30 juni 2023
officiële release 126
3cd
disc 1
1. Funky Nothingness
2. Tommy/Vincent Duo I
3. Love Will Make Your Mind Go Wild
4. I'm a Rollin' Stone
5. Chunga's Revenge (basement version)
6. Basement Jam
7. Work With Me Annie/Annie Had a Baby
8. Tommy/Vincent Duo II
9. Sharleena (1970 Record Plant mix)
10. Khaki Sack
11. Twinkle Tits
disc 2
1. Chunga's Revenge (take 5)
2. Love Will Make Your Mind Go Wild (take 4)
3. Transylvania Boogie (unedited master)
4. Sharleena (Unedited Master)
5. Work With Me Annie/Annie Had a Baby (alternate edit)
6. Twinkle Tits (take 1, false start)
7. Twinkle Tits (take 2)
disc 3
1. The Clap (unedited master - pt. I)
2. The Clap (unedited master - pt. II)
3. Tommy/Vincent Duo
4. Chunga's Revenge (take 8)
5. Halos and Arrows
6. Moldred (take 8)
7. Fast Funky Nothingness
------------------------------------------------------------
Frank
Zappa: guitars, percussion
Ian Underwood: keyboards, winds, guitar
Don 'Sugercane'
Harris: violin
Max Bennett: bass
Aynsley Dunbar: drums
|
 Work
With Me Annie/Annie Had a Baby
Khaki
Sack
Volgt...
Een interessant project, niet de levende Hot Rats, maar meer
studiowerk. Annie en de zak klinken alvast goed in mijn
oren. Als dit in de buurt komt van de Hot Rats box, daar
lijkt het op, ben ik heel blij!
de commercial:
Funky Nothingness, a new collection of 25 rare and
previously unreleased tracks from the legendary Frank Zappa
Vault is set for release via Zappa Records/Ume on June 30.
The story of Funky Nothingness dates back to 1969, after The
Mothers of Invention disbanded, Frank Zappa released his
groundbreaking solo debut, Hot Rats. Fusing jazz and rock,
the innovative album became one of the artist’s bestselling
releases, thanks to classic tracks like “Peaches En Regalia”
and “Willie the Pimp.” Over the following year, in between
various projects (including producing Captain Beefheart’s
Trout Mask Replica, and emceeing Belgium’s Festival Actuel,
where Zappa met British drummer Aynsley Dunbar), he
assembled a core group to lay down tracks at Los Angeles’
recently opened Record Plant.
The sessions, which took place primarily in February and
March 1970 at the new studio, featured Zappa once again in
the producer’s chair and joined by several of the musicians
that played on Hot Rats, including Mothers member Ian
Underwood (keyboard, saxophone, rhythm guitar), violinist
and vocalist Don “Sugarcane” Harris, and Wrecking Crew
bassist Max Bennett. The five-piece band was rounded out by
Aynsley Dunbar, who had just relocated to Los Angeles and
moved in with Zappa following his invite to join the band.
Together the group recorded hours’ worth of original
compositions, inspired covers and extended improvisations
that drew from Zappa’s R&B and blues roots, while
blending influences of the emerging jazz fusion scene.
Largely instrumental, these recordings showcased the
guitarist’s virtuosity, while offering what could have
easily been the sequel to Hot Rats, had it ever been
released.
While Zappa identified his favorite takes and mixed the
tracks for eventual release, the wildly prolific musician’s
insatiable musical curiosity pulled him in other directions
as the year wore on. It’s not known exactly why this
material was never released but it’s possible that upon
meeting Flo & Eddie, the comedy rock duo of Mark Volman
and Howard Kaylan, shortly after the sessions, Zappa was
inspired to work with them and assembled a bigger band and
moved away from instrumental compositions and more toward
vocally oriented material. Flo & Eddie would join the
Mothers for Zappa’s Chunga’s Revenge album, recorded mostly
that summer and released in October of that year. By the end
of 1970, Zappa was well into writing and developing his
film, 200 Motels and the accompanying soundtrack. All the
while this incredible material was put on the backburner.
Listening back to the tapes from these sessions, which have
been unearthed from Zappa’s massive Vault more than five
decades later, Zappa Vaultmeister Joe Travers and Ahmet
Zappa knew that they had something special. Working with the
tracks that Zappa had produced, mixed, and worked on over
the years, they compiled an 11-track album, naming it Funky
Nothingness after a bluesy, stripped-down piece that the
artist had recorded in 1967 at the end of one of the
sessions for Uncle Meat. Originally intended to open an
early version of Chunga’s Revenge, the short, unreleased
track “sets the tone for the album,” explains Travers.
Although the track was recorded a few years before most of
the music presented here, Zappa eventually connected it a
build reel, signaling he was planning a release. While a
couple recordings from these sessions have been released
over the years (fans may remember the 12-minute version of
“Sharleena” from 1996’s posthumous collection, Lost
Episodes), Funky Nothingness introduces these recordings as
a cohesive collection for the very first time. “Funky
Nothingness, as an album, is special in that it features at
least three written compositions, three cover versions and
multiple instrumental jam-oriented segments, all previously
unreleased,” Travers explains. “It’s very rare to find that
amount of music from one set of sessions that has gone
unheard for such a long period of time.”
