Lumpy Gravy

Lumpy Gravy is a music album by Frank Zappa, his first solo album. It appeared in 1968 on the Verve label and is attributed to the progressive rock genre, but also contains numerous orchestral elements of new music.

  • 6.1 Part One
  • 6.2 Part Two

Importance

After three albums with the Mothers of Invention Lumpy Gravy is the first solo album of Frank Zappa. It was completed in February 1967, but just 15 months later released due to contract law conflicts even after the later recorded album We're Only in It for the Money. The album title comes, as Zappa said in an interview with the magazine Melody Maker, on a television commercial for a Instantsoße the brand name " Aloma Linda Gravy Quick" back. In the same interview Zappa said, Capitol Records producer Nick Venet had opened him the opportunity to compose for a 40 - piece orchestra - his first chance to get a professional recording of his orchestral pieces. Finally, 13 months ongoing legal dispute with his record company had delayed the publication Verve.

Lumpy Gravy is supported on the one of the choral passages where it is not sung dialogues. For this, the speaker put her head in an open Steinway grand piano, in which the damper pedal had been adversely affected by a sandbag. The then spoken texts that encouraged the undamped strings of the wing were recorded there. This was followed by the impromptu discussions of a given Zappa thematic guide. This vocal parts were connected by mostly not fully played music pieces of different kind and merged from Zappa's view to a compositional unit. He said: "The whole is more of an experience than a collection of tunes. "

In the instrumental set pieces is the like a Western movie music sounding piece of duodenum (aka Theme From Lumpy Gravy, aka Bwana Dik ), whose title is reminiscent of an incident in the life of the young Zappa: After a collapse because of a duodenal ulcer, he had to must withdraw his parents. The introduction to Oh No originates from the composed by Zappa soundtrack for the B-movie The World's Greatest Sinner, the melodious "Oh No " itself is one of Zappa's favorite pieces .. It was later, as well as the jazzy sounding track " King Kong" from the album Uncle Meat often played live. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance is the instrumental version of the same name and almost simultaneously published songs from the album We're Only in It for the Money. Except for King Kong all compositions date to the period before the Mothers of Invention. The spoken and played parts are interspersed with a variety of cut together electronic distortions, ranging from audio tracks in time-lapse or slow motion over intense stereo effects to bishin times subtle, sometimes bawdy sound collages.

Zappa stressed the interdependence that exists between the recorded in New York material of the albums We're Only in It for the Money, Lumpy Gravy, Uncle Meat and Cruising with Ruben & the Jets: "If I had all the master tapes and with a razor blade would cut apart and re- assemble, would again result in a complete piece of music worth listening. And I could cut with a razor blade again and put together different again, and it would still make sense. And about 20 times. " Zappa called his operation as a" project / object ". Behind this concept was not only the idea that each individual project (Project) is part of a larger whole (object), but also the Zappa "conceptual continuity " mentioned idea that changed already known elements by adding new components themselves.

Reception

In the professional criticism Lumpy Gravy fared rather poorly. Zappa 's biographer Barry Miles verdict still cautious: " It is considered the most experimental album Zappa. " Rolling Stone writer Jim Miller was already apparent. He held the musical structure for " surprisingly conventional and even boring "; the album was a " willful musical faux pas, which is that alone worth listening to ." The German rock journalist Carl -Ludwig Reichert called Lumpy Gravy as a "most bizarre instrumental work ". His colleague Volker Rebell saw " a dazzling cosmos of diverse music particles and fragments ", where you have the impression that a "musical paper box " had been dumped there. For rebel broadcast the album " a clinically sterile cold " from. Music critic Ben Watson likened the album with works of musique concrète composer Luc Ferrari.

Publications

The album Lumpy Gravy has been published in several differing versions. The following overview highlights key differentiators.

