WE CURRENTLY HAVE  NEARLY 300  LISTED ITEMS

 

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·      FRANK ZAPPA (with a brief cameo appearance by Captain Beefheart) - HOT RATS - ORIGINAL 1969 BIZARRE RECORDS STEREO LP RS-6356

 

·      ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

 

·      ORIGINAL LP MIX OF THE ALBUM, NOT THE '80s FRANK ZAPPA REMIX / RE-RECORDING OF THE ALBUM

 

·      FEATURES CAMEO APPEARANCE BY LEGENDARY CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND A STELLAR GUITAR WORK BY ZAPPA, SOME OF THE BEST FRETWORK OF THE ROCK ERA!!!

 

·      COLUMBIA RECORDS, TERRE HAUTE, IN  PRESSING.

 

·      ORIGINAL TURQUOISE (AQUA BLUE) BIZARRE LABEL

 

·      THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

 

·      THICK CARDBOARD GATEFOLD COVER, AMERICAN STYLE.

 

·      CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

 

·      FAIRLY THICK VINYL PRESSING On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the thickness of the vinyl as 6.

 

 (►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

 

 

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Aside from the experimental side project Lumpy Gravy, Hot Rats was the first album Frank Zappa recorded as a solo artist sans the Mothers, though he continued to employ previous musical collaborators, most notably multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood. Other than another side project -- the doo wop tribute Cruising With Ruben and the Jets -- Hot Rats was also the first time Zappa focused his efforts in one general area, namely jazz-rock. The result is a classic of the genre. Hot Rats' genius lies in the way it fuses the compositional sophistication of jazz with rock's down-and-dirty attitude -- there's a real looseness and grit to the three lengthy jams, and a surprising, wry elegance to the three shorter, tightly arranged numbers (particularly the sumptuous "Peaches en Regalia"). Perhaps the biggest revelation isn't the straightforward presentation, or the intricately shifting instrumental voices in Zappa's arrangements -- it's his own virtuosity on the electric guitar, recorded during extended improvisational workouts for the first time here. His wonderfully scuzzy, distorted tone is an especially good fit on "Willie the Pimp," with its greasy blues riffs and guest vocalist Captain Beefheart's Howlin' Wolf theatrics. Elsewhere, his skill as a melodist was in full flower, whether dominating an entire piece or providing a memorable theme as a jumping-off point. In addition to Underwood, the backing band featured contributions from Jean-Luc Ponty, Lowell George, and Don "Sugarcane" Harris, among others; still, Zappa is unquestionably the star of the show. Hot Rats still sizzles; few albums originating on the rock side of jazz-rock fusion flowed so freely between both sides of the equation, or achieved such unwavering excitement and energy.

 

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY STEVE HUEY, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

 

Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa. It was released in October 1969. The album consists of six songs, five of which are instrumental (the song "Willie the Pimp" features a short vocal by Captain Beefheart). It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original Mothers of Invention. Because it focuses on long instrumental jazz-like compositions with extensive soloing, the music sounds very different than earlier Zappa albums which featured short songs with satirical vocal performances. It features none of the Mothers, save Ian Underwood, who was also the primary collaborator and sideman. In his original sleeve notes Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears."

 

This was the first Frank Zappa album recorded on 16-track equipment and one of the first of such 16-track recordings released to the public. Recording machines with 16 individual tracks allow for much more flexibility in multi-tracking and overdubbing than the 4 and 8-track tape recorders that were standard in 1969. While Zappa was recording Hot Rats in Los Angeles, The Beatles were working on their Abbey Road album at EMI's soon to be famous Abbey Road Studios in London. By comparison, The Beatles were limited to 8-track technology. Hot Rats still stands out as one of Zappa's greatest musical and technological achievements.

 

Zappa composed, arranged and produced the album himself. His primary instrument on the album is lead guitar. "Willie the Pimp", "Son of Mr. Green Genes", and "The Gumbo Variations" are showcases for his powerful and unconventional solo guitar performances. Four of the tracks have intricately arranged charts featuring multiple overdubs of performances by Ian Underwood. Underwood plays the parts of eight or ten musicians, playing complicated sections of piano and organ, as well as woodwind parts including multiple flutes, clarinets and saxophones.

