Monty Python rode their migratory coconuts in a sacred quest to find a silly place to fart in your general direction with the ekki-ekki-ekki-pitang-zoom-boing of this farcical aquatic ceremony. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin had started the comedy troupe in 1969. Terry Jones and Michael Palin had performed in the Oxford Revue at Oxford University; and Graham Chapman, John Cleese, and Eric Idle were members of Cambridge University's Footlights revue Cambridge Circus. Terry Gilliam was an American cartoonist and animator who met Cleese when the Footlights came to New York. When 'Help!' magazine folded, Gilliam moved to England and began working alongside Idle, Jones, and Palin on the 'Do Not Adjust Your Set' program for Independent Television (ITV). Cleese and Chapman were doing work on 'The Frost Report' for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Cleese and Chapman were offered their own show, as were Palin, Idle, Jones, and Gilliam for ITV; but when Cleese invited Palin to join himself and Chapman, Palin suggested they invite the rest of his crew...and Monty Python was born! The group enjoyed increasing success over four seasons of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' on BBC, one feature film 'And Now For Something Completely Different' in 1971, and five albums (Monty Python's Flying Circusin 1970, Another Monty Python Record in 1971, Monty Python's Previous Recordin 1972, Matching Tie and Handkerchiefin 1973, and Live at Drury Lanein 1974); before embarking on their most ambitious venture: a motion picture based on the legend of King Arthur and his quest for the Holy Grail.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed on location in Scotland around Doune Castle, Glen Coe, and Castle Stalker; as well as Kidwelly Castle in South Wales and Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. The film was produced by 40 Specially Trained Ecuadorian Mountain Llamas, 6 Venezuelan Red Llamas, 142 Mexican Whooping Llamas, 14 North Chilean Guanacos (Closely Related to the Llama), Reg Llama of Brixton, 76000 Battery Llamas From “Llama-Fresh” Farms Ltd. Near Paraguay, and Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones. Charisma Records founder Tony Stratton-Smith helped to finance the film by convincing members of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Genesis to contribute. Despite such assistance, the budget precluded using horses, and so they came up with the idea to use coconuts which were used on radio to simulate the sound of hooves.
The film was a box office success, grossing over five million dollars and establishing the group in the US. The album version was entitled 'The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail'. In 2005, the film became the inspiration for the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot. http://www.montypython.com/ Camelot
We're knights of the round table We dance whenever we're able We do routines and chorus scenes With footwork impeccable We dine well here in Camelot We eat ham and jam and spam a lot We're knights of the round table Our shows are formidable But many times we're given rhymes That are quite unsingable We're opera mad in Camelot We sing from the diaphragm a lot War we're tough and able, quite indefatigable Between our quests we sequin vests And impersonate Clark Gable It's a busy life in Camelot I have to push the pram a lot Constitutional Peasant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2c-X8HiBng
All songs written and composed by Frank Zappa except where noted. Side one 00:00"Didja Get Any Onya" March 2, 1969, Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia3:44 06:51"Directly from My Heart to You" (Richard Wayne Penniman)July 1969, TTG Recording Studios, Hollywood5:17 12:10"Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask" October 25, 1968, Royal Festival Hall, London3:35 15:56"Toads of the Short Forest" August 1969, Whitney Studios, Glendale and February 7–8, 1969, Thee Image, Miami4:48 20:44"Get a Little" February 13, 1969, The Factory, New York2:35 Side two 23:16"Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue" June 1969, A&R Studios, New York6:53 30:08"Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula" December 1967-February 1968, Apostolic Studios, New York2:12 32:21"My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama"February 1969, Criteria Studios, Miami and August–September 1969, T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood3:35 35:53"Oh No" December 1967-February 1968, Apostolic Studios, New York1:46 37:39"The Orange County Lumber Truck" October 25, 1968, Royal Festival Hall, London3:18 41:01"Weasels Ripped My Flesh" May 30, 1969, Town Hall, Birmingham2:05
Zappa and the Mothers dummied up some be-bop bondage and twisted tango for this intricate inspired improvization. The double-live album captures the band at the height of its powers with most of the material recorded at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California during three nights in December of 1973 with three songs recorded at the Edinboro State College, Edinboro, Pennsylvania and the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois in May of 1974. 'Roxy & Elsewhere' features Frank Zappa on guitar, vocals, and production; Napoleon Murphy Brock on flute, tenor saxophone, and vocals; George Duke on synthesizer, keyboards, and vocals; Bruce Fowler on trombone and dancing; Tom Fowler on bass guitar; Walt Fowler on trumpet and bass trumpet; Ralph Humphrey and Chester Thompson on drums; Don Preston on synthesizer; Jeff Simmons on rhythm guitar and vocals; and Ruth Underwood on percussion; with Robert "Frog" Camarena, Debbie, Lynn, and Ruben Ladron de Guevara on backing vocals. 'Roxy & Elsewhere' went to number twenty-seven on the US pop album chart.
