Zoot Allures
This was my second record with Frank. After the first tour he told me "Duke & the Fowlers left,I'm gonna form a new band around you and me. Move to L.A."!!!
I did, and after a few incarnations the lineup settled on Roy Estrada, Andre Lewis and Napoleon Murphy Brock. We did a '75 Fall US tour on a private plane (w/ a brief excursion to the former Yugoslvia), a special New year's show at the Forum (complete w/giant Father Time statue onstage which was destroyed during the show by the band members and almost fell on and killed me!), and an Australia,
New Zealand, Japan, and European tour in Jan-Mar '76. I was 25 years old. I took a few weeks off and got a call from Frank, "I had to let Roy, Andre & Napoleon go, so it's just you and me again. Why don't you come down to the Record Plant and play on some stuff I've been working on."

I walked into the Record Plant. Franks(my)huge drumset was all set up and mic'd. He had recorded a bunch of tunes we had been playing with a "Rhythm Ace" drum machine-he had played bass, guitar and keyboards-I had never played with a beat box before, and playing drums to an already recorded track was a totally new concept to me. (never mind the fact that this was the second track I had ever recorded in a studio period!)

I found I could play comfortably following the music & beat box and Frank was impressed and complimentary as we recorded the likes of Disco Boy, Torture Never Stops, Gas Station and Pinky. You can imagine how it felt to get over this hurdle and meet the challange with Frank's approval and blessing, I was bursting with pride!

There were also some live tracks like Black Napkins (recorded in Japan-if you listen closely you can hear the little Japanese girls yelling"Telly!-Telly!! on the record. He always laughed at that!) Frank did not normaly like to record in the studio because he felt you could not get the musicians to play with the same energy and focus as in front of a live audience. He was right, but I'm glad he liked what I did enough to release it.

While we were in the studio he said he was thinking about hiring Eddie Jobson (of Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry & after FZ,UK) who we had met on the road and had jammed w/Frank backstage. This was the first inclination of what was going to be the new band.