 

The song "Peaches en Regalia" is widely recognized as a modern Jazz standard and is one of Zappa's best known tunes. Zappa plays a short acoustic guitar solo. Underwood contributes flute and multiple saxophone and clarinet parts. Zappa later re-recorded the song several times in live performances. It has been re-interpreted by many other Jazz and Rock artists.

 

"Willie the Pimp" is a heavy blues-rock tune. It has electric violin by Don "Sugarcane" Harris and guitar solos by Zappa in what appear to be loose jams. The tapes of these performances were later edited before release. This is the only song on the album that features vocals, with a performance by Captain Beefheart. The title Hot Rats comes from the lyric of this song.

 

"Son of Mr. Green Genes" is an instrumental re-working of the tune Mr. Green Genes from the Mothers album Uncle Meat. The unusual title of this song led to rumors that Frank Zappa was somehow related to the character of Mr. Green Jeans from the children's television show Captain Kangaroo. Of course, this urban legend was completely false. This is the only song on the album to feature both intricate horn charts and extended guitar solo sections.

 

"Little Umbrellas" is similar in style to "Peaches", another short carefully arranged tune with numerous keyboard and wind overdubs by Underwood.

 

"The Gumbo Variations" also is a loose jam performance which was edited for the LP. In addition to the Zappa solo, it features a blazing tenor saxophone solo by Underwood.

 

"It Must Be a Camel" is also an intricately arranged tune with numerous wind and keyboard overdubs by Underwood. The tune contains a very unusual melody which often makes large melodic leaps. The title of the piece may come from the fact that these melodic leaps resemble "humps" when written on paper. The title also may refer to Zappa's brand of cigarettes. The recording contains an electric violin performance by Jean-Luc Ponty.

 

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW IN WIKIPEDIA (IN PUBLIC DOMAIN)

 

For its extraordinary contribution to the modern music, superb production, craftsmanship, fine musicianship,  revolutionary significance and influence it exerted on numerous generations of musicians, writers and general public, this album was voted one of top-200 albums of all time in one of the largest poll of critics, music reviewers, professionals and producers ever organized: the poll, which was conducted by Paul Gambaccini, legendary BBC Radio A&R man, surveyed more than 50 top music professionals (including Roy Carr, Jonathan Cott, Robert Christgau, Cameron Crowe, Chet Flippo, Ben Fong-Torres, Charlie Gillett, Greil Marcus, Murray the K., Lenny Kaye , Bruce Morrow (a/k/a "Cousin Brucie"), Tim Rice (of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Evita" fame), Lisa Robinson, Robert Shelton (who wrote liner notes for Bob Dylan's first album), Ed Ward, Joel Whitburn, Pete Wingfield, etc.). For more details, see: "Critics Choice: Top-200 albums" compiled by Paul Gambaccini, Omnibus Press, Library of Congress Catalog No.7855565 (or   for the complete album listing)

 

NOTE:  in the late 80’s Zappa personally “reconstructed” this, and a few other early Mothers albums, by digitally  remixing, remastering and (oh, horror…) RE-RECORDING major portions of the album, under the pretext that (a) original master tapes have deteriorated beyond usefulness and (b) he did not like the drum parts. Needless to say, his tinkering with the original recording was met with a resounding crescendo of boos, hisses, yikes and all kinds of expletives, plus a barrage of rotten tomatoes, dirty socks, old dentures, used prophylactics and such -  from his fans and detractors alike (and for good reason). Then, just before he passed away, Zappa approved another series of reissues, this time from the original master tapes and containing original, un-mixed versions of the albums. Unfortunately, this album was NOT included in that final series, and the original version of this album, to our best knowledge, remains unavailable on compact disc or in any other form. (Big differences between the original vinyl and CD versions. The CD is a remix, with added tracks (mixer channels, not new songs) and previously unheard material. The 1995 Ryko CD adds some extra cover/booklet artwork, but is otherwise identical to older discs (yes, including the gold CD). The 2012 CD release finally restores the original vinyl mix.

