Golden Filth

Personnel: Ken Weaver (vocals, drums); Tuli Kupferberg (vocals); Ken Pine, Carl Lynch (guitar); Howard Johnson (saxophone, tuba); Julius Watkins (French horn); Richard Tee (organ); Bob Mason (drums).
Recording information: Fillmore East (06/01/1968).
Arranger: Warren Smith .
By the time of this recording on June 1, 1968 at the Fillmore East, the Fugs had evolved from their primitive beginnings into a pretty full and tight rock band. They'd also grown into a pretty large group, in fact, with ten musicians, including two drummers. However, most of the material was initially recorded between 1965 and 1966, ESP era. While some listeners might be disappointed by the absence of live versions of highlights from their Reprise records, this release actually has more value than the typical live album because it has notably different arrangements of well-known songs. On the Fugs' first recordings in particular, the sound and execution was pretty primitive, and it's good to have full, together rock versions of notable songs like "Slum Goddess," "Supergirl," "Nothing," "I Couldn't Get High," "Coca-Cola Douche," and "How Sweet I Roamed." The spoken intros haven't dated as well, with Sanders' monologues about lesbian dwarfs and zebra puke, and Kupferberg moaning at one point, "I want a titty"; what was once a shocking and taboo-breaking is now superfluous to the music. ~ Richie Unterberger