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Apostrophe 1974

 (1974).Apostrophe (') is the eighteenth album by Frank Zappa, released in March 1974 in both stereo and quadraphonic formats.An edited version of its lead-off track, "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow", was the first of Zappa's three Billboard Top 100 hits, ultimately peaking at number 86.

Overview.Apostrophe (') remains Zappa's most commercially successful album in the United States.It was certified gold by the RIAA on April 7, 1976 and peaked at number 10 (a career-high placement) on the Billboard 200 chart in 1974.Continuing from the commercial breakthrough of Over-Nite Sensation (1973), this album is a similar mix of short songs showcasing Zappa's humor and musical arrangements.The record's lyrical themes are often bizarre or obscure, with the exception of "Uncle Remus", which is an extension of Zappa's feelings on racism featured on his earlier song "Trouble Every Day".Music.The first half of the album loosely follows a continuing theme."Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "Nanook Rubs It" tell of a dream the singer had where he saw himself as an Eskimo named Nanook.It continues into "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast", which Zappa said was inspired by a television commercial for Imperial margarine.As was the case with many of Zappa's albums, Apostrophe (') was a melange of archival and recent recordings; side one of Apostrophe (') (1974) and Over-Nite Sensation (1973) were recorded simultaneously.The tracks on side two originate from various 1972 sessions with overdubs recorded in 1973 and 1974, except for "Excentrifugal Forz", where the drum track (played by Johnny Guerin) originally came from the Hot Rats sessions in 1969 (along with the bass and drum tracks for "Lemme Take You to the Beach" on Studio Tan (1978) and Läther (1996), although in the case of "Excentrifugal Forz" this is not actually noted in either the album liner notes or official correspondence), and "Stinkfoot", where the basic track, possibly originally known as "The Bass & Drums Song", dates from the Chunga's Revenge sessions in early 1970."Apostrophe (')" is an instrumental featuring bassist Jack Bruce and session drummer Jim Gordon, who was on tour with Zappa's band at the time of the session in November 1972.Bruce is credited on the album cover with bass guitar and co-writing the title song, however, in an interview for Polish rock magazine Tylko Rock he said that he had not played any bass guitar parts or done any co-writing on "Apostrophe (')", only the cello intro.He reminisced, "So I turned up in a NY studio with my cello, I'm listening to [Zappa's] music, pretty awful, and just don't know what to do with myself, and Frank [Zappa] says to me: liisten, I would like you to play a sound, like this... whaaaaaang!!! so I did what he asked me to do, Whaaaaaang!!! that was all, that was my input to Frank Zappa's most popular record! [laughs]".Bruce had studied the instrument at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and performed with it on some of his other recordings.However, Zappa has referred to Bruce playing bass on the song in an interview: "Well, that was just a jam thing that happened because he was a friend of (drummer) Jim Gordon.I found it very difficult to play with him; he's too busy. He doesn't really want to play the bass in terms of root functions; I think he has other things on his mind. But that's the way jam sessions go".Release and Reception.Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote in his review: "Disillusioned acolytes are complaining that he's retreated, which means he's finally made top ten, but that's just his reward for professional persistence.If anything, the satire's improved a little, and the title piece-an improvisation with Jack Bruce, Jim Gordon, and rhythm guitarist Tony Duran-forays into quartet-style jazz-rock.Given Frank's distaste for 'Cosmik Debris' you'd think maybe he's come up with something earthier than Mahavishnu, but given his distaste for sex you can be sure it's more cerebral instead".Apostrophe (') and Over-Nite Sensation, recorded with the same group of musicians, are the subject of a Classic Albums series documentary from Eagle Rock Entertainment, released on DVD May 1, 2007.In July 2016, the Zappa Family Trust released a CD of alternate mixes, different takes and live versions of material from Apostrophe (') titled The Crux of the Biscuit.It includes early versions of "Down in De Dew", which Zappa considered for Apostrophe (') but later included on Läther.Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa except where noted.Side One.01 - "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" 2:07.02 - "Nanook Rubs It" 4:38.03 - "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast" 1:50.04 - "Father O'Blivion" 2:18.05 - "Cosmic Debris" 4:14.Side Two.01 - "Exentrifugal Forz" 1:33.02 - "Apostrophe" 5:50.03 - "Uncle Remus" 2:44.04 - "Stinkfoot" 6:33.Personnel/Musicians.Frank Zappa - vocals, guitar, bass, bouzouki.Lynn (Linda Sims) - vocals, backing vocals.Tina Turner - backing vocals (uncredited).Robert "Frog" Camarena - vocals, backing vocals.Ruben Ladron de Guevara - vocals, backing vocals.Debbie - vocals, backing vocals.Ray Collins - backing vocals.Sue Glover - backing vocals.Kerry McNabb - backing vocals, engineer, remixing.Sal Marquez - trumpet.Ian Underwood - saxophone.Napoleon Murphy Brock - saxophone, backing vocals.Bruce Fowler - trombone.Don "Sugarcane" Harris - violin.Jean-Luc Ponty - violin.Ruth Underwood - percussion.George Duke - keyboards, backing vocals.Tony Duran - rhythm guitar.Tom Fowler - bass guitar.Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) - bass guitar.Jack Bruce - bass on "Apostrophe'" (see controversy presented above).Ralph Humphrey - drums (side one).Johnny Guerin - drums on "Excentrifugal Forz".Aynsley Dunbar - drums on "Uncle Remus" and "Stink-Foot".Jim Gordon - drums on "Apostrophe".Production Staff.Cal Schenkel - artwork, graphic design.Barry Keene - engineer.Ferenc Dobronyi - cover design.Bob Ludwig - technician.Paul Hof - technician.Oscar Kergaives - technician.Brian Krokus - technician.Mark Aalyson - photography.Bob Stone - transfers, digital remastering.Steve Desper - engineer.Terry Dunavan - engineer.Zach Glickman - marketing.Bob Hughes - engineer.Indtast din tekst her...

Broadway the hard way 1988

Broadway the Hard Way is a live album by American musician Frank Zappa recorded at various performances along his 1988 world tour.It was first released as a 9-track vinyl album through Zappa's label Barking Pumpkin Records in October 1988, and subsequently as a 17-track CD through Rykodisc in 1989.Broadway the Hard Way was recorded between February 9th and June 9th 1988 and was released on October 14, 1988 (LP) and on May 25, 1989 on CD on the Barking Pumpkin label.Music and Lyrics.This album was compiled from Zappa's last tour in 1988, in a band format. Most of the songs are satirical of prominent contemporary figures, chiefly in the political sphere, and of current social and political trends.Zappa's individual targets include Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan on "Dickie's Such An Asshole" (written in 1973), Jesse Jackson on "Rhymin' Man", Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and Pat Robertson on "Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk", and Michael Jackson and his family on "Why Don't You Like Me?".In "Any Kind of Pain" (which Zappa's band had performed as an instrumental in 1976 and rehearsed in 1981, with slightly different melody and lyrics, but was not completed as a vocal work until 1988), he satirises the manner in which an imagined vapid model is exploited and despised by the men who employ her.The album contains several covers, from the jazz standard "Stolen Moments" to the Police song "Murder by Numbers" (with a guest appearance by Sting). "Outside Now" is from Joe's Garage, and "Why Don't You Like Me" can be easily recognized as a remake of Zappa's 1970 title "Tell Me You Love Me"."Rhymin' Man" is filled with melodic quotes from evergreens such as "Happy Days Are Here Again", "Hava Nagila", "La Cucaracha" and "Frère Jacques".In "What Kind of Girl" there is a line from "Strawberry Fields Forever" and a segment from the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"; while "Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk" quotes "Louie Louie", "Rock of Ages" and Marius Constant's Theme from The Twilight Zone."Promiscuous", which takes aim at surgeon general C. Everett Koop, is delivered in rapped verse.Despite the title, Zappa did not intend the material for a theatrical production, but the album received a Grammy nomination in 1990 for Best Musical Cast Show Album, losing to Jerome Robbins' Broadway.Track List.All tracks by Frank Zappa, except where noted.Side One.01 - "Elvis Has Just Left the Building" (Palasport di Genova, June 9 1988) - 2:24.02 - "Planet of the Baritone Women" (Music Hall, March 5 1988; Warner Theatre, February 9 1988; Tower Theater, February 12 1988) - 2:48.03 - "Any Kind of Pain" (Music Hall, March 5 1988; Warner Theatre, February 9 1988; Tower Theater, February 12 1988; Falkoner Teatret, April 25 1988) - 5:42.04 - "Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk" (Tower Theater, February 13 & 14 1988; Royal Oak Music Theatre, February 26 1988; Cumberland County Civic Center, March 15 1988; Rothman Center, March 20 1988; Civic Center, March 16 1988; Nassau Coliseum, March 25 1988; Warner Theatre, February 9 1988; Wembley Arena, April 19 1988; Shea's Theater, March 9 1988; War Memorial Auditorium, March 11 1988) - 9:15.Side Two.01 - "Dickie's Such an Asshole" (Music Hall, March 5 1988; Warner Theatre, February 9 1988; Hall Tivoli, May 23 1988; Broome County Arena, March 17 1988; Olympen, April 26 1988 - 6:37.02 - "When the Lie's So Big") - 3:38.03 - "Rhymin' Man" (Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, May 9 1988) - 3:51.8. "Promiscuous" Royal Oak Music Theatre, February 26 1988 2:039. "The Untouchables" (Nelson Riddle) Civic Center, March 16 1988 3:05CD versionNo. Title Venue and date(s) Length1. "Elvis Has Just Left the Building" Palasport di Genova, June 9 1988 2:242. "Planet of the Baritone Women" Music Hall, March 5 1988; Warner Theatre, February 9 1988; Tower Theater, February 12 1988 2:483. "Any Kind of Pain" Music Hall, March 5 1988; Warner Theatre, February 9 1988; Tower Theater, February 12 1988; Falkoner Teatret, April 25 1988 5:424. "Dickie's Such an Asshole" Music Hall, March 5 1988; Warner Theatre, February 9 1988; Hall Tivoli, May 23 1988; Broome County Arena, March 17 1988; Olympen, April 26 1988 5:455. "When the Lie's So Big" Music Hall, March 5 1988; Warner Theatre, February 9 1988 3:386. "Rhymin' Man" Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, May 9 1988 3:507. "Promiscuous" Royal Oak Music Theatre, February 26 1988 2:028. "The Untouchables" (Riddle) Civic Center, March 16 1988 2:269. "Why Don't You Like Me?" Bushnell Memorial Hall, February 17 1988; Syria Mosque, February 25 1988; Tower Theater, February 13 1988; Auditorium Theatre, March 3 1988 2:5710. "Bacon Fat" (Andre Williams, Dorothy Brown, Zappa) Frauenthal Auditorium, March 1 1988 1:2911. "Stolen Moments" (Oliver Nelson) Frauenthal Auditorium, March 1 1988; Auditorium Theatre, March 3 1988 2:5712. "Murder by Numbers" (Sting, Andy Summers) Auditorium Theatre, March 3 1988 5:3713. "Jezebel Boy" Tower Theater, February 13 1988 2:2714. "Outside Now" Wembley Arena, April 19 1988; Palasport di Genova, June 9 1988 7:4915. "Hot Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel" Wiener Stadthalle, May 8 1988; Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, May 9 1988 6:4016. "What Kind of Girl?" Frauenthal Auditorium, March 1 1988; Auditorium Theatre, March 4 1988 3:1717. "Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk" Tower Theater, February 13 & 14 1988; Royal Oak Music Theatre, February 26 1988; Cumberland County Civic Center, March 15 1988; Rothman Center, March 20 1988; Civic Center, March 16 1988; Nassau Coliseum, March 25 1988; Warner Theatre, February 9 1988; Wembley Arena, April 19 1988; Shea's Theater, March 9 1988; War Memorial Auditorium, March 11 1988

You Can't Do that on stage anymore Sampler 1988

ou Can't do that on stage anymore Sampler 1988.In 1988 Zappa released a two-LP sampler on vinyl under the "Zappa Records" label shortly before the CD release of the six volume set with similar artwork to Vol. 1 of "You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore" which is a six-volume, 12-CD set Zappa assembled of live performances throughout his career.The liner notes to the second volume included some corrections to the date information of the first volume that Zappa received from fans, and further corrections and additions have come since then using available recordings.Track List.All songs written by Zappa unless otherwise noted.Side One.01 - "Plastic People" (Berry, Zappa) The Factory, The Bronx, NYC February 13th, 1969 - 4:38.02 - "The Torture Never Stops" Hemmerleinhalle, Neunkirchen am Brand, February 25th, 1978 - 15:48.Side Two.01 - "Montana (Whipping-Floss) Helsinki, Finland, February 1974 - 10:15.02 - "The Evil Prince" Vancouver, British Columbia, December 18th 1984 - 7:12.03 - "You Call That Music?" Columbia University, NYC, September 1969 - 3:07.Side Three.01 - "Sharleena" Universal Amphitheatre, Hollywood, December 23rd 1984 - 8:53.02 - "Nanook Rubs It" Odeon Hammersmith, London February 18th 1979 - 11:19.Side Four.01 - The Florida Airport Tape" (Kaylan, Volman, Zappa) An airport in Florida, June 1970 1:032. "Once Upon a Time" Rainbow Theatre, London, UK December 10, 1971 - 4:37.02 - "Once Upon a Time" Rainbow Theatre, London, UK December 10, 1971 4:3703 - "King Kong" Parc Des Expositions, Metz, France, June 22nd 1983 - 3:11.04 - "Dickie's Such A Asshole" The Roxy, Hollywood, CA, December 12th 1973 - 6:48.05 - "Cosmic Debris" Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA, December 17th 1984 - 4:45.Personnel:-Frank Zappa - engineer, keyboards, vocals, producer, main performer, guitar.Mark Volman - vocals.Howard Kaylan - vocals.Chad Wackerman - drums, vocals.Ike Willis - guitar, vocals.Lowell George - guitar, vocals.Ray White - guitar, vocals.Adrian Belew - guitar, vocals.Warren Cuccurullo - guitar, organ.Ian Underwood - wind, keyboards.Steve Vai - guitar.Denny Walley - slide guitar, vocals.Scott Thunes - bass guitar, synthesiser, vocals.Jim Pons - bass guitar, vocals.Roy Estrada - bass guitar, vocals.Jeff Simmons - bass guitar.Tom Fowler - bass guitar.Patrick O'Hearn - wind, bass guitar.Arthur Barrow - keyboards, bass guitar.Peter Wolf - keyboards.Allan Zavod - keyboards.Don Preston - keyboards.Ruth Underwood - vibraphone, percussion.Bobby Martin - keyboards, vocals, saxophone.Tommy Mars - keyboards, vocals.George Duke - keyboards, vocals.Motorhead Sherwood - baritone saxophone.Napoleon Murphy Brock - saxophone, vocals.Bunk Gardner - tenor saxophone, trumpet.Bruce Fowler - trombone.Vinnie Colaiuta - drums.Ralph Humphrey - drums.Art Tripp - drums.Aynsley Dunbar - drums.Terry Bozzio - drums.Chester Thompson - drums.Jimmy Carl Black - drums, percussion.Ed Mann - percussion.Album Info from Wikipedia and the album notes on the inner album cover.

GUITAR 1988

Guitar is a 1988 live album by Frank Zappa.It is the follow-up to 1981's Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar; like that album it features Zappa's guitar solos excerpted from live performances, recorded between 1979 and 1984.It garnered Zappa his sixth Grammy nomination for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance".Guitar was recorded live between March 31st 1979 and December 18th 1984 and was released on April 26th 1988 on the Barking Pumpkin label in the US andMay 2nd 1995 on the Zappa label in Europe.Background.Guitar was originally intended to be a 3-record box set (like Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar), but Zappa decided, with this release, to start using compact discs as his primary distribution medium rather than records, as such, it was Zappa's first album to be released simultaneously on vinyl and CD.The double CD, released on Rykodisc in the US and Zappa Records in Europe, contained all 32 tracks while the double LP was pared down to 19 tracks and released on Zappa's Barking Pumpkin label (US) and Zappa Records (EU).Aside from "Watermelon in Easter Hay", "Sexual Harassment In The Workplace" and "Outside Now," all tracks were derived from performances of other songs, as on Shut Up 'n Play Your Guitar. Other solos were excerpted from "The Black Page", "Let's Move to Cleveland", "Drowning Witch", "Zoot Allures", "Whipping Post", "City of Tiny Lites", "Advance Romance", "Hot-Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel", "King Kong", "Easy Meat", "Ride My Face to Chicago", "Sharleena", "A Pound for a Brown on the Bus", and "Inca Roads".Track names, though unrelated to the actual compositions, make many references to popular culture and world history."Do Not Pass Go" refers to the Monopoly phrase that appears to prevent players from collecting a monetary bonus; "Jim & Tammy's Upper Room" recalls televangelists Jim Bakker and his wife Tammy Faye Messner; "Were We Ever Really Safe in San Antonio?", "Sunrise Redeemer" and "Hotel Atlanta Incidentals" are references to the locations of the venues in which the pieces were played; "Move It or Park It" is a colloquialism that could express frustration with an apprehensive driver of a motor vehicle; "Orrin Hatch on Skis" refers to Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch; "But Who Was Fulcanelli?" refers to an alias apparently used by a 19th-century French alchemist and author; "For Duane", one of Zappa's many readings of "Whipping Post", references Duane Allman; "GOA" is titled after the region of India; "Do Not Try This at Home" refers to the disclaimer often associated with dangerous or risky feats on television or video."Chalk Pie" was Zappa's planned title for a 1982 release of which its tracks eventually appeared on Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch and The Man from Utopia."In-A-Gadda-Stravinsky" refers both to Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and 20th-century composer Igor Stravinsky, one of Zappa's influences.During the piece, bassist Scott Thunes plays the well-known motif from "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", while Zappa plays a line from Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, "Taps" is also quoted by Thunes."Variations on Sinister #3", though derived from a version of "Easy Meat", gained its name from the interpolation of themes from "Theme from the 3rd Movement of Sinister Footwear" from You Are What You Is."Canadian Customs" almost certainly refers to the Canada Border Services Agency, Zappa is said to have experienced problems with the CBSA and created a routine around them with Napoleon Murphy Brock and André Lewis circa 1975."It Ain't Necessarily the Saint James Infirmary" is a portmanteau of "It Ain't Necessarily So", written by George and Ira Gershwin with libretto by DuBose Heyward for Porgy and Bess and "St. James Infirmary Blues", a composition with no officially recorded writer, famously recorded by Louis Armstrong and later by Cab Calloway. Guitar credits the latter to Joe Primrose, but the song's author is unverified, both songs are quoted on the track.The Real Frank Zappa Book, Zappa's autobiography, contains the following statement, which most likely accounts for the track name "Winos Do Not March":-I have a theory about beer:- Consumption of it leads to pseudo-military behaviour, think about it-winos don't march.Longer edits of "But Who Was Fulcanelli?" and "For Duane" and a shorter edit of "Things That Look Like Meat" appear on the 1987 compilation The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa. One of its tracks, "A Solo from Heidelberg", derived from "Yo' Mama", was originally intended to appear on Guitar.Similar albums are Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, Trance-Fusion, Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute, The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa.Track List.All tracks composed by Frank Zappa, except where noted.Side One.01 - "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace" - 3:42.02 - "Republicans" - 5:08.03 - "Do Not Pass Go" - 3:37.04 - "That's Not Really Reggae" - 3:17.05 - "When No One Was No One" - 4:41.Side Two.01 - "Once Again, without the Net" - 3:58.02 - "Outside Now (Original Solo)" - 5:29.03 - "Jim & Tammy's Upper Room" - 3:11.04 - "Were We Ever Really Safe in San Antonio?" - 2:50.10. "That Ol' G Minor Thing Again" 4:39.Side Three.01 - "Move It or Park It" - 5:43.02 - "Sunrise Redeemer" - 3:53.03 - "But Who Was Fulcanelli?" - 2:58.04 - "For Duane" - 3:25.05 - "GOA" - 4:46.Side Four.01 - "Winos Do Not March" - 3:14.02 - "Systems of Edges" - 5:32.03 - "Things That Look Like Meat" - 6:55.04 - "Watermelon in Easter Hay" - 4:00.Personnel:-Frank Zappa - guitar.Ray White - guitar.Steve Vai - guitar.Tommy Mars - keyboards.Bobby Martin- keyboards.Ed Mann - percussion.Scott Thunes - bass guitar.Chad Wackerman - percussion.Ike Willis - guitar.Allan Zavod - keyboards.Denny Walley - guitar.Warren Cuccurullo - guitar.Arthur Barrow - bass guitar.Vinnie Colaiuta - percussion.Peter Wolf - keyboards.Album Info from Wikipedia.4242

Jazz from hell 1986

Jazz from Hell is an instrumental album whose selections were all composed and recorded by American musician Frank Zappa.It was released on November 15, 1986 by Barking Pumpkin Records on vinyl and cassette, and in 1987 by Rykodisc on CD.Jazz from Hell was recorded between 1985 and 1986 at UMRK (except "St. Etienne": May 28, 1982 at Palais des Sports, Saint-Étienne, France) was released on November 15th 1986 on the Barking Pumpkin label in the US and EMI Records label in the UK.Jazz from Hell was Zappa's final studio album released in his lifetime; for the remaining seven years of his life, he would only release live concert albums, although the posthumous Civilization Phaze III was completed shortly before his death.Background.Frank Zappa explained that the album title was a political reference: "Things in America can be from hell. Right now we have a president from hell (Ronald Reagan), and a National Security Council from hell, so we should add Jazz from Hell also", 1987's Video from Hell is titled similarly.All compositions were executed by Frank Zappa on the Synclavier DMS with the exception of "St. Etienne", a guitar solo excerpted from a live performance Zappa gave of "Drowning Witch" from his Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch album, during a concert in Saint-Étienne, France, on his 1982 tour."While You Were Art II" is a Synclavier performance based on a transcription of Zappa's improvised guitar solo on the track "While You Were Out" from the album Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981). The unreleased original Synclavier performance was done using only the unit's FM synthesis, while the recording found here was Zappa's "deluxe" arrangement featuring newer samples and timbres."Night School" was possibly named for a late-night show that Zappa pitched to ABC; the network did not pick it up. A music video was made for the song."G-Spot Tornado", assumed by Zappa to be impossible to play by humans, would be performed by Ensemble Modern on the concert recording The Yellow Shark (1993).Releases.In the initial European CD release, the album was featured as the second album on a "two for the price of one compilation," with nine tracks from Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention (1985) on the same disc.Awards.Zappa won a 1988 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for this album.Controversy.Though Jazz from Hell is an entirely instrumental album, there is an unconfirmed report that the Fred Meyer chain of stores sold it in their Music Market department featuring an RIAA Parental Advisory sticker.This could have been the result of Zappa's feud with the Parents Music Resource Center (which had also inspired the 1985 album Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention), an objection to the use of the word "hell" in the album title, or in reference to the track "G-Spot Tornado", describing the erogenous zone in human anatomy commonly known as the G-spot.Track List.The music to all selections was composed, and all selections were arranged, by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "Night School" - 4:47.02 - "The Beltway Bandits" - 3:25.03 - "While You Were Art II" - 7:17.04 - "Jazz from Hell" - 2:58.Side Two.01 - "G-Spot Tornado" - 3:17.02 - "Damp Ankles" - 3:45.03 - "St. Etienne" - 6:26.04 - "Massaggio Galore" - 2:31.Personnel:-Frank Zappa - lead guitar, Synclavier, keyboards, production.Steve Vai - rhythm guitar on "St. Etienne".Ray White - rhythm guitar on "St. Etienne".Tommy Mars - keyboards on "St. Etienne".Bobby Martin - keyboards on "St. Etienne".Scott Thunes - bass guitar on "St. Etienne".Chad Wackerman - drums on "St. Etienne".Ed Mann - percussion on "St. Etienne".Technical Personnel:-Greg Gorman - cover photo.Bob Rice - computer assistant.Bob Stone - engineering.Album Info from Wikipedia.

Frank Zappa meets the mothers of prevension 1985

.Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention is a 1985 album by Frank Zappa, the album was originally released in two slightly different versions in the US and Europe.Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention was recorded between November 1981 and September 1985 at UMRK and was released on November 21st 1985 on the Barking Pumpkin label.The album's title is a reference to the lobby group, the PMRC, who were campaigning to require record companies to put warning stickers on albums they considered offensive, and to Zappa's former band, the Mothers of Invention.Release.Following distribution problems with Zappa's album Thing-Fish, which former Barking Pumpkin distributor MCA Records refused to distribute, Zappa made a deal with EMI Records, which would allow Them or Us and Thing-Fish to be distributed by Capitol Records in the United States.Zappa wrote a "warning" which appeared on the inner sleeves of these albums, as well as Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention, which stated that the albums contained content "which a truly free society would neither fear nor suppress", and a "guarantee" which stated that the lyrics would not "cause eternal torment in the place where the guy with the horns and pointed stick conducts his business".The liner notes also contained a quote from Senator Ernest Hollings, who testified during the PMRC hearings: "...if I could find some way constitutionally to do away with it (foul language in music), I would", as well as Zappa's oft-repeated liner notes request for his fans to register to vote.The original US version of the album contains the track "Porn Wars" - a sound collage featuring excerpts from PMRC hearings, this track was omitted from non-US versions, and replaced with three other pieces: "I Don't Even Care", co-written by Zappa and Johnny "Guitar" Watson, and two instrumental tracks - "One Man, One Vote" (a Synclavier composition) and "H.R. 2911", which collates some of the backing music from "Porn Wars", without the PMRC hearing excerpts and other dialogue.The initial EMI CDs only included the European Version while the original Rykodisc CDs added two of the three European tracks and shuffled around the running order, the 1995 Rykodisc remaster added the third European track after the same shuffled order.Track List.All tracks written by Frank Zappa, except where noted.US Version.Side One.01 - "We're Turning Again" - 4:5502 - "Alien Orifice" - 4:0303 - "Yo Cats" (Zappa, Tommy Mars) - 3:3104 - "What's New in Baltimore?" - 5:21Side Two.01 - "Little Beige Sambo" - 3:02.02 - "Porn Wars" - 12:04.03 - "Aerobics in Bondage" - 3:16.European Version.Side One.01 - "We're Turning Again" - 4:5502 - "Alien Orifice" - 4:0303 - "Yo Cats" (Zappa, Tommy Mars) - 3:3104 - "What's New in Baltimore?" - 5:21Side Two.01 - "I Don't Even Care" - 4:43.02 - "One Man_One Vote" - 2:36.03 - H.R. 2911" - 3:35.04 - "Little Beige Sambo" - 3:02.05 - "Aerobics in Bondage" - 3:16.RYKO CD Version.01 - "I Don't Even Care" - 4:43.02 - "One Man_One Vote" - 2:36.03 - "Little Beige Sambo" - 3:02.04 - "Aerobics in Bondage" - 3:16.05 - "We're Turning Again" - 4:55.06 - "Alien Orifice" - 4:03.07 - "Yo Cats" (Zappa, Tommy Mars) - 3:31.08 - "What's New in Baltimore?" - 5:21.09 - "Porn Wars" - 12:04.1995 RYKO CD Version.01 - "I Don't Even Care" - 4:43.02 - "One Man_One Vote" - 2:36.03 - "Little Beige Sambo" - 3:02.04 - "Aerobics in Bondage" - 3:16.05 - "We're Turning Again" - 4:55.06 - "Alien Orifice" - 4:03.07 - "Yo Cats" (Zappa, Tommy Mars) - 3:31.08 - "What's New in Baltimore?" - 5:21.09 - "Porn Wars" - 12:04.10 - "H.R. 2911" - 3:35.Personnel:-Frank Zappa - vocals, guitar, Synclavier, producerJohnny "Guitar" Watson - vocals, guitar on "I Don't Even Care".Ike Willis - vocals, guitar.Ray White - vocals, guitar.Bobby Martin - vocals, keyboards.Steve Vai - guitar.Tommy Mars - keyboards.Scott Thunes - bass.Chad Wackerman - drums.Ed Mann - percussion.Moon Zappa - vocals.Dweezil Zappa - vocals.John Danforth - voice excerpts on "Porn Wars".Ernest Hollings - voice excerpts on "Porn Wars".Paul S. Trible, Jr. - voice excerpts on "Porn Wars".Paula Hawkins - voice excerpts on "Porn Wars".J. James Exon - voice excerpts on "Porn Wars".Al Gore - voice excerpts on "Porn Wars".Tipper Gore - voice excerpts on "Porn Wars".Bob Stone - engineer.

