Reviews

The latest archival release from the Frank Zappa camp may be called Cheaper Than Cheep, but rest assured, this concert program is actually an embarrassment of audiovisual riches.  Available in a variety of formats including 2CD+Blu-ray, 3LP, and 2CD/3LP/1BD configurations, Cheaper Than Cheep preserves a long-lost concert recorded on June 21, 1974 at a rehearsal studio on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood in the wake of the Mothers of Inventions’ tenth anniversary tour.

Zappa was joined by a Mothers line-up including Chester Thompson (drums), George Duke (keyboards, vocals), Jeff Simmons (guitar, vocals), Napoleon Murphy Brock (tenor sax, flute, vocals), Ruth Underwood (percussion), and Tom Fowler (bass).  With an eye to shopping the concert around to television networks, the bandleader enlisted a film crew with multiple cameras to capture the intimate performance, while Wally Heider’s mobile truck outside handled the audio with Zappa associate Kerry McNabb engineering.  The title of this set is derived from Zappa’s crack at the beginning of the show that it was “the world’s cheapest television special-cheaper than cheap” – a nod to the fact that he self-funded the concert on a tight budget.  Ever the taskmaster, Zappa had rehearsed and sound-checked with the band earlier in the day, and despite exhaustion as well as the L.A. heat in a small, crowded space, the Mothers came through with a blazing performance that dug all the way back to Freak Out! and up to more recent compositions, some of which hadn’t yet been heard.

The two-hour concert film and its soundtrack have been beautifully restored for this release directed by Ahmet Zappa.  The film opens with Frank in the mobile truck before he and the band enter the stage.  The satirical “Cosmik Debris” from Apostrophe (‘) sets the tone for a jazz noise here with Brock’s wailing sax adding an ironically smooth sheen to the bluesy melody.  Each of the bandmates takes a solo, with FZ cutting loose on guitar for the first but not the last time during the evening.  The cameras capture the leader and emcee in chatty, frequently droll mode throughout.

Zappa never played The Midnight Special or Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, but this film gives an idea what such a performance would have been like, with period ambiance a-plenty.  The twisty “RDNZL” had been kicking around since 1972 but wouldn’t appear on records until 1978; it provides a fine showcase for Underwood’s virtuosic vibes.  (There are numerous overhead shots of Underwood and drummer Thompson to capture them at their instruments.)

Though the soundtrack on CD or LP makes for a vivid listening experience, the visual component of Cheaper Than Cheep adds more than one might think.  While Zappa’s music was rarely “heart music,” the band’s innate soulfulness is even more obvious in the film. The always-intricate music might run the gamut from downright silly to fiendishly intellectual, but the Mothers’ commitment and musicality is compelling on every level, if not traditionally “emotional.”  FZ is animated and playful during “Village of the Sun,” with Brock on lead vocals, and downright pyrotechnic on “Montana” and “Penguin in Bondage.”

It’s a pleasure watching Zappa conduct with one hand, leave a cigarette burning on his guitar’s headstock, or simply look on approvingly as George Duke leads a slinky jam.  The now-primitive but charmingly period visual effects lend a lightly psychedelic feel to the proceedings that’s matched by the likes of the spacey and surreal “Inca Roads.”  Another treat is a visit between Frank and animator Bruce Bickford in which Zappa talks directly to the audience in introducing Bickford and his clay forest.

The selections here offer something for nearly every Zappa fan.  The short “T’Mershi Duween” was a fixture during this period to bridge “Penguin in Bondage” and the oldie-but-goodie “The Dog Breath Variations/Uncle Meat,” and it’s one example of how Zappa kept the songs flowing almost continuously during the course of the performance.  The satirical “Let’s Make the Water Turn Black” can sit alongside the jazz workout “Dupree’s Paradise” in this varied setlist.  Napoleon Murphy Brock’s wild flute solo in “Dupree’s” grows in intensity while Duke dazzles on a bank of multiple keyboards.  In the film, one can witness him losing himself in the whirling, shifting music.

Brock shines as a vocalist here, too.  He’s in fine soul man fettle for “How Could I Be Such a Fool” (which effortlessly morphs from light to heavy), kicking off a Freak Out! suite with the driving “I’m Not Satisfied” and a loose, exuberant “Wowie Zowie” into “I Don’t Even Care.”  (A version of the latter would first appear on 1985’s anti-censorship release Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention.)  He makes the oft-performed “Oh, No” his own.  Part of the “Son of Orange County” suite, Zappa uses it to take aim at the disgraced Richard Nixon (the then-President would resign less than two months after this show).  It leads, appropriately, into an epic “More Trouble Every Day.”

Cheaper Than Cheep is the only known document of this particular band line-up, and it’s clear that this short-lived iteration of the Mothers was a remarkable one.  Zappa tailored the material to the needs of each group of musicians, and for someone so famously fastidious, he was quick to embraced reinvention of his musical concepts over and over again.  Indeed, the reinvented ’60s material is among the strongest and most fascinating here.

The show builds to a crescendo with a furious “Apostrophe (‘)” but ends on a lighter note with “Camarillo Brillo.”  As the credits roll, fans are seen dancing in the aisles.  (Who said Zappa wasn’t danceable?)  This vibrant, entertaining film boasts a handful of bonus features on Blu-ray including a brief excerpt of “Time Is Money” and an incomplete “Echidna’s Arf (of You)” – neither of which are featured in the concert film proper.  There are also outtakes from the scene in Bruce Bickford’s art studio, and three-and-a-half minutes of the stop-motion animated film on which he was seen working.  The impressionistic, unsettling animation is set to grand orchestral music by FZ, filled with slashing strings.  One hopes that a full release of The Amazing Mr. Bickford and its soundtrack are in the offing.

The region-free Blu-ray boasts Dolby Atmos audio, 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, and a high-resolution stereo mix.  (The audio mix and mastering are by Eric Gohbel and Karma Auger.)  Video is in 1080p and looks terrific in this restoration.  Vaultmeister Joe Travers has penned new liner notes for Cheaper Than Cheep, while Ruth Komanoff Underwood has added her illuminating and poignant memories.

What’s next from Zappa Records?  The answer is a deluxe expansion of 1975’s One Size Fits All; more details on that are coming shortly to The Second Disc.  In the meantime, this release offers plenty of Cheep thrills.

Cheaper Than Cheep (Zappa/UMe, 2025) is available now at the links below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

2CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Zappa Store / uDiscoverMusic
2CD/1BD/3LP Limited Super Deluxe Edition: Zappa Store / The Sound of Vinyl / uDiscoverMusic
2CD/1BD/3LP Super Deluxe Edition: Zappa Store / The Sound of Vinyl / uDiscoverMusic
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Zappa Store / The Sound of Vinyl / uDiscoverMusic