Lumpy Gravy

by Frank Zappa

Overview

Lumpy Gravy, Frank Zappa's first solo album, was released months before the Mothers of Invention's third LP (even though its back cover asked the question: "Is this phase two of We're Only in It for the Money?") and both were conceptualized and recorded at the same time. We're Only in It for the Money became a song-oriented anti-flower power album with one contemporary/musique concrete/sound collage hybrid piece by way of conclusion. Lumpy Gravy collaged bits of orchestral music, sonic manipulations, spoken words, and occasional pop ditties into two lumps of 16 minutes each. This album presents Zappa's first recordings with a decent orchestra, the 50-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra. His symphonic writing was very much influenced by Stravinsky and Varese. It still had to lose its sharp edges and find the lushness found in 200 Motels. The segments of music are loosely tied together by bits of dialogue from inside the piano. MOI members and friends were invited to talk with their head inside a grand piano with the sustain pedal depressed (the technique was immortalized in the song "Evelyn, A Modified Dog"). The reverberating space gave the voices an eerie quality, but made it very difficult to convincingly edit the material. Thus, the plot emanating from these portions remains very vague (it was clarified 25 years later in Civilization Phaze III). The song bits include "Oh No," "Theme from Lumpy Gravy" (aka "Duodenum"), "King Kong," and "Take Your Clothes off When You Dance," all in instrumental versions, all making their first appearance on record. 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. The opening line of part one ("The way I see it, Barry, this should be a dynamite show") became a classic reference. [Lumpy Gravy was re-released on LP in 2016.] ~ Francois Couture

Product Details

Release Date:	12/09/2016
Label:	Zappa Records
UPC:	0824302383612

Tracks

1. Part One
2. Part Two

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Frank Zappa   Primary Artist,Conductor
Electric Symphony Orchestra & Chorus   Primary Artist
The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra & Chorus   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra   Primary Artist
Bunk Gardner   Clarinet (Contrabass),Woodwind,Sax (Alto),Sax (Bass),Flute (Bass),Contrabassoon,Horn (English),Clarinet (Bass),E Flat Clarinet,Oboe,Flute,Bassoon,Piccolo
Arnold Belnick   Strings
James Getzoff   Strings
Tony Rizzi   Guitar
The Frankie Capp   Drums
Vincent DeRosa   French Horn
John Guerin   Drums
Emil Richards   Gong,Marimba,Timpani,Timbales,Percussion,Vibraphone
Jimmy Bond   Bass
Al Viola   Guitar
Harry Hyams   Strings
Ralph Schaeffer   Strings
Victor Feldman   Gong,Marimba,Timpani,Timbales,Percussion,Vibraphone
Alan Estes   Gong,Marimba,Timpani,Timbales,Percussion,Vibraphone
Jules Jacob   Oboe,Flute,Bassoon,Piccolo,Woodwind,Sax (Alto),Sax (Bass),Flute (Bass),Contrabassoon,Horn (English),Clarinet (Bass),E Flat Clarinet,Clarinet (Contrabass)
Don Christlieb   Clarinet (Bass),E Flat Clarinet,Clarinet (Contrabass),Oboe,Flute,Bassoon,Piccolo,Woodwind,Sax (Alto),Sax (Bass),Flute (Bass),Contrabassoon,Horn (English)
Alexander Koltun   Strings
Joseph DiFiore   Strings
Jerome Kessler   Strings
Joseph Saxon   Strings
Leonard Selic   Strings
John Balkin   Bass
Harold Ayres   Strings
Bob West   Bass
Lyle Ritts   Bass
William Kurasch   Strings
Dennis Budimer   Guitar
Raymond J. Kelly   Strings
Richard Parisi   French Horn
Gene Cipriano   Oboe,Flute,Bassoon,Piccolo,Woodwind,Sax (Alto),Sax (Bass),Flute (Bass),Contrabassoon,Horn (English),Clarinet (Bass),E Flat Clarinet,Clarinet (Contrabass)
Gene Estes   Gong,Marimba,Timpani,Timbales,Percussion,Vibraphone
John Rotella   Oboe,Flute,Bassoon,Piccolo,Woodwind,Sax (Alto),Sax (Bass),Flute (Bass),Contrabassoon,Horn (English),Clarinet (Bass),E Flat Clarinet,Clarinet (Contrabass)
Bernard Kundell   Strings
Leonard Malarsky   Strings
Tibor Zelig   Strings
Harold G. Remko   Strings
Paul Smith   Celeste,Harpsichord,Piano
Jesse Ehrlich   Strings
Kenny Shroyer   Trombone
Jimmy Zito   Trumpet
Chuck Berghofer   Bass
Shelly Manne   Drums
Ted Nash   Oboe,Flute,Bassoon,Piccolo,Woodwind,Sax (Alto),Sax (Bass),Flute (Bass),Contrabassoon,Horn (English),Clarinet (Bass),E Flat Clarinet,Clarinet (Contrabass)
Lincoln Mayorga   Piano,Celeste,Harpsichord
Pete Jolly   Piano,Celeste,Harpsichord
Philip Goldberg   Strings
Jim Haynes   Guitar
Michael Lang   Piano,Celeste,Harpsichord
Jerome Reisler   Strings
Arthur Maebe   French Horn
Tommy Tedesco   Guitar

Technical Credits

Frank Zappa   Composer,Producer,Art Direction,Orchestration,Editing,Arranger