Them og us 1984

Them or Us is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1984 by Barking Pumpkin Records.Album Content.Its opening and closing songs were not written by Zappa: "The Closer You Are", was written by Earl Lewis and Morgan Robinson and originally released by The Channels; and "Whippin' Post", originally performed by The Allman Brothers Band."Ya Hozna" includes backward vocals taken from "Sofa No. 2" (from "One Size Fits All", 1975), "Lonely Little Girl" (from We're Only in It for the Money, 1968) and unreleased outtakes of "Valley Girl" (vocals by Moon Zappa)."Planet of My Dreams" (featuring Bob Harris on vocals) is a 1981 studio recording taken from the score of Zappa's unrealised 1972 stage musical "Hunchentoot" (other titles from this show appear on the first-CD edition of the Sleep Dirt reissue from 1993)."Be In My Video", described as the best song on the album, pokes fun at the cliches in music videos, particularly David Bowie's hit single "Let's Dance".As with other Zappa rock albums of this era, many of the tracks are sourced from live recordings.Later studio overdubs were liberally applied, although there is no mention of this on the album notes.Release.Following problems with the album Thing-Fish, which MCA Records refused to distribute, Zappa made a deal with EMI Records, which would allow Them Or Us and Thing-Fish to be distributed by Capitol Records in the United States.Zappa wrote a "warning" which appeared on the inner sleeves of these albums, as well as Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention, which stated that the albums contained content "which a truly free society would neither fear nor suppress", and a "guarantee" which stated that the lyrics would not "cause eternal torment in the place where the guy with the horns and pointed stick conducts his business".Track List.All tracks written by Frank Zappa, except where noted.Side One.02 - "The Closer You Are" (Earl Lewis, Morgan "Bobby" Robinson) 2:55.02 - "In France" 3:30.03 - "Ya Hozna" 6:26.04 - "Sharleena" 4:33.Side Two.01 - "Sinister Footwear II" 8:39.02 - "Truck Driver Divorce" 8:59.Side Three.01 - "Stevie's Spanking" 5:23.02 - "Baby, Take Your Teeth Out" 1:54.03 - "Marque-son's Chicken" 7:33.04 - "Planet of My Dreams" 1:37.Side Four.01 - "Be in My Video" 3:39.02 - "Them or Us" 5:2303 - "Frogs with Dirty Little Lips" (Frank Zappa, Ahmet Zappa) 2:42.04 - "Whipping Post" (Gregg Allman) 7:32.Personnel:-Musicians.Frank Zappa - guitar, vocals.Ray White - guitar, vocals.Steve Vai - guitar.Dweezil Zappa - guitar.Tommy Mars - keyboards.Bobby Martin - keyboards, saxophone, vocals, harmonica.George Duke - piano, vocals.Brad Cole - piano.Scott Thunes - bass, Minimoog.Arthur Barrow - bass.Patrick O'Hearn - bass.Ed Mann - percussion.Chad Wackerman - drums.Ike Willis - vocals.Napoleon Murphy Brock - vocals.Roy Estrada - vocals.Johnny "Guitar" Watson - vocals.Moon Unit Zappa - vocals.Bob Harris - vocals.Thana Harris - vocals.Production Staff.Mark Pinske - chief engineer.John Matousek - mastering.Gabrielle Raumberger - artwork, graphic design.Steve Schapiro - photography.Bob Stone - engineer.Donald Roller Wilson - Cover art.Album Info from Wikipedia.

The Man From Utopia 1983

The Man From Utopia (1983).The Man from Utopia is an album by American musician rank Zappa, released in March 1983 by Barking Pumpkin Records.The album is named after a 1950s song, written by Donald and Doris Woods, which Zappa covers as part of "The Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou".Production."The Dangerous Kitchen", "Mōggio" and "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" were all prepared for Zappa's unreleased album Chalk Pie.The album was the second of two to credit Steve Vai with "impossible guitar parts", the first album being the preceding album Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch (1982).Cover Art.The sleeve art features the work of Tanino Liberatore. It portrays Zappa on stage trying to kill mosquitoes.That is a reference to a concert held in Italy in 1982, the year before the release of the album, on 7 July at Parco Redecesio (which is also referred in a street sign on the album cover) in Segrate, near Milan.While Zappa was playing, a huge number of mosquitoes began flying on stage and gave the band a hard time.The back cover shows the audience as seen from the stage during the 1982 concert in Palermo, which ended in a riot.The sleeve art is also a reference to Liberatore's comic character RanXerox.Music and Lyrics.The album's opening track "Cocaine Decisions", with its groove redolent of skiffle washboards, is an attack on drug-influenced businessmen and features a harmonica."The Dangerous Kitchen" satirises dirty, unkempt kitchens."The Dangerous Kitchen", "The Radio Is Broken", and "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" all feature Zappa's "meltdown" style of generally pre-written but sometimes improvised singing/speaking.For "Jazz" and "Kitchen", Zappa had guitarist Steve Vai overdub complex guitar parts for the entire length of the songs, which perfectly copied Zappa's every word and syllable.This unique type of overdub was a one-time experiment that Zappa never repeated. Hungarian composer Péter Eötvös said in an interview:-"Dangerous Kitchen", off the album "The Man From Utopia", grew to become a basic piece for me, especially in later years, after I began working on operas.The technique that he uses in this particular song is very interesting: it's this half-sung, half-spoken performing method that's not quite like Sprechgesang, but what makes it so interesting is that he accompanies it with an instrumental solo.I was very surprised to find out that the guitar part was recorded separately.As it seemed so synchronous, I was convinced that Zappa had sung and played at the same time.Nevertheless the technique itself, the idea of "the singing instrument" comes from "Dangerous Kitchen".Release History.The album was originally released on vinyl in 1983.An unauthorised CD of this edition (with the exception of a remixed "Mōggio") was issued by EMI in the UK in 1986.The album was issued (in remixed and resequenced form with one additional track) on CD in 1993 by Barking Pumpkin.The later 1995 Rykodisc edition and the 2012 Universal Music Group release are identical.Track List.All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa, except where noted.Side One.01 - "Cocaine Decisions" 2:56.02 - "The Dangerous Kitchen" 2:51.03 - "Tink Walks Amok" 3:40.04 - "The Radio Is Broken" 5:52.05 - "Mōggio" 3:05.Side Two.01 - "The Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou" (Donald and Doris Woods, Obie Jessie) 3:19.02 - "Stick Together" 3:50.03 - "SEX" 3:00.04 - "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" 4:30.05 - "We Are Not Alone" 3:31.Personnel.Frank Zappa - guitar, vocals, drum machine, ARP 2600.Steve Vai - guitar, acoustic guitar.Ray White - guitar, vocals.Roy Estrada - vocals.Bob Harris - boy soprano.Ike Willis - vocals.Bobby Martin - keyboards, saxophone, vocals.Tommy Mars - keyboards.Arthur Barrow - keyboards, bass, micro bass, rhythm guitar.Ed Mann - percussion.Scott Thunes - bass.Chad Wackerman - drums.Vinnie Colaiuta - drums.Craig Twister Steward - harmonica.Dick Fegy - mandolin.Marty Krystall - saxophone.Album Info from Wikipedia.

Ship arriving too late to save a drowning witch 1982

Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch is an album by Frank Zappa, released in May 1982 and digitally remastered in 1991.It features five tracks composed by Zappa, and one song, "Valley Girl", co-written with Moon Unit Zappa, his daughter, who provided the spoken monologue mocking Valley girls, including phrases like "Gag me with a spoon!".The album's first half consists of studio recordings, while the second half consists of live recordings.Production.Side 1 was recorded at Zappa's Utility Muffin Research Kitchen studio at his home in Los Angeles; while Side 2 consisted of live performances from Zappa's fall 1981 U.S. tour with studio overdubs.The live material was originally intended for an unreleased double album tentatively titled either Chalk Pie or Crush All Boxes II, which was scrapped after Zappa's record distributor requested a single album instead.The cover art for the album shows the classic Droodle, by artist Roger Price (from which the album gets its name), whose shapes also suggest the letters "ZA" (and "P", sideways), as in "Zappa".At the time of the album's production, Price was living nearby to Zappa. The phrase "Ebzen Sauce" in "No Not Now" is derived from "Epsom Salt", an alternative name for magnesium sulfate.In the February 1983 issue of Guitar Player magazine, the song was said to have an "extremely distinctive bass line", which Zappa liked "because for people who don't understand what's going on in the rest of the song, there's always the bass line"."Valley Girl" - the second song on the album, and the song that would eventually become the album's single - was a combination of a guitar riff that Frank had composed, and a desire from his daughter, Moon, to work with her father.Musically, it is one of the most atypical Zappa tunes because of how relatively "normal" it is compared to other compositions, and is played entirely in 4/4 with the exception of the 7/4 groove at the very end.Tom Mulhern observed in Guitar Player that the "red-hot" guitar riff had actually been mixed "back in the mix", which Zappa explained was "because it conflict[ed] with the vocal part.And that red-hot-sounding guitar was just me and the drummer jamming at three o'clock in the morning.That track was the basis for the song. It was a riff that started off at a soundcheck about a year before, and I had been piddling with it for a long time.One night, we finally did it, saved the tape, and little by little we added all of this other stuff to it, and we got 'Valley Girl'." Scott Thunes's bass line was spontaneous and played through a Vox amp, and was the final addition to the song, which originally "didn't even have a bass part; it was [originally] just guitar and drums".The pseudo-title track, "Drowning Witch", begins with lyrics based around the theme of the cover art, and segues into an instrumental section of typical (for Zappa) complexity and intricacy, featuring musical quotations from The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky and the Dragnet TV theme composed by Walter Schumann and Miklós Rózsa.In Guitar Player, Zappa commented that the album version included 15 edits between live performances from different cities."Envelopes" was originally written in 1968 - with a prototype recording made during the original Mothers of Invention's European tour that year (which remains unreleased due to its inferior performance) - and is constructed around a harmony based on seventh and eighth note chords that "generate their own counterpoint as an automatic result of the voice leading".Zappa's band for the Autumn of 1981 and summer of 1982 tours, which he would continue to feature on the next few albums and the You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore series, included Ray White on rhythm guitar and vocals, Steve Vai on guitar, Tommy Mars on keyboards, Bobby Martin on keyboards, sax and vocals, Ed Mann on percussion, Scott Thunes on bass and Chad Wackerman on drums.For studio sessions, he also used past band members including vocalists Ike Willis, Bob Harris and Roy Estrada and bassists Arthur Barrow and Patrick O'Hearn.The album "was mixed on JBL4311 speakers" with MicMix Dynaflanger and Aphex compressors, consequently giving a "played up" prominence to its songs' bass lines.Release History.The original LP release contained a note that reads "This album has been engineered to sound correct on JBL 4311 speakers or an equivalent.Best results will be achieved if you set your pre-amp tone controls to the flat position with the loudness control in the off position.Before adding any treble or bass to the sound of the album, it would be advisable to check it out this way first. F.Z."The LP also featured a "letter from FZ" advertising the Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar box set, which had previously only been made available separately in the United States and, at the time Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch was released, was being made available for the first time in Europe.To promote the release of the UK box set, the first pressing of the UK edition of this album contained a 4-song 7" EP with A: "Shut Up & Play Yer Guitar" B1: "Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression" B2: "Why Johnny Can't Read?".Track B1 entitled on label as: "Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch".It was issued on CD by EMI with The Man from Utopia on the same disc, and separately by Barking Pumpkin, and later Rykodisc.It also had a release on 8 track tape.Track List.All songs written and composed by Frank Zappa, except where noted.Side One.01 - "No Not Now" 5:50.02 - "Valley Girl" (Frank Zappa, Moon Zappa) 4:50.03 - "I Come from Nowhere" 6:13.Side Two.01 - "Drowning Witch" 12:03.02 - "Envelopes" 2:46.03 - "Teen-Age Prostitute" 2:43.Personnel.Frank Zappa - Lead Guitar, Vocals.Steve Vai - Guitar (credited as "Impossible Guitar Parts").Ray White - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals.Tommy Mars - Keyboards.Bobby Martin - Keyboards, Sax, Vocals.Ed Mann - Percussion.Scott Thunes - Bass on "Drowning Witch", "Envelopes", "Teen-age Prostitute", and "Valley Girl".Arthur Barrow - Bass on "No Not Now" and the first part of "I Come From Nowhere".Patrick O'Hearn - Bass on the guitar solo in "I Come From Nowhere".Chad Wackerman - Drums.Roy Estrada - Vocals on "I Come from Nowhere".Ike Willis - Vocals.Bob Harris - Vocals.Lisa Popeil - Vocals on "Teen-Age Prostitute".Moon Unit Zappa - Vocal on "Valley Girl".Album Info from Wikipedia.

You are what you is 1981

You Are What You Is is a double album by American musician Frank Zappa, it was originally released as a double album in 1981 and later by Rykodisc as a 20-song CD.You Are What You Is was recorded between July 18th and September 11th 1980 at UMRK and releasedSeptember 23, 1981 on the Barking Pumpkin label.Production.After the release of Joe's Garage, Frank Zappa set up his home studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, and planned to release a triple LP live album called Warts and All.As Warts and All reached completion, Zappa found the project to be "unwieldy" due to its length, and scrapped it, later conceiving Crush All Boxes.Crush All Boxes would have been a single LP containing the studio recordings "Doreen", "Fine Girl", "Easy Meat" (a live recording with studio overdubs) and "Goblin Girl" on the first side, with the second side being occupied by a suite consisting of the songs "Society Pages", "I'm A Beautiful Guy", "Beauty Knows No Pain", "Charlie's Enormous Mouth", "Any Downers?" and "Conehead".During the production of Crush All Boxes, Zappa decided to scrap the album and conceive a set of releases drawing from both Warts and All and Crush All Boxes, which would emphasise different aspects of his multiple talents, formatting the two albums into You Are What You Is, Tinsel Town Rebellion and two series of live albums, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar and You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore.Zappa had performed most of the material from You Are What You Is on a tour running from March to July 1980 with a band including Ike Willis and Ray White on guitar and vocals, Tommy Mars on keyboards, Arthur Barrow on bass and keyboards and David Logeman on drums.This band recorded the basic tracks of the album in the summer of 1980 after finishing the tour, with guitarist Steve Vai and vocalist Bob Harris adding overdubs and joining the group for Zappa's fall 1980 tour.However, You Are What You Is was not released until after Tinseltown Rebellion and Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar although the latter two albums included material from the fall tour.The album also included guest appearances from former band members, including Jimmy Carl Black and Motorhead Sherwood from the 60's Mothers of Invention, as well as the first appearances on record of Zappa's children Moon Unit and Ahmet.Music and Lyrics.Like many of Zappa's albums, some of the tracks are bound together, although the album lacks an overall storyline.The title track "You Are What You Is" is an up-tempo pop rock style song that was released as a music video in 1984.Several of the songs mock televangelism and organided religion, such as "Heavenly Bank Account" and "Dumb All Over".Release History.The album was first issued on LP by Barking Pumpkin Records (distributed by CBS) in 1981.In 1981, it also received a very brief (and now very rare) issue on 8-track tape, catalog number WAX-37537 (Barking Pumpkin label, distributed by CBS).It received a worldwide release on both Ryko and Zappa Records CD in 1990, and was standardised under the Ryko banner in 1995.Digital Errors.The digital master prepared for both the original Ryko/Zappa Records release and the later Ryko 1995 re-release suffered from several severe audio problems and also contained a shortened version of the track "Dumb All Over", omitting the guitar solo that closed side three of the original LP in favour of an edit to the reprise of the "Dumb All Over" chorus heard at the beginning of side four of the LP.In 1998, the problems of these previous CD issues were fixed in an unannounced reissue, including a near-complete restoration of the guitar solo from "Dumb All Over".A further reissue in 2012 included the full "Dumb All Over" ending and fadeout from side three of the LP, as well as the reprise from the beginning of side four.Track List.Side oneNo. Title Length1. "Teen-Age Wind" 3:022. "Harder Than Your Husband" 2:283. "Doreen" 4:444. "Goblin Girl" 4:075. "Theme from the 3rd Movement of Sinister Footwear" 3:34Side twoNo. Title Length6. "Society Pages" 2:277. "I'm a Beautiful Guy" 1:568. "Beauty Knows No Pain" 3:029. "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" 3:3610. "Any Downers?" 2:0811. "Conehead" 4:24Side threeNo. Title Length12. "You Are What You Is" 4:2313. "Mudd Club" 3:1114. "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" 3:1015. "Dumb All Over" 5:45Side fourNo. Title Length16. "Heavenly Bank Account" 3:4417. "Suicide Chump" 2:4918. "Jumbo Go Away" 3:4319. "If Only She Woulda" 3:4820. "Drafted Again" 3:07.Personnel.Musicians:-Arthur Barrow - bass guitar.Jimmy Carl Black - vocals.Bob Harris - Boy Soprano, trumpet, vocals.David Logeman - drums.Ed Mann - percussion.Tommy Mars - keyboards, vocals.David Ocker - bass clarinet, clarinet.Mark Pinske - vocals.Motorhead Sherwood - tenor saxophone, vocals.Craig "Twister" Stewart - harmonica.Steve Vai - guitars.Denny Walley - vocals, slide guitar.Ray White - rhythm guitar, vocals.Ike Willis - rhythm guitar, vocals.Ahmet Zappa - vocals.Frank Zappa - composer, arranger, vocals, guitar.Moon Unit Zappa - vocals.Production Staff:-Amy Bernstein - artwork.George Douglas - assistant engineer.Jo Hansch - mastering.John Livzey - photography, cover photo.Thomas Nordegg - Franks personnel assistant.Mark Pinske - chief engineer.Santi Rubio - Studio Secretary.Allen Sides - engineer.Dennis Sager - digital engineer.Bob Stone - remixing, digital remastering.John Vince - artwork, graphic design.Frank Zappa - producer.

Shut up and play your guitar 1981

Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, a project consisting of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More and Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, is a series of albums by Frank Zappa.Released as separate albums in May 1981 on Barking Pumpkin Records, it was subsequently reissued as a triple album box set in 1982.As the title implies, the album consists solely of instrumentals and improvised solos, largely performed on electric guitar.The album series was conceived after Zappa shelved a proposed live album, Warts and All, and three tracks intended for that album appear on this series.The individual Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar albums and box set have been well received by critics, and Zappa subsequently produced two more albums focusing solely on guitar-oriented music: Guitar (1988) and Trance-Fusion (posthumously released in 2006).Background.After the release of Joe's Garage, Frank Zappa set up his home studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, and planned to release a triple LP live album called Warts and All.As Warts and All reached completion, Zappa found the project to be "unwieldy" due to its length.Zappa later conceived the Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar series, which contained two tracks originally prepared for Warts and All.Content.The album is entirely instrumental and features mainly guitar solos, hence the title, it is, however, interspersed with brief verbal comments between tracks, many of which were originally intended for the shelved album Läther.Each disc is titled after a variation on the album's name, which is shared with the title track found on each respective disc.Most solos on the album are culled from live performances of previous Zappa songs.The three title tracks are derived from successive renditions of "Inca Roads"; various other solos were taken from readings of "Conehead", "Easy Meat", "The Illinois Enema Bandit", "City of Tiny Lites", "Black Napkins", "The Torture Never Stops", "Chunga's Revenge", and "A Pound for a Brown on the Bus"."Ship Ahoy" was the coda from a performance of "Zoot Allures" the first part of which appears on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3.The final track, "Canard du Jour", is a duet with Frank Zappa on electric bouzouki and Jean-Luc Ponty on baritone violin dating from a 1972 studio session.Some of the solos from these albums are featured in written form in The Frank Zappa Guitar Book.Reception.The album was well received by critics:-Reviewing the album's double CD incarnation for AllMusic, Sean Westergaard wrote, "Frank Zappa was one of the finest and most underappreciated guitarists around, this is an album that should be heard by anyone who's into guitar playing".Another writer for the website, Lindsay Planer, similarly appraised the individual releases Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More and Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, writing of Some More, "it is certainly a wonderful place for interested parties to commence their discovery of the (dare say) many moods Zappa imbued in carefully constructed yet thoroughly improvised compositions such as the seven found here".In regard to Return of the Son, Planer wrote that Zappa "saved some of his best offerings Zappa pours his expansive ideas onto the soundscape with a certainty and purpose that is simply unmatched in terms of passion and inspiration".Legacy.The album's success lead Zappa to produce two more albums solely consisting of guitar solos: Guitar, which was released in 1988, and Trance-Fusion, released posthumously in 2006.Additionally, Zappa assembled the compilation The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa for Guitar World magazine.In 1997, Dweezil Zappa assembled another compilation of Zappa's guitar-based songs and solos, Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute.Track List.All tracks written by Frank Zappa except "Canard du Jour" which was improvised by Zappa and Jean-Luc Ponty.Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar - Record One.Side One.01 - "five-five-FIVE" from "Conehead" - Hammersmith Odeon, February 19th 1979 - 2:35.02 - "Hog Heaven" from "Easy Meat" - Brady Theater, October 18th 1980 - 2:46. 03 - "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" from "Inca Roads" - Hammersmith Odeon, February 17th 1979 - 5:35.04 - "While You Were Out" from UMRK, Autumn 1979 - 6:09.Side Two.01 - "Treacherous Cretins" Hammersmith Odeon, February 17th 1979 - 5:29.02 - "Heavy Duty Judy" from Berkeley Community Theatre, December 5th 1980 - 4:39.03 - "Soup 'n Old Clothes" from "The Legend Of The Illinois Enema Bandit" - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, December 11th 1980 - 7:33.Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More - Record Two.Side Three.01 - "Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression" from "City of Tiny Lites" - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, December 11th 1980 - 3:56.02 - "Gee, I Like Your Pants" from "Inca Roads" - Hammersmith Odeon, February 18th 1979 - 2:32.03 - "Canarsie" from Hammersmith Odeon, February 19th 1979 - 6:06.04 - "Ship Ahoy" from "Zoot Allures" - Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, February 3rd 1976 - 5:26.Side Four.01 - "The Deathless Horsie" from Hammersmith Odeon, February 19th 1979 - 6:18.02 - "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More" from "Inca Roads" - Hammersmith Odeon, February 18th 1979 6:52.03 - "Pink Napkins" from "Black Napkins" - Hammersmith Odeon, February 17th 1977 - 4:41.Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar - Record Five.Side One.01 - "Beat It with Your Fist" from "The Torture Never Stops" - The Palladium, October 30th 1980 - 1:59.02 - "Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" from "Inca Roads" - Hammersmith Odeon, February 19th 1979 - 8:45.03 - "Pinocchio's Furniture" from "Chunga's Revenge" - Berkeley Community Theatre, December 5th 1980 - 2:04.04 - "Why Johnny Can't Read" - "Pound for a Brown" - Hammersmith Odeon, February 17th 1979 - 4:04.Side Six.01 - "Stucco Homes" from UMRK, Autumn 1979 - 8:56.02 - "Canard du Jour" from Paramount Recording Studios, July 1972 - 10:12.Personnel:-Roy Estrada: Vocals.Frank Zappa: Lead Guitar, Bouzouki.Denny Walley, Ray White, Ike Willis, Steve Vai: Rhythm Guitar.Warren Cuccurullo: Rhythm Guitar, Electric Sitar.Jean-Luc Ponty - Baritone Violin.Tommy Mars, Bob Harris, Peter Wolf, Andre Lewis, Eddie Jobson: Keyboards.Patrick O'Hearn - Bass, Dialogue.Arthur Barrow - Bass.Vinnie Colaiuta - Drums.Terry Bozzio - Drums, Dialogue.Ed Mann - Percussion.Production:-Frank Zappa - Arranger, Composer, Conductor, Producer.Kerry McNabb - Engineer.Steve Nye - Engineer.Jo Hansch - Mastering.John Swenson - Liner Notes.John Livzey - Photography.John Vince - Graphic Design.Bob Stone - Remixing.Joe Chiccarelli - Engineer, Mixing (Berkley Theatre)George Douglas - Live Recording Engineer, UMRK Mobile.Tom Flye - Engineer.Mick Glossop - Engineer.Album Info from Wikipedia.

Tinseltown rebellion band

Tinsel Town Rebellion is a double live album released by Frank Zappa in May 1981.The album was conceived by Zappa after he scrapped the planned albums Warts and All and Crush All Boxes, and contains tracks that were intended for those albums.Overview.The lyrical themes varyingly focus on human sexuality, popular culture and other topics.The title track is a satire of the punk rock scene, describing a band that adopts the punk style to get a record deal.The album also contains reworked recordings of older Zappa songs, including "Love of My Life," "I Ain't Got No Heart," "Tell Me You Love Me," "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" and the third release of "Peaches en Regalia" appropriately titled "Peaches III".Production.Tinsel Town Rebellion was formed out of two albums - Warts and All and Crush All Boxes - that Zappa originally planned to release following the establishment of his home studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen. Warts and All was intended to be a triple live album, while Crush All Boxes would have consisted largely of studio recordings.As Warts and All reached completion, Zappa found the project to be "unwieldy" due to its length, and scrapped it, later conceiving Crush All Boxes.During the final stages of Crush All Boxes, Zappa decided to salvage the scrapped Warts and All album by releasing a series of albums which used the planned material to emphasize his various talents: You Are What You Is, Tinsel Town Rebellion and two series of live albums, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar and You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore.The opening track, "Fine Girl" is a studio recording originally intended for the unreleased album Crush All Boxes, along with an early mix of the live track "Easy Meat".The Tinsel Town Rebellion version of "Easy Meat" featured much heavier studio overdubs than the version prepared for Crush All Boxes.Zappa wrote "Easy Meat" in 1970 and the song was a concert staple of the early 1970's Mothers of Invention line-up featuring ex-members of The Turtles: Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan on lead vocals.The front cover art for Tinsel Town Rebellion retains the Crush All Boxes title, with the new album title spray painted over it.The sleeve and interior was designed by Cal Schenkel, and contains still images from the film Freaks, directed by Tod Browning.The majority of Tinsel Town Rebellion consists of overdub-free live recordings from the 1979 and late-1980 concert tours.This album marks the first appearance by guitarist Steve Vai.The album also introduces drummer David Logeman, who played drums from March through July on the 1980 tour, on the tracks "Fine Girl" and "Easy Meat".He would also be the sole drummer on the album You Are What You Is.Release History.The album was reissued on a single CD by Rykodisc in 1990 (An unauthorised CD had been previously issued by EMI in England in 1987).Complaints regarding the significantly inferior sound quality (the album was mastered by Bob Stone) led to a remaster by Spencer Chrislu in 1998.Universal Music Group released a new remaster in 2012.The 1990 release omitted the applause that Zappa had edited onto the endings of "For The Young Sophisticate" and "Pick Me I'm Clean" to end the album sides.The 1998 release restored the applause and included crossfades from the concluding songs of each side to the songs beginning the following side.The 2012 CD release includes the full applause endings with fadeouts as they had occurred on the original vinyl LP.Reception.Allmusic writer Steve Huey praised the album's instrumental work and the reworked versions of older songs, but described the sexually-themed lyrics as "problematic".Track List.All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "Fine Girl" 3:31.02 - "Easy Meat" 9:19.03 - "For the Young Sophisticate" 2:48.Side Two.01 - "Love of My Life" 2:15.02 - "I Ain't Got No Heart" 1:59.03 - "Panty Rap" 4:35.04 - "Tell Me You Love Me" 2:07.05 - "Now You See It - Now You Don't" 4:54.Side Three.01 - "Dance Contest" 2:58.02 - "The Blue Light" 5:27.03 - "Tinsel Town Rebellion" 4:35.04 - "Pick Me, I'm Clean" 5:07.Side Four.01 - "Bamboozled by Love" 5:46.02 - "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" 7:14.03 - "Peaches III" 5:01.Personnel.Musicians:-Frank Zappa - lead guitar, vocals.Arthur Barrow - bass & vocals.Vinnie Colaiuta - drums.Warren Cuccurullo - rhythm guitar & vocals.Bob Harris - keyboards, trumpet & high vocals.David Logeman - drums on "Fine Girl" and first half of "Easy Meat".Ed Mann - percussion.Tommy Mars - keyboards & vocals.Patrick O'Hearn - bass on "Dance Contest".Steve Vai - rhythm guitar & vocals.Denny Walley - slide guitar & vocals.Ray White - rhythm guitar & vocals.Ike Willis - rhythm guitar & vocals.Peter Wolf - keyboards.Production Staff.Frank Zappa - arranger, producer.Joe Chiccarelli - engineer.George Douglas - engineer.Tommy Fly - engineer.Jo Hansch - mastering.Thomas Nordegg - everything remote.Mark Pinske - chief engineer.Cal Schenkel - cover art.Allen Sides - engineer.Bob Stone - remixing, remastering, digital remastering (1990 edition).Spencer Chrislu - digital remastering (1996 edition).John Williams - graphics.Album Info from Wikipedia.

