Liner Notes from THE GUITAR WORLD ACCORDING TO FRANK ZAPPA
[Posted to alt.fan.frank-zappa by Dave Lane on March 19 1996 [nostalgic internet message header :)], slightly
edited and HTML-enhanced for readabilty and clairty by Bossk (R), and annotated by
us and our chosen cast.]
The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa
A Special Guitar World Audio Presentation
CrO2 Cassette
Barking Pumpkin Records GW002, 1987
- Sleep Dirt
- Friendly Little Finger
- Excerpt from "Revised Music for Guitar & Low-Budget Symphony Orchestra"
- Things That Look Like Meat [shorter than on Guitar]
- Down in de Dew
- A Solo from Heidelberg [otherwise unreleased]
- A Solo from Cologne [longer version of "But Who Was Fulcanelli?" on Guitar]
- A Solo from Atlanta [longer version of "For Duane" on Guitar]
Side 1
Sleep Dirt (03:17)
December 1974, recorded at Caribou Studios, Colorado
originally released without permission by Warner Brothers on the album Sleep
Dirt
engineer: Kerry McNabb
original recording medium: 24-track analog tape
musicians: Frank Zappa, acoustic lead / Bird-Legs Youmans, acoustic
rhythm
guitar: Martin steel-string acoustic with classic-width neck
Sleep Dirt was one of several disputed releases involved in the infamous Warner Brothers/Cohen Brothers law suit. The retail copies that eventually reached the marketplace were distinguished by unattractive covers, miserable disc mastering and non-existent promotion. Consequently, few fans have heard this cut. I seldom play acoustic guitar, and this performance (the only complete take from the session) is a rare example of a performance in this setting. The tune itself was composed in a hotel room in Stockholm, Sweden, sometime in November, 1971, as a result of borrowing the Martin guitar (owned then by Mark Volman) and experimenting on a day off during the tour. I eventually traded Mark a Telecaster for the Martin. It now sits unused in a dark corner of the studio.
Friendly Little Finger (04:17)
1975, recorded in a dressing room at Hofstra University and
over-dubbed at the Record Plant, Los Angeles, California
originally released on the Warner Brothers album Zoot Allures
engineer: Davey Moire
original recording medium: 24-track analog tape
musicians: Frank Zappa, various guitars and bass / Ruth Underwood,
percussion & ARP 2600 /Roy Estrada, drone bass / Terry Bozzio, drums
guitars: Gibson acoustic-electric, Custom fretless, Hofner bass
This is one of the earliest examples of a technique I developed called Xenochrony (strange synchronizations). Other examples include "Rubber Shirt" on Sheik Yerbouti and every guitar solo on Joe's Garage except "Watermelon in Easter Hay". In this technique various tracks from unrelated sources are randomly synchronized with each other to make a final composition with rhythmic relationships unachievable by other means. In ordinary polyrhythmic terms we speak of 5 in the space of 4, or 7 in the space of 6. In Xenochrony we deal with larger units of time; a complete solo at one metronomic rate in the space of a track at another ... sort of like Monday and Tuesday crammed into the space of Wednesday. The solo and drone bass was recorded on a 2-track Nagra, 15 ips, with a pair of Neumann U-87 microphones in a rather wet-sounding dressing room, warming up before a concert at Hofstra University on Long Island. This pair of tracks was later Xenochronized to a drum track out-take from "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution". The introductory orchestration was added next, and then the Hofner bass (recorded at half-speed), rhythmically splitting the difference between the two different track tempos. [1]
Excerpt from "Revised Music for Guitar & Low-Budget Symphony Orchestra" (02:21)
1975, originally released without permission on
another one of those law-suit albums [2]
engineer: Kerry McNabb
original recording medium: 24-track analog tape
musicians: Frank Zappa, guitar & percussion / Bruce Fowler, all
brass / George Duke, piano / Tom Fowler, bass / Chad Wackerman, drums
guitar: Ovation nylon-string acoustic-electric, DI into the recording
console
This is an excerpt from a short chamber orchestra piece originally composed as a vehicle for violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, re-orchestrated here as a solo vehicle for guitar. The original recording featured Chester Thompson's drums. Chad's part has been over-dubbed as part of the ongoing UMRK digital refurbishment project. [3] The segment began as an improvised solo, played in the studio to the existing track. Bruce Fowler transcribed it and quadrupled it with trombone parts recorded at various speeds. Other examples of transcribed doubling can be found on the Waka/Jawaka and Man from Utopia albums.
