The Duke Regains His Chops

The Duke Regains His Chops is the fourth song from Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention's second album Absolutely Free. It is the third and last song in The Duke of Prunes Suite and is a reprise of the main song, "The Duke of Prunes".

Background
The song was recorded with the rest of the suite ("The Duke of Prunes" and "Amnesia Vivace") on November 16, 1966. It is a reprise of "The Duke of Prunes" lyric-wise and music-wise. Roy Collins sings the verses from "The Duke of Prunes" and then Frank references The Supremes' #1 hit in 1964, "Baby Love". Collins then sings 'baby, baby, baby, baby', referencing "Baby Love". Roy Estrada and Collins then start to sing the outro mentioning cheese and prunes. It ends with a bass lick from Estrada and then segues into "Call Any Vegetable".

According to the libretto, the plot of this song is, following a beatdown from some cheerleaders, The Duke returns to his Douchess of Prunes and begins to remember. He pledges his 'prune is hers' and that he loves her.

Versions
On its own, the song has never been performed. In June 1975, Frank began to perform "The Duke of Prunes" live, replacing "Amnesia Vivace" with a guitar solo. After the solo, the orchestra played the melody of "The Duke of Prunes" again, but not with the original 1967 outro. That can be called the suite's interpretation of "The Duke Regains His Chops".

Personnel

 * Ray Collins – vocals (as The Duke of Prunes)
 * Frank Zappa – guitar, backing vocals
 * Roy Estrada – bass
 * Billy Mundi – drums
 * Bunk Gardner – woodwinds
 * Jimmy Carl Black – timpani

Project/Object clues
Ray Collins sings as The Duke of Prunes and says his prune is for her.
 * Prunes