FRANK ZAPPA’S LUMPY MONEY PROJECT/OBJECT, ROAD TAPES, VENUE #1, AND ROAD TAPES, VENUE #2 TO BE REISSUED AND ROAD TAPES, VENUE #3 TO DEBUT ON MAY 27
INCLUDED ARE 14 SONGS FROM 1968 VANCOUVER CONCERT
26 APRIL 2016 (Toronto, ON) – Frank Zappa’s 3-CD Lumpy Money Project/Object set and his 2-CD Road Tapes, Venue #1 and Road Tapes, Venue #2 performance albums will be reissued, and Road Tapes, Venue #3 will debut on May 27 from Zappa Records/UMe/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company. All four titles will be available on CD and digitally.
In 2008, to mark the 40th anniversaries of Frank Zappa’s masterworks Lumpy Gravy and We’re Only In It For The Money, the Zappa Family Trust assembled an anniversary edition of their Project/Object Audio Documentary series entitled Lumpy Money Project/Object. The expansive release contains three CDs of unique and rare versions of the legendary albums, including the mono mixes for both, as well as many nuggets from the vault, from various studio outtakes to single versions, instrumental mixes, and Frank Zappa interview excerpts. Lumpy Money Project/Object also includes a booklet filled with photos, oddities and featuring liner notes from David Fricke and Gail Zappa. Both albums’ mono mixes make their download debuts with the new digital release of Lumpy Money Project/Object.
Zappa worked on Lumpy Gravy and We’re Only In It For The Money during essentially the same time period in 1967 and 1968. The original Lumpy Gravy sessions were produced by Nick Venet and recorded at Capitol Studios with a host of primo studio musicians, including members of the famous Wrecking Crew. After delays from Zappa’s record company, Lumpy Gravy began anew. Armed with the Lumpy Gravy session tapes and a razor blade, Zappa sat in his New York City apartment and transformed the project into the masterwork collage we know today. We’re Only In It For The Money has gone down in history as one of the most essential rock albums of our time. With its scathing messages, use of parody, musique concrète & DADA-ist tendencies, there truly is nothing like it.
The Road Tapes series focuses on Frank Zappa concert audio from the vault that is historical yet sonically less than stellar. Described by the man himself as “Guerilla Recordings,” Zappa tried to document every performance. Road Tapes, Venue #1 takes us to summertime 1968, Vancouver, B.C., where the Mothers of Invention played Kerrisdale Arena to an enthusiastic crowd. Captured on mono reel-to-reel, the concert is inspired and showcases a mixture of classic Mothers and live improvisations.
Road Tapes, Venue #2 takes us back to August 1973 in Helsinki, Finland. The performances, compiled from three shows at Finlandia Hall, were recorded by engineer Kerry McNabb while on his first tour with Zappa. This band consists of a lineup that is often regarded as one of Zappa’s finest. Stars like George Duke, Jean Luc Ponty, and Ruth Underwood shine. The compositions become increasingly challenging yet still maintain the humor expected at a live Zappa show, making for a potent and rewarding release.
New to the Road Tapes series, Road Tapes, Venue #3 features two complete shows from Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN. The July 1970 Mothers line-up featured Flo & Eddie, George Duke, Ian Underwood, Aynsley Dunbar & Jeff Simmons. Frank Zappa’s vast Vault does not contain many full shows from this time period, making this release a particularly special one. The tapes were recorded to stereo reel-to-reel, but not without problems. Due to their historical relevance, Zappa Records determined it was worth it, warts ‘n all! Venue #3 does not disappoint.
Frank Zappa: Lumpy Money Project/Object [3-CD; digital]
CD1
Lumpy Gravy (Primordial)
Frank Zappa’s Original Orchestral Edit for Capitol Records
Original tracking sessions at Capitol Studios, Produced by Nick Venet
Mono Version, 4-Track Master Tape Sequence
Source: ¼” Analog – Master Tape T-2719 dated 19 May 1967
CD1 mastering & audio restoration engineer: John Polito, 2008
We’re Only In It For The Money
1968 Original Mono Mix, Produced by Frank Zappa
This is not a fold-down mix from stereo to mono. This is a separate discreet mono mix created by Frank Zappa with Dick Kunc in 1968.
Source: ¼” Analog Master
CD2
Lumpy Gravy 1984 UMRK Remix
CD2 mastered by Bernie Grundman, 2008
Although this version was unreleased until 2008, Frank Zappa did include a track entitled “Lumpy Gravy (Excerpt)” in a promotional disc for The Old Masters, Box One. All 3:01 of it is here. This promo disc was serviced to radio station program directors. Lucky them.
Source: 1630 Digital Master
We’re Only In It For The Money 1984 UMRK Remix, Produced by Frank Zappa
Originally released on CD, 1986
Source: 3324 Digital Master
CD3
All music produced/composed & performed/conducted by Frank Zappa
All recordings were transferred from original 2-track analog tapes, except tracks 4 through 6 & 13.
CD3 mastering & audio restoration engineer: John Polito, 2008
Recorded on Sunday, 13 February 1967 at Capitol (original multi-track masters are currently not in evidence). This is a Frank Zappa construction. Small excerpts from this material appear in Zappa’s Masterwork, Lumpy Gravy. Source: ¼” stereo mixdown.
Recorded 21 February 1969 at The New School, NYC, during Frank Zappa lecture/Q&A
Lumpy Gravy Building Block by Frank Zappa
Tracks 4-6 recorded for Lumpy Gravy 14 March 1967 at Capitol. Mixed from the original 4-tracks by Joe Travers, UMRK, 2008.
Interview excerpt, 22 October 1971, KBEY- FM, Kansas City
In Lumpy Gravy, this piece is VSO-controlled by Frank Zappa. Recorded at Capitol Records
Lumpy Gravy Building Block by Frank Zappa
In Lumpy Gravy, this piece is VSO-controlled by Frank Zappa. Recorded & mixed by Frank Zappa at Studio Z, Cucamonga
West Village Apt., NYC, working on Lumpy Gravy, late 1967
Alternate Frank Zappa building block of the Gary-Kellgren-whispering/JCB-dialog. Includes the famously censored line infamously deleted by MGM from the Masterwork. Recorded at Mayfair
From the original 8-track masters recorded at Mayfair. Mixed by Joe Travers at UMRK 2008
Interview, Mixed Media, Detroit, 13 November 1967
Recorded during the “Money” sessions, Mayfair, 6 September 1967
Mayfair Studios 1967, Vocal Overdub session snippet as-is
Interview with David Silver, Boston, 1969
Recorded at Mayfair
Recorded during the Money sessions, Mayfair Studios 1967
Released prior to the album in November, 1967. Curiously, Frank Zappa considered this
thoroughly discrete construct (yes, that’s right, this is a collage) potentially commercial.
Recorded at Mayfair
Frank Zappa: Road Tapes, Venue #1 [2-CD; digital]
Kerrisdale Arena, Vancouver B.C. (25 August 1968)
CD1
2/3. Help, I’m A Rock/Transylvania Boogie
CD2
Frank Zappa: Road Tapes, Venue #2 [2-CD; digital]
Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland (23, 24 August 1973)
CD1
Show 3
Show 1
Show 3
Show 1
CD2
Show 3
Show 2
Shows 2, 3
Encore, Show 1
Frank Zappa: Road Tapes, Venue #3 [2-CD; digital]
Tyrone Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN (5 July 1970)
CD1
Show 1
Show 2
CD2
Show 2, continued
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