Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention with Flo & Eddie
W. special guests John Lennon & Yoko Ono
6/6/1971
Closing of the Fillmore East
New York City, NY

Video Source:
Single 16mm film camera on tripod from balcony w/soundboard audio

Audio Source:
SBD

John Lennon--guitar, vocals
Yoko Ono--bag, vocals
Frank Zappa--guitar, vocals
Howard Kaylan--vocals, tambourine
Mark Volman--vocals, tambourine
Bob Harris--keyboards
Don Preston--Minimoog
Ian Underwood--keyboards, alto sax
Jim Pons--bass, vocals
Aynsley Dunbar--drum

01 - Well (Baby Please Don't Go)
02 - Jamrag
03 - Scumbag
04 - Aü

At the insistence of the artist Andy Warhol, the Lennons perform live with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at New York's Fillmore East. Prior to their performance, the Lennons keep security tight by clearing the backstage area completely. Kip Cohen, the manager of the Fillmore, remarks: "It was like the Jews being driven from Amsterdam." Within ten minutes, the wings have cleared and the place is like a tomb, except for the second-floor dressing room where John and Yoko briefly rehearse with Zappa and his band, watched by the privileged few Fillmore 'hangers-on'. Then, coming on stage as part of the Zappa/Mothers encore, John and Yoko perform "Well (Baby Please Don't Go)", "Jamrag", "Scumbag" and "Aü". Yoko arranges to have a movie camera capture the unique performance on 16mm colour film. An audio of the performance is later released on the double-album John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Sometime In New York City. For the release, Klaus Voorman is later required to overdub
the bass parts. On October 27,1992, re-mixed versions of these tracks, plus unreleased recordings such as: "Say Please" and "Aaawk" appear on the Frank Zappa CD album Playground Psychotics. The 16mm colour film circulates among collectors.

The quality is pretty good, b/w with a counter at the bottom/middle of the screen. The only thing that I find objectionable is Yoko. Her perfomance gave me a renewed respect for Donna Jean Godchaux's position in the Grateful Dead, which was very similar in effect, but no where near as annoying (late 1971 to 1979). Other notes and reviews I found on the net as I was gathering info:

If you never knew about, heard about, or saw this performance, this is gonna blow your mind. Lennon only did a handful of public performances after The Beatles, and it?s a nice nod to Frank that John considered him a conductor who could handle the improv weirdness. And ya gotta love how Zappa takes control of both the audience and his band ? with a Beatle on stage, circa 1971. How epic is this? It?s the closing of Bill Graham?s Fillmore East, the East Village theater that birthed so many careers and so much magic for three electric years in rock n roll history ? and here?s THE Beatle showing up unannounced in his proudly new hometown, appearing on stage in the current rock n roll Cavern with one of the most avant-garde and genre-blending bands of all time. This is the entire and only 24 minutes ? from a single miraculously-present 16mm camera. This is one of the silliest, most historic, craziest musical combos, and revealingly unrehearsed moments in the annals of rock n roll that was captured with a primitive audience tripod. And you think, ?24 minutes! I ain't watchin' no stickin' 24 minutes!? But by the middle jam, you?re like, ?Oh no! There?s only 10 minutes left!? An audio recording of this appeared on Lennon?s wonderfully bizarre ?Some Time In New York City? album ? a double-record time-capsule that?s been foolishly dismissed since it came out, but actually contains, for instance, this. Not only are John & Yoko playing to their freeform passion in their new hometown, but this is prime Mothers of Invention ? Flo & Eddie on vocals, Aynsley Dunbar on drums, Ian Underwood on keys . . . . This was recorded the same weekend as Zappa & The Mothers' live landmark album ?Fillmore East ?? June 1971.? This clip is erroneously dated June 5th in the opening credits, but was actually the second & closing night.

Transfer To HD With Direct Audio Copy (By Evans)

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