All songs (unless noted differently)
- Produced by Don Van Vliet
- Engineered by Phil Brown
- Recorded (mixed and mastered) at Warner Brothers Recording Studios, North
- Hollywood, California
- Mastered by Phil Brown
All music and words by Don Van Vliet (not Vleit, as the outside case states!)
Note: This album is a very special one. The Magic Band was made up of entirely new musicians with the exception of Jeff Moris Tepper (also Richard Snyder had been on the “final” tour). The first part of the album (ICFC, Ghost, Semi, Garland, Sundown, Past Sure is Tense) was recorded gradually on an extremely low budget. The remaining 15 minutes was to be filled up with tracks from Bat Chain Puller. But, as detailed in the Grow Fins booklet, Zappa refused to hand over the tracks. Perhaps the album would have been better like that, but the band was forced to complete the album with practically no money. Nonetheless, this is still one great album.
1. Ice Cream For Crow
- Don Van Vliet: (1st overdub) vocals, harmonica (2nd overdub) harmonica
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar and slide guitar (left channel)
- Gary Lucas: guitar and slide guitar (right channel)
- Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder: bass
- Cliff R. Martinez: Drums, shake bouquet
2. The Host The Ghost The Most Holy-O
- Don Van Vliet: vocals
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar and slide guitar, chorus (left channel)
- Gary Lucas: guitar and slide guitar, chorus (right channel)
- Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder: bass, chorus
- Cliff R. Martinez: drums
3. Semi-Multicolored Caucasian
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar (left channel)
- Gary Lucas: guitar (right channel) and lead slide (both channels)
- Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder: bass
- Cliff R. Martinez: drums
4. Hey Garland, I Dig your Tweed Coat
- Don Van Vliet: vocals
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar (left channel)
- Gary Lucas: guitar (right channel)
- Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder: bass
- Cliff R. Martinez: drums
5. Evening Bell
- Gary Lucas: guitar
6. Cardboard Cut-out Sundown
- Don Van Vliet: vocals
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar (left channel)
- Gary Lucas: guitar (right channel)
- Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder: bass
- Cliff Martinez: drums
7. The Past Sure Is Tense
- Don Van Vliet: vocals, harmonica
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar (left channel)
- Gary Lucas: guitar (right channel)
- Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder: bass
- Cliff R. Martinez: drums
8. Ink Mathematics
- Don Van Vliet: vocals
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar (left channel)
- Gary Lucas: guitar (right channel)
- Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder: bass
- Cliff R. Martinez: drums
9. Witch Doctor Life
- Don Van Vliet: vocals and Chinese gongs
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar and slide guitar (left channel)
- Gary Lucas: guitar and string scraping (right channel)
- Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder: bass, marimba
- Cliff R. Martinez: drums
10. “81” Poop Hatch
- Don Van Vliet: reading
This could have been:
Produced by Frank Zappa and/or Herb Cohen
Engineered by ? (possibly Kerry McNabb)
Recorded at an unknown location
11. The Thousandth and Tenth Day of the Human Totem Pole
The original 1980 version
- Don Van Vliet: soprano saxophone and vocals
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar
- John French: guitar
- Eric Drew Feldman: rhodes piano and synthesised bass
- Robert Williams: drums
- Produced by Don Van Vliet
- Engineered by Glen Kolotkin
- Assisted by Mitchell Gibson
- Recorded at Sound Castle Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA
The additions/deletions
- Don’s original vocal removed, replaced w/ new vocals and sax + prop horn (whatever that is – sounds like a kazoo)
- John French’s guitar was removed
- Robert Williams’ drums was removed, replaced with Cliff R. Martinez’s drums
The 1982 version
- Don Van Vliet: several soprano saxophones, vocals, prop horn
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar
- Eric Drew Feldman: rhodes piano and synth bass
- Cliff R. Martinez: drums and washboard
12. Skeleton Makes Good
- Don Van Vliet: vocals and Chinese gongs
- Jeff Moris Tepper: guitar (left channel)
- Gary Lucas: National Steel Dualion (right channel)
- Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder: bass, viola
- Cliff R. Martinez: drums
Help us out
If anyone is able to complete or update any of the information above, then please do get in touch.