The Magic Band and the Band from Utopia.
Probably just procrastinating again, to avoid the inevitable horror that is Xmas without the Festive 50, but I suddenly found myself racked with guilt about having not posted anything here for so long.
Being away from work, I have no access to the old tapes I've been pateintly digitising, but as I was watching a wonderful performance by Frank Zappa last night (is there any other kind?), I got to thinking about a DVD rip I did a while back of 'The Band from Utopia.'
If you haven't seen it, it's a posthumous performance by one of the Zappa band's finest line-ups (OK, there's plenty of scope for debate on that point), which is so good you can almost forget that Zappa is not actually there.
...which got me to thinking about a session the The Magic Band did for Peel, not long before he died, which was also notable for being totally wonderful despite the absence of the main man.
So here it is (part 1) & (part 2)

Tracklist:
01 intro
02 Diddy Wah Diddy
03 Circumstances
04 a woman's gotta hit a man
05 Bass solo
06 Unknown Track
07 Steal Softly through Sunshine
08 talking
09 Abba Zabba
10 My Human Gets me Blues
11 Alice in Blunderland
12 Hair Pie
13 Evening Bell
14 Electricity
15 Floppy Boot Stomp
16 Mirror man
17 talking
18 Moonlight on Vermont
19 Big Eyed Beans from Venus

Broadcast 07/07/04, recorded to DAT, Ogg Vorbis @256k

And damnit, because it's New Year, here's The Band from Utopia too

Tracklist:
1.Bamboozled by Love
2.Lucille has Messed my Mind up
3.The Bebop Tango
4.Easy Meat
5.Uncle Meat
6.Sofa
7.Andy
8.On the Outside
9. The Illinois Enema Bandit

The band:
Tommy Mars, Robert Martin, Ike Willis, Arthur Barrow, Tom Fowler, Bruce Fowler,Kurt McGetterick, Ed Mann, Chad Wackerman, Jay Dittamo

DVD rip, AAC @ 128k


PS. Just to waste a few more minutes, and whilst we're on the subject of Zappa, I want to ask a question; apart from some early Mothers stuff which he played on The Perfumed Garden, does anyone ever remember Peel playing any Zappa on his show ? Either I've been very unlucky and I've missed it, or he never did, which, considering Zappa was one of the most prodigious musical talents of the last Millenium, is pretty strange, don't you think ? I was wondering if it could be because John was very fond of Beefheart, and that Zappa & the Cap'n were famously not the best of friends following some contractual wrangling way back when. As John would say, 'answers on a postcard, please'....