|
''Lumpy Gravy'' is the debut solo album by Frank Zappa, an album of orchestral, electric and concrete sound written by Zappa and performed by a group of session players he dubbed the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra. Zappa conducted the orchestra but did not perform on the album. It is his third album overall: his previous releases had been under the name of his group, the Mothers of Invention. It was commissioned and briefly released, on August 7, 1967, by Capitol Records in the 4-track Stereo-Pak format only and then withdrawn due to a lawsuit from MGM Records. MGM claimed that the album violated Zappa's contract with their subsidiary, Verve Records. In 1968 it was reedited and reissued by MGM's Verve Records on May 13, 1968. It consisted of two musique concrète pieces that combined elements from the original orchestral performance with elements of surf music and the spoken word. It was praised for its music and editing. Produced simultaneously with ''We're Only in It for the Money'', Zappa saw ''Lumpy Gravy'' as the second part of a conceptual continuity that later included his final album, ''Civilization Phaze III''. Later it was re-edited by Zappa as part of a project called ''No Commercial Potential'', which included three other albums: ''We're Only in It for the Money'', ''Cruising with Ruben & the Jets'' and ''Uncle Meat''. This is Official Release #3. == Recording == Following the release of ''Freak Out!'', the debut album of the rock band the Mothers of Invention, Capitol Records A&R representative Nick Venet commissioned an album of orchestral music composed by the Mothers of Invention's leader, Frank Zappa, a self-taught composer. Venet spent $40,000 on the album.〔 Because Zappa's contract with Verve and MGM Records did not allow for him to perform on albums recorded for any other label, he could not play any instrument on the proposed album, and instead served as the conductor of an orchestra consisting of session musicians hired for the recording. Zappa states that "my contract (MGM ) did not preclude me from doing that. I wasn't signed as a conductor."〔 ''Lumpy Gravy'' was conceived as a short oratorio, written in eleven days. John Cage served as a major influence on the album.〔 Zappa named the group assembled for the sessions the "Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra".〔 Percussionist Emil Richards recalled that he did not know who Zappa was and did not take him seriously as the recording sessions began, believing that Zappa was merely the guitarist for a rock band. However, upon meeting Zappa, he handed the musicians the scores for the pieces, which were dense, complex and varied in time signatures.〔 Richards' close friend, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, was another member of the recording sessions. Tedesco mocked Zappa, believing that Zappa did not know what he was doing.〔 The bassoonist and bass clarinetist hired for the sessions refused to perform their parts, declaring them impossible to play. Zappa responded, "If I play your part, will you at least try it?" Zappa then played the notes for the musicians, who agreed to perform their assigned parts.〔 By the end of the recording sessions, Richards and Tedesco became convinced of Zappa's talent, and became friends with the composer. Richards later performed on sessions which appeared on Zappa's album ''Orchestral Favorites''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lumpy Gravy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|