Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Whisky a Go Go, 1968 (2024) [CD-Rip]

In 1968, an ad from Frank Zappa in the L.A. Free Press read: “The Mothers of Invention cordially invite you to join them on Tuesday, July 23, 1968 when they will be taking over the Whisky a Go Go for 5 full hours of unprecedented merriment, which will be secretly recorded for an upcoming record album. Dress optional. Starting sometime in the evening. R.S.V.D.T.” That album ultimately ended up remaining mostly unheard, until now. The live collection Whisky a Go Go, 1968 is set to finally be released June 21st, 2024, via Zappa Records/UMe.

Produced by Ahmet Zappa and Joe Travers, this extensive collection, 55-plus years in the making, compiles everything The Mothers of Invention played across their three sets that night. The album is complete and newly remixed in 2023 from hi-res 24-bit/96kHz digital transfers of the original 1” 8-track analog tapes by Craig Parker Adams at Winslow CT Studios.

A Super Deluxe Edition box set will be released on both 5LP 180-gram black vinyl or 3CD, and feature a booklet with many unseen photos from the night’s events, along with copious liner notes by Vaultmeister Joe Travers, an essay by Pamela Des Barres of the Zappa-signed group The GTO’s who played that evening, and an interview by Ahmet Zappa with the legendary Alice Cooper, whose own band made a momentous splash at the Whisky that night as one of the featured acts.

“It truly was a night of nights,” as Travers says in the liners. “The Mothers performance wasn’t perfect, but very good. Frank was in good spirits, the band played well, and the sequence of songs did capture the group’s live repertoire of the time.”

And in her writing, Pamela Des Barres implores you to “listen to all of this album in its entirety and try to envision the Whisky a Go Go that long ago night. It happened in a space and time that will never come again, so buckle up, baby, close your eyes, let your imagination soar, and set your freak free.”

Tracklist
CD 1
1. Whisky Improvisation: Episode I
2. America Drinks & Goes Home
3. Help, I’m A Rock / Transylvania Boogie
4. My Boyfriend’s Back
5. Bust His Head
6. Tiny Sick Tears Jam
7. “The Purpose Of This Evening…”
8. Whisky Improvisation: Episode II
9. Status Back Baby
10. Memories Of El Monte
11. Oh, In The Sky
12. Valerie

CD 2
1. “Fun & Merriment”
2. Hungry Freaks, Daddy
3. King Kong - Part 1
4. King Kong - Part 2
5. Octandre
6. Whisky Improvisation: Episode III
7. Meow
8. God Bless America
9. Presentation Of Wings
10. Plastic People
11. Della’s Preamble
12. The Duke - Take 1
13. The Duke - Take 2
14. Khaki Sack

CD 3
1. The Whip
2. Whisky Chouflée
3. Brown Shoes Don’t Make It
4. Brown Shoes Shuffle
5. The Whip (FZ Mix)
6. Hungry Freaks, Daddy (FZ Mono Mix)