Joe's garage 1979

Joe's Garage Acts I, II&III.Joe's Garage is a three-part rock opera recorded by American musician Frank Zappa in September and November 1979.Originally released as two separate studio albums (a single album and a double album) on Zappa Records, the project was later remastered and reissued as a triple album box set, Joe's Garage, Acts I, II & III, in 1987.The LPs initially received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising its innovative and original music, but criticising the scatological, sexual and profane nature of the lyrics.Since its original release, Joe's Garage has been reappraised in a better light by some critics.Overview.Zappa described the album as a "stupid little story about how the government is going to do away with music".The story is told by a character identified as the "Central Scrutiniser" narrating the story of Joe, an average adolescent male, from Canoga Park, Los Angeles, who forms a garage rock band, has unsatisfying relationships with women, gives all of his money to a government-assisted and insincere religion, explores sexual activities with appliances, and is imprisoned.After being released from prison into a dystopian society in which music itself has been criminalised, he lapses into insanity.The album encompasses a large spectrum of musical styles, while its lyrics often feature satirical or humorous commentary on American society and politics.It addresses themes of individualism, free will, censorship, the music industry and human sexuality, while criticising government and religion, and satirising Catholicism and Scientology.Joe's Garage is noted for its use of xenochrony, a recording technique that takes guitar solos from older live recordings and overdubs them onto new studio recordings.All of the guitar solos on the album are xenochronous except for "Crew Slut" and "Watermelon in Easter Hay", a signature song that Zappa described as the best song on the album, and according to his son Dweezil, the best guitar solo his father ever played.BackgroundAfter being released from his contractual obligations with Warner Bros. Records, Frank Zappa formed Zappa Records, a label distributed at that time by Phonogram Inc..He released the successful double album Sheik Yerbouti (1979, recorded 8/1977-2/1978), and began working on a series of songs for a follow-up album.The songs "Joe's Garage" and "Catholic Girls" were recorded with the intention that Zappa would release them as a single.Throughout the development of Joe's Garage, Zappa's band recorded lengthy jams which Zappa later formed into the album.The album also continued the development of xenochrony, a technique Zappa also featured on One Size Fits All (1975), in which aspects of older live recordings were utilised to create new compositions by overdubbing them onto studio recordings, or alternatively, selecting a previously recorded solo and allowing drummer Vinnie Colaiuta to improvise a new drum performance, interacting with the previously recorded piece.Midway through recording the new album, Zappa decided that the songs connected coherently and wrote a story, changing the new album into a rock opera.Joe's Garage was the final album Zappa recorded at a commercial studio.Zappa's own studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, built as an addition to Zappa's home, and completed in late 1979, was used to record and mix all of his subsequent releases.Style and Influences.Lyrical and Story Themes:-The lyrical themes of Joe's Garage involve individualism, sexuality, and the danger of large government.The album is narrated by a government employee identifying himself as The Central Scrutiniser, who delivers a cautionary tale about Joe, a typical adolescent male who forms a band as the government prepares to criminalise music.The Central Scrutiniser explains that music leads to a "slippery slope" of drug use, disease, unusual sexual practices, prison, and eventually, insanity.According to Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz, Zappa's narrative of censorship reflected the censorship of music during the Iranian Revolution of 1979, where rock music was made illegal.The title track is noted as having an autobiographical aspect, as the character of Larry (as performed by Zappa himself) sings that the band plays the same song repeatedly because "it sounded good to me".In real life, Zappa said he wrote and played music for himself, his sole intended audience.The song also takes lyrical inspiration from bands playing in bars like The Mothers of Invention once had, and shady record deals Zappa had experienced in the past.In "Joe's Garage", Joe finds that the music industry is "not everything it is cracked up to be".The song refers to a number of music fads, including new wave, heavy metal, disco and glitter rock, and is critical of the music industry of the late 1970s."Catholic Girls" is critical of the Catholic Church, and satirises "the hypocrisy of the myth of the good Catholic girl".While Zappa was in favor of the sexual revolution, he regarded himself as a pioneer in publicly discussing honesty about sexual intercourse, stating"American sexual attitudes are controlled as a necessary tool of business and government in order to perpetuate themselves. Unless people begin to see through that, to see past it to, what sex is really all about, they're always going to have the same neurotic attitudes. It's very neatly packaged. It all works hand-in-hand with the churches and political leaders at the point, where elections are coming up".This view inspired the lyrical content of "Crew Slut", in which Mary, Joe's girlfriend, falls into the groupie lifestyle, going on to participate in a wet T-shirt contest in the following track, "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt"."Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" was written in the summer of 1978.Zappa's road manager, Phil Kaufman, alleged, that the song was written after Kaufman had asked that very question; within the context of the album's storyline, it is sung by Joe after he receives a sexually transmitted disease from Lucille, "a girl, who works at the Jack in the Box".The Central Scrutiniser continues to express the hypothesis that "girls, music, disease, heartbreak all go together".Halfway through the album's libretto, Zappa expressed the belief, that governments believe, that people are inherently criminals, and continue to invent laws, which gives states the legal grounds to arrest people, leading to the fictional criminalisation of music, which occurs towards the end of the album's storyline."A Token of My Extreme" satirises Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard, as well as new age beliefs and the sexual revolution.It describes an insincere religion, which co-operates with a "malevolent totalitarian regime"."Stick It Out" contains lyrical references to Zappa's songs "What Kind Of Girl", "Bwana Dik", "Sofa No. 2", and "Dancin' Fool"."Dong Work For Yuda" was written as a tribute to Zappa's bodyguard, John Smothers, and features Terry Bozzio imitating Smothers' dialect and speech."Keep It Greasy" is a lyrical tribute to anal sex.Following Joe's imprisonment and release, the libretto describes a dystopian future, accompanied musically by long guitar solos, which Joe imagines in his head.The penultimate song, "Packard Goose", criticises rock journalism, and features a philosophical monologue delivered by the character Mary, who had been absent since the first act.In the epilogue song "A Little Green Rosetta," Joe gives up music, returns to sanity, hocks his imaginary guitar and gets "a good job" at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen Facility (a self-reference to Zappa's own personal studio).The Central Scrutiniser sings the last song on the album in his "regular voice", and joins in a long musical number with most of the other people that worked with Zappa around 1979.Plot.At the beginning of the album, in Act I, we are introduced to "The Central Scrutiniser", the album's narrator, who brings us a "special presentation" on music's bad influences on man.We are introduced to Joe, the main character in the presentation. Joe used to be the lead singer in a garage band, which eventually broke up ("Joe's Garage").Joe continues playing his music until a neighbor calls the police, who tell Joe to "stick closer to church-oriented social activities".Joe starts going to the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) at the Catholic Church, held by Father Riley, and falls in love with a girl named Mary ("Catholic Girls").One day, Mary skips the church club and goes to the Armory.She becomes a roadie for a band called Toad-O ("Crew Slut").Eventually, Mary gets sick of being a roadie and is dumped in Miami.With no money to get home, she signs up for the local Wet T-Shirt Contest at the Brasserie, hosted by Father Riley (who has since changed his name to Buddy Jones) ("Wet T-Shirt Nite").Mary wins first place in the contest and wins fifty bucks, enough money to go home.However, Warren, a former member of Joe's Garage Band, finds out about Mary's "naughty exploits" and sends a letter to Joe telling him about it ("Toad-O Line").Joe "falls in with a fast crowd" and gets seduced by Lucille, a girl who works at the Jack in the Box, and has sex with her, only to catch gonorrhea ("Why Does It Hurt When I Pee"?).Discouraged, he sings about Lucille and his feelings for her ("Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up").In Act II, Joe arrives at the First Church of Appliantology, owned by L. Ron Hoover, and pays fifty bucks to join ("A Token of My Extreme").He learns German, dresses like a housewife and goes to a club called the "Closet", filled with sexual appliances.Joe meets Sy Borg, a "Model XQJ-37 Nuclear Powered Pansexual Roto-Plooker", who looks like a "Chrome-Plated Piggy Bank with marital aids stuck all over it", and falls in love with him ("Stick It Out").They go back to Sy's apartment and have sex, only for Joe to kill Sy accidentally during oral sex ("Sy Borg").Having given all his money to Hoover, Joe cannot pay to fix Sy and is arrested and sent to a special prison filled with people arrested due to music, who spend all day "plooking each other".At the prison, he meets Bald-Headed John, "King of the Plookers" ("Dong Work for Yuda").Joe is eventually "plooked" by the executives at the prison ("Keep It Greasey").Having "a long time to go before he's paid his debt to society", he decides to be "sullen and withdrawn" and sits around dreaming up imaginary guitar notes ("Outside Now"), until he is released from prison.In Act III, Joe is released from prison into a dystopian society where music has been made illegal and "walks through the parking lot in a semi-catatonic state", dreaming guitar notes. Eventually, he hears the voice of his neighbour Mrs. Borg taunting him in his head ("He Used to Cut the Grass").Joe becomes scared of rock journalists and sings about them.He sees a vision of Mary appear and deliver a lecture ("Packard Goose").Joe goes back to his house and dreams his last imaginary guitar notes ("Watermelon in Easter Hay").Afterward, he "hocks his imaginary guitar and gets a good job" at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, where he squeezes icing rosettes onto muffins.As an epilogue, the Central Scrutiniser turns off his plastic megaphone and sings the final song on the album, "A Little Green Rosetta", with all the people who worked with Frank Zappa around 1979, with the song growing more chaotic as it goes as "proof" that music is dangerous."Eventually it was discovered, that God did not want us to be all the same. This was Bad News for the Governments of The World, as it seemed contrary to the doctrine of Portion Controlled Servings. Mankind must be made more uniformly if The Future was going to work. Various ways were sought to bind us all together, but, alas, same-ness was unenforceable. It was about this time, that someone came up with the idea of Total Criminalisation. Based on the principle, that if we were all crooks, we could at last be uniform to some degree in the eyes of The Law. Total Criminalisation was the greatest idea of its time and was vastly popular except with those people, who didn't want to be crooks or outlaws, so, of course, they had to be Tricked Into It... which is one of the reasons, why music was eventually made Illegal". - Joe's Garage Acts II & III liner notes, 1979.Music and Performance.The music of Joe's Garage encompassed a variety of styles, including blues, jazz, doo wop, lounge, orchestral, rock, pop and reggae."Catholic Girls" makes musical reference to Zappa's controversial song "Jewish Princess", as a sitar plays the melody of the earlier song during the fadeout of "Catholic Girls"."Crew Slut" is performed as a slow blues song, with slide guitar riffs and a harmonica solo.According to Kelly Fisher Lowe, the song is "more Rolling Stones or Aerosmith than it is Gatemouth Brown or Guitar Watson".The extended three and a half minute, two-part guitar solo in "Toad-O-Line" is taken from Zappa's earlier song, "Inca Roads"."A Token Of My Extreme" originated as an instrumental song played during improvised conversations by saxophonist Napoleon Murphy Brock and George Duke on keyboards. It typically opened Zappa's concerts in 1974; a recording of this version of the piece was released under the title "Tush Tush Tush (A Token of My Extreme)" on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2."Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up" first appeared on Jeff Simmons' album of the same name, on which its writing is credited to "La Marr Bruister", one of Zappa's pseudonyms.The Joe's Garage arrangement is radically different, and is played in a reggae style."Stick It Out" originated as part of the Mothers of Invention's "Sofa" routine in the early 1970s.The Joe's Garage version is musically influenced by funk and disco, with its lyrics performed first in German, and then in English."Sy Borg" derives from funk, reggae and R&B."Keep It Greasy" had been performed by Zappa since 1975; the Joe's Garage album version features a guitar solo from a March 1979 live performance of the song "City of Tiny Lights".Another March 1979 guitar solo from "City of Tiny Lights" is incorporated into the song "Outside Now" using the same recording technique."Packard Goose" also uses xenochrony, with its guitar solo taken from a March 1979 performance of "Easy Meat".The album concludes with a long guitar instrumental, "Watermelon in Easter Hay", the only guitar solo recorded for the album, in 9/4 time; every other guitar solo on the album was xenochronous-overdubbed from older live recordings.In their review of the album, Down Beat magazine criticised the song, but subsequent reviewers have championed the song as Zappa's masterpiece. Lowe called it the "crowning achievement of the album" and "one of the most gorgeous pieces of music ever produced".Zappa told Neil Slaven that he thought it was "the best song on the album".The song's title is thought to have come from a saying used by Zappa while recording the album: "Playing a guitar solo with this band is like trying to grow watermelon in Easter hay".After Zappa died, "Watermelon in Easter Hay" became known as one of his signature songs, and his son, Dweezil Zappa, later referred to it as "the best solo Zappa ever played".The song is followed by "A Little Green Rosetta", a song that was originally intended to appear on Zappa's shelved Läther album, but rerecorded with different lyrics for Joe's Garage.Release.Joe's Garage was initially released in separate units, beginning with the single LP Act I in September 1979.For the album artwork, Zappa was photographed in blackface makeup, holding a mop for the car grease garage theme.The gatefold sleeve of Act I was designed by John Williams, and featured a collage, which included a naked Maya, vague technical drawings, pyramids and fingers on the fret of a guitar.The lyric insert featured similar illustrations, which related to the content of the songs and storyline.The title track was released as a single, with "The Central Scrutiniser" as its B-side, it did not chart.Act I peaked at #27 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.It was followed by the double album Acts II & III in November.The gatefold of Acts II & III featured collages taken from a medical journal, while the cover for Acts II & III featured a makeup artist applying blackface makeup to Zappa's face.Acts II & III peaked at #53 on the Pop Albums chart.Joe's Garage was reissued in 1987 as a triple album, combining Acts I, II & III into a single box set, and as a double album on compact disc.The song "Wet T-Shirt Nite" received two alternate titles, when the album was released on CD: the libretto referred to the song as "The Wet T-Shirt Contest", while the back cover referred to the song as "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt".In an interview, Zappa explained that the "fembot" was the name given to a female robot in an episode of the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man.The instrumental "Toad-O Line" was renamed "On the Bus".The Central Scrutiniser monologue at the end of "Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up", which concludes the story's first act, was indexed as its own track on the CD reissue, under the title "Scrutinizer Postlude".Reception and Legacy.AllMusic writer William Ruhlmann gave 3 out of 5 stars for the individual releases Act I and Acts II & III.Ruhlmann wrote of Act I, "although his concern with government censorship would see a later flowering in his battles with the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), here he wasn't able to use it to fulfill a satisfying dramatic function".Ruhlmann also felt that Acts II & III "seems so thin and thrown together, musically and dramatically".Don Shewey of Rolling Stone magazine wrote, "If the surface of this opera is cluttered with cheap gags and musical mishmash, its soul is located in profound existential sorrow.The guitar solos that Zappa plays in Joe's imagination burn with a desolate, devastating beauty.Flaws and all, Joe's Garage is Frank Zappa's Apocalypse Now".The collected Acts I, II & III release received 4.5 out of 5 stars from Allmusic's Steve Huey, who wrote "in spite of its flaws, Joe's Garage has enough substance to make it one of Zappa's most important '70s works and overall political statements, even if it's not focused enough to rank with his earliest Mothers of Invention masterpieces".For his performance on Joe's Garage, Vinnie Colaiuta was named "the most technically advanced drummer ever" by Modern Drummer, which ranked the album as one of the top 25 greatest drumming performances of all time.On September 26, 2008, Joe's Garage was staged by the Open Fist Theatre Company in Los Angeles, in a production authorised by the Zappa Family Trust.Track lLst.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa.Act I (Act I: Joe's Exploits).Side One.01 - "The Central Scrutinizer" 3:28.02 - "Joe's Garage" 6:10.03 - "Catholic Girls" 4:26.04 - "Crew Slut" 6:31.Act I (Act I: Sex and Side Gigs).Side Two.01 - "Wet T-Shirt Nite (retitled "Fembot In A Wet T-Shirt" in 1987)" 4:45.02 - "Toad-O Line (retitled "On The Bus" in 1987)" 4:19.03 - "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee"? 2:36.04 - "Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up" 5:43.05 - "Scrutinizer Postlude" 1:35.Act I Total length: 39:32.Acts II&III (Act II: The Closet).Side One.01 - "A Token of My Extreme" 5:30.02 - "Stick It Out" 4:34.03 - "Sy Borg" 8:56.Acts II&III (Act II: Prison).Side Two.01 - "Dong Work for Yuda" 5:03.02 - "Keep It Greasey" 8:22.03 - "Outside Now" 5:50.Act II&III Record One Total length: 38:15.Acts II&III (Act III: Dystopian Society).Side Three.01 - "He Used to Cut the Grass" 8:35.02 - "Packard Goose" 11:34.Acts II&III (Act III: Imaginary Guitar Notes).Side Four.01 - "Watermelon in Easter Hay" 9:09.02 - "A Little Green Rosetta" 8:15.Acts II&III Record Two Total length: 37:33.Personnel.Musicians:-Frank Zappa - lead guitar, vocalsWarren Cuccurullo - rhythm guitar, vocalsDenny Walley - slide guitar, vocals.Ike Willis - lead vocals.Peter Wolf - keyboards.Tommy Mars - keyboards (all tracks Act I).Arthur Barrow - bass guitar, guitar (on "Joe's Garage"), vocals.Patrick O'Hearn - bass guitar on "Outside Now" and "He Used to Cut the Grass".Ed Mann - percussion, vocals.Vinnie Colaiuta - drums, combustible vapours, optometric abandon.Jeff (Jeff Hollie) - tenor sax (all tracks Act I).Marginal Chagrin (Earle Dumler) - baritone sax (all tracks Act I).Stumuk (Bill Nugent) - bass sax (all tracks Act I).Dale Bozzio - vocals (all tracks Act I).Al Malkin - vocals (all tracks Act I).Craig Steward - harmonica (all tracks Act I).The Cast:-Frank Zappa - Central Scrutinizer, Larry, L. Ron Hoover, Father Riley & Buddy Jones.Ike Willis - Joe.Dale Bozzio - Mary.Denny Walley - Mrs. Borg.Al Malkin - Officer Butzis.Warren Cuccurullo & Ed Mann - Sy Borg.Terry Bozzio - Bald-Headed John.The Utility Muffin Research Kitchen Chorus - Al Malkin, Warren Cucurullo, Dale Bozzio, Geordie Hormel, Barbara Issak & most of the people who work at Village Recorders.Production Staff.Ferenc Dobronyi - Cover Design.Steve Alsberg - Project Coordinator.Joe Chiccarelli - Engineer, Mixing, Recording.Norman Seeff - Photography, Cover Photo.John Williams - Artwork.Steve Nye - Remixing.Mick Glossop - Remixing.Stan Ricker - Mastering.Jack Hunt - Mastering.Thomas Nordegg - Assistant.Tom Cummings - Assistant.Album Info from Wikipedia.

Orchestral favorites

Orchestral Favorites is an album by Frank Zappa first released in May 1979 on his own DiscReet Records label.The album is instrumental and features music performed by the 37-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra.Overview.The album's creation was spurred by Warner Bros.' rejection of Zappa's Läther album.After Warner had demanded more albums than Zappa was contractually obliged to provide and had re-edited the live album Zappa in New York, a lawsuit ensued, during which Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites were issued without Zappa's permission.Background.In early 1976, Zappa's relationship with manager and business partner Herb Cohen ended in litigation. Zappa and Cohen's company DiscReet Records was distributed by Warner Bros. Records.When Zappa asked for a reassignment of his contract from DiscReet to Warner in order to advance the possibility of doing special projects without Cohen's involvement, Warner briefly agreed.This led to the 1976 release of Zoot Allures on Warner.Early in 1977, Zappa delivered the master tapes for a quadruple-LP set, entitled Läther.However, Warner changed its position following legal action from Cohen, and refused to release the album, claiming that Zappa was contractually bound to deliver four more albums to Warner for the DiscReet label.During 1977, Zappa created the individual albums Zappa In New York, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites by re-editing recordings from the same batch of tapes that made up the 4-LP configuration.After Warner Bros. released Zappa In New York, they told him that he still owed them four more albums.He then attempted to get a distribution deal with Phonogram Inc. to release Läther on the new Zappa Records label.This led Warner to threaten legal action, preventing the release of Läther and forcing Zappa to shelve the project. In 1978 and 1979 Warner finally decided to release the three remaining individual albums they still held, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites.As Zappa had delivered the tapes only, these three individual albums were released with no musical credits.Warner also commissioned sleeve art by Gary Panter, which was not approved by Zappa.The material was first released on CD in 1991, along with Panter's artwork. Panter would later provide additional art for the album when it was reissued in 1995.Much of the material on Orchestral Favorites was made available to the public again in a different form when the alternate version of Läther was finally officially released posthumously in 1996.Content.Three of the album's five tracks were intended for the shelved Läther album.The music was performed by the 37-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra with Terry Bozzio on drums.The material included is primarily sourced from live performances recorded at Royce Hall under conductor Michael Zearott on the UCLA campus in September, 1975, with additional studio overdubs to correct performance errors.This was the third album by Zappa to use a full orchestra, following Lumpy Gravy and 200 Motels.The album contains an instrumental version of the suite, The Duke of Prunes, originally from the 1967 album Absolutely Free.Zappa plays an electric lead guitar solo with the orchestra on this track. Strictly Genteel was heard earlier as part of the 200 Motels film and soundtrack album.Bogus Pomp is also made up of themes that were used in 200 Motels.CD Editions.Orchestral Favorites was reissued in a digitally remastered version on CD by Barking Pumpkin in 1991, on the CD version the left and right stereo channels were reversed.This CD was reissued again in 1995 by Rykodisc. Much of the material on the album was made available to the public again when Läther was finally officially released to the public in 1996 after Zappa's death.In 2012, under a new distribution agreement between Gail Zappa (Frank's widow) and Universal Music Group, the CD was reissued yet again under the Zappa Records label.Despite new packaging the content is the same as other CD releases. In 2019, the original mix was reissued as part of the expanded 40th anniversary edition, which also contains two discs of bonus material.Track List.All tracks written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "Strictly Genteel" 7:04.02 - "Pedro's Dowry" 7:42.03 - "Naval Aviation in Art" 1:20.Side Two.01 - "Duke of Prunes" 4:20.02 - "Bogus Pomp" 13:29.Personnel:-Frank Zappa - guitar, vocals.Ian Underwood, Mike Lang & Ralph Grierson - keyboards.Bill Mays - Clavinet.Dave Parlato - bass.Terry Bozzio - drums.Emil Richards, Alan Estes, John Bergamo & Tom Raney - percussion.Mike Altschul - flute and clarinet.Malcolm McNab, Gene Goe & Ray Poper - trumpet.Bruce Fowler, Jock Ellis & Kenny Shroyer - trombone.Dana Hughes - bass trombone.Don Waldrop - tuba & contrabass trombone.Dave Shostac - flute, tenor sax.Gary Foster - 2nd flute (and doubles).Ray Reed - flute, alto sax.Vic Morosco - clarinet, alto sax.Jay Migliori - clarinet, tenor sax.Mike Altschul - bass clarinet, baritone sax.Earle Dumler - oboe, English horn, bass oboe.John Winter - oboe, English horn.David Scherr - 2nd oboe, tenor sax.Joann Caldwell - bassoon.Bobby Tricarico - bassoon, contrabassoon.David Duke, Arthur Briegleb, Todd Miller & Bob Henderson - French horn.Tommy Morgan - harmonica (on "Duke Of Prunes").John Wittenberg & Bobby Dubow - violin.Pamela Goldsmith - viola.Jerry Kessler - cello.Lou Anne Neill - harp.Michael Zearott - conductor.Album Info from Wikipedia.

Sheik Yebouty

Sheik Yerbouti is a double album by Frank Zappa, first released in March 1979 as the first release on Zappa Records (distributed by Phonogram Inc.).It is mostly made up of live material recorded in 1977 and 1978.Background.Sheik Yerbouti represented a major turning point in Zappa's career.It was the first album to be released on his own eponymous label after his departure from Warner Bros. Records.It emphasised the comedic aspect of his lyrics more than ever before, beginning a period of increased record sales and mainstream media attention.Sheik Yerbouti remains Zappa's biggest selling album worldwide with over 2 million units sold to date.Inspiration.The title is a play on words; Zappa appears on the cover in character in Arab headdress, and the name, meant to resemble an Arabic transcription (Djibouti is an Arabic-speaking republic in Africa) is pronounced like the title of KC and the Sunshine Band's 1976 disco hit "Shake Your Booty".The album featured Zappa's satirical, humorous and otherwise offensive material."Bobby Brown" is well-known worldwide, except for the US, this is because the song was banned from airplay due to its sexually explicit lyrics."I Have Been in You" pokes fun at Peter Frampton's 1977 hit "I'm in You" while maintaining a sexual meaning."Dancin' Fool", a Grammy nominee, became a popular disco hit despite its obvious parodical reflection of disco music."Flakes", about the lousiness of labourers in California, includes a parody of Bob Dylan."Jewish Princess", a humorous look at Jewish stereotyping, attracted attention from the Anti-Defamation League, to which Zappa denied an apology, arguing: "Unlike the unicorn, such creatures do exist-and deserve to be 'commemorated' with their own special opus".Some of Zappa's solos from the album began life as improvisations from his earlier work."Rat Tomago" was edited from a performance of "The Torture Never Stops", which originally appeared on Zoot Allures (1976); likewise, "The Sheik Yerbouti Tango" is taken from a live version of "Little House I Used to Live in", originally a Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1970) track.The song "City of Tiny Lites" featured an animation video made by Bruce Bickford which was featured on the Old Grey Whistle Test.Writing and Recording.Most of the tracks were recorded live and then extensively overdubbed in the studio. "Rat Tomago" is bookended by two brief pieces of musique concrète, constructed of studio dialogue, sound effects, and assorted musical fragments.In making "Rubber Shirt", Zappa combined a track of Terry Bozzio playing drums in one musical setting with one of Patrick O'Hearn playing the bass in another, and totally different, musical setting.The tracks differed in time signature and in tempo. Zappa referred to this technique as xenochrony.Nearly every song on the album features numerous overdubs.The album was engineered by Joe Chiccarelli, in an interview with HitQuarters, Chiccarelli said: "[Zappa's] engineer couldn't make the session and so he decided to take a chance on me, I'm so thankful ever since that day because he gave me a career".Reception.Initially, the album was met with mixed reviews, due to the controversy of its lyrical content.Despite this, the album remains a cult favourite among Zappa fans to this day.The song "Bobby Brown" was extremely popular in Scandinavia.Zappa was reportedly so astounded by its success that he wanted CBS to hire an anthropologist to study why the song became such a big hit.Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "If this be social 'satire,' how come its sole targets are ordinary citizens whose weirdnesses happen to diverge from those of the retentive gent at the control board? Or are we to read his new fixation on buggery as an indication of approval? Makes you wonder whether his primo guitar solo on 'Yo' Mama' and those as-unique-as-they-used-to-be rhythms and textures are as arid spiritually as he is. As if there were any question after all these years".Track List.All songs composed, written and arranged by Frank Zappa except where noted.Dates & venues infos from Information Is Not KnowledgeSide One.01 - "I Have Been in You" January 25, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 3:33.02 - "Flakes" January 25, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 6:41.03 - "Broken Hearts Are for Assholes" January 27, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 3:42.04 - "I'm So Cute" January 25-27 or February 28, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK. Ending cropped on CD reissues, reducing the run time to 3:09; restored on 2012 reissue. 4:27.Side Two.01 - "Jones Crusher" October 31, 1977 - The Palladium, NYC 2:49.02 - "What Ever Happened to All the Fun in the World" incl. a quotation from "I Have Seen The Pleated Gazelle", recorded at Pinewood Studios, London, January-February 1971 0:33.03 - "Rat Tomago" (Composition co-credited to Frank and Ahmet Zappa on the 2012 CD - a note states that "'Rat Tomago' is Ahmet Zappa's title") Guitar solo from "The Torture Never Stops" played live on February 15, 1978 - Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany 5:17.04 - "We've Got to Get into Something Real" (Listed under the title "Wait a Minute" on the CD version) 0:31.05 - "Bobby Brown" (Listed under the title "Bobby Brown Goes Down" on the CD version) January 27, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 2:49.06 - "Rubber Shirt" (Bozzio/O'Hearn/Zappa) Bass part: recorded for a studio overdub on a guitar solo from September 25, 1974 - Gothenburg, Sweden 2:45.07 - "The Sheik Yerbouti Tango" Guitar solo from "The Little House I Used to Live in" played live on February 15, 1978 - Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany 3:56.Side Three.01 - "Baby Snakes" January 25, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 1:50.02 - "Tryin' to Grow a Chin" January 27, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 3:31.03 - "City of Tiny Lites" January 27, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 5:32.15. "Dancin' Fool" February 28, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 3:43.04 - "Jewish Princess" October 30, 1977 - The Palladium, NYC 3:16.Side Four.01 - "Wild Love" February 28, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 4:09.02 - "Yo' Mama" Vocal sections February 28, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK; Guitar solo: February 25, 1978 - Hemmerleinhalle, Neunkirchen am Brand, Germany; Part of the backing track for the solo: January 27, 1978 - Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 12:36.Personnel.Musicians:-Frank Zappa - lead guitar, lead (1-3, 9, 12, 15-18) and backing vocals, arranger, composer, producer, remixing.Davey Moire - lead (6, 8) and backing vocals, engineer.Napoleon Murphy Brock - lead (17) and backing vocals.Andre Lewis - backing vocals Randy Thornton - lead (17) and backing vocals.Adrian Belew - rhythm guitar, lead (5, 14) and backing vocals, Bob Dylan impersonation (2).Tommy Mars - keyboards, backing and lead (17) vocals.Peter Wolf - keyboards, butter, Flora margarine.Patrick O'Hearn - bass, lead (3, 6, 8) and backing vocals.Terry Bozzio - drums, lead (3, 4, 6, 8, 13, 17) and backing vocals.Ed Mann - percussion, backing vocals.David Ocker - clarinet.Production Staff.Bob Stone - digital remastering.Joe Chiccarelli - remixing, overdub engineer.Lynn Goldsmith - photography, cover photo.Peter Henderson - engineer.Jon Walls - engineer.Bob Ludwig - mastering engineer.Kerry McNabb - engineer.John Williams - art direction.Gail Zappa - photography.Amy Bernstein - artwork, layout design.Barbara Isaak - assistant.Album Info from Wikipedia.23823858 kommentarer

Studio Tan

Studio Tan is the 24th album by American musician Frank Zappa, first released in September 1978 on his own DiscReet Records label.It reached #147 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States.Background.In early 1976, Zappa's relationship with manager and business partner Herb Cohen ended in litigation.Zappa and Cohen's company DiscReet Records was distributed by Warner Bros. Records.When Zappa asked for a reassignment of his contract from DiscReet to Warner in order to advance the possibility of doing special projects without Cohen's involvement, Warner agreed, this led to the 1976 release of Zoot Allures on Warner.Early in 1977, Zappa delivered the master tapes for a quadruple-LP set, titled Läther, however, Warner Bros. had changed their position following legal action from Cohen, and refused to release the album claiming that Zappa was contractually bound to deliver four more albums to Warner for the DiscReet label.After Warner released the live double album Zappa in New York (1978), they told him that he still owed them four more albums.He then attempted to get a distribution deal with Phonogram Inc. to release Läther on the new Zappa Records label.This led Warner to threaten legal action, preventing the release of Läther and forcing Zappa to shelve the project.As Zappa had delivered the tapes only, these three individual albums were released with no musical credits.Warner also commissioned sleeve art by Gary Panter, which was not approved by Zappa.When this material was first released on CD in 1991 Zappa chose to release the individual albums, along with Panter's artwork, (The 1991 reissue swapped "Revised Music for Guitar & Low-Budget Orchestra" and "Lemme Take You to the Beach" in the album's running order).The material on Studio Tan was made available in a different form when Läther was released in 1996 as a triple album.Content.All four tracks were originally intended for the shelved Läther album.Side two of the album was to be side three of Läther, although on Läther there are brief segments of sound effects between the songs that are absent on Studio Tan."Greggery Peccary" has an early fadeout on the Studio Tan LP compared to both Läther and reissues of Studio Tan from 1991 onwards.An excerpt from an unreleased alternate version of "Revised Music for Guitar and Low-Budget Orchestra" appears on the 1987 compilation The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa, with drum overdubs by Chad Wackerman.Track List.All songs written and composed by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "Greggery Peccary" (Titled "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary" on CD) 20:40.Side Two.01 - "Let Me Take You to the Beach" (Titled "Lemme Take You to the Beach" on CD) 2:44.02 - "Revised Music for Guitar & Low-Budget Orchestra" 7:3603 - "REDUNZL" (Titled "RDNZL" on CD) 8:12.Personnel.Frank Zappa - guitar (Tracks A1-B3); vocals (Tracks A1, B1); percussion (Track B2).Davey Moire - vocals (Track B1).George Duke - keyboards (Tracks A1, B2, B3).Eddie Jobson - keyboards & yodeling (Track B1).Tom Fowler - bass guitar (Tracks A1, B2).Max Bennett - bass guitar (Tracks B1).James "Bird Legs" Youman - bass guitar (Tracks B3).Chester Thompson - drums (Tracks A1, B2, B3).Paul Humphrey - drums (Track B1).Don Brewer - bongos (Track B1).Ruth Underwood - percussion & synthesiser (Track B3).Michael Zearott - conductor (Track B2).John Rotella - woodwind instruments (Track B2).Mike Altschul - flute (Track B2).Ray Reed - flute (Track B2).Earle Dumler - oboe (Track B2).Victor Morosco - saxophone (Track B2).JoAnn Caldwell McNab - bassoon (Track B2).Graham Young - trumpet (Track B2).Jay Daversa - trumpet (Track B2).Malcolm McNab - trumpet (Track B2).Bruce Fowler - trombone (Tracks A1, B2).Don Waldrop - trombone (Track B2).Jock Ellis - trombone (Track B2).Dana Hughes - bass trombone (Track B2).Murray Adler - violin (Track B2).Sheldon Sanov - violin (Track B2).Pamela Goldsmith - viola (Track B2).Jerry Kessler - cello (Track B2).Edward Meares - upright bass (Track B2).John Berkman - piano (Track B2).Alan Estes - percussion (Track B2).Emil Richards - percussion (Track B2).Mike D. Stone of the Record Plant - engineer.Album Info from Wikipedia. 

