1972: Another of the many treats that this tour provides us. As many of you know, a song by this title popped up as the final part of the "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" suite in the late 70's, which can be heard on YCDTOSA Volume I. That song originated in this number, though the lyrics in the latter version are not present in this version. As it appears here, that later, revised version comprises the last several minutes of this musical monster, minus the lyrics. This version, running about 11 minutes in length, starts with a whole new musical theme, heavy on the horns, complete with lyrics (see below). We get the main theme, verse, quiet chorus, return to the main theme, verse, quiet chorus, and spoken part. After this spoken part, we get a somewhat tweaked version of what would later become "St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast". This leads into a short, new horn arrangement, which drops us off in a Duran slide solo. This is quite a lengthy solo, with the rhythm section once again practically stealing the thunder from the soloist. Towards the end of the solo, the horn section slowly reenters the scene, before a calm and reflective horn part provides a segue out of Duran's solo into the instrumental performance of the "Rollo" that we know and love. Obviously, my weak attempt at describing this tune does not do it justice, but take my word for it when I tell you that this song is quite a treat, and is a worthy addition to the Frank Zappa musical library.
1978: Essentially performed as on "Saarbrucken" from Beat the Boots Volume I, with Tommy Mars on lead vocals. This tune was always performed as part five of the five part Don't Eat suite. Portions of this song- without vocals- appeared on the Fall '72 Petit Wazoo tour, in a much longer, full blown "Rollo".
1979: Essentially performed as on YCDTOSA Volume I, and always performed as part five of the five part suite. This is the closing portion of the song that begins after the "Good morning your highness" section (where the Apostrophe version fades out). This song was first performed on the Fall '72 Petit tour, although in a longer, much more involved version. What we have here for this tour is essentially the closing portion of the original "Rollo", which was performed instrumentally in '72, but gained vocals when it reappeared as part of DETYS in Fall '78. And for those of you unsure, thats Tommy doing the vocals.
This first part of "Rollo" was not incorporated into the "Yellow Snow" suite. The rest of "Rollo" (following "baroque magnolia") was instrumental in the Petit Wazoo version, and that's what was incorporated into the "Yellow Snow" suite (with new lyrics added).
A song called "Rollo" was played on the Petit Wazoo tour in 1972, and was quite different from the "Rollo" segment in the "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" suite.
OK, I tried to resist, because Conceptual Continuity is not my strong suit, but I had to share this little tid-bit in re/ "defining Rollo:"
Charles Ives, in the Memos and in the Essays before a Sonata (self-published at the same time as the Concord Sonata and the 114 Songs), uses "Rollo" as the catch-name for the generic mainstream music critic. eg, those who wanted music that "let the ears lie back in an easy chair." Apparently there was a fairly well-known New York Times critic in the 1870s-80s (Ives' childhood) whose first name was Rollo, and whose opinions CEI and his mentor-father despised.
CC Rules!
The end of this piece was performed at the Orchestral Favorites concerts at Royce Hall and later incorporated into the "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" suite. But the first part of the piece was never performed after the Petit Wazoo tour. An early version of a "Zomby Woof" riff appeared between the two verses.
I noticed that the segment of "Rollo" which later had the lyrics "I have seen him rubbin' it/I have seen him rubbin' it /I have, I have a-seen him stroke his weenie (It was teenie)" (as transcribed on Roman's site) was added to the piece halfway through the PW tour. It's on 12/2, but not the 11/10 version chosen for ID.
BTW, there's also a future "San Berdino" lick in the vocal section.
Contrary to what we thought, [the "I have seen him rubbing it... it was teenie" section] was not added for the last leg of the Petit Wazoo tour. It was present in the first known performance, 10/29/72 Binghamton. It was played again on 10/31/72 (late) Passaic. It was omitted on 11/10/72 Philadelphia and 11/11/72 (early) Washington. It was back again for 12/2/72 (early) Kansas City, 12/2/72 (late) Kansas City, 12/3/72 Lincoln, and 12/9/72 (early) Portland.
Special thanks to Charles Ulrich. All timings approximate.
| Passaic, NJ, October 31, 1972 (late show) | Imaginary Diseases (Philadelphia, November 10, 1972) | Little Dots (Kansas City, MO, December 2, 1972/unknown venue & date) | "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast" Apostrophe (') (c. 1973) | Orchestral Favorites 40th Anniversary (UCLA, September 18, 1975) | Quaudiophiliac (UCLA, September 18, 1975) | One Shot Deal (UCLA, September 18, 1975) | Saturday Night Live, October 21, 1978 | YCDTOSA Vol. 1 (London, February 18, 1979) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rollo | ||||||||
| 00:01-00:48 1st verse | (edited out) | 0:00-0:44 | ||||||
| 00:48-00:59 "Zomby Woof" lick | (edited out) | 0:44-0:55 | ||||||
| 00:59-02:02 2nd verse (including "San Ber'dino" lick) | (edited out) | 0:55-1:58 | ||||||
| Rollo Interior Area | ||||||||
| 02:02-02:57 | (edited out) | 1:58-2:50 | 1:10-1:40 | 0:00-0:46 | (mostly edited out) | 0:00-0:36 | 14:33-15:01 | |
| Rollo Goes Out | ||||||||
| 02:57-03:17 | (edited out) | 2:50-3:09 | 1:40-1:50 "St. Alfonzo!" | 0:46-1:04 | 0:04-0:21 | 0:36-0:49 | 15:01-15:10 "St. Alfonzo!" | |
| 03:17-07:27 Tony Duran solo | (edited out) | 3:09-6:02 | 1:04-4:01 | 0:21-3:17 FZ solo | 0:49-1:59 Samurai Futaba solo | |||
| 07:27-07:47 | 0:00-0:13 | 6:02-6:19 | 4:01-4:21 | 3:17-3:36 | 0:00-0:20 | |||
| 07:47-08:12 oboe solo | 0:13-0:41 oboe solo | 6:19-6:43 | 4:21-4:42 | 3:36-3:57 sax solo | 0:20-0:40 | |||
| 08:12-08:56 | 0:41-1:33 | 6:43-7:26 | 4:42- 5:20 | 3:57-4:36 | 0:40-1:19 | 1:59-2:37 | 17:26-18:14 "Na-na-na-nook" | |
| 08:56-09:05 | 7:26-7:33 | 5:20-5:30 | 4:36-4:45 | 1:19-1:29 | 2:37-2:46 | 18:14-18:25 "I have seen him rubbing it" | ||
| 09:05-10:19 | 1:33-3:06 | 7:33-8:51 | 5:30-6:38 | 4:45-5:53 | 1:29-2:57 | 2:46-4:00 | 18:25-19:48 "Rub it, rub it, rub it" | |
Originally included at Reverend Neve's Zappa Page
There was a man and a dog,
Squattin' on a log.
He had him bitin' on a stick
Until the bark was all gone.
Here, little fella. Sit up and beg.
Open your jaws. And lift up your leg.
That little doggie's name was Rollo.
His little doggie dealie was hollow.
Little while later on,
Further down the road,
There was a lady and a man,
Who was about to get blowed.
Here, little fella. Sit up and beg.
Open your jaws. And lift up your leg.
That little husband's name was Rollo.
And his old lady's name was Swallow.
Spoken:
Rollo, if you love me, do like I told ya
And fetch unto me a baroque magnolia.
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