While avid fans of any of these artists will want to get a copy of this event in any format, featured here on both CD and DVD (with the first 200 copies), others won't be able to tolerate it for more than 90 seconds. That's the breaking point. Yoko Ono should just be shot and put out of her misery. Honest to god, how did anyone allow her on a stage? Much less perform?!!?? This is certainly an appropriate release for the Strange Apple Records!...who is a sister label from the SODD family (Singer's Original Direct Disc).
John Lennon and Yoko Ono jammed with The Mother's Of Invention at The Fillmore East. However, the jam was left off of the Mother's Fillmore East June 1971 album but perhaps more appropriately included on another Zappa LP, Playground Psychotics. In fact, 2 mixes of the jam were released. The other on the John Lennon & Yoko Ono LP, Sometime In New York City. This my friends is the essence of this 2CD set. We get the same jam in 6 different manners, or mixes plus some Zappa & The Mothers solo tracks. Disc One features 2 versions/mixes of the 16 minute "jam" featuring somewhere between 2 and 4 musical selections - if you can call the bulk of them full-fledged "songs". A quick breakdown of disc one:
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Tracks 1 & 2 Mono mix of "Well (Baby Please Don't Go) & Jam including "Scumbag" - very thin sounding like AM Radio
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Alternate Stereo Mix of same - Excellent, fully mixed soundboard or video track
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and the balance is more Stereo Soundboard of a fragment of The Mother's set that evening
"Scumbag" is labeled as a song of sorts and all it is is some thrashing around with John and Yoko screaming SCUMBAG! for a few minutes. But honestly, all Yoko does is wail and cry like somebody is murdering a couple of house cats. And we get it repeatedly, mixed several different ways. Yikes.
Disc Two is made up of the different mixes from the artists' LP's outlined above. These sound absolutely fantastic, aside from the continuous wailing of course. My favorite track (and only because it's aptly titled) is Track 9 on the second disc, "A Small Eternity With Yoko Ono". While the Mother's provide some off-key free form jamming Yoko goes on...and on, and on....just wailing and moaning. Never does she come close to singing an actual word.
The first 200 copies from Strange Apple Records are a Limited Edition that have a bonus DVD-R of the same performance, seemingly sourced from Bill Graham Presents footage which is proshot. The DVD-R is sourced from a fairly high print but is pretty decent with a great soundboard video track. I'd rate the DVD video about a 8/10. The positive takeaway is that John and Yoko look healthy and great. John coming off a fresh haircut and shave, Yoko actually having her hair styled and looking hip for a change. So if you've kept track, that should be 6 different interpretations of the same performance jam.
It's a great looking set as Strange Apple Records have pressed the discs which are silver and black and look classy, very legit in appearance. The package itself is really nicely designed. It's too bad the material doesn't offer something a bit more varied as the repetition will drive you mad if Yoko doesn't do it first.