Sleep Dirt

Sleep Dirt is an album by Frank Zappa released in January 1979, on his own DiscReet Records label. It reached #175 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States.Overview.The album's creation was spurred by Warner Bros.' rejection of Zappa's Läther album.After Warner had demanded more albums than Zappa was contractually obliged to provide and had reedited the live album Zappa in New York, a lawsuit ensued, during which Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites were issued without Zappa's permission.Background.In early 1976, Zappa's relationship with manager and business partner Herb Cohen ended in litigation, Zappa and Cohen's company DiscReet Records was distributed by Warner Bros. Records.When Zappa asked for a reassignment of his contract from DiscReet to Warner in order to advance the possibility of doing special projects without Cohen's involvement, Warner briefly agreed, this led to the 1976 release of Zoot Allures on Warner.Early in 1977, Zappa delivered the master tapes for a quadruple-LP set, entitled Läther, however, Warner changed its position following legal action from Cohen, and refused to release the album, claiming that Zappa was contractually bound to deliver four more albums to Warner for the DiscReet label.During 1977, Zappa created the individual albums Zappa In New York, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites by re-editing recordings from same batch of tapes that made up the 4-LP configuration.After Warner Bros. released Zappa In New York, they told him that he still owed them four more albums, he then attempted to get a distribution deal with Phonogram Inc. to release Läther on the new Zappa Records label.This led Warner to threaten legal action, preventing the release of Läther and forcing Zappa to shelve the project.In 1978 and 1979, Warner finally decided to release the three remaining individual albums they still held, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites.As Zappa had delivered the tapes only, these three individual albums were released with no musical credits, Warner also commissioned sleeve art by Gary Panter, which was not approved by Zappa.When this material was first released on CD in 1991, Zappa chose to release the individual albums (along with the Panter artwork).Much of the material on Sleep Dirt was made available to the public again in a different form when the alternate version of Läther was finally officially released posthumously in 1996.Content.Five of the album's seven tracks were intended for the shelved album Läther."Flambay" and "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution" originally appeared in significantly shortened versions, but are presented in their original edits on the released Sleep Dirt.Zappa's intended title for the album was Hot Rats III. The change in title by Warner was also in violation of Zappa's contract.When Zappa re-issued the recordings he did not change the title. The 1979 LP version of Sleep Dirt was entirely instrumental.However, with the CD release in 1991, Zappa added new overdubs to the recordings.Zappa asked singer Thana Harris to add vocals to three songs. Zappa had originally envisioned "Flambay", "Spider of Destiny", and "Time is Money" as part of his abandoned 1972 musical, Hunchentoot, and thus, these songs were originally intended to be sung.Chad Wackerman also overdubbed drums on Flambay, Spider of Destiny and Regyptian Strut. Wackerman's parts replaced the original drum tracks.The first Barking Pumpkin CDs retained the original version of "Regyptian Strut", but this was changed for later releases.Both versions of the track can now be found on the Läther CD. Wackerman did not overdub drums on "Time is Money" even though he is credited for this in the CD notes.The 2012 Universal Music reissue reverts to the original vinyl version of the album.The creature shown on the cover is Hedorah from the 1971 Toho film Godzilla vs. Hedorah.Track List.All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa.[6]Side One.01 - "Filthy Habits" 7:33.02 - "Flambay" 5:02.03 - "Spider of Destiny" 2:54.04 - "Regyptian Strut" 4:15.Side Two.01 - "Time Is Money" 2:52.02 - "Sleep Dirt" 3:20.03 - "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution" 13:20.Personnel.Frank Zappa - guitar, percussion, keyboards, synthesiser.Patrick O'Hearn - bass guitar.Terry Bozzio - drums.George Duke - keyboards, vocals.Bruce Fowler - brass.Stephen Marcussen - mastering, equalisation.Gary Panter - art director.Dave Parlato - bass guitar.Bob Stone - mastering, remastering, equalisation.Chester Thompson - drums.Ruth Underwood - percussion, keyboards.James "Bird Legs" Youman - bass guitar, rhythm guitar.Thana Harris - vocals (CD remix).Chad Wackerman - drum overdubs (CD remix).Album Info from Wikipedia.

Zappa In New York 1977

Zappa in New York (1977 Original Version & 1978 Censored Version).Zappa in New York is a double live album by Frank Zappa (and his 23rd album overall), released internationally in March 1978.It was recorded in December 1976 at a series of concerts at the Palladium in New York City.Overview.Zappa in New York was released in the UK by Zappa's DiscReet Records label in 1977, then quickly withdrawn.A second version was re-released internationally in March 1978 with changes ordered by DiscReet's distributor, Warner Bros. Records.The 1978 edition reached #57 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States.Music.Immediately following the 1976 concerts, Zappa spent time in the studio adding a significant number of overdubs to the live recordings.Several of these recordings were originally intended for the shelved album Läther, including "The Illinois Enema Bandit", "The Black Page #1", "Big Leg Emma", "Punky's Whips", "The Purple Lagoon" and "I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth."The album features members of the Saturday Night Live band, including Lou Marini and Tom Malone, as well as the Brecker Brothers.In addition, Don Pardo was invited by Zappa to the Palladium concert, and he provides introductory narrations to "Punky's Whips" and "The Illinois Enema Bandit".On the CD version, Pardo also delivers a verse of "I'm the Slime" (he did the same for Zappa's 1976 Saturday Night Live appearance).Release History.Zappa in New York was first released in early 1977 with Zappa's original track listing.A small number of LP copies reached stores in England before the album was quickly withdrawn.In 1978, some original cassette copies also appeared in the United States, though, apparently by mistake.Before re-issuing the album in March 1978, Warner Bros. Records removed one of the longest songs, "Punky's Whips".This reduced the playing time of side one to a mere ten minutes, moving "Big Leg Emma" from side 2 to the end of side 1; "Titties & Beer" was also edited to remove references to the song "Punky's Whips".The changes made to the album without Zappa's consent violated his contract, which gave him total artistic control over album content.When Zappa's distribution agreement with Warner Bros. ended in 1982, all release rights reverted to him.Zappa re-issued Zappa in New York as a double CD album in 1991 with the addition of four bonus tracks ("Cruisin' for Burgers", "Punky's Whips", "I'm the Slime", "The Torture Never Stops").The CD reissue was remixed to feature guitar overdubs that were recorded at the time of the album's original issue but not included on the 1978 LP.The CD reissue also contained an alternate recording of "Punky's Whips" and the full-length unedited recording of "Titties & Beer".In 2019, the Zappa Family Trust commemorated the 40th anniversary of the release of New York with two releases - a 3LP set combining the 1978 LP release with a bonus LP of vault material, and a 5CD deluxe box set packaged in a tin shaped to look like a NYC street manhole cover.This version contained the 1978 LP mix, three CDs of performances from the four nights at the Palladium, and a fifth disc of vault material (including a song left off the LP due to time constraints), plus a replica of a Palladium show ticket.Track List.Withdrawn Original 1977 Vinyl Pressing.Side One.01 - "Titties & Beer" 6:28.02 - "I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth" 3:50.03 - "Punky's Whips" 10:51.Side Two.01 - "Sofa" 3:15.02 - "Manx Needs Women" 1:40.03 - "The Black Page Drum Solo/Black Page #1" 4:06.04 - "Big Leg Emma" 2:17.05 - "Black Page #2" 5:25.Side Three.01 - "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" 4:15.02 - "The Illinois Enema Bandit" 12:31.Side Four.01 - "The Purple Lagoon" 16:57.Re-edited 1978 Second Vinyl Pressing.Side One.01 - "Titties & Beer" 6:28.02 - "I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth" 3:50.03 - "Big Leg Emma" 2:17.Side Two.01 - "Sofa" 3:15.02 - "Manx Needs Women" 1:40.03 - "The Black Page Drum Solo/Black Page #1" 4:06.04 - "Black Page #2" 5:25.Side Three.01 - "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" 4:15.02 - "The Illinois Enema Bandit" 12:31.Side Four.01 - "The Purple Lagoon" 16:57.Personnel.Musicians:-Frank Zappa - conductor, lead guitar, vocals, producer; guitar overdubs.Ray White - rhythm guitar, vocals.Eddie Jobson - keyboards, violin, vocals.Patrick O'Hearn - bass guitar, vocals.Terry Bozzio - drums, vocals.Ruth Underwood - percussion, synthesiser, and various humanly impossible overdubs.Lou Marini - alto sax, flute.Mike Brecker - tenor sax, flute.Ronnie Cuber - baritone sax, clarinet.Randy Brecker - trumpet.Tom Malone - trombone, trumpet, piccolo.Don Pardo - sophisticated narration.David Samuels - timpani, vibes.John Bergamo - percussion overdubs.Ed Mann - percussion overdubs.Lou Anne Neill - osmotic harp overdub.Production Staff:-Frank Zappa - production.Bob Liftin - NYC live remote engineer.Davey Moire - NYC live concert mix, studio engineer (overdubs).Rick Smith - studio engineer (overdubs).John Williams - package design.Dweezil Zappa - cover photo.Gail Zappa - other photos.Album Info from Wikipedia.

ZOOT ALLURES 1976

Frank Zappa - Zoot Allures (1976).Zoot Allures is the 22nd album by the American rock musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1976 and his only release on the Warner Bros Records label.Due to a lawsuit with his former manager, Herb Cohen, Zappa's recording contract was temporarily reassigned from DiscReet Records to Warner Bros.Title.The title is a pun on the French expression "Zut alors!", which conveys mild surprise.Album Information.The album was originally conceptualised as a double LP, but Zappa rearranged, edited, and shortened the track listing to what was eventually released as a single album.Zappa played a test pressing of the original album for Circus magazine in 1976, which reported a radically different, though slightly erroneous track listing that included "Sleep Dirt", "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution", "Filthy Habits", and "Night of the Iron Sausage".The former three tracks eventually surfaced on the 1979 Sleep Dirt and the posthumous Läther; "Night of the Iron Sausage" remains unreleased, but was seemingly intended to be a guitar solo of fair length."Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station" and "Zoot Allures" were absent from test pressings.Zappa recorded the album after completing a world tour with a band including Napoleon Murphy Brock on tenor sax and vocals, Andre Lewis on keyboards, Roy Estrada on bass and Terry Bozzio on drums.However, this band appeared only on the live track "Black Napkins" with only Bozzio retained to play on the sessions, although Lewis and Estrada contributed backing vocals.After Zappa's death, one of the band's 1976 concerts was released as FZ:OZ.By the time Zoot Allures was finished, Zappa had begun forming a new live band, including Bozzio, Patrick O'Hearn and Eddie Jobson, who were pictured on the cover with Zappa, although the latter two did not perform on the album.Songs."Black Napkins", one of several guitar-driven pieces on Zoot Allures, began life accompanied by themes that would later make up "Sleep Dirt".The performance heard on the album was culled from Zappa's February 3, 1976 performance in Osaka, Japan, though it was edited for the official release.Along with "Zoot Allures" and "The Torture Never Stops", "Black Napkins" became a signature piece for Zappa, featuring heavily in nearly every subsequent tour and several official releases."Wonderful Wino" was originally released on Jeff Simmons' 1970 album, Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up.The album, produced partially by Zappa (though credited as "La Marr Bruister"), also included the title track, which later appeared on 1979's Joe's Garage.On the liner notes to 1979's Sheik Yerbouti, Zappa notes that "Friendly Little Finger" (from Zoot Allures) was created using xenochrony.The album's sound is influenced by heavy metal music, particularly that on the song "Ms. Pinky.Release History.Canada October 20, 1976 Warner Bros LP BS2970.United Kingdom December 1976 Warner Bros LP K56298.United States May 1990 Rykodisc CD RCD10160.United Kingdom May 1990 Zappa Records CD CDZAP22.United States May 2, 1995 Rykodisc CD RCD10523.United States August 28, 2012 Universal Music CD ZR3855.Rykodisc CD Release.Zoot Allures on compact disc, released by Rykodisc, is mixed differently than the original vinyl.The vinyl also contains a longer edit of "Disco Boy" including a count-off by a drum machine (the first three seconds) and a longer fade-out making the track's duration 5:27, as opposed to the CD duration of 5:11.The 2012 Universal remaster restores the original vinyl mix and improves the sound quality considerably.Track List.All tracks written by Frank Zappa, except "Wonderful Wino", written by Zappa and Jeff Simmons.Side One.01 - "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station" 2:29.02 "Black Napkins" 4:15.03 - "The Torture Never Stops" 9:45.04 - "Ms. Pinky" 3:40.Side Two.01- "Find Her Finer" 4:07.02- "Friendly Little Finger" 4:17.03 - "Wonderful Wino" 3:38.04 - "Zoot Allures" 4:12.05 - "Disco Boy" 5:11.Personnel.Musicians:-Frank Zappa - guitar (all tracks), bass (1, 3-7, 9), lead vocals (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9), synthesiser (1, 4, 5, 9), keyboards (3, 5, 7, 9), director of recreational activities (3).Terry Bozzio - drums (all tracks), backing vocals (5, 9)..Also FeaturingDavey Moiré - lead vocals (1), backing vocals (1, 9), engineer.Andre Lewis - organ (2), vocals (2), backing vocals (5, 9).Roy Estrada - bass (2), vocals (2), backing vocals (4, 5, 9), drone bass (6).Napoleon Murphy Brock - vocals (2).Ruth Underwood - synthesiser (4, 6, 7), marimba (6, 8).Captain Beefheart - harmonica (4, 5) (credited as "Donnie Vliet").Ruben Ladron de Guevara - backing vocals (5).Ian Underwood - saxophone (6, 7).Bruce Fowler - trombone (6, 7)Sal Marquez - trumpet (6, 7).Dave Parlato - bass (8).Lu Ann Neil - harp (8).Sparky Parker - backing vocals (9).Keyboardist Eddie Jobson and bassist Patrick O'Hearn, who by the time of Zoot Allures' release were members of Zappa's band, appear on the album's cover but do not perform on any tracks.Production Staff.Arnie Acosta - mastering.Amy Bernstein - layout design.Michael Braunstein - engineer.Gary Heery - photography.Cal Schenkel - design.Bob Stone - digital remastering.Album Info from Wikipedia.

Roxy and Elsewhere 1974

Roxy & Elsewhere is a double live album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers, released in September 1974.Most of the songs were recorded on December 8, 9 and 10, 1973 at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California.Overview.The material taken from the Roxy concerts was later amended with some overdubs in the studio, while the "Elsewhere" tracks ("Son of Orange County" and "More Trouble Every Day") were recorded on May 8, 1974, at the Edinboro State College, Edinboro, Pennsylvania (and parts of "Son of Orange County" on May 11, 1974, at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois [late show]) and do not contain overdubbed material.History.Album:-The album primarily comprised recordings from three shows at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood, and featured tracks never before or thereafter released on any Zappa/Mothers album.Material from the Roxy performances were partially overdubbed, the other tracks came from the 8th May 1974 show in Edinboro State College and the second show on 11 May (Mothers Day) 1974 at the Chicago Auditorium Theatre.The opening track, "Penguin in Bondage" is edited together from performances at the Roxy and the Chicago date.The guitar solo on "Son of Orange County" is one of the few Zappa guitar solos edited together from more than one concert, in this case the Edinboro and Chicago dates.Some of the unused tracks from the Roxy shows circulate as bootlegs, as well as the entirety of the Edinboro show.Other tracks were released on Volumes One, Three and Four of the You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore series.On a side note, Zappa can be heard, on the released and unreleased Roxy tapes, speaking of the making of a 'film' that could potentially be "broadcast on television", as well as reminding the audience not to be "uncomfortable around the intimidatingly large 16 mm cameras".A four-channel quadraphonic version of the album was prepared and advertised, but not released.The 2014 CD Roxy by Proxy includes other material from the Roxy shows, including alternate versions of some songs from Roxy & Elsewhere, with no overdubs.In the documentary Genesis:- Together and Apart, Phil Collins states that the twin drum solos in "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" is what inspired him to ask Chester Thompson to join the touring version of Genesis.Collins and Thompson also used the drum fill from the chorus of "More Trouble Every Day" in the coda of live versions of the Genesis song "Afterglow."On February 2, 2018, Zappa Records/UMe released The Roxy Performances, a definitive set that collects all four public shows from December 9-10, 1973, and the December 8th film shoot and soundcheck, each presented in their entirety without overdubs, along with bonus content featuring rarities from a rehearsal, unreleased tracks and highlights from the recording session at Bolic Sound.History.Film:-There was a 3-minute trailer released in the new millennium advertising a Roxy DVD, which could potentially contain the footage from all three nights, the trailer was later included on the Baby Snakes DVD as a bonus feature.Joe Travers has stated that "It's sitting in the vault. Waiting for a budget to do it properly, basically the film footage, the negatives were transferred by Frank in the '80s using '80s technology.What we want to do is go back to the original negatives and do it in High Definition and then create a 5.1 mix from the original masters so that we have surround sound as well as Frank's 2 channel stereo mix.Once we get all that together, then we need to cut the programme, edit the programme together, camera angles, what shows, what we are going to include from what shows or include all the shows.I have no idea what Dweezil and Gail want to do, it's great stuff, but the process of just getting to that point is going to cost a lot of money and take a lot of time".wo songs from the unreleased film ("Montana" and "Dupree's Paradise") were used as opener for the Zappa Plays Zappa concerts in 2006.On April 1, 2007, Zappa.com unveiled a redesigned website, which included the 30-minute segment from the Roxy performances, which had been used at the Zappa Plays Zappa concerts, on its new videos page.The clip for "Montana" was included as a bonus feature of the Classic Albums:- Apostrophe(')/Over-Nite Sensation DVD, which was released on May 1, 2007.The Blu-ray Roxy: The Movie was released in October 2015, and is available on Amazon.It includes some of the takes released on Roxy & Elsewhere and others from Roxy by Proxy, revealing some editing that went into those releases, for instance, the second half of Zappa's "Be-Bop Tango" intro mostly matches Roxy & Elsewhere while the first half is different.Track List.All selections composed by Frank Zappa and performed by Frank Zappa & the Mothers, except where noted.All tracks recorded at the Roxy, except "Son of Orange County", "More Trouble Every Day" and parts of "Penguin in Bondage".Original LP editions separated Zappa's vocal introductions at the start of each side; these were each listed as "Preamble". When the album was reissued on CD, these were absorbed into the first track on each side, as displayed below.Side One.01 - "Penguin in Bondage" 6:48.02 - "Pygmy Twylyte" 2:13.03 - "Dummy Up" (Brock, Simmons, and Zappa) 6:02.Side Two.01 - "Village of the Sun" 4:17.02 - "Echidna's Arf (Of You)" 3:52.03 - "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing"? 9:40.Side Three.01 - "Cheepnis" 6:33.02 - "Son of Orange County" 5:53.03 - "More Trouble Every Day" 6:00.Side Four.01 - "Be-Bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen's Church)" 16:41.Personnel.Musicians:-Frank Zappa - lead guitar, vocals, producer.Jeff Simmons - rhythm guitar, vocals.Napoleon Murphy Brock - flute, tenor saxophone, vocals.George Duke - keyboards, synthesiser, vocals.Don Preston - synthesiser.Bruce Fowler - trombone, dancer.Walt Fowler - trumpet, bass trumpet.Tom Fowler - bass guitar.Ralph Humphrey - drums.Chester Thompson - drums.Ruth Underwood - percussion.Robert "Frog" Camarena - backing vocals on "Cheepnis".Debbie Wilson - backing vocals on "Cheepnis".Linda "Lynn" Sims - backing vocals on "Cheepnis".Ruben Ladron de Guevara - backing vocals on "Cheepnis".Production.Stephen Marcussen - digital remastering.Kerry McNabb - engineer, remixing.Wally Heider - engineer.Coy Featherston, Steve Magedoff - photography.Cal Schenkel- graphic design, design.Album Info from Wikipedia.

Apostrophy (igen?) 1974

Apostrophe (') is the eighteenth album by Frank Zappa, released in March 1974 in both stereo and quadraphonic formats.An edited version of its lead-off track, "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow", was the first of Zappa's three Billboard Top 100 hits, ultimately peaking at number 86.Overview.Apostrophe (') remains Zappa's most commercially successful album in the United States.It was certified gold by the RIAA on April 7, 1976 and peaked at number 10 (a career-high placement) on the Billboard 200 chart in 1974.Continuing from the commercial breakthrough of Over-Nite Sensation (1973), this album is a similar mix of short songs showcasing Zappa's humor and musical arrangements.The record's lyrical themes are often bizarre or obscure, with the exception of "Uncle Remus", which is an extension of Zappa's feelings on racism featured on his earlier song "Trouble Every Day".Music.The first half of the album loosely follows a continuing theme."Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "Nanook Rubs It" tell of a dream the singer had where he saw himself as an Eskimo named Nanook.It continues into "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast", which Zappa said was inspired by a television commercial for Imperial margarine.As was the case with many of Zappa's albums, Apostrophe (') was a melange of archival and recent recordings; side one of Apostrophe (') (1974) and Over-Nite Sensation (1973) were recorded simultaneously.The tracks on side two originate from various 1972 sessions with overdubs recorded in 1973 and 1974, except for "Excentrifugal Forz", where the drum track (played by Johnny Guerin) originally came from the Hot Rats sessions in 1969 (along with the bass and drum tracks for "Lemme Take You to the Beach" on Studio Tan (1978) and Läther (1996), although in the case of "Excentrifugal Forz" this is not actually noted in either the album liner notes or official correspondence), and "Stinkfoot", where the basic track, possibly originally known as "The Bass & Drums Song", dates from the Chunga's Revenge sessions in early 1970."Apostrophe (')" is an instrumental featuring bassist Jack Bruce and session drummer Jim Gordon, who was on tour with Zappa's band at the time of the session in November 1972.Bruce is credited on the album cover with bass guitar and co-writing the title song, however, in an interview for Polish rock magazine Tylko Rock he said that he had not played any bass guitar parts or done any co-writing on "Apostrophe (')", only the cello intro.He reminisced, "So I turned up in a NY studio with my cello, I'm listening to [Zappa's] music, pretty awful, and just don't know what to do with myself, and Frank [Zappa] says to me: liisten, I would like you to play a sound, like this... whaaaaaang!!! so I did what he asked me to do, Whaaaaaang!!! that was all, that was my input to Frank Zappa's most popular record! [laughs]".Bruce had studied the instrument at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and performed with it on some of his other recordings.However, Zappa has referred to Bruce playing bass on the song in an interview: "Well, that was just a jam thing that happened because he was a friend of (drummer) Jim Gordon.I found it very difficult to play with him; he's too busy. He doesn't really want to play the bass in terms of root functions; I think he has other things on his mind. But that's the way jam sessions go".Release and Reception.Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote in his review: "Disillusioned acolytes are complaining that he's retreated, which means he's finally made top ten, but that's just his reward for professional persistence.If anything, the satire's improved a little, and the title piece-an improvisation with Jack Bruce, Jim Gordon, and rhythm guitarist Tony Duran-forays into quartet-style jazz-rock.Given Frank's distaste for 'Cosmik Debris' you'd think maybe he's come up with something earthier than Mahavishnu, but given his distaste for sex you can be sure it's more cerebral instead".Apostrophe (') and Over-Nite Sensation, recorded with the same group of musicians, are the subject of a Classic Albums series documentary from Eagle Rock Entertainment, released on DVD May 1, 2007.In July 2016, the Zappa Family Trust released a CD of alternate mixes, different takes and live versions of material from Apostrophe (') titled The Crux of the Biscuit.It includes early versions of "Down in De Dew", which Zappa considered for Apostrophe (') but later included on Läther.Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa except where noted.Side One.01 - "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" 2:07.02 - "Nanook Rubs It" 4:38.03 - "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast" 1:50.04 - "Father O'Blivion" 2:18.05 - "Cosmic Debris" 4:14.Side Two.01 - "Exentrifugal Forz" 1:33.02 - "Apostrophe" 5:50.03 - "Uncle Remus" 2:44.04 - "Stinkfoot" 6:33.Personnel/Musicians.Frank Zappa - vocals, guitar, bass, bouzouki.Lynn (Linda Sims) - vocals, backing vocals.Tina Turner - backing vocals (uncredited).Robert "Frog" Camarena - vocals, backing vocals.Ruben Ladron de Guevara - vocals, backing vocals.Debbie - vocals, backing vocals.Ray Collins - backing vocals.Sue Glover - backing vocals.Kerry McNabb - backing vocals, engineer, remixing.Sal Marquez - trumpet.Ian Underwood - saxophone.Napoleon Murphy Brock - saxophone, backing vocals.Bruce Fowler - trombone.Don "Sugarcane" Harris - violin.Jean-Luc Ponty - violin.Ruth Underwood - percussion.George Duke - keyboards, backing vocals.Tony Duran - rhythm guitar.Tom Fowler - bass guitar.Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) - bass guitar.Jack Bruce - bass on "Apostrophe'" (see controversy presented above).Ralph Humphrey - drums (side one).Johnny Guerin - drums on "Excentrifugal Forz".Aynsley Dunbar - drums on "Uncle Remus" and "Stink-Foot".Jim Gordon - drums on "Apostrophe".Production Staff.Cal Schenkel - artwork, graphic design.Barry Keene - engineer.Ferenc Dobronyi - cover design.Bob Ludwig - technician.Paul Hof - technician.Oscar Kergaives - technician.Brian Krokus - technician.Mark Aalyson - photography.Bob Stone - transfers, digital remastering.Steve Desper - engineer.Terry Dunavan - engineer.Zach Glickman - marketing.Bob Hughes - engineer.Album Info from Wikipedia.

