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 ORIGINAL long long gone FIRST and ONLY printing

           

         

                FRANK ZAPPA

                  AND... The

    MOTHERS OF INVENTION

OLD MASTERS - VOLUME ONE

           

                              

            

\                                                  USA - BARKING PUMPKIN RECORDS  

 

Original LIMITED EDITION featuring the first 5 ZAPPA/MOTHERRS albums + a GREAT INFORMATION BOOKLET with all lyrics to albums + rare photos + a 6TH BONUS LP FILLED WITH UNISSUED RARITIES FROM THE SIXTIES...6 Lp's In All + Booklet:::: 

The Old Masters box set series was a Frank Zappa project. Zappa released three different volumes on Barking Pumpkin Records from April 1985 to December 1987, consisting of studio and live albums by Zappa and The Mothers of Invention originally released from 1966 to 1976 on other labels, as well as "Mystery Discs" which contained previously unreleased material. The graphics (not including the photo inserts) on all three sets was airbrush illustrated by Larry Grossman.

At the time of their release, they were nothing less than a godsend (especially box one) because the whole Zappa catalog was out-of-print and Zappa fanatics had to just deal with what they could scrape up in other places. YET, even box one held some controversial surprises: a COMPLTELY re-mixed “We’re Only In It For the Money” with bass and drum parts RE-RECORDED (ditto for “Cruising With Ruben and the Jets”), and the remixes on “Freak Out” were NOT the ones used later on the CD's.

Of course, box one and two contain the “Mystery Discs” which are filledl with amazing, historical Zappa and Mothers unreleased gems from the 60's. 

What’s a little strange is the hand scrawled additions (by Frank) to the whole “Old Masters, Box One” booklet. Throughout, it is very noticeable that Zappa added little drawing comments to the original artwork of the early albums. If one looks carefully, blacked-out teeth are added to the pictures of the original Mothers on the “Only In It For The Money” pull-out sheet, and most painfully, Frank has completely scratched out and rubbed out Pamela Zarubica’s face from the news clipping where she and Frank are hugging.

The box sets were constructed at Zappa's Utility Muffin Research Kitchen home studio. The albums being remixed and reedited, are substantially different from their original releases.

In the 1980s, Frank Zappa had regained the rights to the albums he had released on other labels. He decided to reissue them as part of a series of three box sets for collectors. Zappa found the quality of the original masters to be unsatisfactory for release, and decided to prepare new masters, remixing and reediting the original tapes. In the case of the albums We're Only in It for the Money and Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, Zappa decided to rerecord the rhythm tracks, overdubbing newly recorded performances by bassist Arthur Barrow and drummer Chad Wackerman. Barrow stated of the remixing, "I had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, as a musician, I'm always happy to be employed and doing sessions is always fun. But on the other hand, I did try to talk Frank out of it the best I could."Zappa told Barrow that he did not like the original performances, by bassist Roy Estrada and drummer Jimmy Carl Black.

During this period, Zappa also prepared a remix of the second version of his 1967 album Lumpy Gravy, featuring similar overdubs by Barrow and Wackerman. An excerpt from the remix was included in an Old Masters promotional sampler intended for radio station managers, but the remix was not released at the time; it appeared on Lumpy Money in 2008

Zappa stated in regards to the remixing of the albums, "The master tapes for Ruben and the Jets were in better shape, but since I liked the results on We're Only in it For the Money, I decided to do it on Ruben too. But those are the only two albums on which the original performances were replaced. I thought the important thing was the material itself." After the remixing was announced, a $13 million lawsuit was filed against Zappa by Jimmy Carl Black, Bunk Gardner andDon Preston, who were later joined by Ray Collins, Art Tripp and Motorhead Sherwood, increasing the claim to $16.4 million, stating that they had received no royalties from Zappa since 1969.

Zappa told interviewers that the oxide was falling off the tapes, and that he had to replace the drum and bass performances. Barrow disputed this, stating "how could the oxide be falling off the tape on one track and not on other tracks? But it's Frank's album. It's his music. He can certainly do what he likes with it. But I think it would be nice for those of us that like the original version to put that out also [...] As for Ruben & The Jets, I kinda think that's bad too. Because one of the coolest things about that album originally was the tape loops for the drums. It sounded like a machine, it was a great sound.

