You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 2

 

Date & Venue

Juhani Heinonen, 1998, quoted by Esa Järvi on "Frank Zappa In Finland," 2001

74/09/22

There were two concerts. If my memory serves, two concerts were originally scheduled for this day, but the demand for tickets was so great that FZ decided to arrange one extra concert for the following monday (23rd). I did not find much evidence for this, but on the other hand I've never forgotten anything (I think). ;-)

The venue of the concerts was "Kulttuuritalo" (=The House of Culture).

[...] The only source I have seen to mention 23rd as the second date of the 1994 concerts is a Finnish ZF book called "Zappa äänitteillä—recorded Zappa" by Heikki Poroila & Heikki Karjalainen. I do think that they are the ones who got it right! My other sources more or less support this as well.

 

Recording Engineer

Esa Järvi, "Zappa In Finland," 2001

From other sources we've gathered that for the YCDTOSA Vol 2 concert, Jukka Teittinen was most likely the engineer for the 16 track taping. Jan Noponen (Wigwam drummer in the 1990s) states that "Teittinen äänitti Kultsalla Zapan keikkoja (ei miksannut)—studiohan sijaitsi eri paikassa kuin sali", clarifying that the same person did not mix the live sound and record, as the equipment was in two places. Zappa credits a "Jukka" for recording the solo on Inca Roads that ended up on One Size Fits All.

 

disc 1

1. Tush Tush Tush (A Token Of My Extreme)

Napoleon: And she said after the show, Brian, all you have to do is come in to ring the bell at room three oh . . .

 

3. Inca Roads

FZ: Suzi Quatro get in town, let's have a party tonight, yes indeed!

Suzi Quatro was actually in town those days.

Apu #39, Finland, September 27, 1974, p. 89

Apu #39

 

5. Village Of The Sun

Brian boo (HA HA HA HA!)
What you gonna do?
Brian boo (HA HA HA HA!)
What you gonna do?
Brian boo (HA HA HA HA!)
What you gonna do?
Brian BOOOOO . . .

 

8. Pygmy Twylyte

All we're tryin' to do is to have a little party
Somebody told me Suzi Quatro was gonna be in the party

 

9. Room Service

 

11. Cheepnis

 

disc 2

1. Approximate

FZ: Alright, that's the melody, now, here it is with the mouth, as performed at Eeva's wedding . . .

Juhani Heinonen, 1998, quoted by Esa Järvi on "Frank Zappa In Finland," 2001

74/09/17

There was no concert this day. FZ was in Helsinki, but it was all PR. [...] One incident worth mentioning is the supper in restaurant Saslik, where he first slightly burned his fingers, when grabbing a shish kebob too greedily. [...]

When Zappa's entourage was finishing their meal, a group of eight young ladies entered. They were having a "polterabend" [bachelorette] party of one Eeva Helkama, who was going to be married next Saturday. It is quite common in Finland that not only the future husbands, but also the future wives celebrate their last single days rather heavily. Eeva was dressed in very old-fashioned grandma's lace underpants and a Black Jack (a condom brand) T-shirt. She offered an apple to every man in the restaurant. FZ got two apples. The entourages got together and spent the rest of the opening hours of the restaurant conversing and having fun. As a result of this meeting, the whole FZ crew got invited to the wedding. Originally they were not supposed to arrive in Finland until Sunday, the day of the first concerts, but Frank decided to change the flight tickets and arrive already on Saturday.

From Saslik the FZ party continued to the night-club in hotel Hesperia, where a very high-spirited FZ jammed with an Indonesian dance band.

FZ flew to Oslo early next morning.

74/09/21

FZ arrived at Helsinki with Gail and the band. They attended the wedding reception of Eva Helkama and Christian von Alftan in hotel Hesperia. Their wedding present was an acapella performance of the tune Approximate, the lyrics consisted only of the words "Eeva and apple".

