1974: Except for a handful of shows in the beginning of the tour, this song always followed "Tush Tush Tush" as the second song of each concert. Like that song, this also fell victim to wordplay and nightly updates, and maintained a particular liveliness thanks to the Perellis situation. The "Come here, Fido" portion usually contained some interesting moments, and over the course of the tour, Frank's solos ranged from brilliant to pointless. Interestingly, Frank did a lot of tuning in these solos. Also, the performances towards the beginning of the tour were a lot more guitar dominated, especially in the pre-vocals opening section. The 7/21 performance- the second ever- is a veritable monster, with some of the most serious, no-nonsense "Stinkfoot" soloing you will ever hear. These early performances were also a lot more vocal oriented, with extended Frank rants on Booger Bears, Marty Perellis, and, of course, dogs. CARLOS SANTANA CONCEPTUAL CONTINUITY CLUE- During the 7/20 premiere performance of this tune, Frank says, in his diseases of the foot rant, that you, the audience member, think "you are cool coz' you got a Santana album". Why?
1975: Still pretty much the version we know and love, with the only variant being in Frank's guitar solo, and the occasional Beefheart-blown harmonica during the vocal section. Two praiseworthy aspects of these performances- one, they are the last ones prior to the "Poodle Lecture" laced excursions of the next two years; and two, they contain some sick guitar playing.
1975-76: Essentially performed as always, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. This tour is responsible for giving us the Poodle Lecture, and for this it shall never be forgiven. Fortunately, this rap did not appear until late in the tour, and thus, there are some safe "Stinkfoot-> Dirty Love" combos appearing throughout the early days of this outing.
1976-77: Essentially performed as on "Conceptual Continuity" from Beat the Boots Volume II. This version has a heavier guitar sound than most, with an extended "Bring me the slippers" section, and that rather annoying and worthless Poodle Rap. Frank's guitar playing, however, seems to be especially wicked for this tour's "Stinkfoot", and thus manages to barely redeem all of this versions excesses. But just barely.
POODLE RAP—Essentially performed as on YCDTOSA Volume VI, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's lecture. Frank seems to have more fun on this tour with this lecture than he does on other tours, more frequently deviating from the written script. He frequently indulges his muse, and thus over the course of the tour, we get talks about Poodle racing, travelling with band, hair-dressing, and, of course, the irreplaceable John Smothers.1977-78: Essentially performed as always, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. Frank whips this song out three times on this tour- on 10/30, on 12/31 and on 2/17- apparently considering it a special treat.
1978: Another Halloween goodie. Essentially performed as always, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. Performed only once- and not the most assured of performances- but enjoyable nonetheless. During the song, Frank notices a guy in the audience (either Loeb or Leopold) that he recognizes from the Garrick Theater days, calls the guy up on stage, and recounts how he use to spit Pepsi on this guy (on request) as the guy lay screaming on the stage. Sort-of amusing. The solo that shortly follows is great. Very dark and distorted.
1982: Essentially performed as it was always performed, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. Hearing this song on this tour is like visiting with a long lost friend. To me, this song will always be strongly associated with the Zappa of the mid-70's, when this tune haunted practically every damn show [sometimes that's a good thing ('74), sometimes its bad ('76)]. When the song pops up here, it seems as if it just does not belong. It seems out of place. A stranger in a strange land. Of course, none of this matter once Frank steps forth and rips out the nastiest and most demented solos "Stinkfoot" ever bore witness to. So that's what a choking poodle sounds like?
1984: Played a handful of times throughout the tour, with Frank being kind enough to even throw a "Stinkdick" in there somewhere. Frank started getting a little creative with set lists towards the end of tour, and this song sneaked into the repertoire as a result. Essentially played as always, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo and in the aforementioned lyrical changes.
1988: Essentially performed as on MAJNH, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. While "The Black Page" is the more common of the show openers for this tour, "Stinkfoot" seems to have a much greater success with its effect on the remainder of the show. Almost every show that opens with "Stinkfoot" retains an upbeat and intensely good-natured feeling throughout the night's performance.
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