Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 0.99 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 460 Mb
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© 2004, 2005, 2008 Vaulternative Records / ZFT | VR 20041 / VR 20042 / VR 20051 / VR 20081
Rock / Experimental Rock

Official Release # 72. While no specific designation has been given to Joe's Corsage (2004), the liner notes indicate that this is the debut of an "exciting new series." The title is undoubtedly a clever play on Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage (1979), but the "Joe" in this case is audio archivist Joe Travers, who has been involved with the Zappa Family Trust (ZFT) since the triple-CD release Läther (1996). Granted, exceptions exist, however for the most part the earliest incarnations of the Mothers of Invention are included here with Zappa (guitar/vocals), "Baby" Ray Collins (vocals/tambourine/harmonica), Roy Estrada (bass), and Jimmy Black (drums).

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Corsage (2004) {Vaulternative Records}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 231 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 85 Mb
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© 2004 Vaulternative Records / ZFT | VR 20041

"Pretty Pat" fittingly commences the proceedings with a brief interview clip as Zappa explains the evolution of the Mother's name to MOI prior to seminal readings of "Motherly Love" and "Plastic People" – presented in a medley – along beside "Anyway the Wind Blows" and "I Ain't Got No Heart." These late 1965 demos are historically (if not musically) significant as the first recordings to have emerged featuring future Canned Heat guitarist, Henry Vestine (guitar), whose tenure with the rockin' teen combo lasted merely months. Although the selections predate Freak Out! (1966), aside from slight alterations to the respective arrangements – especially notable during "Motherly Love" – the songs are already fully formed. It is easy to hear what attracted Zappa to Vestine's earthy and bluesy guitar craft. The next three cuts capture the primary lineup as a live band on a driving cover of the Righteous Brothers' "My Babe" and a soulful workout on Marvin Gaye's "Hitch Hike." They are linked by a brief instrumental variation of the traditional "Wedding Dress Song" and "Handsome Cabin Boy" folk melodies. The sophisticated score would be revisited when Zappa worked up a studio version with Art Tripp (marimba, vibes), Don Preston (keyboards), and Jimmy Carl Black (drums), eventually surfacing on The Lost Episodes (1996) . Keen-eared listeners will detect that the distinct "Louie Louie" ending perfectly segues into the aforementioned "Hitch Hike." Kicking off the final batch is "I'm So Happy I Could Cry," a primordial incarnation of a tune that would resurface with new lyrics as "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" on We're Only in It for the Money (1968), and reworked sans vocals for the ambitious Lumpy Gravy (1968). Both the doo wop-inspired "Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder" as well as "How Could I Be Such a Fool?" are closer to their familiar counterparts with Zappa's guitar overdubs standing out as one of the distinguishing factors of these pre Freak Out! takes. The artist has the last word as "We Made Our Reputation Doing It That Way…" is a lengthier excerpt from an interview with Zappa detailing the methodology behind how the Mothers music was created. Albeit brief, Joe's Corsage is a hardcore enthusiast's dream, displaying the genesis of Zappa's genius in a rock & roll setting. Let's hope Travers continues to produce a multitude of further and equally diverse installments.

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Domage (2004) {Vaulternative Records}
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© 2004 Vaulternative Records / ZFT | VR 20042

Official Release #73. After being thrown 15 feet off of the Rainbow Theater stage in London on December 10, 1971 by unstable concert attendee Trevor Howell, Frank Zappa spent the better part of the following winter and spring in rehearsals for what would become the Waka/Jawaka (1972) and Grand Wazoo (1972) platters and related live shows. Joe's Domage (2004) – the second in a series of never-before-available material from the luminous Frank Zappa tape vaults – gathers 50 minutes from these closed-door sessions, during which Zappa was confined to a wheelchair as he recuperated. The incident left the guitarist with some permanent damage, with a lower voice from a partially crushed larynx, and a fractured right leg which ended up shorter than the left, as referenced in the lyrics of "Zomby Woof" and "Dancin' Fool." Being off the road resulted in some of the Zappa's most involved fusions of jazz and rock. These rehearsals were most likely not meant for public consumption, having been sonically remastered from a decidedly lo-fi cassette. For all intents and purposes, this is an examination of the modular process that Zappa used when creating his extended works and intricately detailed compositions, including contributions from an impressive lineup of Zappa (guitar/spoken instructions), Tony Duran (guitar), Ian Underwood (organ), Sal Marquez (trumpet), Malcolm McNabb (trumpet), Kenny Shroyer (trombone), Tony Ortega (baritone sax), Aynsley Dunbar (drums) and Alex Dmochowski (bass) – the latter often credited under the pseudonym Erroneous. Granted, the fidelity is distorted and typical of what a cassette from 1972 might sound like. However, tucked into the otherwise grungy audio and the incessant start/stop methodology of these preliminary run-throughs, Zappa's hands-on involvement becomes exceedingly evident to the lay person. He methodically teaches his highly advanced rhythms and time signatures with a definite and well-thought-out sense of the bigger picture. Fragments and in-progress snippets of "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary," "Big Swifty," "It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal," "Blessed Relief," "Grand Wazoo" [aka "Think It Over"] and an "Interlude" that Zappaphiles refer to as "Twinkle Tits" are among the songs that would eventually surface from the music heard here in their primordial forms.