01:48 Cosmik Debris 09:49 Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue 10:53 Kung Fu 11:54 Penguin In Bondage 16:02 RDNZL 20:26 Montana 29:01 Dupree's Paradise 53:44 Join The March And Eat My Starch 54:22 Farther Oblivion
The sessions that produced'Uncle Meat'took place at the same time as 'Cruising With Ruben and The Jets'. The Mothers were: Frank Zappa on guitar, low grade vocals, and percussion; Ray Collins, who left the group in May 1968, on swell vocals; Jimmy Carl Black on drums, droll humor, and poverty; Roy Estrada on electric bass and cheeseburgers; Don (Dom De Wild) Preston on electric piano, tarot cards, and brown rice; Billy (The Oozer) Mundi on drums on some pieces before he quit in December 1967 to join Rhinoceros; Bunk (Sweetpants) Gardner on piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, bassoon (all of these electric and/or no-electric depending); Ian Underwood on electric organ, piano, harpsichord, celeste, flute, clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax, special assistant, copyist, industrial relations, and teen appeal; Artie (With the Green Mustache) Tripp on drums, timpani, vibes, marimba, xylophone, wood blocks, bells, small chimes, cheerful outlook, and specific inquiries; Euclid James (Motorhead/Motorishi) Sherwood on pop star, frenetic tenor sax stylings, tambourine, choreography, obstinance & equipment setter-upper when he's not hustling local groupies; with special thanks to Ruth Komanoff who plays marimba and vibes with Artie on many of the tracks; and Nelcy Walker, the soprano voice with Ray & Roy on "Dog Breath" & "The Uncle Meat Variations." Also, Pamela Zarubica appears as Suzy Creamcheese. The sessions were produced by Zappa and engineered by Jerry Hansen, with Euclid James Sherwood as equipment technician and choreographer.
The liner notes reveal: "The music on this album was recorded over a period of about 5 months from October 1967 to February 1968. Things that sound like a full orchestra were carefully assembled, track by track through a procedure known as overdubing. The weird middle section of 'DOG BREATH' (after the line, "Ready to attack") has forty tracks built into it. Things that sound like trumpets are actually clarinets played through an electronic device made by Maestro with a setting labeled Oboe D'Amore and sped up a minor third with a V.S.O. (variable speed oscillator). Other peculiar sounds were made on a Kalamazoo electric organ. The only equipment at our disposal for the modification of these primary sounds was a pair of Pultec Filters, two Lang Equalizers, and three Melchor Compressors built into the board at Apostolic Studios in New York. The board itself is exceptionally quiet and efficient (the only thing that allowed us to pile up so many tracks) and is the product of Mr. Lou Lindauer's imagination & workmanship. The material was recorded on a prototype Scully 12 track maching at 30 ips. The whole project was engineered by Richard Kunc or Dynamite Dick, as he is known to the trade. Special Engineering credits go to Jerry Hansen for the percussion effects added later at Sunset Sound in L.A., and to our friend Mike in Copenhagen for the tapes he sent us. " 'Uncle Meat' reached number forty-three on the US album chart.
All tracks written by Frank Zappa, except where noted. Side one 1."Uncle Meat: Main Title Theme"1:54 2."The Voice of Cheese"0:27 3."Nine Types of Industrial Pollution" ("400 Days of the Year")5:56 4."Zolar Czakl"0:57 5."Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague"5:51 6."The Legend of the Golden Arches"1:24 7."Louie Louie" (At the Royal Albert Hall in London)Richard Berry2:28 8."The Dog Breath Variations"1:36 Side two 1."Sleeping in a Jar"0:49 2."Our Bizarre Relationship"1:05 3."The Uncle Meat Variations"4:40 4."Electric Aunt Jemima"1:53 5."Prelude to King Kong"3:24 6."God Bless America" (Live at the Whisky a Go Go)Irving Berlin1:22 7."A Pound for a Brown on the Bus"1:29 8."Ian Underwood Whips It Out"5:08 Side three 1."Mr. Green Genes" 3:10 2."We Can Shoot You"1:48 3."'If We'd All Been Living in California...'"1:29 4."The Air"2:57 5."Project X"4:47 6."Cruising for Burgers"2:19 Side four 1."King Kong (As Played By The Mothers In A Studio)"0:53 2."King Kong (Its Magnificence As Interpreted By Dom DeWild)"1:15 3."King Kong (As Motorhead Explains It)"1:44 4."King Kong (The Gardner Varieties)"6:17 5."King Kong (As Played By 3 Deranged Good Humor Trucks)"0:29 6."King Kong (Live On A Flat Bed Diesel In The Middle Of A Race Track At A Miami Pop Festival...The Underwood Ramifications)"7:22
