This music is also part of the 'RUN HOME SLOW' score. In this scene, a nymphomaniac cowgirl is getting plooked by a hunchback, next to the rotting carcass of a former donkey. Really.
Frank had this very beautiful tune called "And Very True," and when we went in to record it, being a little crazy at the time, after all these years still, I just ad-libbed on the spot. The original lyrics I think were "Moonbeam through the night," something very loving, although Frank doesn't like love songs, and I said, "Moonbeam through the prune, in June, I can see your tits." And, so anyway I just made it up on the spot. So later, after we recorded it--you can hear Frank cracking up on the record--it's a lot of fun; it was fun--in fact, that's my favorite Mothers album, the ABSOLUTELY FREE album--so later, after we recorded it, I told Frank, "Well, you know, I just made up those lyrics, as we went along, so if not money," although I didn't say "Don't pay me" "so if not money I should at least get album credit for it." So he says,"Well, just tell me what you want to put on the album." And so a couple days later, I said, "Well, just put 'Prune: Ray Collins.'" And he put the "Side 3" part. That was out of his own mind.
1968
While this tune usually disintegrates into the chaotic improv that this band performs so well, its majestic beginning brings a sense of calm and brief tranquillity into these usually cacophonous shows. As on "Absolutely Free", these performances begin with the peaceful and slow opening chords, which unhurriedly carry us to the ridiculously over sung lyrics. We get a verse or two of singing, before the madness typically sets in, and we are once again off into instrumental la-la land. During the 4/20 Fillmore East show, this vocals abandon us to a repetitive "Charles Ives" type jam, over which Frank, on guitar, squeezes out a twisted version of the "Duke of Prunes" theme, before the music veers off into unforeseen directions.
1972
Essentially performed as on "Orchestral Favorites", allowing for obvious differences in instrumentation. Instead of Frank's dramatic and effectively drawn out guitar solo, this tour provides us with a rather mellow oboe solo, followed by a more lyrical, flowing FZ guitar solo. This version is great, majestically arranged and almost perfect sounding with the horns.
1975-76
This song, performed as an instrumental, is used as the background for the opening introductions for many of the shows early in the tour. It is listed as a song on its own for the tour opening 9/27 show, which I have not heard, and thus I cannot say whether the song in its entirety is actually performed (to which Jon Naurin responds, "It's used as a background for the introductions on 9/27, but before the intros, FZ plays the melody on guitar, and afterwards, Nappy sings a few lines. ") So there you go.
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