 

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·                          CONDITION:

 

·                          THE RECORD

 

(IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

 

(a)         WE GRADE THE VINYL  AS  (WEAK) NEAR MINT. Some VERY LIGHT AND SUPERFICIAL abrasions – mostly sleeve scuffs -  are (barely) visible, but are probably inaudible,  and do not affect visual integrity or beauty of the vinyl. The original luster is very much intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new (MINOR SCUFF NOTED ON 'WILLIE THE PIMP', NOT EXPECTED TO BE AUDIBLE)

 

(b)         The record comes in the original stock inner sleeve.

 

(c)         The record is pressed on a RELATIVELY  thick, inflexible vinyl. This is NOT a thin, flimsy ('dynaflex' type),  vinyl, but not the thickest, most rigid vinyl, either.

 

(d)         Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

 

 

·                          THE COVER

 

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT VERY GOOD++ (VG++).

 

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

 

-       Cover has some light ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 3; Inside gatefold has some light ring wear as well.

 

-       Front cover has a few yellowish dust speckles scattered here and there (these tiny spots are not overly obtrusive or distracting)

 

-       Cover shows some light yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging. (nothing significant)

 

-       Minor shelf wear noted on the seams (nothing significant)

 

-       Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the spine  (nothing significant)

 

-       Cover has two corners slightly worn / dinged (nothing significant)

 

 

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

 

 

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

 

We offer THREE postage rates for both Domestic and International Mail: Media Mail, Priority Mail and Express Mail for domestic, and First Class, Priority International Mail, and Express International Mail for international orders. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND (BUT DO NOT INSIST) that you select USPS International Priority Mail OR International Express mail when making a payment.

 

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from one region of  the world to another. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates ►. While you can be rest assured that our packaging is careful, sturdy and impact-proof, please note that damage, loss or theft in transit is always possible, and in the case of some countries even PROBABLE. To discuss this potential problem and ensure flawless delivery, please contact us thru eBay BEFORE placing a bid.

 

 

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OUR REFUND POLICY :

 

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED; Still sealed items MUST be returned sealed in order to be eligible for a refund Some restrictions apply. Please read our complete refund policy before placing a bid. ►  for the full text of our policy

 

 

FINE (BUT IMPORTANT!) PRINT

 

 (1) The year indicated in the title bar is the year of the original release,  NOT necessarily the year of the actual pressing; for the actual generation of the pressing, please see our item description (top section, text in red letters). (2) Please do NOT bid based on the title bar, subtitle bar or item specifics box alone; instead, please read the entire description and grading before bidding; (3) Absolutely NO order cancellations after the auction closes. ever, under any circumstances. We can ONLY cancel bids before the item closes. (4) We are unable to cancel bids in the final 12 hours of the auction; if you need to do so, please contact eBay for help (5) We are unable to provide matrix-, stamper- or other pressing  information in the final 24 hours of the auction. If you require this information, please contact us well before the final day of the auction. (6) Yes, we DO combine shipments. Please click on "Shipping and Payment" tab on top of the auction page for additional details. (7)  All Paypal payments must be made from confirmed Paypal shipping addresses. NO third party shipping addresses will be honored  (8) Absolutely NO partial refunds: if you are unhappy with the merchandise you received, please return it for a full refund, postage included (9). Civilized people can disagree without accusing each other of being indecent or dishonest; if you need proof of this seller's personal integrity, please check our eBay feedback, which speaks for itself  (10) All disagreements and miscommunications can be - and will only be - solved in a civil and mutually respectful manner;  please avoid puerile, offensive, abrasive or menacing language (attempted humor is fine and usually appreciated, although overused-to-death sarcasms can be really, really tedious. (11) This seller will accommodate all reasonable requests and is generally a flexible and agreeable person (12) Our love & appreciation for your trust, loyalty and business, always and forever;  Thank You & Good Night!

 

 

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