''Just Another Band from L.A.'' is a live album by The Mothers, released in 1972. It was recorded live on August 7, 1971, in

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The ...

on the campus of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

in Los Angeles. A notable inclusion on this album is "

Billy the Mountain "Billy the Mountain" is a Frank Zappa song first made available on the album '' Just Another Band from L.A.'' in 1972. The original recording, which took more than a half-hour to perform, was from a live tour performance on August 7, 1971, in Los ...

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...

's long, narrative parody of

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

s, which were gaining popularity at that time. Originally planned for release as a double LP with solos from "Studebaker Hoch" and "The Subcutaneous Peril" taking up most of the second LP in addition to parts of "Billy the Mountain" itself, and often overlooked by reviewers, this album marks an important period in the band's career which was soon ended by Zappa's severe injuries after being pushed off a stage. The song "Eddie, Are You Kidding?" refers to Edward Nalbandian, while "The Subcutaneous Peril", which ultimately became an outtake from the album, would later appear, in an edited form, on '' Finer Moments'' (2012) instead. The album was reissued on CD with badly flawed mastering and no composition credits by

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record la ...

in 1990 and repackaged with the same audio but with the composition credits restored in 1995. In 2012 Universal/UMe issued a properly remastered edition on CD.

Track listing

All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa except where noted.

Personnel

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Don Preston – keyboards,

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first pop ...

* Ian Underwood –

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...

s, keyboards, vocals *

Aynsley Dunbar Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born 10 January 1946) is an English drummer. He has worked with John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Journey, Jefferson Starship, Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, Shuggie Otis, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Mick Ronson ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Howard Kaylan Howard Kaylan (born Howard Lawrence Kaplan, June 22, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with bandmate and friend Mark Volman, a member of ...

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Mark Volman Mark Randall Volman (born April 19, 1947) is an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with his bandmate and friend Howard Kaylan, a member of the 1970s rock duo ...

– lead vocals * Jim Pons –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1972 live albums Albums produced by Frank Zappa Frank Zappa live albums Reprise Records live albums