The Mothers – Fillmore East - June 1971

It's too bad they wasted an entire side on John Lennons appearance. There were much better song selections from either night at the Fillmore. They should really be choosing better for the vinyl versions of these big releases. Either way this is still pretty great!

As Ike Turner himself once said, "What is this shit?"

I can't understand why they didn't found the way to put "Willie The Pimp" in a unic part ?? It's still absurd to let this 2mn on the other side with a brutal stop at the end of side A ...

One of my favorite records of all time. Funny with virtuosity.

Of all the live Zappa or Zappa/Mothers albums this is the most memorable: its got the Turtles/Phlo and Eddie/Volman and Howie, great tracks both Zappa classics and Happy Together, the usual Zappaesque attempts at humour and satire which actually work a times, Volman was a great enertainer (I'm sure he still is)with Dunbar's backing shuffle by Dunbar, and THE BULLET, and at the end Zappa namechecks Bill Graham. So cool, and one of the best album covers ever.

Cover : « made in  ». On labels : both SACEM logo and « made in the USA ».

I'm not sure... is that Zappa face part of the record? Or someone drew it?

On the official Frank Zappa podcast Zappacast, episode #53 ("The Mothers 1971: The Fillmore, The Rainbow & More!") involves a discussion between podcast host Scott Parker, producer Phil Surkis, and Vaultmeister Joe Travers on the topic of The Mothers 1971 box set. Phil Surkis had mentioned the original "Billy The Mountain" was showcased as part of the Fillmore tapes on the box set, and Joe Travers revealed more information about the 3 LP reissue of "Fillmore East - June 1971":

Time Stamp: 25:24

"
Joe Travers: Let's talk about "Billy The Mountain" for a second. OK, so Phil, here's the deal. So, you know when you were mentioning how Frank constructed the Fillmore album, how he was taking the best bits at the time from all four shows and created that album. Well, that same approach is how he created the first cut of what I'm calling the original "Billy The Mountain". That was the "Billy The Mountain" that was going to be on the double album set of "Just Another Band From L.A." before it was truncated down to a single LP. Now, the double LP at one point consisted of this: side 1 was side 2 of the "Just Another Band From L.A." that we know and love, and then side 2 of the double album set was the Fillmore "Billy The Mountain". Edited and overdubbed and sweetened by Frank during the mixing sessions of the Fillmore album, OK? Then side 3 of the double album has leaked out into the collectors circles and so has side 4. Side 2 never did. So, I found out, of course, doing the research that side 2 is the Fillmore, but Frank switched to the Pauley Pavilion version of "Billy The Mountain" for side 3 of "Just Another Band From L.A." and bailed on the Fillmore version that he had edited together with all the overdubs and sweeting and stuff.

For the vinyl expanded version of Fillmore East June '71 that is coming out, we are including the original "Billy The Mountain" version he cut from the Fillmore tapes with overdubs and the sweetening. Yes, it's not on the CD because the CD is completely remixed and the CD approach was "we are going to present the Fillmore tapes live with no overdubs as it happened", you know, and remixed. But the vinyl, we wanted to make a little something special for, and so that's why we included the original "Billy The Mountain" on the vinyl as it would have been, half of it would have been on the "Just Another Band From L.A." double album.
"

After a little more back and forth, Joe also mentioned this about the sweetened version of "Billy The Mountain":

"
Joe Travers: "There's overdubbed vocals, there's overdubbed pipe organ, there's overdubbed piano. So, it's really treated and it's, you know, really great. It's like the studio version of "Billy The Mountain" that never existed that we've never heard before, really.
"

This is a very nice US pressing and sounds great.

This has always been my favorite Zappa's titles/eras.
It's always frustrating to listening to the original Fillmore East album, just for its mid to low fidelity.
I wished it had the audio quality, of his companion album: Just Another band from L.A.
I had already taken note of this expanded reissue, but what made me decide to buy it, were a few comments I read on this page, so I bought it, hoping for an improvement in audio quality (outside the extra content), but I was disappointed once I put it on the turntable.
My impressions as follows:
disc 1: absolutely no audio enhancement (same shit at higher price)
disc 2: material already available(since 1972), on Sometime in N.Y.C. by John Lennon
disc 3: interesting material, better audio quality but it tastes too much of a digital file, increasing even further, the gap, with the first disc, in of listening experience.
Final thought: never take the other's reviews literally.
Further personal belief: these days, everything that is commercialized on vinyl, is pure commercial speculation.
Nothing more to be said.
I apologize if I rambled on
Thanks for understanding.

Perhaps initially, I was too severe, mostly too analytical, but with a more relaxed listening I reevaluated the extra contents, plus the artwork and internal notes, better prepared me to appreciate the philological work, which has been kept.
Obviously the strictly musical content is superb, the solos and the level of the instrumental performance are at the levels to which Zappa has accustomed us.
So to anyone who doesn't have the original album, I recommend buying this reissue which better documents the Mothers' performances in that precise historical moment and in that historical location.
That doesn't mean my first assessment isn't objective.
Both points of view should be taken into consideration.
Thanks again for your attention.