
# From: obrecht@imagen.com (Doug Obrecht)
# He used to own a clothing store and made cheesy TV commercials in the 70's.
# I forget the name of that store. I think it was on Wilshire Blvd close to
# Santa Monica Blvd. No! I am not kidding!
#
# From: pshirley@whale.st.usm.edu (Phil Shirley)
# In response to the person who asked if Eddie (as in "Eddie, are you
# kidding?") was still around: Mark V. & Howard K. were interviewed on the
# Doctor Demento Show about 3 or 5 years ago. They said that they had seen
# Eddie on TV within the last few weeks, as I remember. Same bit as he had
# done before, apparently.
I thought they were the pits
^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# the pits - less than complimentary descriptive; i.e "they suck"
#
# From: chris@transdata.co.nz (Chris Grace)
# Derived from 'pit' on the sense of the stone in the centre of plums,
# cherries, etc.
Eddie, my friends ask me,
Eddie, Eddie, are you kidding?
I wanna tell you something,
my friends:
I am not kidding.
Here at Zachary All
^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: matt@lainet.com (Matt Bloomfield)
# "Zachary All" was the name of the clothing store that Eddie (are you
# kidding?) ran. I think I saw a commercial about a year ago -- he looks
# a lot older!
In all the right places.
They're most comfortable.
Our model Twiggy here will demostrate.
^^^^^^
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# Had she really worked for Eddie? I believe she used to be a flat little
# english model which introduced to the world Mary Quant's (sp?) idea of
# how thrilling short skirts could be.
#
# From: Charles Ulrich
# Undoubtedly not. I've always imagined that this was an ironic reference
# to Mark Volman, whose physique was quite the opposite of hers. Does
# anyone who saw this band remember if Flo mimed modeling the double-knits
# at this point?
#
# From: baritone@crl.com (Michael Barrett)
# I saw Flo n' Eddie several times in their post Zappa years, and I think it
# did refer to Flo's physique. Although when they did "EAYK" on their own,
# the description had changed to the more appropriate "Our lovely model
# Gorgo here will demonstrate..."
I have this lovely little
Seersucker ... wait a minute
WHERE CAN I GO IN GARDENA?
AND WHERE CAN I GO IN L.A.
AND WHERE CAN I GO IN ROSEMONT
I NEED SOME THREADS TODAY
#CC
# " Questions, Questions, Questions, flooding into the mind of the concerned
# young person today..."
# Frank Zappa. Call Any Vegetable. JABFLA.
Magdalena
~~~~~~~~~
There was a man
A little ole man
Who lived in Montreal
With a wife and a kid
And a car and a house
And a teenage daughter
With a see-thru blouse
Who loved to grunt and ball - -
And her name was Magdalena
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# It seems to me that this is FZ's version of some real story he can read
# or hear of. Something like The Illinois Enema Bandit's stuff. Does anyone
# happen to know the name of prototype and his true story?
#
# From: calclass@wavenet.com (Nigey Lennon)
# The song "Magdalena" was written before I joined the tour, but I don't
# think it was based on anything in particular, like an article or a story.
# However, it did create a spin-off, "Winnipeg Rangers", the chorus of which
# went: "Rangers, ho! Rangers, ho! Rangers ho-ho-ho". This song, being rather
# fragmentary, was never performed in concert or recorded, mostly being sung
# in airports during the tour. There was always lots of joking going on
# during the tour about the various lyrics, and from that often came
# modifications of the songs in performance. For instance, in "Bwana Dik",
# there was originally a reference to Hodgkins' disease -- instead of "I
# didn't know you were so obviously -- pregnant" it was "I didn't know you so
# obviously had -- Hodgkins' disease", and the chorus went "Hodgkins'
# disease, Hodgkins' disease". However, even Frank felt this was too 'sick',
# and it was dropped after a few performances.
"She looks all right!"
And he reached for a tit
And grabbed it tight
And threw her up
Against the wall
(BLUE CROSS!)
