Roxy and Elsewhere

Frank Zappa

SKU: 0238521

Barcode: 824302385210

22.00 £22.00
  • Genre: Rock And Pop
  • Label: UMC
  • Released Date: 16th December 2013
  • Buying Format:
    2LP Gatefold Sleeve

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Double LP Live Album From 1974! Contains Music Performed At The Roxy Theater, Chicago Auditorium Theatre, and Edinboro State College!

This double LP contains music which was recorded at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood. However, nearly all of the music was overdubbed later in the studio. The music was comprised from three shows at the Roxy and features tracks never before or thereafter released on any Zappa/Mothers album. Other tracks were taken from the second show on Mothers Day 1974 in the Chicago Auditorium Theatre and the May 8th Show in Edinboro State College, also in 1974.

“After his affair with jazz fusion (Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, both released in 1972), Frank Zappa came back in late 1973 with an album of simple rock songs, Over-Nite Sensation. But the temptation for more challenging material was not long to resurface and, after a transitional LP (Apostrophe, early 1974), he unleashed a double LP (reissued on one CD) of his most complex music, creating a bridge between his comedy rock stylings and Canterbury-style progressive rock. Three-quarters of the album was recorded live at the Roxy in Hollywood and extensively overdubbed in the studio later. Only three tracks (“Dummy Up,” “Son of Orange County,” and “More Trouble Every Day”), taken from other concerts, are 100 percent live. The band is comprised of George Duke (keyboards), Tom Fowler (bass), Ruth Underwood (percussion), Bruce Fowler (trombone), Walt Fowler (trumpet), Napoleon Murphy Brock (vocals), and Chester Thompson (drums) — drummer Ralph Humphrey, keyboardist Don Preston, and guitarist Jeff Simmons appear on the non-Roxy material. The sequence “Echidna’s Arf (Of You)”/”Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?” stands as Zappa’s most difficult rock music and provides quite a showcase for Underwood. Other highlights include “Penguin in Bondage” and “Cheepnis,” a horror movie tribute. All the pieces were premiere recordings, except for “More Trouble Every Day” and “Son of Orange County,” a revamped, slowed down “Orange County Lumber Truck”/”Oh No.” Compared to the man’s previous live recordings (Fillmore East, June 1971, Just Another Band From L.A.), this one sounds fantastic, finally providing an accurate image of the musicians’ virtuosity. For fans of Zappa’s intricate material like “RDNZL,” “The Black Page,” or “Inca Roads,” this album is a must-have.” – allmusic.com

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Track Listings

LP 1
1. Penguin in Bondage
2. Pygmy Twylyte
3. Dummy Up
4. Village of the Sun
5. Echidna's Arf (of You)
6. Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?

LP 2
1. Cheepnis
2. Son of Orange County
3. More Trouble Every Day
4. Be-Bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen's Church)

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