OVERNIGHT SENSATION 1973

Over-Nite Sensation (1973).Over-Nite Sensation is a studio album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention (accredited to "The Mothers"), it was released in September 1973.It was followed by Zappa's solo album Apostrophe (') (1974), which was recorded during the same sessions.Frank Zappa wanted to use backup singers on the songs "I'm the Slime", "Dirty Love", "Zomby Woof", "Dinah-Moe Humm" and "Montana".His road manager suggested The Ikettes, and Ike & Tina Turner were contacted.Ike Turner insisted that Zappa pay the singers, including Tina Turner, no more than $25 per song.However, an invoice shows that they were actually paid $25 per hour, and in total $187.50 each for 7 1/2 hours of service.During the recording sessions at Bolic Sound, Tina brought Ike into the studio to hear the highly difficult middle section of "Montana" which had taken the Ikettes a few days to learn and master. Ike listened to the tape and responded "What is this shit"? before leaving the studio.Ike later insisted that Zappa not credit the Ikettes on the released album.The recording sessions which produced Over-Nite Sensation also produced Zappa's followup, Apostrophe (') (1974), released as a solo album rather than a Mothers of Invention release.Music and Lyrics.Much of the album's lyrics deal with sex.For example, "Dinah-Moe Humm" describes a woman who wagers that the narrator can't give her an orgasm and is ultimately aroused by watching him have sex with her sister.On other topics, "I'm the Slime" criticizes television, and the playful and musically adventurous "Montana" describes moving to Montana to grow dental floss.The music of Over-Nite Sensation draws from rock, jazz and pop music."Zomby Woof" has been described as a "heavy metal hybrid of Louis Jordan and Fats Waller".Artwork.The cover was done by Dave McMacken as somewhat in vein of Salvador Dalí's surreal imagery depicting a two-headed man sitting on a waterbed in a Holiday Inn hotel room surrounded by various objects like a Mothers backstage pass and a television set showing Zappa's face with slime oozing out of it.The entire painting is depicted in a frame showing many sexual acts.Reception.The album initially received mixed reviews due to its lyrical content, which some critics found puerile.Rolling Stone magazine disliked the album, describing Zappa as a "spent force", and saying that his best work had been recorded with earlier incarnations of the Mothers.New Musical Express said that the album was "not one of Frank's most outstanding efforts".Robert Christgau gave the album a C, asking "where's the serious stuff"?Later reviews evaluated the album far better, with AllMusic writer Steve Huey writing, "Love it or hate it, Over-Nite Sensation was a watershed album for Frank Zappa, the point where his post-'60s aesthetic was truly established".Kelly Fisher Lowe, in The Words and Music of Frank Zappa, wrote that "Over-Nite and Apostrophe (') are important as a return to Mothers of Invention form and as close to traditional pop albums as Zappa would ever come".The record was certified gold on November 9, 1976.Legacy.Over-Nite Sensation (1973) and Apostrophe (') (1974) are the subject of a Classic Albums series documentary from Eagle Rock Entertainment, released on DVD May 1, 2007.The lines "She was buns-up kneelin' / Buns up! / I was wheelin an' dealin'" from "Dinah-Moe Humm" are quoted (as "So there she was / buns up and kneelin' / I was wheelin' and a-dealin'") in "Girl Keeps Coming Apart", on Aerosmith's Permanent Vacation.Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "Camarillo Brillo" 4:01.02 - "I'm the Slime" 3:35.03 - "Dirty Love" 3:00.04 - "Fifty-Fifty" 6:08.Side Two.01 - "Zomby Woof" 5:11.02 - "Dinah-Moe Humm" 6:05.03 - "Montana" 6:37.Total Album Length:- 34:37.Personnel.Musicians:-Frank Zappa - guitar, vocals on all tracks except "Fifty-Fifty" and most of "Zomby Woof".Kin Vassy - vocals on "I'm the Slime", "Dinah-Moe Humm" and "Montana".Ricky Lancelotti - vocals on "Fifty-Fifty" and "Zomby Woof".Sal Marquez - trumpet, vocals on "Dinah-Moe Humm".Ian Underwood - clarinet, flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone.Bruce Fowler - trombone.Ruth Underwood - percussion, marimba, vibraphone.Jean-Luc Ponty - violin, baritone violin.George Duke - synthesiser, keyboards.Tom Fowler - bass.Ralph Humphrey - drums.Tina Turner and the Ikettes - backing vocals (uncredited) (Tracks 2-3 and 5-7).Production:-Producer: Frank Zappa.Engineers: Fred Borkgren, Steve Desper, Terry Dunavan, Barry Keene, Bob Stone.Remixing: Kerry McNabb.Arranger: Frank Zappa.Technician: Paul Hof Cover design: Ferenc Dobronyi.Illustrations: Cover - David B. McMacken, Inside - Cal Schenkel.Album Info from Wikipedia.

GRAND WAZOO 1972

The Grand Wazoo (1972).The Grand Wazoo is a studio album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers, released in November 1972.It was written and recorded during Zappa's period of convalescence after being assaulted in December 1971 in London, UK.Overview.Along with its predecessor Waka/Jawaka (July 1972), this album represents Zappa's foray into big band music, the logical progression from Hot Rats (1969) (which used a much smaller lineup).This was the last release on Zappa's own Bizarre Records label.Recording and Production.This was the third Zappa album released in a period where he was forced to use a wheelchair.Zappa was unable to tour after being assaulted and pushed offstage into an orchestra pit during a concert on December 10, 1971 at the Rainbow Theatre in London, UK.The album is mostly made up of instrumental pieces, similar in style to those of three previous albums: Hot Rats (October 1969), Burnt Weeny Sandwich (February 1970), and Waka/Jawaka (July 1972).Zappa was also producer and principal composer for Jean-Luc Ponty's album King Kong (1970) during this period.Track listing.All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)" 6:0502 - "The Grand Wazoo" 13:18Side Two.01 - "Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus" 2:57.02 - "Eat That Question" 6:42.03 - "Blessed Relief" 8:00.1995 Ryko Remaster.01 - "The Grand Wazoo" 13:20.02 - "For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)" 6:06.03 - "Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus" 2:57.04 - "Eat That Question" 6:43.05- "Blessed Relief" 7:59.Personnel.Musicians:-"The Grand Wazoo" and "For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)":-Mike Altschul - woodwind.Billy Byers - trombone (including solo on "The Grand Wazoo").Joanna Caldwell - woodwind.Earl Dumler - woodwind.Aynsley Dunbar - drums.Tony Duran - guitar (including bottleneck guitar solo on "The Grand Wazoo").Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) - bass.Alan Estes - percussion.Fred Jackson - woodwind .Sal Marquez - vocals, trumpet (including solo on "The Grand Wazoo").Malcolm McNab - brass.Janet Neville-Ferguson - vocals.Tony "Bat Man" Ortega - woodwind.Don Preston - minimoog.Johnny Rotella - woodwind.Ken Shroyer - brass, "contractor and spiritual guidance"Ernie Tack - brass.Frank Zappa - guitar (including opening solo on "The Grand Wazoo").Bob Zimmitti - percussion."Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus":-Mike Altschul - woodwind."Chunky" (Lauren Wood) - vocals.George Duke - keyboards, vocals.Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) - bass.Aynsley Dunbar - drums.Sal Marquez - brass.Ken Shroyer - trombones.Frank Zappa - vocals, guitarErnie Watts - C Melody Saxophone (the "Mystery Horn") solo"Eat That Question".Mike Altschul - woodwind.George Duke - keyboards.Aynsley Dunbar - drums.Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) - bass.Sal Marquez - "multiple toots" (brass).Joel Peskin - woodwind.Frank Zappa - guitar, percussion.Lee Clement - gong."Blessed Relief":-Mike Altschul - woodwind.George Duke - keyboards.Aynsley Dunbar - drums.Tony Duran - rhythm guitar.Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) - bass.Sal Marquez - brass.Joel Peskin - woodwind.Frank Zappa - lead guitar.Production.Producer: Frank Zappa.Engineer: Kerry McNabb.Arranger: Frank Zappa Special assistance: Paul Hof.Photography: Ed Caraeff, Tony Esparza, Barry Feinstein.Cover illustration: Cal Schenkel.Art direction: Frank Zappa.Spiritual advisor: Kenny Shroyer Contractor: Kenny Shroyer.Burritos: Ernie's Taco House.Pizza: two guys from Italy.Barbecue desiccated chicken: Hollywood Ranch Market.Album Info from Wikipedia.

WAWA/JAWAKA 1972

.Waka/Jawaka (also known as Waka/Jawaka - Hot Rats) is the fourth solo album by Frank Zappa, released in July 1972.The album is the jazz-influenced precursor to The Grand Wazoo (November 1972), and as the front cover indicates, a sequel of sorts to 1969's Hot Rats.According to Zappa, the title "is something that showed up on a ouija board at one time".The album is deddicated to Paul Hof and Barry KeeneSongs."Big Swifty" is a jazz-fusion tune, similar to many of Zappa's pieces from the jazz period of his compositional timeline, it features many horns to achieve a thick brassy sound as well as room for improvisation and use of multiple time signatures.The tune initially alternates between 7/8 and 3/4 time signatures, soon settling on a 4/4 swing feel for several extended solos. Known recorded live versions expanded rhythmic diversification to 11/8 and rubato parts (e.g. live in Texas, 1973).The track "It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal" is a strange tale of hallucinations sung by Sal Marquez and Janet Ferguson (the "tough-minded" groupie in 200 Motels).Jeff Simmons' Hawaiian guitar sets up a dream-like, smooth quality, but with the words "but you should be diggin' it while it's happening cause it just might be a one-shot deal", though played in real time rather than achieved with a splice, it again sounds as if the music has started to run backwards.Critical Reception.Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote:- "With Sal Marquez playing 'many trumpets' all over 'Big Swifty,' there are times you could drop the needle and think you were listening to recent Miles Davis.That's certainly what Zappa's been doing. But where Davis is occasionally too loose, Zappa's always too tight-he seems to perceive only what is weird and alienating in his influences, never what is humane. Also, Sal Marquez doesn't play trumpet as good as Miles".Reissues.It was reissued in a digitally remastered version on CD by Rykodisc in 1986 (with much digital reverb added and missing the back cover artwork) and in 1995 (restoring the rear cover, but with identical sound).In 2012, Universal Music released a CD containing a remastered version of the original vinyl mix.Track List.All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "Big Swifty" 17:22.Side Two.01 - "Your Mouth" 3:12.02 - "It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal" 4:16.03 - "Waka/Jawaka" 11:18.Personnel.Musicians on the Album:-Frank Zappa - guitar (all tracks, including acoustic guitar on track 3), percussion (1), electric bed springs (3), uncredited vocals (3).Sal Marquez - trumpets (all tracks), vocals (2, 3, 4), chimes (1, 4), flugelhorn (4).Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) - electric bass (all tracks), vocals (3), fuzz bass (4).Aynsley Dunbar - drums (all tracks), washboard (3), tambourine (3).Tony Duran - slide guitar (1, 2, 3), vocals (3).George Duke - ring-modulated & echoplexed electric piano (1), tack piano (2).Mike Altschul - baritone saxophone (2, 4), piccolo (2, 4), bass flute (4), bass clarinet (4), tenor sax (4).Kris Peterson - vocals (2, 4).Joel Peskin - tenor sax (2).Jeff Simmons - Hawaiian guitar (3), vocals (3).Sneaky Pete Kleinow - pedal steel guitar solo (3).Janet Ferguson - vocals (3).Don Preston - piano (4), Minimoog (4).Billy Byers - trombone (4), baritone horn (4).Ken Shroyer - trombone (4), baritone horn (4).Production.Producer: Frank Zappa.Engineers: Marshall Brevitz, Kerry McNabb.Mastering: Frank Zappa.Supervisor: Marshall Brevitz.Concept: Sal Marquez.Creative consultant: Sal MarquezDesign: Cal Schenkel.Cover Design: Cal Schenkel.Cover illustration: Marvin Mattelson.Illustrations: Marvin Mattelson.Photography: Philip Schartz.Back cover: Philip Schwartz.Packaging: Cal Schenkel.Repackaging: Ferenc Dobronyi.Album Info from Wikipedia.

JUST ANOTHER BAND FROM LA 1972

Just Another Band from L.A (1972).Just Another Band from L.A. is a live album by The Mothers, released in 1972.It was recorded live on August 7, 1971 in Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles.A notable inclusion on this album is "Billy the Mountain", Zappa's long, narrative parody of rock operas, which were gaining popularity at that time.Originally planned for release as a double LP with solos from "Studebaker Hoch" and "The Subcutaneous Peril" taking up most of the second LP in addition to parts of "Billy the Mountain" itself, and often overlooked by reviewers, this album marks an important period in the band's career which was soon ended by Zappa's severe injuries after being pushed off a stage.The song "Eddie, Are You Kidding"? refers to Edward Nalbandian, while "The Subcutaneous Peril", which ultimately became an outtake from the album, would later appear, in an edited form, on Finer Moments (2012) instead.The album was reissued on CD with badly flawed mastering and no composition credits by Rykodisc in 1990 and repackaged with the same audio but with the composition credits restored in 1995.In 2012 Universal/UMe issued a properly remastered edition on CD.Track List.All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa except where noted.Side One.01 - "Billy the Mountain" (Interpolates sections of "Johnny's Theme" by Paul Anka and Johnny Carson, and of "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" by Stephen Stills.) 24:47.Side Two.01 - "Call Any Vegetable" 7:22.02 - "Eddie, Are You Kidding?" (John Seiter, Mark Volman, Howard Kaylan, Zappa) 3:10.03 - "Magdalena" (Kaylan, Zappa) 6:24.04 - "Dog Breath" 3:39.Personnel:-Frank Zappa - guitar, vocals.Don Preston - keyboards.Ian Underwood - woodwinds, keyboards, vocals.Aynsley Dunbar - drums.Howard Kaylan - lead vocals.Mark Volman - lead vocals.Jim Pons - bass guitar, vocals.Album Info from Wikipedia. 

The Mothers - Fillmore East 1972

Just Another Band from L.A (1972).Just Another Band from L.A. is a live album by The Mothers, released in 1972.It was recorded live on August 7, 1971 in Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles.A notable inclusion on this album is "Billy the Mountain", Zappa's long, narrative parody of rock operas, which were gaining popularity at that time.Originally planned for release as a double LP with solos from "Studebaker Hoch" and "The Subcutaneous Peril" taking up most of the second LP in addition to parts of "Billy the Mountain" itself, and often overlooked by reviewers, this album marks an important period in the band's career which was soon ended by Zappa's severe injuries after being pushed off a stage.The song "Eddie, Are You Kidding"? refers to Edward Nalbandian, while "The Subcutaneous Peril", which ultimately became an outtake from the album, would later appear, in an edited form, on Finer Moments (2012) instead.The album was reissued on CD with badly flawed mastering and no composition credits by Rykodisc in 1990 and repackaged with the same audio but with the composition credits restored in 1995.In 2012 Universal/UMe issued a properly remastered edition on CD.Track List.All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa except where noted.Side One.01 - "Billy the Mountain" (Interpolates sections of "Johnny's Theme" by Paul Anka and Johnny Carson, and of "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" by Stephen Stills.) 24:47.Side Two.01 - "Call Any Vegetable" 7:22.02 - "Eddie, Are You Kidding?" (John Seiter, Mark Volman, Howard Kaylan, Zappa) 3:10.03 - "Magdalena" (Kaylan, Zappa) 6:24.04 - "Dog Breath" 3:39.Personnel:-Frank Zappa - guitar, vocals.Don Preston - keyboards.Ian Underwood - woodwinds, keyboards, vocals.Aynsley Dunbar - drums.Howard Kaylan - lead vocals.Mark Volman - lead vocals.Jim Pons - bass guitar, vocals.Album Info from Wikipedia.

200 MOTELS 1971

Frank Zappa's 200 Motels - Original Motion picture Sound Track (1971).The 200 Motels soundtrack to Frank Zappa's film 200 Motels was released by United Artists Records in 1971.Like the film, the album covers a loose storyline about The Mothers of Invention going crazy in the small town of Centerville and bassist Jeff quitting the group, as did his real life counterpart, Jeff Simmons, who left the group before the film began shooting and was replaced by actor Martin Lickert for the film.Music and Lyrics.The rock and comedy songs "Mystery Roach", "Lonesome Cowboy Burt", "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy", "What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning" and "Magic Fingers", and the finale "Strictly Genteel", which mixes orchestral and rock elements, were noted as highlights of the album by reviewer Richie Unterberger.François Couture, a reviewer for Allmusic, said that "Mystery Roach" contains multiple meanings, all of which have a connection to lyrical subject matter in Zappa's discography.These include the freshwater fish, as the Mothers of Invention live album Fillmore East - June 1971 contained a song referring to the mud shark, a cannabis cigarette butt, which causes the character Jeff to go crazy within the context of the film's storyline, and a combed roll hairstyle, which connects the song lyrically to "Jelly Roll Gumdrop", a song from Cruising with Ruben & the Jets.The version featured on the album is different from the version featured in the film, as it is missing small electric guitar solos by Zappa, and was not scripted as part of the film in its electric arrangement, having originally been written in three separate, unused acoustic blues-oriented arrangements.The song was not performed live."Dance of the Rock & Roll Interviewers" is an orchestral piece originally intended to be paired with "Touring Can Make You Crazy" as part of an early scene in which the band arrives in Centerville and is greeted by music journalists, but only part of the sequence, depicting a mannequin of Zappa being torn apart by the journalists, appeared in the final film, due to timing and budget restraints, and the "Touring Can Make You Crazy" sequence was not shot and does not appear in the film.Regarding "Touring", Couture writes that "The long double-bass notes and the overall dark atmosphere and slow tempo suggest a tiring trip".The album features five segments which form the suite "This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich": a prologue, the "Tuna Fish Promenade", "Dance of the Just Plain Folks", a reprise of the main melody, and the conclusion "The Sealed Tuna Bolero".Only the final bolero was featured in the film.The "Tuna Sandwich" suite was scripted as being proceeded by the sequence and composition "Centerville"."Would You Like A Snack?" is a vocal version of Zappa's composition "Holiday in Berlin", which reappears throughout the album and film in different arrangements, including the "Semi-Fraudulent/Direct-From-Hollywood Overture".The lyrics of "Would You Like A Snack?" are similar to the theater piece on Zappa's live album Ahead of Their Time.Zappa earlier recorded an unrelated song of the same name, which features members of the Mothers of Invention and Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick."Redneck Eats" begins and ends with spoken dialogue featuring the character Lonesome Cowboy Burt (played by Jimmy Carl Black) heckling the orchestra, which is performing an Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varese-influenced composition"."Janet's Big Dance Number" is about one of the film's two groupie characters and features "Slow piano chords played over sustained contrabass notes, the choir enters late in the piece, picking up the Stravinskian melody sketched by the chords"."Lucy's Seduction of a Bored Violinist", follows the other groupie character, and features "a soft melody, followed by a rhythm break and a tympany roll" and a faster reprise of the "Janet" melody.The album pairs "Lucy" with the film's "Postlude", which appears during the ending credits, and is played on a harpsichord.The second half of the album begins with the suite "Dental Hygiene Dilemma", which begins with "I'm Stealing The Towels", for which the corresponding film sequence was scripted and partially shot, before it was determined that the footage was unusable, and the sequence was cut.The main part of the suite, "Dental Hygiene Dilemma", appeared in the film as an animated cartoon by Charles Swenson, who later directed the film Down and Dirty Duck with Mothers of Invention band members and 200 Motels stars Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan.The main part of the suite, "Dental Hygiene Dilemma" incorporates elements of rock band, orchestra and spoken dialogue, and depicts Jeff smoking a marijuana cigarette which had been dipped in Don Preston's "foamy liquids" and imagining Donovan appearing to him on a wall-mounted television as his "good conscience" and asking him not to steal the towels, while Studebacher Hoch appears to him as his evil conscience, "dressed as Jim Pons", and convinces Jeff to quit the Mothers of Invention, start his own hard rock band and play music like Grand Funk Railroad or Black Sabbath.In real life, Simmons started his own blues rock band after leaving Zappa's band, and released the album Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up for Straight Records, which Zappa produced.In "Dilemma", Volman exclaims "We got to get him back to normal before Zappa finds out and steals it and makes him do it in the movie!""A Nun Suit Painted on Some Old Boxes" is the first part of a suite for soprano voice, chorus, and orchestra called "I Have Seen the Pleated Gazelle".The suite criticises organised religion and references dental floss, connecting the suite to Zappa's later song "Montana", appearing on the album Over-Nite Sensation.In the film, "A Nun Suit" precedes the "Dental Hygiene Dilemma" cartoon, but is placed before the rock song "Magic Fingers" on this album, removing the context of the line "Want to watch a dental hygiene movie?"The "Gazelle" suite continues with "Motorhead's Midnight Ranch", "Dew on the Newts We Got" and "The Lad Searches the Night for His Newts", for which the corresponding film sequence was only partially shot.Release and Reception.200 Motels charted at No. 59 on the Billboard 200. The album was released on compact disc in 1997 in correlation with a theatrical reissue of the film.The CD edition contained extensive liner notes and artwork, a small poster for the film, and bonus tracks consisting of radio promos for the film and the single edit of the song "Magic Fingers".The album was deemed to be a peripheral album in Zappa's catalog by music critics.Allmusic's Richie Unterberger critiqued what he referred to as the "growing tendency to deploy the smutty, cheap humour that would soon dominate much of Zappa's work" but said that "Those who like his late-'60s/early-'70s work will probably like this fine".Track List.Side One.01 - "Semi-Fraudulent/Direct-From-Hollywood Overture" 2:01.02 - "Mystery Roach" 2:32.03 - "Dance of the Rock & Roll Interviewers" 0:48.04 - "This Town Is a Sealed Tuna Sandwich" (Prologue) 0:55.05 - "Tuna Fish Promenade" 2:29.06 - "Dance of the Just Plain Folks" 4:40.07 - "This Town Is a Sealed Tuna Sandwich" (Reprise) 0:58.08 - "The Sealed Tuna Bolero" 1:40.09 - "Lonesome Cowboy Burt" 3:54.Side Two.01 - "Touring Can Make You Crazy" 2:54.02 - "Would You Like a Snack?" 1:23.03 - "Redneck Eats" 3:02.04 - "Centerville" 2:31.05 - "She Painted up Her Face" 1:41.06 - "Janet's Big Dance Number" 1:18.07 - "Half a Dozen Provocative Squats" 1:57.08 - "Mysterioso" 0:48.09 - "Shove It Right In" 2:32.10 - "Lucy's Seduction of a Bored Violinist & Postlude" 4:01.Side Three.01 - "I'm Stealing the Towels" 2:15.02 - "Dental Hygiene Dilemma" 5:11.03 - "Does This Kind of Life Look Interesting to You?" 2:59.04 - "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" 3:11.05 - "Penis Dimension" 4:37.06 - "What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning" 3:29.Side Four.01 - "A Nun Suit Painted on Some Old Boxes" 1:08.02 - "Magic Fingers" 3:53.03 - "Motorhead's Midnight Ranch" 1:28.04 - "Dew on the Newts We Got" 1:09.05 - "The Lad Searches the Night for His Newts" 0:41.06 - "The Girl Wants to Fix Him Some Broth" 1:10.07 - "The Girl's Dream" 0:54.08 - "Little Green Scratchy Sweaters & Courduroy Ponce" 1:00.09 - "Strictly Genteel (The Finale)" 11:08.Personnel.Frank Zappa - bass guitar, guitar, drums, producer, orchestration.George Duke - trombone, keyboards.Ian Underwood - keyboards, woodwinds.Big Jim Sullivan - guitar, orchestration.Martin Lickert - bass guitar.Aynsley Dunbar - drums.Ruth Underwood - percussion.Jimmy Carl Black - vocals.Howard Kaylan - vocals.Jim Pons - voices.Mark Volman - vocals, photography.Theodore Bikel - narrator.Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.Production:-Bob Auger - engineer.David McMacken - design, illustrations.Cal Schenkel - design.Barry Keene - overdubs, remixing.Patrick Pending - liner notes.Album Info from Wikipedia.

LIVE AT THE PIKNIK SHOW 1970

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Live at the "Piknik Show" in Uddel, Nederlands, June 18th 1970 (2016).Live at the "Piknik Show" in Uddel, Nederlands, June 18th 1970 is an unofficial album released in 2016 recorded during a live tv show appearance in Holland in 1970.Release History.Some versions of this album also have different artwork for the cover and are realeased on various labels, the sound quality also occassionally drops off for various channels.The songs Wonderful Wino which appears as Wino Man, Mother People, Call Any Vegetable and King Kong were all released on an unofficial 1971 Dutch compilation album of various artists.Live At The "Piknik" Show In Uddel, NL June 18th, 1970 ‎(LP, Unofficial, 180), label DOL, DOR2058H, Europe, 2016.Live At The "Piknik" Show In Uddel, NL June 18th, 1970 ‎(CD, Unofficial), label Brr, BRR6038 Europe 2016.The New Maternity (VPRO Radio Piknik 1970) ‎(CD, Album, Unofficial), label Sonic Boom, SON0327, UK & Europe, 2016.Rare VPRO Broadcast Live At The 'Piknik' Show In Uddel, June 18, 1970 ‎(LP, Ltd, Unofficial), label Lively Youth Records, LVY518 Europe 2018.Rare VPRO Broadcast Live At The 'Piknik' Show In Uddel, June 18, 1970 ‎(LP, Ltd, Num, Unofficial, Ora), label Lively Youth Records, LVY518, Europe 2018.Live In Uddel - June 18th 1970 ‎(LP, Unofficial), label Radio Looploop, RLL016, 2019.Track List:-Side One.01 - Wonderful Wino.02 - Concentration Moon.03 - Mom & Dad.04 - Dog Breath.05 - Mother People.06 - You Didn't Try To Call Me Agon.Side Two.01 - Call Any Vegetable.02 - King Kong - Part I.03 - Igor's Boogie.04 King Kong - Part II.Some versions of this album have "Interview and Band Introduction" listed as track 1 on side 1.Personnel:-Frank Zappa.Mark Volman.Howard Kaylan.Jeff Simmons.Aynsley Dunbar.Ian Underwood.George Duke.

CHUNGA'S REVENGE 1970

Chunga's Revenge is the third solo album by Frank Zappa, released on October 23, 1970.Zappa's first effort of the 1970s marks the first appearance of former Turtles members Flo & Eddie on a Zappa record, and signals the dawn of a controversial epoch in Zappa's history.Chunga's Revenge represents a shift from both the satirical political commentary of his 1960s work with The Mothers of Invention, and the jazz fusion of Hot Rats.Songs.The material presented on Chunga's Revenge is eclectic: side one includes a guitar jam ("Transylvania Boogie"), a bluesy amble ("Road Ladies"), a jazz interlude ("Twenty Small Cigars") and an avant garde live improvisation ("The Nancy and Mary Music") drawn from "King Kong" from a July 1970 Mothers performance, released officially on Road Tapes, Venue 3.Several poppy numbers ("Tell Me You Love Me", "Would You Go All the Way?", "Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink", "Sharleena") appear on the second side along with the improvisational title track and a percussion-only track ("The Clap")."Twenty Small Cigars" was drawn from the Hot Rats sessions from summer 1969."Transylvania Boogie" and "Chunga's Revenge" come from the early 1970 period where Zappa performed with a band informally known as "Hot Rats," including Ian Underwood, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Max Bennett and Aynsley Dunbar.Also from this period is "The Clap," a short multitracked percussion piece with Zappa as the only musician.The vocal tracks all deal with the subject of sex and/or groupie encounters and as Zappa notes on the sleeve of both the vinyl and CD, are a preview of the then forthcoming 200 Motels film/album, and date from the summer of 1970 after the formation of the new Mothers of Invention lineup.The original early 1970 version of "Sharleena" later appeared on The Lost Episodes.Other "lost" tracks from these sessions include the instrumentals "Twinkle Tits" and "Bognor Regis".A live version of "Twinkle Tits" is available on bootlegs, though the original studio version is not yet available."Bognor Regis" was intended to be released as a B-side of "Sharleena", but the single was never released, and the track was leaked to the public on an acetate disc copy which made its way to the collector's market.The title track was later recorded by Argentinian/Parisian tango revival group Gotan Project for their 2001 debut album La Revancha del Tango.The guitar melody in "Tell Me You Love Me" is extremely similar to the one used in "Bwana Dik" and "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy", during the "if his dick is a monster" section, from Fillmore East - June 1971, and 200 Motels, respectively.Zappa would include a 1980 live version of the song on Tinsel Town Rebellion, while a 1988 version with revised lyrics titled "Why Don't You Like Me" appeared on Broadway the Hard Way, a similar version from 1984, known as "Don't Be a Lawyer," has never been officially released.Zappa would also include an 80's recording of "Sharleena" on Them or Us, while a 1988 version of "Chunga's Revenge" where Zappa played alongside his son Dweezil was the opening track of the album Trance-Fusion which Zappa compiled in the 90's (although it would not be released until 2006).Critical reception.Reviewing Chunga's Revenge in Christgau's Record Guide:- Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "Like Bobby Sherman, Zappa is a selfish exploiter of popular taste.That Bobby Sherman wants to make money while Zappa wants to make money and emulate Varese is beside the point--if anything, Zappa's aestheticism intensifies his contempt for rock and its audience.Even Hot Rats, his compositional peak, played as much with the moods and usages of Muzak as with those of rock and roll.This is definitely not his peak. Zappa plays a lot of guitar, just as his admirers always hope he will, but the overall effect is more Martin Denny than Varese, also featured are a number of 'dirty' jokes".Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "Transylvania Boogie" (instrumental) 5:01.02 - "Road Ladies" 4:10.03 - "Twenty Small Cigars" (instrumental) 2:17.04 - "The Nancy & Mary Music" 9:27.Side Two.01 - "Tell Me You Love Me" 2:33.02 - "Would You Go All the Way"? 2:29.03 - "Chunga's Revenge" (instrumental) 6:15.04 - "The Clap" (instrumental) 1:23.05 - "Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink" 2:44.06 - "Sharleena" 4:04.Personnel.Frank Zappa - guitar (except 8), vocals (2, 6, 9, 10), harpsichord (3), Condor (5), drums and percussions (8).Ian Underwood - organ (1), rhythm guitar (2, 5), piano (3), electric piano (4, 6, 9), alto saxophone (4), pipe organ (5), electric alto saxophone with wah-wah pedal (7), tenor saxophone (10), grand piano (10).Aynsley Dunbar - drums (except 3, 8), tambourine (9).John Guerin - drums (3).Max Bennett - bass (1, 3, 7).Jeff Simmons - bass (2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10), vocals (2, 4, 9, 10).George Duke - organ (2, 10), electric piano (4, 5), vocal sound effects (4), trombone (6, 9).Howard Kaylan - vocals (2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10).Mark Volman - vocals (2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10), rhythm guitar (9).Don "Sugarcane" Harris - organ (7).Production.Producer: Frank Zappa.Engineers: Stan Agol, Roy Baker, Dick Kunc, Bruce Margolis.Production assistant: Dick Barber.Arranger: Frank Zappa.Cover design: Cal Schenkel.Illustrations: Cal Schenkel.Photography: Phil Franks (front cover) and John Williams.Album Info from Wikipedia.