Mystery Disk I: This document, or sonic home-movie, of the very early '60s chronicles an LA subworld that few of us ever knew existed, or cared about. Thrown into the pot are themes from Run Home Slow (a grade-Z film FZ scored in '62; the music is surprisingly mature and forceful, but you won't find this flick listed in Leonard Maltin), I Was A Teen-Age Malt Shop (the world's first unwritten "rock opera"), the birth of Don Van Vliet's alter ego, Captain Beefheart, and the original "Duke of Prunes" (also from Run Home Slow, which starred Mercedes McCambridge). Plus various studio jams, demos, live gigs of early Mothers prototypes, selected madnesses, wonderful pachuco doo-wop garbage ("Charva"), and, at long last, the first US LP release of two legendary singles from the Absolutely Free sessions: "Why Don'tcha Do Me Right" and "Big Leg Emma." This is not great music by anyone's standards, Zappa's included (except for a sit-in blues vocal by a lady named Cora on "Steal Away"), and probably would have sold a lot better in '68 if filed between The GTOs' Permanent Damage and An Evening with Wild Man Fischer. But it's absolutely fascinating to anyone who cares about FZ's early years and How He Got That Way.

Freak Out! (XI-5): is a little spiffed-up over the Verve original, and in some ways has a high-end glare with an unconscionably tizzy brightness--

Absolutely Free: Comprised of two of "a series of underground oratorios," Absolutely Free was a huge leap forward from the previous year's Freak Out! These recordings grew directly out of the Mothers' extended 1967 stay at the Varick Theatre in NYC, and include such all-out assaults on the status quo as "Status Back Baby" (which quotes Stravinksy), "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" (which quotes Holst), and "Call Any Vegetable" (which quotes the Supremes). All three of these are requested at Zappa concerts to this day. Sometimes he plays them. Sometimes there is trouble.

Clarity is the word here---lots of it. Bob Stone's remastering has only added, subtracting nothing. Though the bright light of digital day does remove that ol' analog mystery, that subtle sonic crosshatching, the improved focus is appreciated in this, one of Zappa's most verbal albums (and which was never---until now---issued with a lyric sheet).

Highs, highs, highs...Zappa's music has always been treble-heavy, and seems to grow more so as the years roll on. Much of the background dialog is revealed for the first time here, and Zappa's multi-layered arrangements are as so many transparent overlays. The string and brass charts in "Brown Shoes" are clearly audible at last, disentangled from the HF hash of the original LP. The album breathes freely, free of compression and boxiness, for the first time. The original Verve LP was inferior in every way---muddy bass, vague soundstaging, high-pitched instruments like tambourines as good as inaudible---to the new Old Msasters version. Bass is mono'd on the new LP, which plays the usual tricks with soundstaging.

Lumpy Gravy (X-8): The new version LP is clearly superior, having fuller bass and freer, more open highs. This high-end liberation is the major advantage over the original Verve edition.

We're Only In It for the Money (X-8): The Old Masters LP bass is better, but then it's a totally new track (played by Arthur Barrow), making the point academic. Dick Kunc's echoey whisperings are also much more convincing as the skullpaperings of a nightmarishly self-referential paranoid on this new LP. The original LP sounds boxy and four-square in comparison, making the Old Masters LP the winner. "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" sounds consistently faster on the new versions, but that may be because of the new skintight rhythm section (Barrow on bass, Chad Wackerman on drums) overdubbed on this and Rubento replace the badly deteriorated original tracks.

Cruising with Ruben and the Jets (XI-5): Comparisons with the original are pointless, as Zappa has created an entirely new album here.
                                                              Tracks:
Mystery Disc
Theme From "Run Home Slow"
1:26