Apu #39, Finland, September 27, 1974, p. 31

Apu #39

Esa Kuloniemi, "Finland & Elsewhere," The Resentment Listener, January 14, 2014

In Autumn 1974 Zappa and Dick Barber were here to arrange his concerts. This time Matti Laipio took him into Shashlik, a Russian restaurant where Frank had negotiations with Finnish bass and violin player Pekka Pohjola (Wigwam) about a recording project in Caribu Ranch studios in Montana. the project didn't finalize, though. In Shashlik they met also a bunch of young Finnish ladies, who were celebrating a bachelorette party, because one of them was getting married—actually in the same weekend when The Mothers were about to perform in Helsinki. Zappa was invited to join the wedding party. Zappa immediately ordered Barber to change their arrival earlier so he and Gail could participate in the wedding party in the same Hesperia hotel the Zappas would stay. And they joined the party. Zappa got acquainted with the married couple so well that he visited the couple two years later at their home.

Chester
(Suzi)
Singin'
(Quatro)

2. Dupree's Paradise

Some service men here in the audience tonight, I'm sure.

Dan Warfield, "Frank Zappa Speaks Up," Stars And Stripes, September 26, 1978

FZ: I have a great fondness for service people. [...] Really, I have respect for the guys in service. They're doing something that is important, that's got to be done. If you happen to be a person who likes being in the service and you find yourself doing what you want to do, then that's a kind of happiness.

DW: I remember a drill sergeant in Army boot camp who told us his ultimate high in life is to be out in the woods somewhere with a rifle—and there's another guy out there with a rifle. One of them will die. That's his idea of heaven on earth.

FZ: Well, in every army there are people like that. And unless we've got ours, then those other guys over there are gonna get their heaven. And also, it's better that a guy who has that idea of heaven is doing it within the framework of the armed forces rather than on top of a building in New York City.

Let's face it. People have aptitude for stuff like that—there are people who are born to do that. Now what's he gonna do if there wasn't an army? He's not gonna drive a milk truck.

FZ: Rikki, don't lose that number . . . You don't wanna lose that number, Rikki . . .

Hey Ruth, d'you have any Suzi Quatro cassettes?

 

3. Satumaa (Finnish Tango)

Esa Järvi, "Frank Zappa In Finland," 2001

The preparation of the Finnish tango Satumaa required some assistance from another Finn, Matti Koskiala. Described as a veteran musician (drummer), Koskiala is shown in a picture well known to Zappa fans. In the picture are Ruth Underwood, Chester Thompson, Matti Koskiala, George Duke, Tom Fowler and Frank Zappa.

"Satumaa" Rehearsal

Esa Kuloniemi, "Finland & Elsewhere," The Resentment Listener, January 14, 2014

After the Hesperia hotel wedding party Matti Laipio asked Zappa if he would like to amuse his Finnish audience with a special number of Finnish tango. Frank thought that was a brilliant idea. So Matti got the notes for a Finnish tango "Satumaa" and took them next day to the rehearsals in the Kulttuuritalo. George Duke was fast to learn the melody, but Chester Thompson couldn't figure out the rhythm, so Matti called a Finnish drummer Matti Koskiala for help. The Kulttuuritalo has a recording studio down stair and Zappa asked to book it for recording. This is how the guitar solo for "Inca Roads" was recorded. The rest of the concert was published on YCDTOSA vol 2.

 

4. T'Mershi Duween

Todd Yvega, Everything Is Healing Nicely (1999) liner notes

A stage band classic from the 70's. Frank named this after a character in a story that Moon made up as a child.

Gail Zappa, Everything Is Healing Nicely (1999) liner notes

Fyi T'Mershi Duween (FZ's Spelling) is a camel and has a friend named Sinini.

 

8. Montana (Whipping Floss)

Guy In The Audience: "Whipping Post"!
FZ: Say that again please
Guy In The Audience: "Whipping Post"!
FZ: "Whipping Post"? Ok, just a second . . . (Do you know that?) Oh sorry, we don't know that one.