  • The order the publication rights in small numbers, released by Capitol Records before the end of the dispute 8-track Tonbandcassette is probably one of the rarest Zappa releases ever. Unlike all other Lumpy Gravy - versions it contains only orchestral music (some minutes that are not found on the other album versions ), while the choir pass the word and played by the band elements are missing. In addition, the pieces have different names:
  • The original LP was released May 1968 in both a stereo and a mono version on the U.S. market, from October 1968 also in stereo and mono versions outside the United States.
  • LP reissues appeared in 1972 in the UK and 1973 in Canada.
  • In the Netherlands, appeared in 1975 on Metro Records under the title " Super Star Shine Volume 26: Frank Zappa " an LP re-release, which also differed from the original in cover.
  • Mid-1970s was the LP rarely available on the market, what Black Copier caused them to release the album as a " facsimile bootleg". These bootlegs are distinguished by the slightly poorer sound quality and the somewhat imprecise pressure of the cover of the original LP.
  • Another LP re-release was found in 1985 brought out from Barking Pumpkin Records compilation The Old Masters Box One.
  • The first CD release - Lumpy Gravy and We're Only in It for the Money appeared together in a phonogram - 1986 was released on Rykodisc (USA) as well as two years delay on Zappa Records ( Europe ) and on Vack (Japan).
  • More CD versions - this time with index markers for the individual pieces - were released in 1995 on Rykodisc and Vack.
  • 2001 was released in Japan on Rykodisc / Vack another CD version with a cardboard cover.

Achievements

Although the material for the ears of ordinary pop music consumers proved to be " difficult to digest " Lumpy Gravy climbed into the U.S. charts even on the 159th place. Likely to have contributed to the success of a few weeks previously published Mothers album We're Only in It for the Money.

Staff

The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

  • Conductor: Sid Sharp
  • Piano, celesta, harpsichord: Paul Smith, Mike Lang, Lincoln Mayorga, Pete Jolly.
  • Drums: Johnny Guerin, Frankie Capp, Shelly Manne.
  • Percussion: Emil Richards, Gene Estes, Alan Estes, Victor Feldman, Kenneth Watson, Thomas Poole.
  • Woodwinds: Ted Nash, Jules Jacob, John Rotella, Bunk Gardner, Don Christlieb, Gene Cipriano.
  • Horn: Arthur Maebe, Vincent De Rosa, Richard Perissi, Arthur E. Briegleb, David A. Duke, George F. Price.
  • Trumpet: Jimmy Zito.
  • Trombone: Kenneth Shroyer, Lew McCreary.
  • Guitar: Jim Haynes, Tommy Tedesco, Tony Rizzi, Al Viola, Dennis Budimir.
  • Violin: Sid Sharp, Alexander Koltun, Tibor Zelig, Ralph Schaeffer, Bernard Kundell, William Kurash, James Getzoff, Arnold Belnick, Leonard Malarsky, Harold Ayres, Jerome J. Reisler.
  • Viola: Phillip Goldberg, Leonard Selic, Harry Hyams, Joseph DiFiore.
  • Cello: Jerome A. Kessler, Raymond J. Kelley, Joseph Saxon, Jesse Ehrlich, Harold G. Bemko.
  • Bass: Bob West, John Balkin, Jimmy Bond, Lyle Ritz, Chuck Berghofer.
  • Chorus: Louie Cuneo, Ronnie Williams, Dick Barber, Roy Estrada, Spider Barbour, Jim " Motorhead " Sherwood, Gilly Townley, Maxine, Becky, John Kilgore, John Townley, Cal Schenkel, Gail Zappa, Larry Fanoga, Monica Boscia, Jimmy Carl Black, Sammy Whiteside, Harold Kelling, Charlie Phillips, Bruce Hampton.

Production

  • Producers: Frank Zappa, Nick Venet
  • Sound engineers: Joe, Rex, Pete, Jim, Bob, Gary, Dick Kunc
  • Cover Design: Cal Schenkel

Title list

All compositions are by Frank Zappa.

Part One

Part Two

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