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's XMasage (2005) {Vaulternative Records}
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© 2005 Vaulternative Records / ZFT | VR 20051

Official Release #75. This compilation drawn from the late Frank Zappa's huge personal library of unreleased tapes focuses on his work of the 1960s. The music will be of interest to Zappa collectors, though the sound quality varies from acceptable to average for the era – keeping in mind that these recordings are mostly from studio rehearsals and, at the time he made them, were likely not intended for release. "GTR Trio" is an extended rehearsal that showcases Zappa on acoustic guitar, improvising over a bass vamp, containing at least one excerpt later utilized in his composition "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution." "The Moon Will Never Be the Same" and "Mousie's First Xmas" are brief rehearsals of Zappa's early orchestral writing, with some overdubbed electronics added. "Why Don'tcha Do Me Right?" is essentially a vamp on one chord, though it has many more verses than the version eventually issued on a Verve single. Various spoken segments ("Mormon Xmas Dance Report," "Prelude to the Purse," "The Purse," and "Suckit Rockit") are of passing interest and don't merit more than one hearing. One exception is "The Uncle Frankie Show," which incorporates Zappa narrating a preview about "I Was a Teenage Maltshop" with a few musical excerpts intertwined, including some tasty solo blues guitar. Joe's Xmasage falls short of being essential for the casual Zappa listener, though serious fans will enjoy this treasure trove of vintage, previously unreleased material.

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Menage (2008) {Vaulternative Records}
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© 2008 Vaulternative Records / ZFT | VR 20081

Official Release #84. For their eighth release, the officially authorized Frank Zappa-centric Vaulternative Records label has unleashed audio from out of Frank's own stash. As related by the fan himself within the liner notes, Zappa had actually given away the contents of this November 1, 1975, concert to a sincere Danish enthusiast named Ole Lysgaard. He met Zappa on several occasions and showed more than an average interest in the artist and his music. During one of their infrequent confabs in Copenhagen (circa the late '70s), Zappa gave Lysgaard a few cassettes for his own enjoyment. One of those bore the markings "William and Mary," and when Lysgaard informed Gail Zappa – who, along with Joe Travers are keepers of the keys to the massive Zappa tape vaults – she enthusiastically approved the search for a master of the show. What the intrepid Travers found was the original stereo tape – which is conjectured to have been made by "2 mics dangling in front of the audience." Joining Zappa (guitar/vocals) on stage was a short-lived aggregate featuring Norma Jean Bell (alto sax/vocals) and Andre Lewis (keyboards/vocals) alongside Napoleon Murphy Brock (tenor sax/vocals) and the rhythm section of Terry Bozzio (drums/vocals) and original Mothers of Invention member Roy Estrada (bass/vocals).

The eight-song running order on Joe's Menage (2008) reflects a healthy chunk of Zappa's live sets circa late 1975/early 1976. There are several soon-to-be Zappa songbook staples heard here in their formative stages, most notably, the opening duo of "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" and "The Illinois Enema Bandit." Both provide evidence of Zappa's humor-laden lyrical narratives while leaving room for the artist's incendiary fretwork, as does "Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy," yet another slightly askew tale of perversion set to music that would surface on the highly underrated Bongo Fury album later in 1975. The medley combining the We're Only in It for the Money songs "Lonely Little Girl," "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance," and "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" is a nice nod to the Mothers of Invention that is made all the more meaningful by the presence of Roy Estrada. The latter half of the disc is solid sonic nirvana for Zappa fanatics. "Chunga's Revenge" is a particular treat as Bell improvises a few lyrics prior to a solo from Lewis (on melodica), while Zappa plays a frenetic rhythm guitar as if it were a lead instrument. Finally, Bozzio utterly decimates his drum kit with the time-defying high-octane antics that would become his trademark. Zappa's seemingly effortless yet infinitely soulful "Zoot Allures" is marred only by an edit – which is tastefully faded out and then back in again – prior to his spoken closing, where he reintroduces the musicians, dubbing the bass player "Roy Ralph Moleman Managuito de la Banana Republic Estrada" and himself as "yours truly, Tyrone Power."

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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Frank Zappa - Joe's Album Collection (2004-2008) [4CD] {Vaulternative Records} [combined re-up]

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