Terrell’s Tune-Up A new box set from Frank Zappa

Here’s a true treat for all the Frank-o-philes out there: A new box set called features seven action-packed compact discs that include four full concerts plus a bunch of studio tracks (recorded at Ike Turner’s Bolic Sound studios), rehearsal takes, and sound checks by Frank Zappa & The Mothers — all recorded in those golden days of December 1973.

What a mighty time! Richard Nixon was preparing for what would be his final Christmas in the White House. Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president, replacing Spiro T. Agnew, who was convicted in a kickback scam earlier in the year. The spacecraft Pioneer 10 took the first close-up images of the planet Jupiter.

debuted in movie theaters that month. And Zappa played the Roxy, a Hollywood club that had just opened less than three months before.

Arguably (and Zappa fans do love to argue), Daddy Frank was at the height of his creative powers during this area. And the Roxy-era Mothers were complete monsters. Keyboard man George Duke; the incredible Ruth Underwood on marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, and percussion; and singer/sax man Napoleon Murphy Brock are among Zappa’s most valuable players. Their playing on these tracks only cements their positions. Duke and Brock had roots in jazz and funk, while Underwood was classically trained. In this version of The Mothers, they helped create a complex musical backdrop that complemented Zappa’s wilder musical visions — while not stepping on his trademark lowbrow dirty jokes that helped draw in the masses.

By my count, this is the fourth Zappa product based on those ’73 Roxy gigs. There was Zappa’s 1974 album

(which featured mostly live material from those shows and other non-Roxy tracks), much of which was overdubbed and remixed by the perfectionist Zappa. Then four years ago, there was a single-disc compilation, culled from those shows. Then in 2015, the Zappa Family Trust released a DVD featuring video from the Roxy shows. This package included an audio disc full of Roxy recordings.

Despite the sheer size of this is a reasonably priced box set. It’s about $43 on Amazon, which ain’t bad. The new collection includes multiple versions of “Penguin in Bondage,” “Cheepnis” (I’m just a sucker for a tune that starts off “Ate a hotdog, tasted real good”), “Village of the Sun,” “Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?,” and “Be-Bop I Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen’s Church).” And then there’s “Pygmy Twylyte” — six versions, ranging in length from four to 20 minutes. Also there are renditions of various songs from other Zappa albums of the era, such as Overnight Sensation (“I’m the Slime,” “Montana”), Apostrophe (“Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow,” “Cosmik Debris”), and One Size Fits All (“Inca Roads”).

My only quibble about is that in addition to all the fantastic music, there is an overabundance of the musicians tuning up, noodling, and screwing around. I can’t help think that even the most zealous Zappa completist wouldn’t object to just a little judicious editing to snip out the dead air, which mostly takes place at the outset of the four concerts. But I can live with this collection as is. Zappa was a giant — a musical madman, a hilarious comic, and an acidtongued social commentator. Come back, Frank! America still needs you.

Also recommended: Late Blossom Blues: The Journey of Leo “Bud” Welch. In 2014, a new gospel and blues star emerged. Leo “Bud” Welch of Bruce, Mississippi, released his very first album, a collection of 10 stinging gospel songs. Welch was a mere lad of eighty-one at the time. He quickly followed that up with an almost-as-powerful blues record called

and began touring. (He played Taos Mesa Brewing in early 2015.)

released on DVD earlier this year, is a documentary directed by Wolfgang Pfoser-Almer and Stefan Wolner that tells the story of Welch’s short but satisfying musical career. Welch’s devoted manager Vencie Varnado recalls that he was only twelve when he first heard Welch play — at a gig to which “nobody showed up.” After Varnado got out of the Army, he rediscovered Welch, who by that point had stopped playing blues and had taken his music to church.

He recorded some live footage of the old man and pitched Welch to Fat Possum Records, the company that introduced the world to Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, and T-Model Ford. Some record company flunky told him, “Well, we don’t do blues anymore,” but Varnado insisted on emailing a video clip to the company. And, he says in the film, only minutes after pressing “send,” Fat Possum honcho Bruce Watson called him. Within days, Welch was in the studio.

There is plenty of impressive performance footage here from festivals as well as Mississippi juke joints, along with plenty of scenes of Welch being both crotchety and lovable. And over the end credits, there is video footage of a much younger Welch in church with a gospel band singing a righteous version of “Praise His Name,” the first song on

Welch died last December, after the documentary was already making the film festival circuit. He wasn’t able to take advantage of But hopefully, the movie will lead more people to his music.