HOT RATS 1969

Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1969.It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the Mothers of Invention.It features the work of several artists in addition to Zappa, including one former member of the Mothers of Invention, Captain Beefheart, and Don "Sugarcane" Harris.Five of the six songs are instrumental; the other, "Willie the Pimp", features vocals by Beefheart.In his original sleeve notes, Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears".Background.Because Hot Rats largely consists of instrumental jazz-influenced compositions with extensive soloing, the music sounds very different from earlier Zappa albums, which featured satirical vocal performances with extensive use of musique concrète and editing.Multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood is the only member of the Mothers to appear on the album and was the primary musical collaborator.Other featured musicians were bassists Max Bennett and Shuggie Otis (who was only 15 years old at the time of the session); drummers John Guerin, Paul Humphrey and Ron Selico; and electric violinists Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Jean-Luc Ponty.This was the first Frank Zappa album recorded on 16-track equipment and one of the first albums to use this technology.Machines with 16 individual tracks allow for much more flexibility in multi-tracking and overdubbing than the professional 4 and 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorders that were standard in 1969.Zappa dedicated the album to his newborn son, Dweezil, in February 2009, Dweezil's tribute band to his father, Zappa Plays Zappa, won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for their rendition of "Peaches en Regalia".In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album was number 13 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".It was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.In 2000 it was voted number 123 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.Music.Zappa composed, arranged and produced the album himself. His primary instrument on the album is lead guitar."Willie the Pimp", "Son of Mr. Green Genes", and "The Gumbo Variations" are showcases for his powerful and unconventional solo guitar performances.Four of the tracks have intricately arranged charts featuring multiple overdubs by Ian Underwood.Underwood plays the parts of approximately eight to ten musicians, often simultaneously.His work includes complicated sections of piano and organ, as well as multiple flutes, clarinets and saxophones.The song "Peaches en Regalia" is widely recognized as a modern jazz fusion standard and is one of Zappa's best-known songs.Zappa plays a short solo on an instrument credited as an "octave-bass".Underwood contributes flute and multiple saxophone, clarinet and keyboard parts.Zappa later re-recorded the song several times in live performances.It has been re-interpreted by many other jazz and rock artists, including Phish, the Dixie Dregs, Frogg Café and Kerrie Biddell."Willie the Pimp" is a blues-influenced rock tune which features a vocal by Zappa's longtime friend and collaborator Captain Beefheart.It has violin by Don "Sugarcane" Harris and guitar solos by Zappa in what appear to be loose jams, though the performances were edited before release.The album's title comes from the lyrics of this song."Son of Mr. Green Genes" is an instrumental re-arrangement of the song "Mr. Green Genes" from the Mothers' album Uncle Meat.The unusual title of this song led to an urban legend that Zappa was related to the actor who played Mr. Green Jeans on the television show Captain Kangaroo.This is the only song on the album to feature both intricate horn charts and extended guitar solo sections."Little Umbrellas" is similar in style to "Peaches", another short, carefully arranged tune with numerous keyboard and wind overdubs by Underwood."The Gumbo Variations" also is a jam performance that features a tenor saxophone solo by Underwood and some intricate electric violin playing by Don "Sugarcane" Harris as well as a guitar solo by Zappa.The version on the CD issue is longer as it contains parts that were left out of the LP, it includes a brief spoken segment at the beginning in which Zappa instructs the musicians on how to start the tune."It Must Be a Camel" is also an intricately arranged tune with numerous wind and keyboard overdubs by Underwood.The very unusual melody of this song is due to its repeated use of quintuplets (a staple of later Zappa compositions) and often makes large melodic leaps.The title may come from the fact that parts of the melodic line resemble the shape of camel "humps" when written on paper. Jean-Luc Ponty plays violin.A recording from the Hot Rats sessions titled "Bognor Regis" was set to be released on the B-side of an edited version of "Sharleena", a track from the 1970 Zappa album Chunga's Revenge.The single release was canceled; however, an acetate disc copy was leaked to the public and the track has appeared on Zappa bootlegs.The song was named after Bognor Regis, a town on the south coast of England.Musically it's a basic blues instrumental with an electric violin solo by Don "Sugarcane" Harris.Another track recorded during these sessions, titled "Twenty Small Cigars", was later released on Chunga's Revenge.Advanced Recording Techniques.This section possibly contains original research.Zappa used advanced recording equipment to create an album of outstanding technical and musical quality.The album was recorded on what Zappa described as a "homemade sixteen track" recorder; the machine was custom built by engineers at TTG Studios in Hollywood in late 1968.Additional tracks made it possible for Zappa to add multiple horn and keyboard overdubs by Ian Underwood.Only a few musicians were required to create an especially rich instrumental texture which gives the sound of a large group.It was this use of advanced overdubbing that was the main motivation for Zappa, who hated playing in a studio.Zappa was among the first to record drums on multiple tracks. This made it possible to create a stereo drum sound.Prior to this time the entire drum set was typically recorded to a single (mono) track of an 8-track recorder.On Hot Rats, however, four of the tracks were assigned to the main drum set, including individual tracks for the snare and bass drums and left and right tracks for other drums and cymbals.In this setup the engineer had unprecedented control over the sound of each drum component in the final mix.This technique was widely imitated and became the norm in the early 1970s when machines with 16 or more tracks became widely available.Zappa pioneered the use of tape speed manipulation to produce unusual timbres and tonal colours.On "Peaches en Regalia", "Son of Mr. Green Genes", and "It Must Be a Camel" Zappa plays "double-speed percussion".After recording basic tracks (drums, bass, guitar and piano, etc.) at the fast speed of the recorder, Zappa played additional drum overdubs while listening to the basic tracks at half speed.On the finished recording, played at normal speed again, the overdubs are heard at twice the usual speed and pitch, this gives the drum overdubs a bizarre, comical quality, much like toy drums.Other instruments were processed in a similar way, including keyboards, saxophones and bass with Zappa being credited with "octave bass" (a bass guitar sped up to double speed)-the resulting sound is similar to that of a guitar but according to Zappa has more "punch" and energy.Additionally, a processed electronic organ was integrated as an orchestral voice within an ensemble of woodwinds and piano."It Must Be a Camel" features the sound of a hard plastic comb being stroked, sounding almost like a jerky, audio slow-motion bell tree or wind chime; Zappa also 'plays' a ratchet wrench as percussion on "Willie the Pimp", this was all done with analog technology more than 10 years before modern digital sound processing equipment became available.Artwork.The colourful, psychedelic aura of the late sixties is apparent in the graphic design and photography of Hot Rats, though Zappa himself disdained the psychedelic movement.At a time when gatefold covers were usually reserved for double-disc albums, this one-disc album had a gatefold featuring the elaborate artwork of Cal Schenkel.The front and back cover photos by Andee Nathanson use infrared photography and reflects Zappa's taste for striking visual images, combined with the absurdly humorous.The woman pictured on the cover is Christine Frka, alias Miss Christine of The GTOs, for years these cover photos were incorrectly credited to Ed Caraeff.Release History.The LP was released on the blue Bizarre Records label in the United States in 1969.The inside of the original gatefold LP cover has a collage of colour pictures, many of which were taken during the recording sessions.In 1973 the album was re-issued by Reprise Records., this version was deleted in 1981 when Zappa's contract with record distributor Warner Bros. Records ended.In 1987 Zappa remixed Hot Rats for re-issue on CD by Rykodisc, on this edition many of the photos were removed, and the few that were included were printed in black and white. "Willie the Pimp" is edited differently during the introduction and guitar solo."The Gumbo Variations" is four minutes longer; it includes an introduction and guitar and saxophone solo sections which were left out of the LP version.On "Little Umbrellas", the piano and flute are more prominent than on the LP. Other differences include significant changes to the overall ambiance and dynamic range, the 1995 CD reissue restored the full gatefold artwork.A 2008 remaster of the original mix was used for a 2009 limited edition audiophile LP by Classic Records and for the 2012 Universal Music CD reissue.Zappa Records reissued the album in a 180 gram LP in 2016, remastered by Bernie Grundman. On 20 December 2019, Zappa Records released The Hot Rats Sessions, a 50th anniversary 6 CD box set of music recorded during the sessions for the album which included the no longer available 1987 mix and many previously unissued takes and mixes.The album was a top ten hit in Britain and the Netherlands in 1969-70.Track List:-All tracks are written by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "Peaches en Regalia" 3:38.02 - "Willie the Pimp" 9:21.03 - "Son of Mr. Green Genes" 8:58.Side Two.01 - "Little Umbrellas" 3:06.02 - "The Gumbo Variations" 12:53.03 - "It Must Be a Camel" 5:15.Total Album Length:- 43:11.Credits are adapted from Hot Rats liner notes.Frank Zappa - guitar, octave bass, percussion.Ian Underwood - piano, organus maximus, flute, all clarinets, all saxes.Also Featuring:-Captain Beefheart - vocals on "Willie the Pimp".Max Bennett - bass on all tracks except "Peaches en Regalia".Shuggie Otis - bass on "Peaches en Regalia".John Guerin - drums on "Willie the Pimp", "Little Umbrellas" and "It Must Be a Camel".Paul Humphrey - drums on "Son of Mr. Green Genes" and "The Gumbo Variations".Ron Selico - drums on "Peaches en Regalia".Don "Sugarcane" Harris - violin on "Willie the Pimp" and "The Gumbo Variations".Jean-Luc Ponty - violin on "It Must Be a Camel".Lowell George - rhythm guitar (uncredited).Production:-Producer: Frank Zappa.Director of engineering: Dick Kunc.Engineers: Cliff Goldstein, Jack Hunt, Brian Ingoldsby, Dick Kunc.Arranger: Frank Zappa.Cover design: Cal Schenkel.Design: Cal Schenkel, John Williams.Album Info from Wikipedia.

WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH 1970

.Weasels Ripped My Flesh is the seventh studio album by the American rock group the Mothers of Invention, and the tenth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970.It is the second album released after the Mothers disbanded in 1969, preceded by Burnt Weeny Sandwich.In contrast to its predecessor, which almost entirely focused on studio recordings of arranged compositions, Weasels Ripped My Flesh consists of a combination of live and studio recordings and features more improvisation.Weasels Ripped My Flesh was recorded between December 1967 and August 1969 at various locations and was released on August 10th 1970 on the Bizarre, Reprise labels.Album Information.Whereas all but one of the pieces on Burnt Weeny Sandwich have a more planned feel captured by quality studio equipment, five tracks from Weasels Ripped My Flesh capture the Mothers on stage, where they employ frenetic and chaotic improvisation characteristic of avant-garde jazz and free jazz.This is particularly evident on "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue," a tribute to the multi-instrumentalist, who died in 1964 and is cited as a musical influence in the liner notes to the band's Freak Out! album.The song opens with a complex melody over a 3/4 rhythm, breaking into howls and laughter at the three-minute mark, then the theme is repeated and elaborated; after a brief rave-up section, the number concludes in stop-start fashion.Zappa's classical influences are reflected in characteristically satirical fashion on "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask", a play on Claude Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun)"."Oh No" is a vocal version of a theme that originally appeared on Zappa's Lumpy Gravy album, as well as a pointed barb aimed at the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love"."The Orange County Lumber Truck" incorporates the "Riddler's Theme" from the Batman TV show.The album's closer and title track consists of every player on stage producing as much noise and feedback as they can for two minutes.An audience member is heard yelling for more at its conclusion.The All-Music Guide concludes that the track is "perfectly logical in the album's context".In contrast to the experimental jazz material, the album also contains a straightforward interpretation of Little Richard's R&B single "Directly From My Heart to You", featuring violin and lead vocal from Don "Sugarcane" Harris, this song is actually an outtake from the sessions for the Hot Rats album.The album also documents the brief tenure of Lowell George (guitar and vocals), who went on to found the band Little Feat with Mothers bassist Roy Estrada.On "Didja Get Any Onya?", George affects a German accent to relate a story of being a small boy in Germany and seeing "a lot of people stand around on the corners asking questions, 'Why are you standing on the corner, acting the way you act, looking the way you look, why do you look that way?'"The Rykodisc CD reissue of the album features different versions of "Didja Get Any Onya?" and "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask", which featured music edited out of the LP versions.The extended version of "Didja Get Any Onya?" features a live performance of the composition "Charles Ives", a studio recording of which had previously been released as the backing track for "The Blimp" on the Captain Beefheart album Trout Mask Replica, produced by Frank Zappa.The 2012 Universal Music reissue reverts to the original LP versions.Album Cover.Frank Zappa recruited artist Neon Park to create a subversive image based on a cover story from the September 1956 issue of Man's Life, a men's adventure magazine.The magazine's cover story depicts a shirtless man being attacked by numerous weasels, above the caption "Weasels Ripped My Flesh".After showing Neon a copy of the magazine, Zappa inquired, "This is it. What can you do that's worse than this?" Neon's answer was to craft a parody of an advertisement for Schick brand electric razor based on the "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" theme, the record company released the album despite its reservations about the album cover.German releases of the album featured an album cover showing a metal baby caught in a rat trap. This cover was not approved by Zappa.Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh were also reissued together on vinyl as 2 Originals of the Mothers of Invention, with the original covers used as the left and right sides of the inner spread, and the front cover depicting a pistol shooting toothpaste onto a toothbrush.Reception.Contemporary reviews of the record called it "far-out" (Billboard, August 29, 1970) and a "random collection of editing room snippets recorded at the Mothers' concerts" (Rolling Stone, October 1, 1970).Now placed in its historical context, modern reviewers tend to appreciate it more favourably.A typical example of such appreciation is Christgau's Record Guide (from 1981), which grades the album a B+.In a retrospective review, Allmusic gave it 4.5 stars out of 5, calling it a "fascinating collection", and stating that "Zappa's anything-goes approach and the distance between his extremes are what make Weasels Ripped My Flesh ultimately invigorating".In his book Viva Zappa!, Dominique Chevalier wrote that the album is "one of Zappa's most aggressively bizarre works, full of cross-references to free jazz and modern classical musicians such as Luciano Berio. He also said that the best piece was undoubtedly "Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue", calling it "the cleverest tribute that could have been paid to him".Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa except where noted.Side One.01 - "Didja Get Any Onya?" March 2, 1969, Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia - 3:44.02 - "Directly from My Heart to You" (Richard Wayne Penniman) - July 1969, TTG Recording Studios, Hollywood - 5:17.03 - "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask" October 25, 1968, Royal Festival Hall, London - 3:35.04 - "Toads of the Short Forest" August 1969, Whitney Studios, Glendale and February 7-8, 1969, Thee Image, Miami - 4:48.05 - "Get a Little" February 13, 1969, The Factory, New York City - 2:35.Side Two.01 - "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue (instrumental) June 1969, A&R Studios, New York City - 6:53.02 - "Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula" (instrumental) December 1967-February 1968, Apostolic Studios, New York City - 2:12.03 - "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" February 1969, Criteria Studios, Miami and August-September 1969, .G. Studios, Hollywood - 3:35.04 - "Oh No" December 1967-February 1968, Apostolic Studios, New York City - 1:46.05 - "The Orange County Lumber Truck" (instrumental) October 25, 1968, Royal Festival Hall, London - 3:18.06 - "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" May 30, 1969, Town Hall, Birmingham - 2:05.Personnel:-Frank Zappa - lead guitar, vocals.Jimmy Carl Black - drums.Ray Collins - vocals.Roy Estrada - bass, vocals.Bunk Gardner - tenor saxophone.Lowell George - rhythm guitar, vocals.Don "Sugarcane" Harris - vocals, electric violin.Don Preston - organ, RMI Electra Piano, electronic effects.Buzz Gardner - trumpet and flugel horn.Motorhead Sherwood - baritone saxophone, snorks.Art Tripp - drums.Ian Underwood - alto saxophone.Production:-Producer: Frank Zappa.Art Direction: John Williams.Cover art: Neon Park.Photography: John Williams.Digital art: Bob Stone.Album Info from wikipedia.

BURNED WHEENY SANDWICH 1970

Burnt Weeny Sandwich is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, and the ninth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970.It consists of both studio recordings and live elements.In contrast to the next album Weasels Ripped My Flesh, which is predominantly live and song-oriented, most of Burnt Weeny Sandwich focuses on studio recordings and tightly arranged compositions.The LP included a large triple-folded black and white poster ("The Mothers of Invention Sincerely Regret to Inform You") which has never been reproduced in any of the CD reissues.Title.The album's unusual title, Zappa would later say in an interview, comes from an actual snack that he enjoyed eating, consisting of a burnt Hebrew National hot dog sandwiched between two pieces of bread with mustard.Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh were also reissued together on vinyl as 2 Originals of the Mothers of Invention, with the original covers used as the left and right sides of the inner spread, and the front cover depicting a pistol shooting toothpaste onto a toothbrush.Album information.The album was essentially a 'posthumous' Mothers release having been released after Frank Zappa dissolved the band.Ian Underwood's contributions are significant on this album.The album, like its counterpart Weasels Ripped My Flesh, comprises tracks from the Mothers vault that were not previously released.Whereas Weasels mostly showcases the Mothers in a live setting, much of Burnt Weeny Sandwich features studio work and structured Zappa compositions, like the centerpiece of the album, "The Little House I Used to Live In", which consists of several movements and employs compound meters such as 11/8 with overlaid melodies in 6/8 and 4/4.The guitar solo portion of the "Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich" is an outtake from an unused extended version of "Lonely Little Girl" from the 1967 sessions for the We're Only in It for the Money LP.Zappa and Art Tripp later added multiple percussion overdubs for the released version (The source recordings for the percussion overdubs were issued in 2012 on the posthumous Zappa release Finer Moments under the title "Enigmas 1-5")."Valarie" was originally intended to be released as a single coupled with "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama", however, either Zappa or his label, Reprise Records, cancelled its release, resulting in its inclusion on the LP."Igor's Boogie" is a reference to a major Zappa influence, composer Igor Stravinsky.Cal Schenkel has noted that his unique cover art for Burnt Weeny Sandwich was originally commissioned for the cover of an Eric Dolphy release.The piano introduction of "Little House I Used to Live in" appears in Yvar Mikhashoff's four CD set "Yvar Mikhashoff's Panorama of American Piano Music".The song title for "Little House I Used To Live In" was changed to "The Little House I Used To Live In" on all CD reissues.Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa except where noted.Side One.01 - "WPLJ" (The Four Deuces) 3:02.02 - "Igor's Boogie, Phase One" 0:40.03 - "Overture to a Holiday in Berlin" 1:29.04 - "Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich" 4:35.05 - "Igor's Boogie, Phase Two" 0:35.06 - "Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown" 6:27.07 - "Aybe Sea" 2:45.Side Two.01 - "Little House I Used to Live in" 18:42.02 - "Valarie" (Jackie and the Starlites) 3:14.Personnel:-Frank Zappa - guitar, organ, vocals.Jimmy Carl Black - percussion, drumsRoy Estrada - bass, backing vocals, Pachuco rap on "WPLJ".Janet Ferguson - backing vocals on "WPLJ".Bunk Gardner - wind.Buzz Gardner - trumpet.Billy Mundi - drums (uncredited, left group in December 1967, pictured on gatefold cover and possibly played on "Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich").Lowell George - guitar, vocals.Don "Sugarcane" Harris - violin on "The Little House I Used to Live In".Don Preston - piano, keyboards.Jim Sherwood - wind.Art Tripp - drums, percussion.Ian Underwood - piano, keyboards, wind.John Balkin - bass on "WPLJ", string bass on "Overture to a Holiday in Berlin".Production:-Producer: Frank Zappa.Engineer: Dick Kunc.Arranger: Frank Zappa.Design: John Williams.Cover art: Cal Schenkel.CD package design: Ferenc Dobronyl.CD art adaptation: Cal Schenkel.Album Info from Wikipedia.

UNCLE MEAT 1969

Uncle Meat is the fifth studio album by the Mothers of Invention, released as a double album in 1969.Uncle Meat was originally developed as a part of No Commercial Potential, a project which spawned three other albums sharing a conceptual connection:- We're Only in It for the Money, Lumpy Gravy and Cruising with Ruben & the Jets.Uncle Meat was recorded between September 1967 and September 1968 at Apostolic Studios, NYC and Sunset Studios, LA and was released on April 21, 1969 on the Bizarre/Repruse label.The album also served as a soundtrack album to a proposed science fiction film which would not be completed, though a direct-to-video film containing test footage from the project was released by Frank Zappa in 1987.The music is diverse in style, drawing from orchestral, jazz, blues and rock music. Uncle Meat was a commercial success upon release, and has been highly acclaimed for its innovative recording and editing techniques, including experiments in manipulation of tape speed and overdubbing, and its diverse sound.Background.Frank Zappa, who had been interested in film since high school, decided to develop a film vehicle for the Mothers of Invention, entitled Uncle Meat.The proposed film would combine elements of science fiction and road stories inspired by the band's sexual escapades.Subsequently, Zappa began working on a project called No Commercial Potential, which eventually became the albums We're Only in It for the Money, Lumpy Gravy, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets and Uncle Meat. Zappa stated, "It's all one album.All the material in the albums is organically related and if I had all the master tapes and I could take a razor blade and cut them apart and put it together again in a different order it still would make one piece of music you can listen to.Then I could take that razor blade and cut it apart and reassemble it a different way, and it still would make sense. I could do this twenty ways. The material is definitely related".According to artist Cal Schenkel, "I started working on the story of Ruben and the Jets that is connected with the Uncle Meat story, which is this old guy turns this teenage band into these dog snout people ... We started that before it actually became Ruben and the Jets. That came out of my love for comics and that style, the anthropomorphic animals, but also it was part of a running story line".Recording.For the recording sessions, Zappa utilized 12 track recording technology, as well as a variety of techniques which realized his vision, including a large number of overdubs, playing unconventional instruments through studio effects, and speeding up or slowing down recordings for artistic effect.Zappa wanted to make an album that would challenge the complacency of contemporary music fans, as he felt that his fanbase was "accustomed to accepting everything that was handed to them ... politically, musically, socially - everything. Somebody would just hand it to them and they wouldn't question it. It was my campaign in those days to do things that would shake people out of that complacency, or that ignorance and make them question things".Despite not actually playing on Uncle Meat, being recorded prior to his arrival, future Mothers rhythm guitarist and Little Feat founder Lowell George is featured in the album's artwork and booklet.Music and Lyrics.Uncle Meat featured a variety of music styles, including orchestral symphonies, free jazz, blues, doo wop and rock and roll.The album also contains spoken word segments featuring Suzy Creamcheese, and features a stronger focus on percussion instrumentation than previous works by Zappa, as well as emphasizing his strengths as a composer and arranger."Nine Types of Industrial Pollution" is melodically formless rooted in percussion instrumentation, and features a guitar solo that was sped up in post production.Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague" is delivered as a rock and roll song, with the same theme being repeated as an instrumental later in the album, performed by keyboards, percussion and acoustic guitar.The rock and roll version features three verses with the first chorus being delivered by opera singer Nelcy Walker, and the second chorus featuring sped up vocals.After the third verse, the song becomes an avant garde orchestral piece performed by percussion, keyboards and instruments; the album liner notes "The weird middle section of DOG BREATH (after the line "Ready to attack") has forty tracks built into it.Things that sound like trumpets are actually clarinets played through an electric device made by Maestro with a setting labeled Oboe D'Amore and sped up a minor third with a V.S.O. (variable speed oscillator).Other peculiar sounds were make[sic] on a Kalamazoo electric organ. The only equipment at our disposal for the modification of these primary sounds was a pair of Pultec Filters, two Lang Equalisers, and three Melchor Compressors built into the board at Apostolic Studios in New York.The board itself is exceptionally quiet and efficient (the only thing that allowed us to pile up so many tracks) and is the product of Mr. Lou Lindauer's imagination & workmanship".In addition to the studio recordings, Uncle Meat featured live recordings made at the Royal Albert Hall, including a recording of Don Preston playing "Louie Louie" on the Albert Hall pipe organ, at the end of which Zappa announces it as having been performed by the "London Philharmonic Orchestra".The doo wop-influenced "Electric Aunt Jemima" refers to Zappa's guitar amplifier, equating it with the advertising character Aunt Jemima.Zappa explained, "I get kind of a laugh out of the fact that other people are going to try to interpret that stuff and come up with some grotesque interpretations of it. It gives me a certain amount of satisfaction".The album concludes with "King Kong", a piece in 3/8, although the instrumental's prelude, a free jazz improvisation over a rhythm section playing in a 5/8 time signature, occurs much earlier in the album.Six variations of the melody appear as the album's finale, with the first establishing its simple melody, the second being a Fender Rhodes Electric Piano solo by Preston, the third showcasing a saxophone solo by Motorhead Sherwood, and the fourth featuring Bunk Gardner playing a soprano saxophone through various electronic effects that emulate the sound of a contrabassoon doubling his solo lines.Two more variations conclude the piece, which include a live recorded performance featuring a saxophone solo by Ian Underwood and then finally ending with a version with sped up gongs, overblown saxophones and other instruments.Release and Reception.Uncle Meat was released as a double album by Bizarre and Reprise Records, subtitled, "Most of the music from the Mothers' movie of the same name which we haven't got enough money to finish yet.Despite the album's experimental nature, it peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard charts.Critical Reception.Contemporary reviews of the album were highly favorable, recognizing it as an important album in Zappa's discography.The New Rolling Stone Album Guide described the album as an "inspired monstrosity ... an assault of glorious noise".AllMusic writer Steve Huey wrote, "despite the absence of a conceptual framework, the unfocused sprawl of Uncle Meat is actually a big part of its appeal. It's exciting to hear one of the most creatively fertile minds in rock pushing restlessly into new territory, even if he isn't always quite sure where he's going".Legacy.In 1987, a completed Uncle Meat film was released on home video, and the Uncle Meat album was subsequently reissued as a double CD which included a song recorded in 1982, "Tengo Na Minchia Tanta", sung in Sicilian and Italian by Massimo Bassoli, who identifies the song as being translated as "I've Got a Big Bunch Of Dick", and over 40 minutes' worth of soundbites and dialogue from the film.The track listing programs the new tracks at the beginning of the second disc, placing the material between the album's original third and fourth sides.The original 1969 vinyl mix was reissued in 2016 as part of the Meat Light audio documentary box set.Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa, except where noted.Side One.01 - "Uncle Meat: Main Title Theme" (instrumental) 1:54.02 - "The Voice of Cheese" 0:27.03 - "Nine Types of Industrial Pollution" (instrumental; listed as "400 Days of the Year" on the label of the original vinyl release) 5:56.04 - "Zolar Czakl" (instrumental) 0:57.05 - "Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague" 5:51.06 - "The Legend of the Golden Arches" (instrumental) 1:24.07 - "Louie Louie" (Live at the Royal Albert Hall in London) Richard Berry 2:28.08 - "The Dog Breath Variations" (instrumental) 1:36.Side Two.01 - "Sleeping in a Jar" 0:49.02 - "Our Bizarre Relationship" 1:05.04 - "The Uncle Meat Variations" 4:40.05 - "Electric Aunt Jemima" 1:53.06 - "Prelude to King Kong" 3:24.07 - "God Bless America" (Live at the Whisky a Go Go) Irving Berlin 1:22.7. "A Pound for a Brown on the Bus" (instrumental) 1:29.08 - "Ian Underwood Whips It Out" 5:08.Side Three.01 - "Mr. Green Genes" (Remixed on all CD issues of the album) 3:10.02 - "We Can Shoot You" 1:48.03 - "'If We'd All Been Living in California...'" 1:29.04 - "The Air" 2:57.05 - "Project X" (instrumental) 4:47.06 - "Cruising for Burgers" 2:19.Side Four.01 - "King Kong (As Played by the Mothers in a Studio)" (instrumental) 0:53.02 - "King Kong (Its Magnificence as Interpreted by Dom DeWild)" (instrumental) 1:15.3. "King Kong (As Motorhead Explains It)" (instrumental) 1:44.4. "King Kong (The Gardner Varieties)" (instrumental) 6:17.5. "King Kong (As Played by 3 Deranged Good Humor Trucks)" (instrumental) 0:29.6. "King Kong (Live on a Flat Bed Diesel in the Middle of a Race Track at a Miami Pop Festival...The Underwood Ramifications)" (instrumental) 7:22.Personnel.Musicians - The Mothers - at the time of this recording were:-Frank Zappa - guitar, low grade vocals, percussion.Ray Collins - swell vocals.Jimmy Carl Black - drums, droll humor, poverty.Roy Estrada - electric bass, cheeseburgers, Pachuco falsetto.Don (Dom De Wild) Preston - electric piano, tarot cards, brown rice.Billy (The Oozer) Mundi - drums on some pieces before he quit to join RHINOCEROS.Bunk (Sweetpants) Gardner - piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, bassoon (all of these electric and/or no-electric depending).Ian Underwood - electronic organ, piano, harpsichord, celeste, flute, clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax, special assistant, copyist, industrial relations & teen appeal.Artie (With the Green Mustache) Tripp - drums, timpani, vibes, marimba, xylophone, wood blocks, bells, small chimes, cheerful outlook & specific inquiries.Euclid James (Motorhead/Motorishi) Sherwood - pop star, frenetic tenor sax stylings, tambourine, choreography, obstinance & equipment setter-upper when he's not hustling local groupies.Special thanks to:-Ruth Komanoff - who plays marimba and vibes with Artie on many of the tracks, andNelcy Walker - the soprano voice with Ray & Roy on "Dog Breath" & "The Uncle Meat Variations".Uncredited:-Pamela Zarubica as Suzy Creamcheese.Production.Frank Zappa - producer.Jerry Hansen - engineer.Euclid James Sherwood - equipment technician, choreographer.Art Tripp - adviser.Cal Schenkel - package design.Roy Estrada - prop design.Ian Underwood - copyist, public relations, special assistance.Album Info from Wikipedia.30307 kommentarerSynes godt omKommenter