Juhani Heinonen, 1998, quoted by Esa Järvi on "Frank Zappa In Finland," 2001

88/04/29

Frank of course remembered the 1974 incident and played Whipping Post. Before playing it, continuing from the normal spoken outro of "Dancing fool", Frank grabbed a wig that made him look like he was in 1974 and rapped as follows (speaking v e r y s l o w l y): "Wait a minute. I've gotten a great idea. Remember a long time ago, when some guy in the audience in 1974 said: Whipping Post! And we couldn't play it; well tonight we can play it." I also remember him gesturing and smiling at somebody in the audience during this banter. This probably means that the guys (brothers Virtanen from Turku), who originally requested Whipping Post were present and were making a notable noise again.

Berkeley Barb, August 9-15, 1974

Zappa Offers Audience His Tonge

It was noticed by one of our correspondents that at the Frank Zappa concert of late, at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, [CA, July 19-21, 1974,] the notorious "Whipping Post Request" made itself known.

As related by our resident authority on underground folk lore and jargon, "Whipping Post Request" stems from the historically spontaneous voicing of "Whipping Post" as a request from the audience, immediately prior to the now immortalized recording of "Whipping Post" on the Alman Brothers Live at Fillmore East album.

Thus it is that at every concert, at least one request for "Whipping Post" must be heard in order for the concert to be considered worthwhile.

Also, included in the spontaneity is the artist's response to being confronted with a request for a song so obviously far away from his repertory.

Zappa, we are told, responded to the mysterious visitor thusly: "Well, gee, I don't know. How about a tongue job instead."

Pat Washburn, October 12, 2005

I've read several postings of the Whipping Post request story and the reason why Frank started playing the song, but nobody seems to disclose the reason the guy in Helsinki yelled out the song title in the first place.

The original reference comes from the vinyl version of "Whipping Post" on The Allman Brothers "at Fillmore East" live album. Right before the song starts, a lot of audience noises were captured and were pressed on the vinyl. One guy very clearly yells out "Whipping Post," almost like a demand, and Duane Allman responds with "Yep, that's it, you guessed it." Then Berry Oakley launches into the bass intro to the song.

The Allman Brothers "at Fillmore East" was quickly established as "THE" live rock album to have in the early '70s. Everybody who had this album heard this guy requesting "Whipping Post." I can only presume that Southern rock/blues fans in Finland had access to this album by 1974. So it was a supreme joke that the guy in Helsinki yells out "Whipping Post" at the Zappa concert, clearly a reference to the same request captured on the Allman Brothers album.

FZ, not being familiar with this particular recording, didn't get the joke initially. Good thing, too. If he had been familiar with it, he might have laughed at the guy's request and went on with "Montana," and not turned it into "Montana (Whipping Floss)". As it was, a guy in Helsinki yelling out "Whipping Post" was so far out of left field that Frank had no choice but to learn the song to play later.

I haven't heard the remastered CD of the Allman Brothers' "at Fillmore East" so I don't know whether this little exchange between the audience and Duane survived the remastering process.

John Cage

Guy In The Audience: Ooh-ooh-ooh . . .
FZ: Thank you very much. And now . . . Judging from the way you sang it, it must be a John Cage composition, right?

FZ interviewed by Jon Winokur, 1992

I have many John Cage recordings, but I find his writing more interesting than his music.

FZ, May 23, 1989, quoted by Den Simms, T'Mershi Duween, October, 1989

Once upon a time, when I was an impressionable young composer, somebody gave me a John Cage record and I listened to it, and went 'What the fuck is this?' But since I didn't know what the fuck anything was, I thought 'Maybe this is really good.' A short time after that, John Cage came to Claremont College and he was giving one of his . . . he does these performances with a throat microphone. He'd put this thing on his throat and drink a quart of carrot juice, or read something to you while he was drinking the carrot juice. In a way, this ties in with my over-all feeling towards colleges. In this instance, there was a college audience watching John Cage drink the carrot juice and do these things, and they were pondering it like it had this large significance. It occurred to me that if he could do that, then certainly, SURELY there were other things equally ridiculous that a person such as myself could do in the music business. And so I decided that I would try, not necessarily to gargle with the carrot juice, but that I'd do other things that come awfully close.

Additional informant: Javier Marcote

 

Research, compilation and maintenance by Román García Albertos
http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/
This page updated: 2018-08-25