It seems that the world finally caught up to Frank Zappa in the mid 1970s, as the iconoclastic music star was actually getting commercial popularity with his previous album Over-Nite Sensation and then actually getting a top ten album with this 1974 release, Apostrophe (‘) with the Spike Jones-ish hit song “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow”. The band, which included all stars George Duke/key, Jack Bruce/dr, Aynsley Dunbar/dr as well as Alex Dmochowski/b, Bruce Fowler/tb, Tom Fowler/b, Tony Duran/gDon Harris/vi, Erroneous/b, Ian Underwood/g-sax-key, Ruth Underwood/key, Sal Marquez/tp, RubenGuevara/b, Ray Collins/g, Napoleon Murphy Brock/sax delivers a schizoid two mooded album, with side one (as they used to call it back in the days of vinyl) being a series of silly songs that blend into one another, with side two mixing instrumentals such as the rollicking title cut featuring the mercurial bassist Jack Bruce as well as snarky satire with “Stink Foot” and social consciousness for “ Trouble Every Day”.
The boxed set includes tons of outtakes and alternative takes, a must for Zappa-ites, as wll as a piano and vocal m ix of “Uncle Remus” that is essential. There are five other discs, with the first one being a 1974 gig in Colorado Springs, and Zappa in with some fresh material exposed to the audience like “Is There Anything Good Inside of You?” (aka “Andy”) and “Florentine Pogen, with “Approximate” and the rarity”Babbette” a feast for famished ears. A Dayton Ohio gig had the core team of George Duke/key, Chester Thompson/dr, Ruth Underwood/perc, Tom Fowler/b and Napoleon Murphy/ts-fl-voc in a rollicking mood with air tight reads of the hilarious “Dinah-Moe-Hum”, “Pygmy Twylyte” and “Penguin In Bondage”. Hey, this is the pre-woke 70s! Last but not least is a Blu-Ray Audio version of the 32 minute album in Dolby-Quadraphonic, Wide Screen and whatever else you want it in. This is definitely an album that reflects the time when you could say what you wanted and weren’t looking over your shoulder. When did we become such wimps?