Sold Date: December 6, 2018
Start Date: December 2, 2018
Final Price: $75.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 329
Buyer Feedback: 11

Frank Zappa: Dupree’s Paradise (2 LP) recorded at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in 1974. This is the 1979 re-release on Toasted Records with “Frank as Medusa” color cover.

Musicians: Frank Zappa, Jean-Luc Ponty, George Duke, Ian Underwood, Ruth Underwood, Bruce Fowler, Tom Fowler & Ralph Humphrey

Length: 88:20

Sound quality: Audience B

1. RDNZL[listed as “Redunzel”] [06:16]

2. Dog Breath Variations[listed as “Dog Breath”] [03:09] / Uncle Meat [02:43]

3. Fifty-Fifty [instrumental] [07:01]

4. Inca Roads [instrumental] [07:04]

5. Warts & Mice [an improvisation]

6. Improvisation [16:15 (together with “Warts & Mice”)]

7. Montana [06:48]

8. Dupree’s Paradise [09:15]

9. I’m the Slime [04:14]

10. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?[listed as “The Nancy & Mary Music”] [20:37]

11. Cosmik Debris [05:58]

Tracks 5-6 are 16 minutes of radiant improvisation.

Review on allmusic.com: “This two-record set is a bootleg recorded by a member of the audience during a concert by Frank Zappa at Duke University (in 1973, not 1974 as shown on the cover), with Zappa leading an eight-piece band that includes violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, keyboardist George Duke, and multi-reed player Ian Underwood (making his final tour with Zappa). The first five tracks originally appeared on a single bootleg LP called Pygmy Pony, but a portion of the introduction to “Inca Roads” was edited out to allow time to include Zappa‘s introduction of the musicians at the beginning of the concert — and to possibly omit the annoying conversation between the person taping the concert and another member of the audience during the early portion of “Inca Roads,” which was very audible on the earlier single LP bootleg.

“RDZNL,” “Dog Breath,” and “Fifty-Fifty” make up the initial long and spirited medley prior to the sudden edit into the middle of “Inca Roads.” A group improvisation works rather well, as does a lengthy jam on “Montana.” The nicest surprise is the instrumental “Dupree’s Paradise,” which didn’t appear on a commercial Zappa release until Pierre Boulez conducted an orchestral version in 1984 (though a nearly 24-minute version was recorded at a 1974 concert but not released until 1988 by Rykodisc). The music on this album makes up for its audio shortcomings.”