CRUSING WITH RUBEN AND THE JETS 1967

Cruising with Ruben & the Jets is the fourth studio album by the Mothers of Invention.Released on December 2, 1968, on Bizarre and Verve Records with distribution by MGM Records, it was subsequently remixed by Frank Zappa and reissued independently.As with the band's previous three albums, it is a concept album, influenced by 1950s doo wop and rock and roll.The album's concept deals with a fictitious Chicano doo wop band called Ruben & the Jets, represented by the cover illustration by Cal Schenkel, which depicts the Mothers of Invention as anthropomorphic dogs.It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, We're Only in It for the Money and Uncle Meat.The album and its singles received some radio success, due to its doo wop sound. The band Ruben and the Jets were named after this album.Background.During a previous recording session, engineer Richard Kunc and the Mothers of Invention discussed their high school days and love for doo wop songs.Ray Collins and some of the other members of the band started singing and performing the songs, and Zappa suggested that they record an album of doo wop music.Zappa described the album as an homage to the 1950s vocal music that he was "crazy" about, Collins later left the Mothers of Invention, and Zappa began working on a project entitled No Commercial Potential, which included sessions that produced Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, as well as We're Only in It for the Money, a revised version of Lumpy Gravy, and Uncle Meat.After the Mothers of Invention's contract with MGM and Verve Records expired, Zappa and Herb Cohen negotiated to form Bizarre Productions, with Verve releasing three Bizarre releases with distribution by MGM:- a new Mothers of Invention album, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, the compilation Mothermania, and an album by Sandy Hurvitz, Sandy's Album is Here at Last.Zappa stated, regarding the releases Lumpy Gravy, We're Only in It for the Money, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets and Uncle Meat, "It's all one album.All the material in the albums is organically related and if I had all the master tapes and I could take a razor blade and cut them apart and put it together again in a different order it still would make one piece of music you can listen to.Then I could take that razor blade and cut it apart and reassemble it a different way, and it still would make sense. I could do this twenty ways. The material is definitely related".Recording.Ray Collins rejoined the Mothers of Invention for the recording of the album, as his high falsetto was suited for the recordings.According to Collins, "I brought the style of being raised in Pomona, California, being raised on the Four Aces, the Four Freshmen, Frankie Lane, Frank Sinatra and Jesse Baldwin.The early influences of R&B came into the Southern California area when I was probably in the tenth grade in high school.And I remember Peter Potter's show, and I think I recall the first R&B tune on there was 'Oop-Shoop'. Frank actually had more influences from the 'real blues', you know, like Muddy Waters, those kind of people. But I wasn't into that in my early life.I was more of the pop culture, pop radio things, and it's always been more of a favourite of mine than the early blues stuff - even though I love John Lee Hooker and all those people".According to Bunk Gardner, "Cruising with Ruben & the Jets was an easy album to record.We were recording it at the same time as Uncle Meat because the songs were easy and very simple and didn't require a lot of time for arrangements and technical overdubbing.It was the beginning of the end for Ray Collins because all the new material Frank was writing was a little too far out and away from Ray's roots - which was Ruben-era material. Motorhead too was in his glory during the recording of this album.He loved Ruben and that was really his kind of music to get nostalgic over - on stage and doing the dance steps and playing that music, I really enjoyed playing a solo on Ray's tune 'Anything'.I remember Frank, Ray and Roy standing in the control booth while I recorded my solo. Frank was telling me after the first take to keep it simple, so I nailed it on the second take and everyone was happy!".It included four rerecordings of songs that were on the Mothers' first album Freak Out!: "How Could I Be Such a Fool"; "You Didn't Try to Call Me"; "Anyway the Wind Blows"; and "I'm Not Satisfied", their arrangements were altered to fit within the album's concept.Concept.Within the concept of the album, Ruben Sano was the leader of the fictitious Chicano band "the Jets".The back cover depicted Ruben with an early high school photograph of Zappa.According to artist Cal Schenkel, "I started working on the story of Ruben and the Jets that is connected with the Uncle Meat story, which is this old guy turns this teenage band into these dog snout people, we started that before it actually became Ruben and the Jets.That came out of my love for comics and that style, the anthropomorphic animals, but also it was part of a running story line".Zappa stated regarding the album's lyrics, "I detest 'love lyrics'".He intentionally wrote lyrics he described as "sub-Mongoloid" to satirise the genre.The music of Cruising with Ruben & the Jets was the most straightforward genre work the Mothers of Invention had performed yet, attempting to faithfully reproduce the sound of 1950s doo wop and rock and roll.However, the arrangements included quotes from Igor Stravinsky pieces and unusual chord changes and tempos.Release and legacy.The album was popular with radio stations, as they believed it to be an unearthed doo wop album by an unknown band called Ruben & the Jets.A single was issued ("Deseri" b/w a remixed and overdubbed version of "Jelly Roll Gum Drop") credited to "Ruben and the Jets", with no mention of the Mothers of Invention; according to Zappa, later pressings, which credited the Mothers of Invention, did not receive as much airplay as the original "Ruben" pressings.The album's cover has a word balloon stating "Is this the Mothers of Invention recording under a different name in a last ditch attempt to get their cruddy music on the radio?".Zappa later dismissed claims that he had "fooled people" with this album as "nonsense".Subsequently, Zappa stated that the Mothers of Invention would record a second Ruben & the Jets album.No sequel to Cruising with Ruben & the Jets was produced.However, a band called Ruben and the Jets, named in honor of the album, released their debut album, For Real! in 1973 on Mercury Records, produced by Zappa.Reissues.In 1984, Zappa prepared a remix of Cruising with Ruben & the Jets for its compact disc reissue and the vinyl box set The Old Masters I.The remix featured new rhythm tracks recorded by bassist Arthur Barrow and drummer Chad Wackerman, much as the 1984 remix of We're Only in It for the Money had featured, Zappa stated "The master tapes for Ruben and the Jets were in better shape, but since I liked the results on We're Only in it For the Money, I decided to do it on Ruben too.But those are the only two albums on which the original performances were replaced, I thought the important thing was the material itself".After the remixing was announced, a $13 million lawsuit was filed against Zappa by Jimmy Carl Black, Bunk Gardner and Don Preston, who were later joined by Ray Collins, Art Tripp and Motorhead Sherwood, increasing the claim to $16.4 million, stating that they had received no royalties from Zappa since 1969.In 2009, the original mix of the album was released as part of a compilation entitled Greasy Love Songs.Allmusic's François Couture gave the album's 1984 remix 3 out of 5 stars.Another writer for the site, Sean Westergaard, gave Greasy Love Songs 4 out of 5 stars.Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa except as noted.Side One.01 - "Cheap Thrills" - 2:23.02 - "Love of My Life" - 3:10.03 - "How Could I Be Such a Fool" - 3:35.04 - "Deseri" Collins, Paul Buff - 2:07.05 - "I'm Not Satisfied" - 4:03.06 - "Jelly Roll Gum Drop" - 2:20.07 - "Anything" Collins - 3:04.Side Two.01 - "Later That Night" - 3:06.02 - "You Didn't Try to Call Me" - 3:57.03 - "Fountain of Love" Zappa, Collins - 3:01.04 - "No. No. No." - 2:29.05 - "Any Way the Wind Blows" - 2:58.06 - "Stuff Up the Cracks" - 4:35.Total Album Length:- 40:34.Personnel.Musicians:-Ray Collins - lead vocals.Frank Zappa - low grumbles, oo-wah and lead guitar (also drums, piano, bass).Roy Estrada - high weazlings, dwaedy-doop & electric bass.Jimmy Carl Black and/or Arthur Dyer Tripp III - lewd pulsating rhythm.Ian Underwood or Don Preston - redundant piano triplets.Motorhead Sherwood - baritone sax & tambourine.Bunk Gardner and Ian Underwood - tenor and alto saxes.Production:-Producer: Frank Zappa.Engineer: Dick Kunc.Cover Art: Cal Schenkel.Cover Design: Cal Schenkel.Artwork: Cal Schenkel.Album Info from Wikipedia.36365 kommentarerSynes godt omKommenter

WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY 1967

We're Only in It for the Money is the third studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on March 4, 1968 by Verve Records.As with the band's first two efforts, it is a concept album, and satirises left and right-wing politics, particularly the hippie subculture, as well as the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, and Uncle Meat.We're Only in It for the Money encompasses rock, experimental music, and psychedelic rock, with orchestral segments deriving from the recording sessions for Lumpy Gravy, which was previously issued as a solo instrumental album by Capitol Records and was subsequently re-edited by frontman Frank Zappa and released by Verve; the re-edited Lumpy Gravy was produced simultaneously with We're Only in It for the Money and is the first part of a conceptual continuity, continued with the re-edited Lumpy Gravy and concluded with Zappa's final album Civilization Phaze III (1994).Background.While filming Uncle Meat, Frank Zappa recorded in New York City for a project called No Commercial Potential, which ended up producing four albums:- We're Only in It for the Money, a revised version of Zappa's solo album Lumpy Gravy, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets and Uncle Meat, which served as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, which finally saw a release in 1987, albeit in incomplete form.Zappa stated, "It's all one album, all the material in the albums is organically related and if I had all the master tapes and I could take a razor blade and cut them apart and put it together again in a different order it still would make one piece of music you can listen to.Then I could take that razor blade and cut it apart and reassemble it a different way, and it still would make sense. I could do this twenty ways. The material is definitely related".As the recording sessions continued, the Beatles released their acclaimed album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.In response to the album's release, Zappa decided to change the album's concept to parody the Beatles album, because he felt that the Beatles were insincere and "only in it for the money".The Beatles were targeted as a symbol of Zappa's objections to the corporatization of youth culture, and the album served as a criticism of them and psychedelic rock as a whole.Recording.Band member Ray Collins had left the Mothers before the New York recording sessions took place, but later rejoined when the band was recording the doo-wop songs that formed the album Cruisin' with Ruben & the Jets.Gary Kellgren was hired as an engineer for the project, and subsequently wound up delivering whispered pieces of dialogue that linked segments of We're Only in It for the Money.During the recording sessions, Verve requested that Zappa remove a verse from the song "Mother People".Zappa complied, but reversed the recording and included the backwards verse as part of the dialogue track "Hot Poop", concluding the album's first side, but this would be removed by Verve themselves on subsequent represses of their own.Also censored on all copies was the Lenny Bruce reference in "Harry, You're A Beast", and a spoken segment of "Concentration Moon" in which Kellgren called the Velvet Underground "as shitty a group as Frank Zappa's group".While recording We're Only in It for the Money, Zappa discovered that the strings of Apostolic Studios' grand piano would resonate if a person spoke near those strings.The "piano people" experiment involved Zappa having various speakers improvise dialogue using topics offered by Zappa.Various people contributed to these sessions, including Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart and Tim Buckley.The "piano people" voices primarily consisted of Motorhead Sherwood, Roy Estrada, Spider Barbour, All-Night John (the manager of the studio) and Louis Cuneo, who was noted for his laugh, which sounded like a "psychotic turkey".During the production, Zappa experimented with recording and editing techniques which produced unusual textures and musique concrète compositions; the album featured abbreviated songs interrupted by segments of dialogue and unrelated music which changed the continuity of the album.Segments of orchestral music included on the album came from a solo orchestral album by Zappa previously released by Capitol Records under the title Lumpy Gravy in 1967.MGM claimed that Zappa was under contractual obligation to record for them, and subsequently Zappa re-edited Lumpy Gravy, releasing a drastically different version on Verve Records, after the release of We're Only in It for the Money.The artwork of Lumpy Gravy identified it as "phase 2 of We're Only in It for the Money", while We're Only in It for the Money was identified in its artwork as "phase one of Lumpy Gravy", alluding to the conceptual continuity of the two albums.For some pressings of the album, MGM censored several tracks without Zappa's knowledge, involvement or permission.On the song "Absolutely Free", the line "I don't do publicity balling for you anymore" was edited by MGM to remove the word "balling", changing the meaning of the sentence.Additionally, on "Let's Make the Water Turn Black", the line "and I still remember Mama, with her apron and her pad, feeding all the boys at Ed's Cafe" was removed.Zappa later learned that this line was censored because an MGM executive thought that the word "pad" referred to a sanitary towel, rather than a waitress's order pad.The Kellgren dialogue segment in "Concentration Moon" was also re-edited, making it seem that he was calling the Velvet Underground "Frank Zappa's group".Zappa later declined to accept an award for the album upon being made aware of the censorship, stating "I prefer that the award be presented to the guy who modified this record, because what you're hearing is more reflective of his work than mine".Themes.In his lyrics for We're Only in It for the Money, Zappa speaks as a voice for "the freaks-imaginative outsiders who didn't fit comfortably into any group", according to AllMusic writer Steve Huey.Subsequently, the album satirizes hippie culture and left-wing politics, as well as targeting right-wing politics, describing both political sides as "prisoners of the same narrow-minded, superficial phoniness".Zappa later stated in 1978, "hippies were pretty stupid, the people involved in youth processes are very sensitive to criticism, they always take themselves too seriously.So anybody who impugns the process, whether it's a peace march or love beads or whatever it is - that person is the enemy and must be dealt with severely, so we came under a lot of criticism, because we dared to suggest that perhaps what was going on was really stupid".Another element of the album's lyrical content came from the Los Angeles Police Department's harassment and arrests of young rock fans, which made it difficult for the band to perform on the West Coast, leading the band to move to New York City for better financial opportunities.Additionally, Zappa made reference to comedian Lenny Bruce; the song "Harry, You're A Beast" quotes Bruce's routine "To Is A Preposition, Come Is A Verb".The song "Flower Punk" parodies the garage rock staple "Hey Joe", and depicts a youth going to San Francisco to become a flower child and join a psychedelic rock band.Additionally, the track makes a reference to "Wild Thing", one of the songs that defined the counterculture of that period.The rhythmic pattern of "Flower Punk" is complex, consisting of 4 bars of a fast 5 (2-3), followed by 4 bars of 7 (2-2-3).Packaging.Zappa's art director Cal Schenkel and Jerry Schatzberg photographed a collage for the album cover, which parodied the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.Zappa spent US$4,000 (equivalent to $29,400 in 2019) on the photo shoot, which he stated was "a direct negative" of the Sgt. Pepper album cover", "Sgt. Pepper had blue skies ... we had a thunderstorm".Jimi Hendrix, a friend of Zappa, took part in the photo shoot, standing where a wax sculpture of Sonny Liston had appeared on the Beatles album cover.Zappa phoned Paul McCartney, seeking permission for the parody, McCartney told him that it was an issue for business managers, but Zappa responded that the artists themselves were supposed to tell their business managers what to do.Nevertheless, Capitol objected, and the album's release was delayed for five months.Verve decided to package the album with inverted cover artwork, placing the parody cover as interior artwork (and the intended interior artwork as the main sleeve) out of fear of legal action.Zappa was angered over the decision; Schenkel felt that the Sgt. Pepper parody "was a stronger image" than the final released cover.Release.The album was released on March 4, 1968, by Verve Records, it peaked at number thirty on the Billboard 200.In 1984, Zappa prepared a remix of the album for its compact disc reissue and the vinyl box set The Old Masters I.The remix reinstated audio that had been censored by Verve, as well as the original "Mother People" verse.It also featured new rhythm tracks recorded by bassist Arthur Barrow and drummer Chad Wackerman, Zappa would later do the same with Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, stating "The master tapes for Ruben and the Jets were in better shape, but since I liked the results on We're Only in It for the Money, I decided to do it on Ruben too, but those are the only two albums on which the original performances were replaced. I thought the important thing was the material itself".Lumpy Gravy was also remixed by Zappa, but not released at the time, after the remixing was announced, a $13 million lawsuit was filed against Zappa by Jimmy Carl Black, Bunk Gardner and Don Preston, who were later joined by Ray Collins, Art Tripp and Motorhead Sherwood, increasing the claim to $16.4 million, stating that they had received no royalties from Zappa since 1969.Zappa would later prepare a CD of the original stereo mix released by Rykodisc in 1995, unlike the remix, this retained the censorship applied to "Concentration Moon," "Harry You're A Beast" and "Mother People" on the original releases.The audio documentary box set The Lumpy Money Project/Object chronicles the production of We're Only in It for the Money, including the orchestral version of Lumpy Gravy, a 1968 mono mix of We're Only in It for the Money and 1984 remixes of We're Only in It for the Money and the re-edited Lumpy Gravy album, as well as additional material from the original recording sessions.Reception.Barret Hansen praised the album in an April 1968 review for Rolling Stone.He felt it was the most "advanced" rock album released up to that date, though not necessarily the "best"; he compared Zappa with the Beatles, and felt that the wit and sharpness of Zappa's lyrics was more intelligent, but unless one were to adopt a utilitarian view, he would not deny the beauty of the Beatles music.He concluded that while the initial listening may be significantly profound, due to the reliance on shock, subsequent listening may be reduced in value; and he returns to a comparison with the Beatles, in which he feels that Zappa has the greater musical genius, but is less comfortable to listen to.In 2012, Uncut described the album as a "satirical psych-rock gem".Legacy.AllMusic writer Steve Huey wrote, "the music reveals itself as exceptionally strong, and Zappa's politics and satirical instinct have rarely been so focused and relevant, making We're Only in It for the Money quite possibly his greatest achievement".Robert Christgau gave the album an A, writing, "With bohemia permanent and changed utterly, this early attack on its massification hasn't so much dated as found its context. Cheap sarcasm is forever".It was voted number 343 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).As of 2015, the album was ranked number 297 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.Additionally, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 77 in its August 1987 article, "The Top 100: The Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years".It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die along with the Mothers' first release Freak Out!.In 2005, the U.S. National Recording Preservation Board included We're Only in It for the Money in the National Recording Registry, calling it "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" and "a scathing satire on hippiedom and America's reactions to it".Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa.Side One.01 - "Are You Hung Up?" - 1:23.02 - "Who Needs the Peace Corps?" - 2:34.03 - "Concentration Moon" - 2:22.04 - "Mom & Dad" - 2:16.05 - "Telephone Conversation" (Included in "Bow Tie Daddy" on the original LP.) - 0:48.06 - "Bow Tie Daddy" - 0:33.07 - "Harry, You're a Beast" - 1:22.08 - "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" - 1:03.09 - "Absolutely Free" - 3:24.10 - "Flower Punk" - 3:03.11 - "Hot Poop" - 0:26.Side Two.01 - "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" - 2:03.02 - "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" - 2:01.03 - "The Idiot Bastard Son" - 3:18.04 - "Lonely Little Girl" (Listed as "It's His Voice on the Radio" on the original LP sleeve.) - 1:09.05 - "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" - 1:35.06 - "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (Reprise)" - 0:57.07 - "Mother People" - 2:32.08 - "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny" - 6:25.Total Album Length:- 39:15.Personnel:-The Mothers Today (as of 1967).Frank Zappa - guitar, piano, lead vocals & editing.Jimmy Carl Black - drums, trumpet, vocals, Indian of the group.Roy Estrada - electric bass, vocals, asthma.Billy Mundi - drums, vocals, yak & black lace underwear.Don Preston - retired.Bunk Gardner - all woodwinds, mumbled weirdness.Ian Underwood - piano, woodwinds, wholesome.Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood - road manager, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, all purpose weirdness & teen appeal.(Note:- subsequent CD releases of this album contain a paragraph on the sleeve titled "The Last Word," explaining that the Mothers band pictured on the album was not the band that played the music, and in fact all musical duties on the album were performed by Frank Zappa, Ian Underwood, Roy Estrada and Billy Mundi.Jimmy Carl Black, Don Preston, Bunk Gardner and Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood were all featured in some capacity on the record).Additional Personnel:-Suzy Creamcheese (Pamela Zarubica) - telephone voice.Pamela Zarubica - vocals.Dick Barber - Snorks.Eric Clapton - Male speaking part in "Are You Hung Up?" and "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music".Gary Kellgren - "the one doing all the creepy whispering" (i.e., interstitial spoken segments).Spider Barbour - vocals.Dick Kunc - "cheerful interruptions" vocal.Vicki Kellgren - additional telephone vocals.Ronnie Williams - backwards voice.Sid Sharp - conductor (under Frank Zappa's supervision) of the "Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra and Chorus" on "Absolutely Free", "Mother People" and "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny".Production:-Producer: Frank Zappa.Executive producer: Tom Wilson.Engineers: Gary Kellgren, Dick Kunc.Remixing: Dick Kunc.Editing: Dick Kunc, Frank Zappa.Arranger: Frank Zappa.Concept: Frank Zappa.Art direction: Cal Schenkel.Design: Cal Schenkel.Artwork: Cal Schenkel.Photography: Jerry Schatzberg.Fashion advisor: Tiger Morse.Wardrobe: Billy Mundi.Album Info from Wikipedia.

ABSOLUTELY FREE 1967

Absolutely Free is the second studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on May 26, 1967 by Verve Records.Much like their 1966 debut Freak Out!, the album is a display of complex musical composition with political and social satire.The band had been augmented since Freak Out! by the addition of woodwinds player Bunk Gardner, keyboardist Don Preston, rhythm guitarist Jim Fielder, and drummer Billy Mundi; Fielder quit the group before the album was released, and his name was removed from the album credits.Overview.The album's emphasis is on interconnected movements, as each side of the original vinyl LP comprises a mini-suite.It also features one of the most famous songs of frontman Frank Zappa's early career, "Brown Shoes Don't Make It", a track which has been described as a "condensed two-hour musical".In the book Necessity Is..., former Mothers of Invention band member Ray Collins said that Absolutely Free is probably his favourite of the classic Mothers albums.Reissues.The CD reissue adds a single that the Mothers released at the time between side one and side two. It features the songs "Why Dontcha Do Me Right?" (titled "Why Don't You Do Me Right" on the 45) and "Big Leg Emma", both described as "an attempt to make dumb music to appeal to dumb teenagers", these were rare Verve singles.The UK-67 release (Verve VLP/SVLP 9174) came in a laminated flip-back cover, with a Mike Raven poem at the reverse that was not on any other issue.Music."Plastic People" begins with a mock introduction of the President of the United States, who (along with his wife) can only recite the opening notes to "Louie, Louie"."Louie, Louie" is often interpolated in Zappa's compositions (other examples appear in the Uncle Meat and Yellow Shark albums, among others), and when Zappa first began performing "Plastic People" around 1965, the words were set to the tune of "Louie, Louie".The title of "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" was inspired by an event covered by Time reporter Hugh Sidey in 1966.The reporter correctly guessed something was wrong when the fastidiously dressed President Lyndon B. Johnson made the fashion faux pas of wearing brown shoes with a grey suit.LBJ flew to Vietnam for a surprise public relations visit later that day.In the songs "America Drinks" and "America Drinks and Goes Home", Zappa combines a silly tune with nightclub sound effects to parody his experiences playing with drunken lounge music bands during the early 1960s.Other songs recorded soon after that used the same kinds of ideas include "On with the Show" by the Rolling Stones (released in 1967), "My Friend" by Jimi Hendrix (recorded in 1968, released in 1971) and "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" by the Beatles (recorded in 1967 and 1969, released in 1970).Cultural references.It is not unusual to find melodies or scores from other composers within the music of Frank Zappa.Absolutely Free is full of musical references to other compositions and artists, including Igor Stravinsky.For example, "Amnesia Vivace" begins with a collage of quotations from Stravinsky ballets: first, the band plays the "Ritual Action of the Ancestors" from The Rite of Spring, Part II; then harpsichord and chattering voices evoke the pounding Dance of the Adolescents in Part I, over which sax and Zappa's voice start quoting the bassoon melody at the very opening of the Rite and continue into the lyrical Berceuse (also for bassoon) at the end of Stravinsky's The Firebird.The opening sequence of Petrouchka is quoted in the middle section of "Status Back Baby"."Soft-Sell Conclusion" ends with a version of the trombone melody that opens Stravinsky's "Marche Royale" from The Soldier's Tale.The "Invocation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin", in the beginning of the saxophone solo (first cadence) quotes the trio directly from the fourth movement of Gustav Holst's The Planets, Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity.The melody to "The Duke of Prunes" is the love theme from Zappa's own film score to Run Home Slow.Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa.Side One:- "Absolutely Free" (#1 in a Series of Underground Oratorios).01 - "Plastic People" - 3:40.02 - "The Duke of Prunes" - 2:12.03 - "Amnesia Vivace" - 1:01.04 - "The Duke Regains His Chops" - 1:45.05 - "Call Any Vegetable" - 2:19.06 - "Invocation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin" (instrumental) - 6:57.07 - "Soft-Sell Conclusion" - 1:40.Side Two:- "The M.O.I. American Pageant" (#2 in a Series of Underground Oratorios).01 - "America Drinks" - 1:52.02 - "Status Back Baby" - 2:52.03 - "Uncle Bernie's Farm" - 2:09.04 - "Son of Suzy Creamcheese" - 1:33.05 - "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" - 7:26.06 - "America Drinks & Goes Home" - 2:43.Personnel.The Mothers of Invention:-Frank Zappa - guitar, conductor, vocals.Jimmy Carl Black - drums, vocals.Ray Collins - vocals, tambourine, harmonica, PRUNE.Roy Estrada - bass, vocals.Billy Mundi - drums, percussion.Don Preston - keyboards.Jim Fielder (Uncredited) - guitar, piano.Bunk Gardner - woodwinds.Additional musicians:-Suzy Creamcheese (Lisa Cohen) - vocals on "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".John Balkin - bass on "Invocation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin" and "America Drinks".Jim Getzoff - violin on "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"Marshall Sosson - violin on "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".Alvin Dinkin - viola on "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"Armand Kaproff - cello on "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".Don Ellis - trumpet on "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"John Rotella - contrabass clarinet on "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".Herb Cohen - cash register machine sounds on "America Drinks & Goes Home".Terry Gilliam, girlfriend and others - voices in "America Drinks & Goes Home".Note:-(Jim Sherwood was credited as a member of The Mothers on the album's original release, but he actually joined the band during the recording of We're Only in It for the Money, and he isn't featured on this album.)Production:-Frank Zappa - producer, arranger, layout design, cover art, collage, liner notes.Tom Wilson - producer.Val Valentin - director of engineering.Ami Hadani - engineer.David Greene - remixing.Doug Sax - mastering.Ferenc Dobronyi - cover design.Cal Schenkel - cover design.Alice Ochs - cover photo.Jerry Deiter - photography.Alice Ochs - artwork.Album Info from Wikipedia.393914 kommentarerSynes godt omKommenter