^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Blue Cross - long time health care insurance provider. Not sure what the
# reference means here.
DOODLE DOODLE DOODLE DUH-DUH DEE-UH
DOODLE DOODLE DOODLE DUH-DUH DEE-UH
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: matt@lainet.com (Matt Bloomfield)
# "Hey de-due" (sic) Adee Plumbing still has commercials on TV (been
# running about 30 years continuously). The commercials would always start
# out listing of host of plumbing problems that the average Joe could run
# into, and finish up with some geeky guy in a sing-song voice assuring the
# viewing public that "Adee Do" all that stuff, so call 'em!
Magdalena, Magdalena, Magdalena, Magdalena,
daughter of the smog-filled winds of Los Angeles,
^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# This strange shift from Quebec to California seems to be typical gig's site
# dependant joke. On _Swiss Cheese_ Magdalena's version Howard Kaplan :-)
# improvised here about
# ... walking down the street of Montreax ...skating on the slopes
# of our choice...
I'd like to take you in the closet
and take off your little clothes
until you're virtually stark raving nude,
spread mayonaise and kaopectate all over your body
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
#CC
# From: Vladimir Sovetov
# Similar idea of minor's sex abusage can be found on _Absolutely Free_
# _Brown Shoes Don't Make It_
#
# If she were my daughter, I'd ...
# What would you do, Daddy?
#
# Smother my daughter in chocolate syrup
# And strap her on again, oh baby
#
# Yes, you couldn't just did a wee-wee in her hair... :-)))))))))))
and take you down to Hollywood Boulevard
and we can, we can walk down the streets
by the stars that say John Provost and Leo G. Carrol
^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: Charles Ulrich
# Jon (not John) Provost: child actor who played Timmy on Lassie, CBS
# television, 1957-1964.
#
# Leo G. Carroll (1892-1972): British character actor, appeared in films
# such as Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, North by Northwest, but FZ would
# probably have preferred Tarantula, a 1955 monster movie. Carroll played the
# title role in the Topper TV series and Mr.Waverley in The Man from
# U.N.C.L.E.
We can go dancing up at the Cina Grill ...
^^^^^^^^^
# From: matt@lainet.com (Matt Bloomfield)
# The Cinegrill - a once trendy Hollywood Blvd. lounge lizard spot,
# recently revived and still in business...
I didn't mean, I didn't need, I mean ... it was so hard for me ...
I just ... I saw you standing under the Shell pest strip late last
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Shell no-pest strip - a bug killing plastic slab that was mounted in a
# cardboard box that would hang from your porch light - like ... mistletoe !
# Brought to you by the Shell Oil Company.
#
# From: chris@transdata.co.nz (Chris Grace)
# Later withdrawn from the market as they were found to be toxic to humans.
I'm down on my knees to ya, Magdalena... I wantcha ta walk back to me,
Baby... I wantcha to turn around by the Sparkletts machine... that's it!
^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Sparklett's - long time supplier of bottled water.
#
# From: chris@transdata.co.nz (Chris Grace)
# Maybe, but not in this case. Sparklets machines are those soda water
# dispensers which you fill with water, then screw a little steel capsule of
# carbon dioxide gas into. Result: Soda water (club soda/seltzer for
# americans)
Jesus picture on the wall... and I want you to step, Baby, I want you
to walk back in your five inch spike heels that you got at Frederick's,
^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Frederick's - Frederick's of Hollywood; purveyor of women's lingerie.
was so wrong?...my god, I was only following the sexual impulse like
I heard on the Johnny Carson Show...from a book or something I wrote,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# From: sweet@ucs.usc.edu (Rob Sweet)
# Johnny Carson - the venerable long-time host of "The Tonight Show"; now
# hosted by Jay Leno
I didn't know what I was doing...I got carried away... walk back,
oh please, to your daddy!... come on, Magdalena... to your daddy,
Baby... your mom will never know... come back to you daddy!...
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