Things That Look Like Meat (06:06)
December 1981, recorded live in some place that's not there anymore in
Salt Lake City, Utah [4]
previously unreleased - will be included in the next guitar box set
[5]
engineer: Mark Pinske
original master: 24-track analog tape
musicians: Frank Zappa, lead guitar / Steve Vai, rhythm
guitar / Ray White, rhythm guitar / Ed Mann, percussion / Tommy Mars,
Hammond organ / Bobby Martin, Jupiter 8 clavinet / Scott Thunes, bass /
Chad Wackerman, drums [6]
guitar: Gibson Les Paul Custom
This is a fairly representative example of my style and approach in a live setting circa 1981. Recorded within three days of the end of the '81 tour, it captures the band in an unusually consistent groove, wending its way home to Los Angeles. Video tape of this solo exists and may be released in conjunction with the next guitar solo box collection. [7]
Side Two
Down in de Dew (02:54)
1975, recorded at Paramount Studios, Hollywood, California
previously unreleased - will be included in the next guitar box set
[8]
engineer: Kerry McNabb
original recording medium: 24-track analog tape
musicians: Frank Zappa, all guitars and bass / Jim Gordon, drums
guitars: Gibson acoustic-electric, Custom fretless, Hofner bass
This piece began as a recorded jam session at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The only thing that remains from the original recording is the drums. Everything else was layered on in over-dubs at subsequent sessions in Los Angeles. This selection was an out-take from the Apostrophe (') album. [9] Another example of fretless guitar soloing can be heard on the song "San Ber'dino" on the One Size Fits All album. Unfortunately, the fretless guitar was stolen several years ago.
A Solo from Heidelberg (05:26)
1977, recorded live in concert, Heidelberg, West Germany [10]
previously unreleased - will be included in the next guitar box set
[11]
engineer: Davey Moire
original recording medium: 4-track analog tape
musicians: Frank Zappa, lead / Tommy Mars, piano / Ed Mann,
percussion / Patrick O'Hearn, bass / Terry Bozzio, drums
guitar: Custom Gibson SG
This type of solo was a nightly feature of live shows during that period. It's not the best of its kind, but I like the atmosphere and little noises from the audience. I didn't own a recording truck then, and all live concert tapes were being done on a Scully 4-track at 30 ips with Telefunken C-40 noise reduction. We were printing two stereo pairs taken ambiently with AKG stereo mics. Audible background hiss is the result of a whole stage full of amplifiers idling, combined with residual noise inherent in the recording. [12]
A Solo from Cologne (05:11)
Summer [13] 1982, recorded live in concert, Cologne, West Germany
previously unreleased - will be included in the next guitar box set
[14]
engineer: Mark Pinske
original recording medium: 24-track analog tape
musicians: Frank Zappa, lead / Steve Vai, rhythm guitar / Ray
White, rhythm guitar / Ed Mann, percussion / Tommy Mars, keyboards /
Bobby Martin, keyboards / Scott Thunes, bass / Chad Wackerman, drums
guitar: Custom Stratocaster
This is fairly typical of the Strat solos during the '82 European tour. Video also exists for this cut. I am considering the production of a 1-hour video version of the next guitar box. Let me know if you are interested ... call 818-PUMPKIN and tell Dottie or Mariel or Gerald if you think there's a market for such an item.
A Solo from Atlanta (04:05)
Autumn [15] 1984, recorded in concert, Atlanta, Georgia
engineer: Mark Pinske
original recording medium: 24-track digital tape
previously unreleased - will be included in the next guitar box set
[16]
musicians: Frank Zappa, lead / Ike Willis, rhythm guitar / Ray
White, rhythm guitar / Bobby Martin, keyboards / Allan Zavod, keyboards /
Scott Thunes, bass / Chad Wackerman, drums
guitar: custom Stratocaster
There weren't very many people at this concert. Too bad they missed it. This was toward
the end of the 1984 tour. The last concert of the tour was the Universal Amphitheater in
Los Angeles, December 23. I haven't played the guitar at all since then.
[general notes & ads]
all songs composed, performed and produced by FRANK ZAPPA
all songs published (C) 1987 MUNCHKIN MUSIC (ASCAP)
engineered and digitally re-mastered by BOB STONE
cover photo by ANN SUMMA
package designed by MICHAEL DIEHL
executive producer for Guitar World Special Audio Presentations: NOE GOLDWASSER
liner notes by FRANK ZAPPA
(C) (P) 1987 BARKING PUMPKIN RECORDS
Distributed by GUITAR WORLD, GUITAR GALAXY and BARKING
PUMPKIN
(C) 1987 GUITAR WORLD
Coming Soon
To a Mailbox Near You ...
