V05-T05 Scumbag

.....This track has two giants and I'm not going to shed much light on them that you couldn't find from a hundred other sources, so I'll just give the posting then go right into my old liner notes.

Volume 5: DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL (YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT'S BEEN), track 5

• 06:00 "SCUMBAG" (John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Frank Zappa)
• performed by John & Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band with Frank Zappa and The Mothers
• original source: 2LP SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY Apple/Capitol SVBB3392 (US) 06/12/72
• and my source: 2CD SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY Capitol/EMI 07777 93850 2 7 (US) 05/90
• NOTE: the disc surfaces on the CD's have the same catalogue numbers as the 1987 CD release, CDP 7 46782 2 and CDP 7 46783 2

.....From 1994: "Speaking of not getting on the radio...

....."Lennon and Zappa used to be college radio staples and mainstream pariahs. Lennon became some kind of weird martyr to people after his murder, but the hypocrites never bought his records while he was alive. Ringo was the Beatle with the most solo hits until about 1974, when Wings took off. John's records hardly sold at all. And how often do you hear "POWER TO THE PEOPLE" or "TIGHT A$$" on 'classic rock' stations, as opposed to "INSTANT KARMA" and "IMAGINE"? Hell, when was the last time any Frank Zappa was played on those stations? Rhetorical questions, I know.

....."Think of it as the first safe sex anthem (a scumbag, after all, is literally a condom). And sing along. It's easy-- there's only two words."

.....The only thing I could add to that would be the full credits. Although the first LP of the set was mostly recorded with Elephant's Memory, the second LP was mostly recorded live at Fillmore East in New York on June 6th, 1971 with The Mothers (and not, as the packaging says, The Mothers Of Invention, which was Zappa's band in the sixties). Other recordings from that night and the previous one formed The Mothers' album LP FILLMORE EAST-- JUNE 1971, which had been released the previous fall. The tracks on the Lennon/Ono set have the same personnel plus John on guitar and vocals, Yoko on vocals and studio overdubs of Klaus Voorman on bass. The Mothers personnel were:

• Frank Zappa on guitar and vocals
• Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan on vocals (these are the former Turtles I mentioned in the post for "SKEET SURFING"; after this they worked with T. Rex and formed Flo and Eddie)
• Ian Underwood on woodwinds and keyboard, plus vocals (a longtime Zappa collaborator)
• Aynsley Dunbar on drums (who's kind of the Forrest Gump of rock drummers)
• Jim Pons on bass and vocals (another ex-Turtle)
• Bob Harris on 2nd keyboard and vocals (a Turtles associate)
• Don Preston on mini moog (a prolific session player)

.....The manic nature of this track demanded that it be followed by a change of pace (literally), a palate cleanser. I'll be back in a few days.