Produced and compiled by Ahmet Zappa and Joe Travers, Funky
Nothingness will be released June 30 via Zappa Records/UMe
in a variety of formats, including a three-disc expanded
deluxe edition that presents the 11-track album on disc 1
along with two discs of outtakes, alternate edits, unedited
masters of songs from the era (“Transylvania Boogie,” “The
Clap” and “Chunga’s Revenge” among them), plus several epic
improvisations, and other “bonus nothingness.” An
accompanying 28-page booklet includes photos from the
recording sessions by photographer John Williams plus
illuminating liner notes and an individual track-by-track by
Travers.
Disc 1 features Zappa’s vintage mixes alongside several
modern mixes by Craig Parker Adams who also mixed the bonus
material. All audio was mastered by John Polito at Audio
Mechanics. In all, the 25-track collection includes 23
unreleased tracks totaling nearly three and a half hours of
never-before-heard music. The expanded edition of Funky
Nothingness will also be available digitally for streaming
and download, in both standard and hi-res audio
(96kHz/24-bit).
The Funky Nothingness album will also be available as a
double LP on both 180-gram black vinyl and limited edition
clear violet 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Optimal, with
lacquers cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering.
The vinyl will consist of Zappa’s vintage mixes of the
tracks. The limited edition color pressing, which will
include a collectible guitar pick, is available exclusively
at Zappa.com, uDiscover Music and Sound of Vinyl.
Harris also takes center stage as a vocalist on “Love Will
Make Your Mind Go Wild,”which delivers classic soul balladry
with a standout violin solo at the end. Zappa takes lead
vocals on the nearly 12-and-a-half-minute-long rendition of
Lightnin’ Slim’s “I’m a Rollin’ Stone.” This recording would
go on to serve as the genesis for the iconic “Stink-Foot”
that closes Zappa’s 1974 album, Apostrophe(‘) as he would
eventually wipe his vocals from the multi-track master, save
the drum, violin and bass track, and overdub new guitars,
vocals and sound effects to create something entirely
different.
Meanwhile Underwood’s talents on the organ can be heard on
the swinging soul-jazz instrumental, “Khaki Sack,” a tune
that the Mothers occasionally played on tour. While live
versions have previously been released (most notably on the
Beat the Boots! II box set as “w̃hät”) this marks the only
known studio recording. Fans may also recognize the
oft-bootlegged “Twinkle Tits,” which the band sometimes
worked into concerts.
Another awe-inspiring jam is “Tommy/Vincent Duo II,”
showcasing the magic between Zappa and Dunbar in their
earliest days together. An unedited version, which stretches
to nearly 22 minutes long, appears on Disc 3. Travers
writes, “By 1970, Frank had worked with some great drummers
between The Mothers and the L.A. studio scene…[but] Aynsley
took things to another level. It’s easy to understand how
Frank would be excited to see where their chemistry would
take them musically. Here is audio proof.”
All three discs include takes of “Chunga’s Revenge,” which
would serve as the title track to Zappa’s actual follow-up
to Hot Rats, released in October 1970. The “Basement
Version,” found on the main album, was recorded in Zappa’s
basement at home in Laurel Canyon using a 4-channel
quadrophonic set-up, nearly three years before the format
was made available to the consumer. Zappa then created a
stereo mix down from the quad track which is what is
included here.
Fascinating versions of “Sharleena,” “Transylvania Boogie,”
and the percussion-based “The Clap” are included as well,
and in the case of “The Clap” provide an opportunity to hear
for the first time the full, unedited recording which was
released in truncated form on Chunga’s Revenge. Another gem
of the bonus content is “Halos & Arrows,” an
experimental guitar piece, which was discovered at the end
of a multi-track reel.
The multi-track master tapes for these recordings were found
on a variety of formats. It seems they had a 1” 8-track
recorder, a 2” 16-track recorder, and a 2” 24-track recorder
at their disposal. Travers notes, “If indeed the 24-track
existed in March 1970, that would place it even earlier in
FZ’s orbit than at first assumed. It’s a head-scratcher for
sure, but it does make sense as Frank was embracing audio
technology as soon as it became available.” He continues,
“The amount of post-production and over-dubs are on the
minimal side, but what we do find demonstrates Zappa’s
ever-present ability to experiment with effects and tape
manipulation, producing signature sounds akin to much of
Zappa’s ‘60s studio album output.…”
Perhaps most importantly, these recordings were an unusually
rare find, reveals Travers. “With archival releases from the
vault, it is normal to find different arrangements of past
tunes featured in live concerts and studio settings with
other bands, but actual NEW compositions are few and far
between, especially from within Zappa’s golden years of the
‘60s and ‘70s. Funky Nothingness delivers on all fronts,
showcasing Zappa’s love for rhythm and blues, picking up
where Hot Rats left off with extended instrumental work-outs
fusing rock, jazz, and classical elements into music that
can only be described as ZAPPA. The guitar work and virtuoso
musicianship are in full effect.” |