Original "Duke Of Prunes"
1:18

Opening Night Party At Studio Z
1:32

The Village Inn
1:18

Steal Away
3:44

I Was A Teenage Malt Shop
1:12

The Birth Of Captain Beefheart
0:16

Metal Man Has Won His Wings
3:08

Power Trio Segment From "The Saints 'N' Sinners"
0:34

Bossa Nova Pervertamento
2:17

Excerpt Fom "The Uncle Frankie Show"
0:39

Charva
1:59

Speed-Freak Boogie
4:14

Original Mothers At The Broadside (Pomona)
0:56

Party Scene From "Mondo Hollywood"
1:56

Original Mothers Rehearsal
0:22

How Could I Be Such A Fool
1:49

Band Introductions At The Filmore West
1:10

Plastic People
1:59

Original Mothers At The Filmore East
0:46

Why Don'tcha Do Me Right
2:40

Big Leg Emma
2:32

Freak Out

Hungry Freaks, Daddy
3:27

I Ain't Got No Heart
2:30

Who Are The Brain Police ?
3:22

Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder
3:31

Motherly Love
2:45

Wowie Zowie
2:45

You Didn't Try To Call Me
3:17

Any Way The Wind Blows
2:52

I'm Not Satisfied
2:37

You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here
3:37

Trouble Everyday
6:16

Help, I'm A Rock
8:37

The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet
12:17


Absolutely Free

Plastic People
3:40

The Duke Of Prunes
2:12

Amnesia Vivace
1:01

Call Any Vegetable
2:19

Invocation & Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin
6:57

Soft-Sell Conclusion & Ending Of #1
1:40

America Drinks
1:52

Status Back Baby
2:52

Uncle Bernie's Farm
2:09

Son Of Suzy Creamcheese
1:33

Brown Shoes Don't Make It
7:26

America Drinks & Goes Home
2:43

We're Only In It For The Money

Are You Hung Up
1:23

Who Needs The Peace Corps
2:34

Concentration Moon
2:17

Mom & Dad
2:16

Bow Tie Daddy
0:34

Harry, You're A Beast
1:22

What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?
1:03

Absolutely Free
3:27

Flower Punk
3:05

Hot Poop
0:30

Nasal Retentive Caliope
2:00

Let's Make The Water Turn Black
1:41

The Idiot Bastard Son
2:40

(Gary Kellgren's Opinion)
0:33

Lonely Little Girl
1:12

Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
1:33

What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body (Reprise)
0:58

Mother People
1:45

The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny
7:09

Lumpy Gravy

Lumpy Gravy (Part One)
15:45

Lumpy Gravy (Part Two)
15:47

Cruising With Ruben & The Jets

Cheap Thrills
2:37

Love Of My Life
3:06

How Could I Be Such A Fool
3:33

Deseri
2:07

I'm Not Satisfied
4:07

Jelly Roll Gum Drop
2:23

Anything
3:06

Later That Night
2:59

You Didn't Try To Call Me
3:56

Fountain Of Love
3:22

"No. No. No."
2:15

Anyway The Wind Blows
3:00

Stuff Up The Cracks
4:29

 

CONDITION: The cover: Massive THICK & weight heavy BOX containing beautiful individual glossy (mint) covers to each Lp ...the outer hardbound box cover has shelf wear and scuffs to the silver a per usual with this type of 'color' ...so, outer hardbound box cover is rated: VG+, while each individual cover inside the hardbound box -- all SIX Lp covers are = MINT.

The vinyl: records & their covers inside thick outer box are ALL MINT and will play CLEAN without problemlean and glossy over both sides, rated expect play grade to be with very enjoyable audio...NO distracting surface problems ... both labels are clean    

       

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

 

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

 

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record

  NOTE: All Items backed by  money back guarantee! IF you have a problem PLEASE let us solve for you BEFORE leaving ANY negative feedback. Thanks!   GRADING SCALE: M, M-, EX, VG++,VG+, VG, VG- M    Completely clean, no marks M-   Carefully used, looks clean, plays clean, shiny gloss, no marks EX   Faint scuff or superficial mark, near M-, high gloss, plays clean VG++ Glossy with minimal scuffing or light mark playing very nice, clean VG+ a bit more scuff or markls still plays well with very minimal surface at worse VG   more marks/scratches only minor, nothing deep, no loud clicks or pops         this grade is abused by many, VG here does not mean "trashed" VG-  surface noise present, will not have skips or jumps     ALL PAYMENTS SHOULD BE MADE WITHIN 5 DAYS Of AUCTIONS END   BIDDERS PLEASE = Do Not Bid If You Are Not Serious About  Following Through The Transaction!   ALL ITEMS GUARANTEED FOR WINNING BID - LESS SHIPPING!