Frank Zappa’s Astounding Mid-’70s Run of Rust Belt Gigs Collected for New ‘Erie’ Box Set
A trio of Frank Zappa’s Rust Belt-area concerts, performed during one of the rock legend’s most artistically fertile period, are the focus of an upcoming six-CD box set dubbed Zappa/Erie.
The box set captures a string of shows Zappa and his band (three different lineups) performed along the border of Pennsylvania and Ohio from 1974 to 1976, a three-year stretch that yielded his classic LPs Over-Nite Sensation, Apostrophe (‘), and One Size Fits All.
Tracks from all three albums are scattered throughout Zappa/Erie, as are songs from his earlier Mothers of Invention works and subsequent LPs, notably 1976’s Zoot Allures, which arrived just one month before the final full gig in the box set, a November 12, 1976 show from Erie, Pennsylvania.
Of the 71 songs featured on Zappa/Erie, all but 10 minutes remained unreleased in Zappa’s famed vault; only “Son of Orange County” and “More Trouble Every Day” have previously been heard, included as the Elsewhere portion of the 1974 live LP Roxy & Elsewhere.
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The Zappa/Erie box set was a personal endeavor for Zappa Trust archivist and “vaultmeister” Joe Travers, as he grew up in the region. “When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, I found myself, like so many others, with a lot of extra time on my hands,” Travers writes in the liner notes. “Because of this, I threw myself even more deeply into archiving the fabulous vault of Mr. Frank Zappa. During this time, it dawned on me that in all my years being the Vaultmeister for Zappa, I had never prioritized documenting the concerts FZ played in my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania.”
In addition to the Ohio/Pennsylvania shows, the six CDs are padded out by highlights from other Zappa gigs from the era. Zappa/Erie, due out June 6 and available to preorder now, also boasts liner notes documenting the shows by local journalists and Zappa experts, as well as concert posters, photos from the shows, and more.
Zappa/Erie Tracklist
CD 1: LIVE FROM EDINBORO, PA – MAY 8, 1974
1. “Someone Has Just Asked Me…”
2. Cosmik Debris
3. Pygmy Twylyte
4. The Idiot Bastard Son
5. Cheepnis
6. Inca Roads
7. Montana
8. Dupree’s Paradise (Intro)
CD 2: LIVE FROM EDINBORO, PA – MAY 8, 1974 (Cont’d)
1. Dupree’s Paradise
2. It Can’t Happen Here
3. Hungry Freaks, Daddy
4. You’re Probably Wondering Why I’m Here
5. How Could I Be Such A Fool
6. I Ain’t Got No Heart
7. I’m Not Satisfied
8. Wowie Zowie
9. Let’s Make The Water Turn Black
10. Harry, You’re A Beast
11. The Orange County Lumber Truck
12. Oh No
13. Son Of Orange County
14. More Trouble Every Day 1
5. Camarillo Brillo
CD 3: BONUS TRACKS: LIVE FROM SOUTH BEND, IN – MAY 12, 1974 (1-2)
LIVE FROM ERIE, PA – NOVEMBER 12, 1974 (3-14)
1. Montana
2. Get Down
3. Tush Tush Tush (A Token Of My Extreme)
4. Stink-Foot
5. RDZNL
6. Village Of The Sun
7. Echindna’s Arf (Of You)
8. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?
9. Penguin In Bondage
10. T’Mershi Duween
11. The Dog Breath Variations
12. Uncle Meat
13. Building A Girl
14. Dinah-Moe Humm
CD 4: LIVE FROM ERIE, PA – NOVEMBER 12, 1974 (cont’d)
1. I’m Not Satisfied
2. Montana
3. Dupree’s Paradise (Intro)
4. Dupree’s Paradise
5. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
6. Tush Tush Tush (End Vamp)
7. Oh No
8. Son Of Orange County
9. More Trouble Every Day
CD 5: LIVE FROM ERIE, PA – NOVEMBER 12, 1976 (1-7) LIVE FROM TOLEDO, OH – NOVEMBER 13, 1976 (8) LIVE FROM ERIE, PA – NOVEMBER 12, 1976 (9-12)
1. The Purple Lagoon
2. Stink-Foot
3. The Poodle Lecture
4. Dirty Love
5. Wind Up Workin’ In A Gas Station
6. Tryin’ To Grow A Chin
7. The Torture Never Stops
8. City Of Tiny Lites
9. Pound For A Brown
10. You Didn’t Try To Call Me
11. Rudy Wants To Buy Yez A Drink
12. Would You Go All The Way?
CD 6: LIVE FROM ERIE, PA – NOVEMBER 12, 1976 (cont’d) (1-11)
BONUS TRACKS: LIVE FROM MONTREAL, QC, CANADA – NOVEMBER 10, 1976 (12) LIVE FROM TOLEDO, OH – NOVEMBER 13, 1976 (13-14)
1. Black Napkins
2. Terry’s Erie ’76 Solo
3. Patrick’s Erie ’76 Solo
4. Wonderful Wino
5. The Purple Lagoon (Outro)
6. Stranded In The Jungle
7. Dinah-Moe Humm
8. The Purple Lagoon (Outro)
9. Camarillo Brillo
10. Muffin Man
11. The Purple Lagoon (Outro)
12. You Didn’t Try To Call Me
13. Black Napkins
14. The Purple Lagoon (Outro)
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