- The London Symphony Orchestra Volume II - Includes "Bogus Pomp", "Bob in Dacron" & "Strictly Genteel"
- The Helsinki Tapes 1974 - 3-record set [17]
- The SEQUEL to the Shut Up & Play Yer Guitar box set - also 3 records [18]
- You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore (watch for it on a double CD) - yes, and but also for the rest of you THE MONSTRO 10-RECORD SET CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY (360) MINUTES OF MUSIC. [19]
And There's More Coming Right Up
If you are having trouble finding FZ records in your favorite local store and/or perhaps you are living in or have recently moved to a socially retarded area then you have four (4) choices:
- WRITE TO US AT BARFKO-SWILL
- REMEMBER UMRK'S Motto & Pledge: "We feel it is our duty."
- Or CALL US at 818 PUMPKIN (1-818-786-7546)
- Or SEND THIS PORTION of your tape insert with your name & address
to: SEND IT ON HOME TO ME, BARFKO-SWILL, Box 5418, North Hollywood, CA 91616-5418,
USA & we will send you a "Cattle-log". FREE. ABSOLUTELY.
Footnotes
[1] In another one of those deft editing jobs for which Zappa is famous, the familiar "Bringing in the Sheaves" passage that we're all used to hearing as a bridge between "Finger" and the first crashing chords of "Wonderful Wino" instead leads into "excerpt from 'Revised Music & Low-Budget Symphony Orchestra'" - Dave.
[2] Studio Tan, of course - Ed.
[3] That's right, there's no such overdub on the Studio Tan CD. It seems like new drum tracks were overdubbed, but the overdubbed version didn't come out. The excerpt on this cassette seems to be from there, though, and is in that case quite unique! This may not have been quite confirmed yet, but all the evidence points in this direction. From Corey:
I just compared the Läther CD version of this track (presumably identical to the original Studio Tan vinyl) with the '91 Barking Pumpkin Studio Tan CD and found no discernable difference in the drum tracks (or anything else). Is it possible that this is an error on Frank's part and he was thinking of another track (that is "Regyptian Strut") or was an overdubbed version made and then rejected (as with the aborted Lumpy Gravy remix) in favor of the original version? If the latter, which appears on the excerpt on the Guitar World cassette?
From Knut Skogstad:
The drum tracks on Studio Tan (LP version) and on Läther are the same. I have never heard Studio Tan on CD. But the drum tracks on the LP and Läther versions are different from the Guitar World version.
From Michael Gula:
I feel certain that the released [Studio Tan] versions of "Low Budget" do not feature Wackerman overdubs, regardless of the number of drum overdubs there may be.
(There's a similar case with Lumpy Gravy, where a remix with drum overdubs was left unreleased. An excerpt of that came out on the Old Masters Box 1 Sampler - Ed.)
[4] December 7, the Terrace Ballroom - Ed.
[5] Yes, it was released on Guitar - Ed.
[6] For some reason, Guitar doesn't credit Tommy Mars - Dave.
[8] It wasn't, but it's been released on Läther - Ed.
[9] Then the date's wrong, unless the date reflects when the "subsequent sessions" took place - Ed.
[10] The date is wrong, it's from 24-Feb-1978, and it was recorded at the Rhein-Neckar Stadium in Eppelheim, a suburb of Heidelberg - Ed.
[11] It wasn't: it still hasn't been released anywhere else than on this tape - Ed.
[12] It's a piece reminiscent in feel to the middle section of the track "Yo Mama" off Sheik Yerbouti - Dave.
[14] It was included on Guitar as "But Who Was Fulcanelli?", but in a shorter edit (02:48) - Ed.
[16] It was included on Guitar as "For Duane", but in a shorter edit (03:24) - Ed.
[17] The Helsinki Tapes 1974 was released as volume 2 of the You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore series, with the subtitle The Helsinki Concert - not "tapes". But it is not a single, complete concert; it's edited together from at least two shows in Helsinki, and the working title was more honest - Ed. (It was released as a triple LP, though - the only volume in that series that ever came out on vinyl.)
[18] The sequel to the Shut Up & Play Yer Guitar box set is of course Guitar, but it was released as a double LP, not as a triple. A longer version was instead released on CD.
[19] The plans to release the entire You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore on 10 LPs were cancelled, and of course it only came out as a series of six double CDs - Ed.