1972 (See Farther Oblivion)
1973 Aug-Sep
During the final show of the tour, Frank announces that the band is going to play "Part 2 of 'Farther O'Blivion'", and minutes later, "The Bebop Tango" makes it solo debut. It is essentially performed as on "Roxy and Elsewhere", allowing for obvious differences in instrumentation, and with the standard deviation coming in the parade of solos that we get. Bruce goes first, taking his "let me blow your mind with my trombone" solo, followed by a "damn is he good on this tour" Ponty solo, and concluding with the dynamic Ruth. We do not get an ending this time round, only a smooth yet odd segue into "Cosmik Debris".
BEBOP TANGO REPRISE- During the drum/percussion duet of "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" at the final show of the tour, the band begins playing the opening "Bebop Tango" vamp. The drummers continue to fight it out for awhile, with the rest of the band maintaining the "Bebop" vamp. After approximately a minute of this, the band reprises the main theme of the "Bebop Tango", which eventually dissolves into yet another drum/percussion duet. Finally, in a continuation of the madness, this duet evolves into the "T'Mershi Duween" drum intro (which is not present on any released recording), which then leads right into a "T'Mershi Duween" reprise. Simply great!1973 Oct-Dec
Up until this tour, "Bebop Tango" existed as part two of the three part medley known as "Farther O'Blivion". The first part consisted of the Steno Pool section from "Greggary Peccary", part two was the head of "Bebop Tango", and part three was an instrumental version of "Cucamonga" (an example of this medley can be heard on "Piquantique" from Beat the Boots Volume I). For this tour, however, "Bebop Tango" comes in to its own, developing tiny little notes, a desire to dance, and occasional audience participation. The original "Farther o'Blivion" medley is only performed once- on 10/26- yet even within the context of "Farther O'Blivion", "Bebop Tango" now resembles the monster we have on "Roxy and Elsewhere". After this performance, it truly becomes its own song, essentially performed as on "Roxy and Elsewhere", with the standard deviation coming in Fowler's trombone workout, Ruth's short but typically brilliant percussion showcase, and the "why-was-this-faded-out-on-the-album?" feel good outro. We also get our standard audience participation, which not only involved dancing but also the challenge to actually sing all those tiny little notes.
Apparently, as McNab explains in the notes [of his Exquisite CD], the original title of "BBT" was "The Malcolm McNab."
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