LUMPY GRAVY 1967

Lumpy Gravy is the debut solo album by Frank Zappa, written by Zappa and performed by a group of session players he dubbed the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra.Zappa conducted the orchestra but did not perform on the album.It is his third album overall: his previous releases had been under the name of his group, the Mothers of Invention.It was commissioned and briefly released, on August 7, 1967, by Capitol Records in the 4-track Stereo-Pak format only and then withdrawn due to a lawsuit from MGM Records.MGM claimed that the album violated Zappa's contract with their subsidiary, Verve Records.In 1968 it was reedited and released by MGM's Verve Records on May 13, 1968.The final version of the album consisted of two musique concrète pieces that combined elements from the original orchestral performance with elements of surf music and the spoken word. It was praised for its music and editing.Produced simultaneously with We're Only in It for the Money, Zappa saw Lumpy Gravy as the second part of a conceptual continuity that later included his final album, Civilization Phaze III.Recording.In 1966, Frank Zappa was commissioned to compose Lumpy Gravy for Capitol Records.Following the release of Freak Out!, the debut album of the rock band the Mothers of Invention, Capitol Records A&R representative Nick Venet commissioned an album of orchestral music composed by the Mothers of Invention's leader, Frank Zappa, a self-taught composer, Venet spent $40,000 on the album.Because Zappa's contract with Verve and MGM Records did not allow for him to perform on albums recorded for any other label, he could not play any instrument on the proposed album, and instead served as the conductor of an orchestra consisting of session musicians hired for the recording.Zappa stated that "my contract [with MGM] did not preclude me from doing that. I wasn't signed as a conductor".Lumpy Gravy was conceived as a short oratorio, written in eleven days.Zappa named the group assembled for the sessions the "Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra".Percussionist Emil Richards recalled that he did not know who Zappa was and did not take him seriously as the recording sessions began, believing that Zappa was merely the guitarist for a rock band.However, upon meeting them, Zappa handed the musicians the scores for the pieces, which were dense, complex and varied in time signatures.Richards' close friend, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, was another member of the recording sessions.Tedesco mocked Zappa, believing that Zappa did not know what he was doing.The bassoonist and bass clarinetist hired for the sessions refused to perform their parts, declaring them impossible to play.Zappa responded, "If I play your part, will you at least try it?" Zappa then played on his guitar the notes for the musicians, who agreed to perform their assigned parts.By the end of the recording sessions, Richards and Tedesco became convinced of Zappa's talent, and became friends with the composer. Richards later performed on sessions which appeared on Zappa's album Orchestral Favorites.Release, Lawsuit and Re-editing.Capitol released Lumpy Gravy on August 7, 1967, only on the 4-track cartridge format, apparently in limited numbers.This version of the album is markedly different from the Lumpy Gravy that would become an official entry in Zappa's catalog.Capitol also intended to release a single consisting of the pieces "Gypsy Airs" and "Sink Trap" to promote its release.In response to the album's release, MGM threatened a lawsuit, claiming that its release violated Zappa's contract.During the litigation, Zappa expanded and significantly edited the album, adding spoken word and musique concrète interludes, as well as some pieces of music from his pre-Mothers archives.The original Lumpy Gravy was not re-released until 2008, with the Zappa Records triple-CD release, The Lumpy Money Project/Object.The dialogue segments were recorded at Apostolic Studios in New York City after Zappa discovered that the strings of the studio's grand piano would resonate if a person spoke near those strings.The "piano people" experiment involved Zappa having various speakers improvise dialogue using topics offered by Zappa.Most of the dialogue on the re-edited Lumpy Gravy, recorded simultaneously with We're Only in It for the Money, was spoken by a small group which included Motorhead Sherwood, Roy Estrada, Spider Barbour, All-Night John (the manager of the studio) and Louis Cuneo, who was noted for his laugh, which sounded like a "psychotic turkey".The concept of the reedited album derived from Zappa's "big note" theory, which states that the universe consists of a single element, and that atoms are vibrations of that element, a "big note".The revised album proved to be very difficult to make, as the orchestral master tapes recovered from Capitol featured many poor splices.The reedited version also incorporated additional musical content not on the original release of the album, including previously recorded surf music and a 1963 Zappa-produced demo recording of a tune that later appeared in a 1967 recording under the title "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" on We're Only in It for the Money, some of the editing was done in Zappa's living room.On the 1967 and 1968 releases of the album, Zappa was credited as "Francis Vincent Zappa", as Zappa had believed that this was his real name, he later learned that his birth name was Frank Vincent Zappa, and this mistake was subsequently corrected in reissues of the album.Reception and Legacy.The re-edited Lumpy Gravy was well received by critics, and Zappa called it one of his favourite albums out of his own work, stating that it contains his favourite music.Allmusic writer François Couture wrote, "The starting point of Zappa's 'serious music,' Lumpy Gravy suffers from a lack of coherence, but it remains historically important and contains many conceptual continuity clues for the fan".In 1984, the second version of Lumpy Gravy was remixed by Zappa, with new overdubs by bassist Arthur Barrow and drummer Chad Wackerman.This third version of the album was not released in full at the time; an excerpt appeared in a The Old Masters sampler sent to radio stations.Dialogue from the "piano people" sessions was included on Zappa's later album Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention, and his final album, Civilization Phaze III in 1993.In 2009, the box set Lumpy Money was released, containing the 1967 and 1984 versions of Lumpy Gravy, and audio documentary material derived from the sessions that produced the original 1967 orchestral sessions, dialogue which appeared in the 1968 release of Lumpy Gravy, and the album We're Only in It for the Money.On April 18, 2018, the original 1967 edit of the album was released on limited edition vinyl as a Record Store Day exclusive under the title Lumpy Gravy (Primordial).Zappa remastered the album in 1985 and again in 1993.Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa.1967 Version.01 - "Sink Trap" 2:45.02 - "Gum Joy" 3:44.03 - "Up and Down" 1:52.04 - "Local Butcher" 2:36.05 - "Gypsy Airs" 1:41.06 - "Hunchy Punchy" 2:06.07 - "Foamy Soaky" 2:34.08 - "Let's Eat Out" 1:49.09 - "Teenage Grand Finale" 3:30.Total length:- 22:37.1968 Version, Part One.01 - "The Way I See It, Barry" 0:06.02 - "Duodenum" 1:32.03 - "Oh No" 2:03.04 - "Bit of Nostalgia" 1:35.05 - "It's from Kansas" 0:30.06 - "Bored Out 90 Over" 0:31.07 - "Almost Chinese" 0:25.08 - "Switching Girls" 0:29.09 - "Oh No Again" 1:13.10 - "At the Gas Station" 2:41.11 - "Another Pickup" 0:54.12 - "I Don't Know If I Can Go Through This Again" 3:49.Total length:- 15:50.1968 Version, Part Two.01 - "Very Distraughtening" 1:33.02 - "White Ugliness" 2:22.03 - "Amen" 1:33.04 - "Just One More Time" 0:58.05 - "A Vicious Circle" 1:12.06 - "King Kong" 0:43.07 - "Drums Are Too Noisy" 0:58.08 - "Kangaroos" 0:57.09 - "Envelops the Bath Tub" 3:42.10 - "Take Your Clothes Off" 1:53.Total length:- 15:56.Personne.Musicians:-Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra.Arnold Belnick - strings.Harold Bemko - strings.Chuck Berghofer - bass.Jimmy Carl Black - chorus.Jimmy Bond - bass.Monica Boscia - chorus.Dennis Budimir - guitar.Frank Capp - drums.Donald Christlieb - woodwind.Gene Cipriano - woodwind.Vincent DeRosa - french horn.Joseph DiFiore - strings.Jesse Ehrlich - strings.Alan Estes - percussion, drums.Gene Estes - percussion.Louis "Louie the Turkey" Cuneo - chorus.Roy Estrada - bass, chorus.Larry Fanoga (Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood) - vocals, chorus.Victor Feldman - percussion, drums.Bunk Gardner - woodwind.James Getzoff - strings.Philip Goldberg - strings.John Guerin - drums.Bruce Hampton - chorus.Jimmy "Senyah" Haynes - guitar.Harry Hyams - strings.Jules Jacob - woodwind.Pete Jolly - piano, celeste, harpsichord.Harold Kelling - vocals.Ray Kelly - strings.Jerome Kessler - strings.Alexander Koltun - strings.Bernard Kundell - strings.William Kurasch - strings.Michael Lang - piano, celeste, harpsichord.Arthur Maebe - French horn.Leonard Malarsky - strings.Shelly Manne - drums.Lincoln Mayorga - piano, celeste, harpsichord.Ted Nash - woodwind.Richard Parissi - French horn.Glenn Phillips - vocals.Jerome Reisler - strings.Emil Richards - percussion.Tony Rizzi - guitar.John Rotella - percussion, woodwind.Joseph Saxon - strings.Ralph Schaeffer - strings.Leonard Selic - strings.Kenny Shroyer - trombone.Paul Smith - piano, celeste, harpsichord.Tommy Tedesco - guitar.Al Viola - guitar.Bob West - bass.Tibor Zelig - strings.Jimmy Zito - trumpet.Production Credits:-Frank Zappa - composer, conductor.Cal Schenkel - artwork.Album Info from Wikipedia.

FREAK OUT! 1966

Freak Out! is the debut studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on June 27, 1966, by Verve Records.Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, it is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture and the nascent freak scene of Los Angeles.It was also one of the earliest double albums in rock music, as well as the first two-record debut album, in the UK, the album was originally released as an edited single disc.The album was produced by Tom Wilson, who signed the Mothers, formerly a bar band called the Soul Giants.Zappa said many years later that Wilson signed the band to a record deal under the impression that they were a white blues band.The album features Zappa on vocals and guitar, along with lead vocalist/tambourine player Ray Collins, bass player/vocalist Roy Estrada, drummer/vocalist Jimmy Carl Black and guitar player Elliot Ingber (later of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, performing there under the pseudonym "Winged Eel Fingerling").The band's original repertoire consisted of rhythm and blues covers, but after Zappa joined the band, he encouraged them to play his own original material, and their name was changed to the Mothers.The musical content of Freak Out! ranges from rhythm and blues, doo-wop, and standard blues-influenced rock to orchestral arrangements and avant-garde sound collages.Although the album was initially poorly received in the United States, it was a success in Europe.It gained a cult following in America, where it continued to sell in substantial quantities until it was discontinued in the early 1970s.In 1999, the album was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award,[8] and in 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it among the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".In 2006, The MOFO Project/Object, an audio documentary on the making of the album, was released in honor of its 40th anniversary.Background.In the early 1960s, Zappa met Ray Collins, Collins supported himself by working as a carpenter, and on weekends sang with a group called the Soul Giants, Collins got into a fight with their guitar player, who quit, leaving the band in need of a substitute, and Zappa filled in.The Soul Giants' repertoire originally consisted of R&B covers; though after Zappa joined the band he encouraged them to play his own original material and try to get a record contract.While most of the band members liked the idea, then-leader and saxophone player Davy Coronado felt that performing original material would cost them bookings, and quit the band.The Soul Giants became the Mothers and Zappa took over leadership of the band.The group moved to Los Angeles in early 1965 after Zappa got them a management contract with Herb Cohen.They gained steady work at clubs along the Sunset Strip, MGM staff producer Tom Wilson offered the band a record deal with the Verve Records division in early 1966.He had heard of their growing reputation but had seen them perform only one song, "Trouble Every Day", which concerned the Watts riots.According to Zappa, this led Wilson to believe that they were a "white blues band".Recording."Hungry Freaks, Daddy" (sample)"The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet" (sample)Problems playing these files? See media help.The first two songs recorded for the album were "Any Way the Wind Blows" and "Who Are the Brain Police?"When Tom Wilson heard the latter, he realised that the Mothers were not merely a blues band.Zappa remembered "I could see through the window that he was scrambling toward the phone to call his boss-probably saying:- 'Well, uh, not exactly a "white blues band", but ... sort of"".In a 1968 article written for Hit Parader magazine, Zappa wrote that when Wilson heard these songs, "he was so impressed he got on the phone and called New York, and as a result I got a more or less unlimited budget to do this monstrosity".Freak Out! is an early example of the concept album, a sardonic farce about rock music and America."All the songs on it were about something", Zappa wrote in The Real Frank Zappa Book."It wasn't as if we had a hit single and we needed to build some filler around it. Each tune had a function within an overall satirical concept".If you were to graphically analyze the different types of directions of all the songs in the Freak Out! album, there's a little something in there for everybody.At least one piece of material is slanted for every type of social orientation within our consumer group, which happens to be six to eighty.Because we got people that like what we do, from kids six years old screaming on us to play "Wowie Zowie", like I meet executives doing this and that, and they say, "My kid's got the record, and 'Wowie Zowie''s their favourite song".The album was recorded at TTG Studios in Hollywood, California, between March 9 and March 12, 1966.Some songs, such as "Motherly Love" and "I Ain't Got No Heart" had already been recorded before the Freak Out! sessions.These early recordings, said to have been made around 1965, were not officially released until 2004, when they appeared on the posthumous Zappa album Joe's Corsage.An early version of the song "Any Way the Wind Blows", recorded in 1963, appears on another posthumous release, The Lost Episodes, and was originally written when Zappa considered divorcing first wife Kay Sherman.In the liner notes for Freak Out!, Zappa wrote, "If I had never gotten divorced, this piece of trivial nonsense would never have been recorded"."Hungry Freaks, Daddy" is an attack on the American school system that, musically, quotes a Rolling Stones song, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", in its opening measures, and contains a guitar solo between the first and second verses that itself briefly quotes Richard Berry's 1959 song "Have Love, Will Travel".Tom Wilson became more enthusiastic as the sessions continued.In the middle of the week of recording, Zappa told him, "I would like to rent $500 worth of percussion equipment for a session that starts at midnight on Friday and I want to bring all the freaks from Sunset Boulevard into the studio to do something special." Wilson agreed.The material was worked into "Cream Cheese", a "ballet in two tableaux" that was eventually retitled "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet".In a November 1967 radio interview (posthumously included as part of the 2006 MOFO album), Zappa is heard complaining that the version of "Monster Magnet" released on Freak Out! was in fact an unfinished piece; the percussion track was intended to serve as the foundation for an even more complex piece, but MGM refused to approve the studio time needed to record the intended overdubs that would have completed the composition, and so it was released (to Zappa's great dissatisfaction) in this unfinished form.In addition to the Mothers, some tracks featured a "Mothers' Auxiliary" that consisted of additional session players, including noted "Wrecking Crew" members Gene Estes, Carol Kaye and Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John), guitarist Neil Levang, and jazz-soul pianists Eugene DiNovi and Les McCann, with vocal contributions by Paul Butterfield, Kim Fowley, Jeannie Vassoir and future Mother Jim Sherwood. Several orchestral musicians, who were also mostly credited as members of the Auxiliary (including their contractor, Benjamin Barrett), also made contributions to several songs at certain sessions, chiefly in the form of backing tracks on those songs.Zappa later found out that when the material was recorded, Wilson had taken LSD."I've tried to imagine what Wilson must have been thinking", Zappa recounted, "sitting in that control room, listening to all that weird shit coming out of the speakers, and being responsible for telling the engineer, Ami Hadani (who was not on acid), what to do".By the time Freak Out! was edited and shaped into an album, Wilson had spent $25-35,000 of MGM's money (US$275,800 in 2019 dollars.In Hit Parader magazine, Zappa wrote that "Wilson was sticking his neck out.He laid his job on the line by producing the album. MGM felt that they had spent too much money on the album".An early test sequence of the album was mixed and compiled at Da Swamp in Waikiki, Hawaii in April, and had a different track order to that of the eventual finalised sequence that would be compiled exactly two months later back at TTG:-For instance, "Wowie Zowie" (which would eventually begin side two of the finalised sequence instead, and was described by Zappa as "harmless", "cheerful" and apparently liked by Little Richard) was the original planned lead-off track rather than "Hungry Freaks, Daddy", "Trouble Comin' Every Day" (which was inspired by the Watts Riots that took place the previous year) was included on side one rather than side three, and "Who Are the Brain Police?" (acknowledged by Zappa himself as one of the scariest songs on the album) took up the middle of side two rather than the middle of side one, with only "Help, I'm a Rock" (a song dedicated to Elvis Presley) and "Cream Cheese" (later retitled "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet") taking up the same concluding places on the early sequence that they eventually would on the finalized sequence."Wowie Zowie" itself originally contained a musique concrète section between the bridge and third verse that would eventually be edited out of the song as it appeared on the finalized sequence, while the third section of "Help, I'm a Rock", called "It Can't Happen Here", contained two additional lines consisting of the word "psychedelic" during the self-pleasure sequence and of the words "...since you first took the shots" immediately following the "we've been very interested in your development" line.Tapes of the early sequence were eventually leaked to European collectors and bootlegged on vinyl as The Alternate Freak Out! in 2010, with long-time Zappa associate Scott Parker later describing the early sequence's track order as having more conceptual "integration" and "a greater amount of weirdness sprinkled throughout" than that of the finalised sequence during a 2011 podcast.The label eventually requested that the two lines in question be removed from the "It Can't Happen Here" section of "Help, I'm a Rock", both of which had been interpreted by MGM executives to be drug references.However, the label either had no objections to, or else did not notice, a sped-up recording of Zappa shouting the word "fuck" after accidentally smashing his finger, occurring at 11 minutes and 36 seconds into "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet".From the 1995 CD reissue of the album onwards, the formerly three-part "Help, I'm a Rock" was reindexed as two separate tracks, with only the first two parts ("It's Okay To Tap Dance" and "In Memoriam, Edgard Varèse" remaining under the "Help, I'm a Rock" title but with "It Can't Happen Here" becoming its own track, as "It Can't Happen Here" had been included by itself on the 1969 vinyl compilation Mothermania, where the two normally censored lines were also reinstated.MGM also told Zappa that the band would have to change their name, claiming that no DJ would play a record on the air by a group called "the Mothers".... at the time, it was, you know, if you were a good musician, you were a motherfucker, and Mothers was short for collection of motherfuckers.And actually, it was kind of presumptuous to name the band that, because we weren't that good musicians, we were ... But by bar-band standards in the area, we were light-years ahead of our competition, but in terms of real musicianship, I just suppose we were right down there in the swamp.- Frank Zappa.Release.Freak Out! was released, with its finalised track sequence, on June 27, 1966, with the band's name changed to the Mothers of Invention, a name Zappa chose in favour of MGM's original suggested name, "The Mothers Auxiliary".The album's back cover included a "letter" from Zappa-created fictional character Suzy Creamcheese (who also appears on the album itself), which read:-These Mothers is crazy.You can tell by their clothes.One guy wears beads and they all smell bad.We were gonna get them for a dance after the basketball game but my best pal warned me you can never tell how many will show up ... sometimes the guy in the fur coat doesn't show up and sometimes he does show up only he brings a big bunch of crazy people with him and they dance all over the place.None of the kids at my school like these Mothers ... specially since my teacher told us what the words to their songs meant.Sincerely forever, Suzy Creamcheese, Salt Lake City, Utah.Because the text was printed in a typeface resembling typewriter lettering, some people thought that Suzy Creamcheese was real, and many listeners expected to see her in concert performances.Because of this, it was decided that "it would be best to bring along a Suzy Creamcheese replica who would demonstrate once and for all the veracity of such a beast".Because the original voice of Suzy Creamcheese, Jeannie Vassoir, was unavailable, Pamela Lee Zarubica took over the part.Early pressings of the album in the United States included a blurb for a "Freak Out Hot Spots!" map.Inside the gatefold jacket the small ad was aimed at people coming to visit Los Angeles and it listed several famous restaurants and clubs including Canter's and The Whiskey A Go-Go.The ad also claimed information concerning police arrests. It states:- "Also shows where the heat has been busting frequently, with tips on safety in police terror situations".Those interested in the map were instructed to send $1.00 (US$8 in 2019 dollars) to MGM Records c/o 1540 Broadway NY. NY. address.The map was only available for a limited time, since the blurb was not included on later pressings and the space was left blank.It was eventually reprinted and included with The MOFO Project/Object, a four-disc audio documentary on the making of the album, released posthumously by the Zappa Family Trust in 2006.Reception.Freak Out! was neither a major commercial nor critical success when it was first released in the United States.Many listeners were convinced that the album was drug-inspired, and interpreted the album's title as slang for a bad LSD trip.The album made the Mothers of Invention immediate underground darlings with a strong counter-cultural following.In The Real Frank Zappa Book, Zappa quotes a negative review of the album by Pete Johnson of the Los Angeles Times, who wrote:-I guess you might call it surrealistic paintings set to music.Not content to record just two sides of musical gibberish, the MOI devote four full sides to their type of "artistry".If anyone owns this album, perhaps he can tell me what in hell is going on ... The Mothers of Invention, a talented but warped quintet, have fathered an album poetically entitled Freak Out, which could be the greatest stimulus to the aspirin industry since the income tax.The album developed a major cult following in the United States by the time MGM/Verve had been merged into a division of PolyGram in 1972.At that time many MGM/Verve releases including Freak Out! were prematurely deleted in an attempt to keep the struggling company financially solvent.Zappa had already moved on to his own companies Bizarre Records and Straight Records which were distributed by Warner Bros.Records. Freak Out! was initially more successful in Europe and quickly influenced many English rock musicians.According to David Fricke, the album was a major influence on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.Paul McCartney regarded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as the Beatles' Freak Out!Zappa criticised the Beatles, as he felt they were "only in it for the money".Freak Out! was honoured with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999, ranked at number 243 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, and 246 in a 2012 revised list.It was also featured in the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.The album was named as one of Classic Rock magazine's "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock".It was voted number 315 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).Track List.All tracks are written by Frank Zappa except "Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder", by Zappa and Ray Collins.Side One.01 - "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" 3:32.02 - "I Ain't Got No Heart" 2:34.03 - "Who Are the Brain Police?" 3:25.04 - "Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder" 3:43.05 - "Motherly Love" 2:50.06 - "How Could I Be Such a Fool" 2:16.Side Two.01 - "Wowie Zowie" 2:55.02 - "You Didn't Try to Call Me" 3:21.03 - "Any Way the Wind Blows" 2:55.04 - "I'm Not Satisfied" 2:41.05 - "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here" 3:41.Side Three.01 - "Trouble Every Day" 5:53.02 - "Help, I'm a Rock (Suite in Three Movements)I. Okay to Tap DanceII. In Memoriam, Edgard VarèseIII. It Can't Happen Here" 8:37.Side Four.01 - "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet in Two Tableaux)I. Ritual Dance of the Child-KillerII. Nullis Pretii (No Commercial Potential)" 12:22.Total Album Length:- 60:55.UK Edited Single Disc Release.Side One.01 - "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" 3:32.02 - "I Ain't Got No Heart" 2:34.03 - "Who Are the Brain Police?" 3:25.04 - "Motherly Love" 2:50.05 - "Wowie Zowie" 2:55.06 - "You Didn't Try to Call Me" 3:21.07 - "I'm Not Satisfied" 2:41.08 - "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here" 3:41.Side Two.01 - "Trouble Every Day" 5:53.02 - "Help, I'm a Rock (Suite in Three Movements)I. Okay to Tap DanceII. In Memoriam, Edgard VarèseIII. It Can't Happen Here" 8:37.03 - "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet in Two Tableaux)I. Ritual Dance of the Child-KillerII. Nullis Pretii (No Commercial Potential)" 12:22.On the 1995 and 2012 CD releases, "Help, I'm a Rock" is credited as two tracks: "Help, I'm a Rock" (4:43) and "It Can't Happen Here" (3:57) .Personnel.The Mothers of Invention:-Frank Zappa - guitar, conductor, vocals.Jimmy Carl Black - percussion, drums, vocals.Ray Collins - vocals, harmonica, cymbals, sound effects, tambourine, finger cymbals, bobby pin & tweezers.Roy Estrada - bass & guitarrón, boy soprano.Elliot Ingber - alternate lead & rhythm guitar with clear white light.The Mothers' Auxiliary:-Gene Estes - percussion.Eugene Di Novi - piano.Neil Le Vang - guitar.John Rotella - clarinet, sax.Carol Kaye - 12-string guitar.Kurt Reher - cello.Raymond Kelley - cello.Paul Bergstrom - cello.Emmet Sargeant - cello.Joseph Saxon - cello.Edwin V. Beach - cello.Arthur Maebe - French horn, tuba.Motorhead Sherwood - noises.Kim Fowley - hypophone.Mac Rebennack - piano.Paul Butterfield - vocals.Les McCann - piano.Jeannie Vassoir - (the voice of Cheese).Production Credits:-Musical director, orchestrator, and arranger:- Frank Zappa.Producer:- Tom Wilson.Engineering director:- Val Valentin.Engineers:- Ami, Tom, Val Valentin.Assistants:- Eugene Dinovi, Neil Levang, Vito, Ken Watson.Cover design:- Jack Anesh.Hair stylist:- Ray Collins.Album Info from Wikipedia.

One SizeFitz All


One Size Fits All" released #OnThisDay in 1975. The album features one of FZ's most complex songs "Inca Roads". According to FZ's liner notes, the basic tracks for "Inca Roads" and "Florentine Pogen" were recorded live at KCET TV Los Angeles during the production of the "Token Of His Extreme" TV special. The guitar solo in Inca Roads was recorded live during a 1974 concert in Helsinki, Finland. The bulk of the album was recorded between December 1974 and April 1975 - during sessions which simultaneously produced the studio tracks on "Bongo Fury".This is Official Release #20. What's your favorite track on the album? https://bit.ly/2sxlNVn

The album features one of Zappa's most complex tracks, "Inca Roads". One of Zappa's heroes, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, guests on two tracks (flambe vocals on the out-choruses of "San Ber'dino" and "Andy").[5] Captain Beefheart also appears under a pseudonym.

Zappa stated in the liner notes that the album was recorded simultaneously with their next album, but this "next album" would be replaced by Bongo Fury, consisting mostly of live recordings with Beefheart from May 1975. From comments Zappa made in radio interviews in April 1975, it seems likely that the unreleased next album would have included "Greggery Peccary," which first appeared three years later on Studio Tan.

Frank Zappa's 1975 studio affair would feature his jazz and blues sensibilities coming to an apex, with both styles being intertwined and mingled together. The album, One Size Fits all, would also along with Bongo Fury, would be the last official Mothers album, although the members of the group did stay with Zappa for the next few albums. This album actually features some of Zappa's most infamous compositiions as well as ones that would remain in his repetoir and were played live for years to come (especially during the epic 1988 tour). The entire Roxy & Elsewhere lineup is present for this album, and if you haven't listened to that album, it's a phenomenal live album that competes with some of Zappa's best albums in terms of greatness. So what you can expect here is a tight and cohesive band playing some great complicated and "sophisticated" rock/jazz/blues.

The album opens with the infamous Inca Roads, with the catchy marimba line and the consistent bass/drum interplay. The song has a definite Sci-Fi from the 50s vibe with the underlying sound effects. The interplay with the vocals is also fantastic and Zappa's guitar solo is fantastic. The song has many tempo and time changes, most of them come out of left field and it just kicks the complex nature of the piece up a notch. If you're looking for one of the best Zappa pieces ever, look no further. Can't Afford No Shoes is a rockier piece with some great vocals from Duke and Murphy Brock. It's a silly piece (and later part of the vocals would find their way in backward form onto Ya Honza, but I might be wrong on that). Sofa No. 1 and its counterpart Sofa No. 2 are two of the prettiest songs Zappa wrote, the first part being a strict instrumental with a great piano motif and a superb overall progression. It doesn't do anything but bring a smile to my face listening tot his song.

Po-Jama People begins with a magnificent Zappa guitar breakdown before settling in on a main theme, with some vocals from Zappa that invoke memories of I Am the Slime off of Over-Nite Sensation. The vocals on this track are generally very silly, but musically this track is anything but silly. The interplay between Fowler and Thompson on bass and drums is also great as they were one of the more cohesive rhythm units with Zappa (along with the stellar Bozzio/O'Hearn and Wackerman/Thunes units). Florentine Pogen to me invokes memories of Penguin in Bondage off of Roxy & Elsewhere, don't ask me why, though. It has a great riff and feel to it and Murphy Brock's sax and vocals are superb as well (and Chester Thompson is superb on this song behind the kit). Evelyn, a Modified Dog is a throwaway piece but it is short and not really that bothersome. It's an unfitting piano/vocal track that throws off the mood for the most part.

San Ber'dino is a fantastic track about the city of San Bernadino, California, and about a man named Bobby whose head looks like a potato. The musicianship ranges from blues overtones to jazzier instrumental sections. Zappa is superb on this track, providing riff after riff and solo after solo of just biting energy, and Chester Thompson and Tom Fowler are great on the rhythm unit. The vocals are superb as well, with everyone offering their voice to create a fuller and varied vocal sound (kudos go to the outro vocal performance, which gives the song an even more bluesy feel). Probably my favorite track on the album behind Inca Roads. Andy has a bluesy feel and some fuzzy and biting Zappa guitar as well as some nice percussion from Ruth Underwood and George Duke is incredible on this track with a nice piano solo in the middle. Sofa No. 2 ends the album in a manner much like Sofa No. 1. Where the first one was an instrumental this one has some lyrics and vocals, which if you weren't paying attention would sound heartfelt and like a ballad, but upon investigation you can tell it really isn't. I still say musicially this song is a masterpiece, and can do nothing but bring a smile to my face. It ends the album perfectly, in my opinion.

Overall, the final official studio album for the Mother's of Invention would prove to be one of their absolute best. Fans of the jazzier side of Zappa will find something to enjoy here, and the fans of the bluesy and more rocking Zappa will also find something to enjoy here. Me? Since I enjoy essentially all eras of Zappa I immediately enjoyed this album. This is one of the great Zappa albums, and it is a masterpiece in my eyes (although Evelyn is a pretty stupid track, luckily it's only a minute long). Masterliness. 5/5.